SNP Condemn Royal Mail Sell Off

Commenting on the announcement that the Westminster government has confirmed the sale of shares in Royal Mail, Mike Weir SNP MP said:

"This is a deeply flawed Westminster decision, which threatens to have particularly harmful consequences for Scotland where so many of our rural communities and so much of our rural economy rely on our existing Royal Mail service. The UK Government are refusing to heed the real and genuine concerns that privatisation will mean a reduction in rural services as companies cherry-pick and compete in the larger urban areas."

"Given our experience of previous privatisations no one believes that the regulator will provide real protection to consumers on either prices or services.

"The Scottish Government has invested heavily in a scheme to bring fibre optic broadband to 95% of the population by 2017. That gives a real opportunity to grow rural businesses, but it requires an efficient, comprehensive and reasonably priced mail service to back it up. A privatised service will not deliver that for rural Scotland.

"Royal Mail must be viewed as part of our national infrastructure not just as another business."