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Royal Mail: Industrial Dispute

My Lords, I and other members of the Government are not prepared to throw in the towel and accept that the only thing we can do in respect of Royal Mail is to manage its decline. We have not reached that stage and the majority of the workforce and the union have not reached that stage either. That is why they are co-operating, as I said, in introducing changes such as more walk-sorting machines and new working practices so that employees work all the hours for which they are employed. It is wrong to present this situation as though it were an entire workforce and an entire union that have washed their hands of change; they have not. None the less, there is a hardcore group of those who do not accept what has been negotiated nationally on their behalf. It is they who have to be persuaded before, as the noble Lord said, the downward decline of the business makes it impossible to save.