Royal Mail will be sold off today

[@salopian4037]

We are a nation without pride. A nation that knows the price of everything, and the value of nothing.

[@Captain-l-12p]

@@salopian4037 just Tories and reform.not all of us. Stay strong.

[@MatthewStanhope]

​@Captain-l-12psorry who is in government today ?

[@alastairward2774]

​@@MatthewStanhopeTory party lite.

[@grahamtranter3616]

Its incumbent on the purchaser to assess value. I'd vote for restrictions on advertising as the method for halting the decline in purchasers sentiments. Anyway I keep hearing we are proud to house the rest of the world , I'd imagined that meant someone had pride

[@shughy1]

Left wing forces in the UK made it shameful to have pride in your country, that's a part of the problem, ask anyone if they feel proud to be British or English and see what I mean, they're unaware of being shamed for it

[@ftumschk]

... the Czech's literally in the post.

[@spittinchips5175]

😊

[@Richard-hc1lq]

😂 very good

[@jenteale]

HaHaHa...

[@linking-it]

😮😱

[@peterteagleteagle9958]

I think this check is going to bounce,

[@physiocrat7143]

Royal Mail has been sitting on a pile of valuable real estate and still does. It's probably the real prize here.

[@lcship1905]

Agreed, he's getting it very cheaply. Everything this dreadful govt does is wrong... Even the dubious socialist bits such as state ownership... The grifters all want free suits, holidays , non -execs etc .

[@tonggao08]

Yes. This is what it's all about.

[@jondarbyshire-s7k]

@@tonggao08 selling off the family silverware again. Nice palace in Windsor offers anyone?

[@theimperialist2686]

This is one of many reasons why we've become a laughing stock to the world, we keep self damaging ourselves and selling out to save face.

[@annenunney9907]

Spot on

[@paulbird3235]

And Thatcher instigated all of this in the name of freedom of choice. For some!.

[@call_in_sick]

💯

[@richardkelly9156]

God Save us

[@robertcook2572]

I don't think we are a laughing stock. I don't think the rest of the world gives any thought at all.

[@davidwright4891]

It should no longer be called the Royal Mail .

[@SportsHitTV-qx1sm]

Amazon Post

[@shakkattack]

Only thing royal is a royal mess up right thru the establishment , Charlie Windsor 🇩🇪 can’t hear 👂🏻 you ❗️

[@itemushmush]

Its really dumb that we privatised our national post service. why does a postal service need to be *profitable*? Its a service, not a product!

[@call_in_sick]

💯

[@davefave4351]

The service is not strictly 'essential' unlike the energy and water industries...

[@michaelgoodwin593]

God Britain really is a waste land. What happens after 5 years, will all the taxes the RM generate move to Europe?

[@itemushmush]

@@davefave4351 sending a letter or parcel is essential in any country. maybe not AS essential as water, but we're splitting hairs here. my point stands that we shouldn't look at profit/loss, but the BUDGET of this service just like the NHS

[@Grogeous_Maximus]

@@davefave4351 Postal service is part of infrastructure. Obviously it's essential to a modern society, that relies on communication.

[@annetteshawunstoppableyou5281]

Royal Mail should be re-nationaized.

[@TheWebstaff]

Why?

[@susanellis7780]

@@annetteshawunstoppableyou5281 I would say everything that was sold off. Better public services. Better public money to channel into health😊

[@richardkelly9156]

It will be when Starmer is in prison

[@mettie1982]

​@@richardkelly9156😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@smythharris2635]

Globalist business and technocracy doesn't do nationalisation things.

[@RichardForster-gu1ww]

If anybody thinks the postal system will improve. Just look at the water services. And the trains. The list goes on and on.

[@bevc5349]

🎯

[@JZsBFF]

We're only one step away from the monarchy being sold... oh wait.

[@jonemery8324]

They , sold us.

[@david-pb4bi]

Wouldn’t have it for a gift.

[@jondarbyshire-s7k]

Well my offer be 1p for the monarchy palaces lands and estates and I do a Presidents role for a 1p year

[@richardkelly9156]

Basically Black rock or aka Charles

[@jenteale]

@@richardkelly9156 or Serco aka Willi

[@billyedwards6941]

We own nothing on this Island, and to think we gave the world so much with our inventions , all sold down the river

[@exelmans8855]

You didn’t give nothing mostly steal and call it yours.

