"There won't be mail in Crookes this Xmas..."

Posting letters at Xmas - we should be so lucky!

I just realised last night that we have not received a mail delivery for over a week. In fact we have not seen a postman anywhere on the Hill. Whilst I acknowledge that conditions were a little grim towards the end of  last week, it is now six days since we last had significant snowfall but still no sign of the Royal Mail, or any explanation of what the current situation is. It is though they have packed up their mailbags and gone home .

Given that the Royal Mail is a UK monopoly for standard mail there is nothing I can do about it. As I understand it Royal Mail is technically still owned by the government, (it owns 100% of the shares) but it has "devolved" the day to day running of the company to its management. What is apparent is that under this arrangement the postal service has deteriorated markedly in the last few years and the "owners" of the business i.e. the government, are not showing any concern whatsoever.

In fact the ill-fated Labour governments headed by Blair and Brown were instrumental in ensuring that the UK postal service ceased to be a public service and became just another business where the "chosen few" can make a few bob when it is eventually privatised. Public service is no longer an option