Performance of Royal Mail

Dan Aldridge Excerpts

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dan Aldridge (Weston-super-Mare) (Lab)]

I refer the House to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests in relation to the Communication Workers Union.

The anger about Royal Mail’s failure to deliver a reliable service for our constituents is palpable across this House and across our communities. My constituents in Weston-super-Mare, Worle and the villages are not just inconvenienced by these failures. Some are suffering genuine harm by not getting vital information when needed.

From the outset—this has been mentioned by many colleagues across the House—I want to be very clear that my concerns are not with postal workers and those keeping our postal depots going. Posties are facing incredibly demanding working conditions, as well as hostility directed at them by some members of the public. The abuse and targeting of our posties is utterly unacceptable and must stop. My local posties tell me that physical and verbal abuse continues to increase. No wonder so many of them are leaving the job. As the CWU identified earlier this month, 400 posties are leaving every week. Our posties and Royal Mail workers deserve proper support, staffing levels and working conditions to deliver the service people expect. Royal Mail is far more than a parcel delivery service, and it must not be stripped any further of its community value and its unique place in our national story.

Physical post is still a lifeline to many thousands in my constituency who do not or cannot manage essential services online. Many invitations to my own surgeries are being delivered to residents so late that the events have passed, even though we have posted them at least a month in advance such is the reputation of Royal Mail. Much of the casework I receive relates to older and disabled people being left at an intolerable disadvantage by a service they should be able to trust. We must answer the question: why are we allowing a service so fundamental to our communities and our public life to deteriorate while customers are left paying the price? I cannot help feeling that Royal Mail’s owners know the cost of everything, but ignore the value of what they put at such risk.

[James Naish (Rushcliffe) (Lab)]

Earlier today, a constituent of mine contacted my office to say that they had received 22 items in a single delivery, only one of which was first class. Does my hon. Friend know that most items, including public guardian letters and NHS letters, come via Whistl and UK Mail, which means that they do not actually get included in the universal service data that we often hear about. Does he agree that we need to look at updating the way we measure the collection of post, because Royal Mail is failing more than a lot of people realise?

[Dan Aldridge]

Absolutely, I agree. The splintering of public services in this way is something we really need to take account of in this House. It is a sad statement that can be applied to the state of too much of our public common wealth that has been carved up and sold off to private interests.

As my hon. Friend the Member for Tamworth (Sarah Edwards) mentioned earlier, I want to remind the House and the Government of the recommendations made by our Business, Innovation, Science and Trade Committee, specifically that the Government and Ofcom must act decisively if Royal Mail fails to make meaningful improvements within the six-month deadline we set. The current evidence gives serious cause for concern. I worry that carefully crafted and presented statistics, as well as polished corporate jargon, make it easy to present a story to decision makers that bears little relation to the lived experience of workers and customers. I am frustrated that our regulatory system has not evolved to deal with the level of corporate gaslighting that seems to run roughshod over worker and customer interests.

This is about what we value as a society, what we trust and the basic functioning of the state. With Christmas just around the corner, families and businesses need reassurance that their post will arrive when it matters. Longer term, Royal Mail must stop making excuses, do right by their workers, and deliver the service that our constituents—its customers—deserve.