[@formicapple2]

@@exelmans8855 I suggest you go back to school and learn how to write a legible reply. One that makes sense.

[@BIGGIEsmalls13]

How embarrassing Britain has become. Trapped here since Brexit I can't even run away.

[@grahamtranter3616]

I'm sure you could!

[@dragonmummy1]

I bet, ironically, you blame migrants.

[@markrainford1219]

Trapped? This isn't Soviet Russia.

[@TheVicar]

@@markrainford1219 Significantly restricted since Brexit Thanks for that

[@davidhardaker192]

Had a Christmas card from Germany, cost of postage €85 cents ( 72p approx). Sent a return card back, cost of postage £2.80. That's over 4 times the cost. That must be Royal Mail efficiency for you.

[@ricciozztin]

The good news is this won’t keep happening. The bad news is it’s because we’re running out of assets to sell to overseas investors.

[@paulwilson7234]

Agree

[@KevinRudd-w8s]

Probably sell off the NHS next, Then the military, which will probably be sold off to Chinese or Russian interests Finally they'll sell the government off, but then again that may have already happened.

[@jungletiger1900]

The UK is owned by the rest of the world and they please themselves, they perpetually raise prices with no hinderance at all, and postages stamps will be rising again.

[@michaelwhite8031]

Everything is for sale in this country, including politicians' souls😢

[@mikec3202]

Politicians have souls?

[@michaelwhite8031]

Did l say they don't have souls ? They have lost them to greed !​@@mikec3202

[@michaelwhite8031]

@@mikec3202 l said they have sold them, not that they don't have them.

[@MartinMcMartin]

What an insane loss of control.

[@SL-sd3sg]

Selling to a foreign billionaire, not good. I assume King Charles will no longer appear on our stamps. We keep selling ourselves out unfortunately.

[@ftumschk]

Where are the home-grown billionaires, I wonder? Too busy buying up farmland, I guess.

[@puppets.and.muppets]

the stamps will be replaced with images of whoopi goldberg

[@EdnaLawrence-p4t]

Busy buying up farmland in Africa, the Continent they refer to as s.......hole.

[@Must_not_say_that]

Removal of Charles from the stamps would be one good thing out of a bad.

[@SL-sd3sg]

@ I agree, he shouldn’t be endorsing what was done to postmasters either.

[@peoplewatcher.365]

They just don’t give a toss.There going to regret it.

[@Captain-l-12p]

@@peoplewatcher.365 no we will. The Tories don't regret anything.theyre psycopathic it goes with the territory.

[@KnowYoutheDukeofArgyll1841]

​@Captain-l-12p Haven't seen much change under Labour. You know, the once working class party that is now an extension of the Tory Party.

[@AnthonyWilliams-ew3wp]

Uneasy feeling about this.

[@Kieran-m7f]

Oversea control of our personal letters and parcels what possibly could go wrong? I'm more concerned than you are it's worrying

[@theimperialist2686]

May as well not call it Royal Mail anymore then, they'll probably take that off and rename it.

[@JZsBFF]

Listen! Can you hear the marketing boys and girls already?

[@paulbird3235]

Our "Royal" died two years ago.

[@salopian4037]

You are aware that it was sold off some time back? This is what happens when you elect traitors.

[@pin00ch]

Its already called 'IDS' now.

[@vijendrapatricknaryan2637]

Hell has anyone told him that he won't be able to take it with him when stops breathing? There's greed and then there's downright greed.Mind you the Tories and Thatcher sold most of the country 's crown jewels in the 70's and 80's. They must have forgotten about the royal mail!

[@chieftandriver703]

That should read ‘Royal Mail sold off…………………again’

[@deadandburied7626]

Even the US has its USPS as a state-owned business. Sale of our Royal Mail is a British national disgrace, it should be re-nationalised.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

There has been a long program to eventually privatize the postal service in the US and Canada. We are just further behind but the goal is the same. Imagine them salivating at getting their hands on the real estate and pensions of workers. They will need spittle cups to deal with it

[@timg1246]

Nobody would buy the USPS. It is a basket case of inefficiency.

[@keithhigh7773]

But a Trump appointee, Louis DeJoy, has been busy making the USPS a shadow of its former self because he and his wife have millions of dollars invested in USPS's competitors!

