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Mandelson faces backbench critics over Royal Mail plans
Nicholas Cecil11.02.09
Lord Mandelson will today come under fire over plans to part-privatise the Royal Mail.
Labour backbench MPs are set to voice their anger at the move when the shake-up of the service is debated in the Commons.
Earlier this week, several raised their concerns with the Business Secretary at a meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party.
More than 100 Labour MPs have already lined up to criticise the proposal to sell a minority stake in the company to a private firm.
However, ministers do not expect a major rebellion today as the reforms are being debated on an Opposition Day, with some Labour MPs dismissing the debate as "Tory opportunism".
The Communication Workers Union has warned the privatisation move risks "straining" its relationship with the Labour Party, which it funds to the tune of £1 million a year.
A survey published by the union this week showed three out of four members of the public disagreed with privatisation, a figure rising to nine out of 10 when foreign ownership was mentioned.
Dutch postal group TNT has expressed an interest in taking a stake in the Royal Mail.
Unions have warned that 16,000 Royal Mail jobs are already under threat, including 1,500 in London, though this has been denied by the company.
Ahead of today's debate, shadow business secretary Ken Clarke sought to exploit Labour divisions on the issue.
"This seems to be less about Royal Mail and more about the Government grabbing billions of pounds of assets," he said.
