Postal strike: Could it kill the Royal mail? (ConDem plan sell off)

[DotCommunist]

For now. There is only so far you can push a class bigger than your own and arguably trade unionism is the compromise between classes with the other options being virtual slavery or the rich getting a swift tribunal and a ciggie before being dispatched up against a wall.

As for the vested interest of elites thing, it may be true for naked tories but for the left wing fairness is not a fig leaf for vested interest. Yes in proper soviet Communism power structures form and a party elite tend to gain undue prominence but I shall point you to the literacy rate in Cuba (highest in the world) and it's child malnutrition rate (lowest in the world). Planned economies do work. Even if we do have to gloss over the oppression of homosexuals and that-one of the problems with such states is the cult of personality and the 'strong man' socialism. But it does not have to be that way. Certainly british soc/dec would work.

 

[Captain Hurrah]

Planned economies do work.

Lenin with a suntan aint going anywhere fast. It's over, apart from a few enclaves. And they did 'work,' if for example their populations were insulated.

 

[DownwardDog]

As for the vested interest of elites thing, it may be true for naked tories but for the left wing fairness is not a fig leaf for vested interest.

I salute your faith in the humanity and benevolence of your fellow commies but I don't share it. If U75 P&P is any guide then rancorous obloquy and extra judicial executions will be the order of the day CTR.

Certainly british soc/dec would work.

I agree with this. A nation more temperamentally suited to Communism than the British has never existed. We do like a bit of deference toward authority and are good at queuing decorously.

 

[butchersapron]

Ed Davey, the Postal Affairs Minister hints at total privatisation

“As I said, I am looking with a fresh pair of eyes and I think that inevitably means that at the moment all options are open.”

He also makes the now-familiar argument that

“The truth is that Royal Mail’s situation, if nothing is done, will become increasingly dire. If we don’t transform Royal Mail, it will be dragged down by a lethal combination of falling mail volumes, low investment and potentially one of the worst pension crises for employees in UK history.”

Yeah, how come RM profits rose by 26% last year then?

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

The Liberal government have announced that 7 out of the nine mail centres in the North East and Yorkshire are to shut, with a twelve week consultation period.

 

[butchersapron]

Cameron wasn't messing about when he said he was going to fuck up the North-east was he?

 

[Spanky Longhorn]

Cameron wasn't messing about when he said he was going to fuck up the North-east was he?

Oh nope. We are screwed, the only bright point is that I get to point and laugh at people up here who voted Liberal from a left perspective.

 

[trevhagl]

The Liberal government have announced that 7 out of the nine mail centres in the North East and Yorkshire are to shut, with a twelve week consultation period.

how the fuck is THAT gonna work? At Xmas you have to ring the sorting office before they'll deliver your parcel and that's NOW!!

 

[butchersapron]

Oh nope. We are screwed, the only bright point is that I get to point and laugh at people up here who voted Liberal from a left perspective.

The SP had a thing in their paper (i think it was) last week that mentioned a survey done post-election of lib-dem voters in Somerset that found that most of those voters voted the way they did as an anti-tory vote. (There was no reference though and i've been unable to find it eleswhere).

In an area like the South West for example, this figure is bound to be larger. In a local survey commissioned in Somerset which questioned why people voted Lib Dem in 2010, their policies on tuition fees, the war in Afghanistan, progressive taxation and trident came high. This clearly shows that voters supported their more progressive policies. However, the reason that came top of the survey was that most people voted Lib Dem to keep the Tories ou

 

[The Black Hand]

When I was clearing some stuff out of my parents' house last year I found a rail ticket I'd bought in 1988 to go from Darlington to King's Cross - 27 quid one way. That's 47 quid in today's money. I can get a one way now for 40 quid.

I don't think privatisation makes much difference one or the other price wise. Anything putative efficiency gains from market forces aren't going to find their way to the punter.

LOL @ 'back in the day' Are you auditioning for an AmDram version of The Wire?

Regarding NONSENSE about fare price. I have just priced travel to London for later today here;
http://ojp.nationalrail.co.uk/en/s/fares/tickets

ALL 5 trains, single fare, Darlo - Kings Cross, cost £100.

I hardly ever travel to London these days, because of the extortionate prices. I paid £150 return a couple of years ago too.

The point about privatisation V nationalisation on price, don't forget the companies prices are SUBSIDISED by government, it is not a free market. Private business would not risk it, which is ironic really and goes contra expectations/pure Adam Smith economics.

Labour SHOULD have renationalised WITHOUT compensation.