[@formicapple2]

Well said Prof.

[@Mounhas]

I want to send a parcel, I use the RM, but take it to a PO which is in W H Smiths whilst the original PO remains an empty building but right next to the sorting office. Bewildered? You bet I am.

[@heywhotsgoinon8286]

The inability to fire people for incompetence or potential criminality is the cause of a lot of problems in the uk.

[@Berlitz81]

Knowing that there will not be any consequences for incompetence or skullduggery leads to a culture of slovenliness and dishonesty.

[@theworldaccordingto4555]

So do you want to get rid of Your working rights, human rights? That way employers or owners can just fire you and hire/rehire someone to replace you straight away. (probably on a lower wage and/or without any benefits like maternity leave or sick pay or paid holidays etc)

[@childofthe60s100]

It's not inability - it is refusal - fired by the old boys network!

[@heywhotsgoinon8286]

@theworldaccordingto4555 so someone who is incompetent or commits a criminal act should keep their job then?

[@DessieTots]

I was a Postie with Royal Mail and it dumbfounded me that a job where I spent most of the time outside, away from managers still became a depressing, pressure filled job. A sorting office where my colleagues had to make several complaints about a sociopathic manager who was moved away but came back months later to wreak unwelcome and unnecessary hassle.

[@DavidCarrol-i2q]

I know Royal Mail and The Post Office are two separate entities but I wonder if this announcement is an underhand way of not compensating the Post Masters in the immediate future. It also further demonstrates the belief that the UK is just a PLC and not a productive and functioning country.

[@keithhigh7773]

I thought the ramping up of the price of stamps was an underhand way of getting the public to fund the compensation for Postmasters. The money can only come from the public purse anyway. Now, l think the increases were simply to make Royal Mail more attractive to potential buyers.

[@annenunney9907]

This is horrendous what the hell is going on how many jobs will go

[@michaelbrennan-qr6ed]

How can you say that the royal mail has been sold off today. It hasn't been ours since 2013 when George Osborne privatised it .

[@elainecameron5545]

Been in the hands of the dutch

[@graememckay9972]

A couple of years ago the Royal Mail announced an expansion of the rail service. DBS who ran the Mail train recruited drivers to operate the services. Within a few months this sell out was announced and the scrapping of all the mail trains was also announced puting all the traffic back on the road except a few runs by a new private company that is only a couple of years old.

[@Steve-w5c]

Let's hope all the scumbags at the post office who were responsible for sending those innocent post masters to jail are jailed themselves

[@susanellis7780]

Privatisation means putting customers last😞

[@gzk6nk]

Obviously, which is why the worst performing rail company (Northern) has been nationalised for 5 years now.

[@GShockWatchFan.]

Of the government can't fix Royal Mail how can he? All the buyer wants to is make money.

[@DeborahSchoenberger]

The privatization of government services is a very dangerous sign of more changes to come. IMO. Next comes healthcare, education, and housing. It is frightening.

[@peterhagan8454]

i have a friend in Royal Mail, and he tells me in the sorting house before going on his rounds, its like working in a prison

[@TheVicar]

Has he worked in a prison?

[@rumplestilskinsmum5094]

Nonsense Royal Mail was privatized in stages between 2013 and 2015. With initial sales overseen by Vince Cable the business Sec. at the time. The remaining 30% in stake was sold in 2015 by George Osbourne chancellor of the Exchequer. I should know I worked for the Post Office at that time!

[@terasci5102]

Well, never trust politicains!

[@ahsenkhan5386]

like 4 decades too late

[@Lynnpjjbdndji]

Explains why my mail is only been delivered once every 7 days !!!!

[@springchicken893]

If you are lucky!

[@jonathanbrown1177]

Maybe our biggest mistake ever!

[@childofthe60s100]

OUR????? No NO NO! The incompetent government's fault............who are all so wealthy that they don't care!

[@danielranc8963]

Apparently the catastrophic privatization of the railways, and Brexit that ruined Britain, was still not enough. The next one will be NHS. When will you awake? (Comment from an EU country)

[@puppets.and.muppets]

i think the nhs should be disbanded.

[@danielranc8963]

@puppets.and.muppets then i wish a happy dereliction.

