Petition delivers opposition to Royal Mail privatisation to Prime Minister

A petition being handed into Number 10 today (Wednesday) shows the swell of public opposition to government plans to privatise Royal Mail.

CWU general secretary Billy Hayes joins campaigners from the Save Our Royal Mail coalition to hand in a 160,000 strong petition to Downing Street, sending a strong message that the public do not support the government’s plans.

Billy Hayes, pictured far left, with campaigners from the Save Our Royal Mail coalition
Billy Hayes, CWU general secretary, said: “This petition is an indication of the strong opposition felt across the country against plans to privatise Royal Mail. This company is a valued national asset which made £403 million profit last year and is the foundation of the country’s mail services.

“At events up and down the country we have met people from all walks of life who are against privatisation plans. Tens of thousands more signatures are also on paper petitions collected at street stalls in towns and villages across the UK. Last weekend we were in Twickenham – Vince Cable’s constituency – and shoppers were queuing up to sign the petitions against privatisation.

“There are plenty of options for keeping Royal Mail a successful, publicly-owned company and we hope that the Prime Minister will take on board the views of significant numbers of British people.”

If the petition had been hosted on the Number 10 website it would have smashed the target of 100,000 signatures required to secure a debate in parliament on the issue. A BIS Select Committee session on Royal Mail privatisation and shares due to be held next week has been postponed until October.

Presenting the petition to Downing Street at 2pm on Wednesday 4 September are:

Billy Hayes – General Secretary of the Communication Workers Union
Darren Rowbotham – Postman who wrote a petition on change.org
Dot Gibson – General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention
Mario Dunn – Campaign Director of Save Our Royal Mail
Martin Forsythe – Campaign Manager of Save Our Royal Mail
Katy Clark MP – Labour
Kate Hoey MP – Labour
Mike Weir MP – Scottish National Party