Why the Royal Mail?

As expected, the Government has confirmed the sale through the London stock exchange of the world’s oldest postal service, the Royal Mail, or at least a majority stake in it.
The Government is unconcerned about who will end up buying the bulk of the shares - hedge funds, other city speculators, institutional ‘investors’ or anyone else who sees an opportunity to cash in. We’ve seen to our cost the consequences of privatisation before and we don't want to see the results again.
This is a tragic decision, the Royal Mail is no ordinary business, it is part of our national inheritance. But if this wretched government gets its way, the Royal Mail is about to be ripped from the heart of our communities and put into the hands of private profit makers.There's money in the millions to be made also by the bankers (mostly in foreign ownership) and lawyers who will be called in to 'advise' on the sell-off.
Centuries of history are being discarded for a paltry £2-3bn that could be raised in other ways - for example by withdrawing the government’s recent tax cut to the very rich.
Having already had prices for letters and parcels hiked up massively to make the Royal Mail more saleable; prices will certainly be jacked up again, year after year as we have seen with other former publicly owned services.
Long gone are the days when the Royal Mail was overstaffed, inefficient and loss-making. Many changes have been made under public ownership. Last year, Royal Mail delivered over £600 million in profits back to taxpayers and is set to do so again this year even after the disgusting payments to the chief executive. With profits already on this scale what more ‘commercial freedom’ is needed?
The Royal Mail is a public service not a means of making more money, just as is the NHS and, tax dodgers apart, that’s what we pay our taxes for. There has to be some national infrastructure that is retained in public ownership with a service ethos and that is not subject to the greed, dishonesty and tax-dodging of today’s profiteering companies and super rich individuals.
If this process isn’t stopped and the Royal Mail falls into ruthless hands, if I were HMQ I would insist that 'Royal' be rescinded. Why should this prestigious seal of approval for a public service be carried over to enhance the profits of any old money maker?
But protests, petitions and the wishes of the people count for very little and the government will almost certainly make the disposal regardless of public opposition. This is just one more example showing that the country desperately needs to have a political movement that will undo some of the damage that is being done and which will seek to promote he common good. But if this comes at all it will not be in time to save the Royal Mail.