Postal Services Bill

Marcus Jones Excerpts

Wednesday 27th October 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Denham]

Richard Hooper’s point, which I do not fundamentally contest, is that additional access to capital is necessary, which may well need to be private capital, but that is not the same as making a case for the total privatisation of Royal Mail, which is what the Government are doing. Government Members need to defend that.

[Mr Marcus Jones (Nuneaton) (Con)]

What share of Royal Mail does the right hon. Gentleman think should be sold?

[Mr Denham]

The previous Labour Government floated proposals for the sale of a minority stake. Given the changes that have taken place in Royal Mail, there may be ways of accessing private capital that do not depend on an equity stake. Some partnerships of that sort might well be highly desirable, but the question is whether anything the Secretary of State said made the case for a total sale of the company. I listened to him very carefully, but I did not hear a single sentence that made a case for clause 1, which is the basis on which we oppose the Bill.