[@Raggandrist]

There’s nothing to suggest staying in Europe would have produced better results. There is evidence to suggest that if MP’s used their new powers in the benefit of the uk then we would certainly be better off. The fact is our politicians hate the uk and will do anything in their power to harm it even when the population vote to give them more power to work in our favour. Kier is currently in talks to take us back into Europe as we speak. He’s got no mandate to do what he’s doing but you can guarantee he’ll pole ahead with his plan because he knows it will create further pain for the uk.

[@mettie1982]

​@@Raggandrist😂😂😂😂😂oh wait your serious 😂😂😂😂

[@brianhewson7779]

Assets were being sold off when we were in the EU.

[@normanstratford9329]

The email system has destroyed the RM, but there are still NHS and government mail. Moyà Green said that privatisation is necessary and they have tried to slimline the service. The upper management only wants the profits, not a good service .parcels is the future with many companies sending out goods using RM.

[@NI4NI-y5f]

That's not good. Sorry to hear that.

[@davidmcintyre8145]

This will be the end of a universal postal system in the UK and we can expect all Royal Mail services to cease to function within five years

[@jjefferyworboys8138]

Have you read the terms of the deal ?

[@davidmcintyre8145]

@@jjefferyworboys8138 Once the company is in private hands there is little or nothing the UK government can do about the day to day running of the company or what services it chooses to provide; this is true whether that government is Labour,Tory or heaven forbid Reform any of which will be pro big business

[@mariGentle]

George Osbourne sold it off So don't pretend it's today

[@catherinehall4862]

Dont think many know though.Thanks for Highlighting it.

[@josefschiltz2192]

The United Kingdom . . . going . . . Blackadder: "Oh, what's the point? It's been gone for bloody ages!" Baldrick: "I got a goldfish for it!" Blackadder: "See what I mean?"

[@billsellwood3280]

Well done Paula !

[@marijo1951]

Wasn't she with the Post Office, a separate company from Royal Mail?

[@eclectic_gamer]

@@marijo1951 And if you accept that excuse, I have a lovely bridge to sell you.

[@AndymacUK]

Hang about a bit the Royal Mail was sold off years ago! The Royal Mail as we used to know it, was sold off in 2013 when it was allowed to be privatised and became Royal Mail Limited and then Royal Mail plc. From 2013 it has been part of International Distributions Services (IDS). From 2022 IDS changed the name of Royal Mail to their own name of International Distributions Services (IDS). What has happened now is that our government has approved a $6.7 billion takeover of IDS by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky. Can’t wait to see the head of Daniel Kretinsky on our stamps. Why stop there - isn’t it about time to privatise the Monarchy? Perhaps those who favour the monarchy could have an annual subscription along the lines of Netflix? The monarchy could become completely self- financing or is that too much to ask of our “squeaky clean” Royalty?

[@JamesNicholson-dg9ss]

how many people out of work within next few months!! gonna be a bloodbath

[@paradoxstate5018]

This is nothing short of grotesque, words absolutely fail me :(

[@KevinRudd-w8s]

If some of the Labour politicians of my youth came back today they wouldn't recognise todays Labour party. Privatisation does not prioritise service over profits. All utilities should be in public ownership as should some of our strategically important industries. I'm not against private ownership in general, in fact it can be a good thing, but not where national security and the publics best interest are concerned. I suspect that Royal Mail we become nothing more than another courier company, and to be fair so long as people recieve their mail in a timely manner, most people probably won't mind that much. I shall be sorry to see it go though having lived with it for nearly seventy years, I always found the service perfectly acceptable, perhaps I was just lucky.

[@garychirgwin7797]

Ownership is irrelevant. The critical issue is of regulation, but as we've seen with previous privatizations there is none.

[@Sigurd-r5]

Well, pretty much everything else has been sold off, so why not the Royal Mail? It's being going on for a long time now. Remember Harold McMillan in the 1980's admonishing Mrs Thatcher for "Selling off the family silver"

[@smythharris2635]

Gordon Brown's gold?

[@kiwicol7383]

I attended a Class 2 driving assessment for RM and that was enough for me, I didn’t bother going back

[@nigellacey559]

Selling England by the pound

[@hazelmcfaull2111]

Why only England???????????

[@nigellacey559]

@hazelmcfaull2111 it's the name of a 1972 album by genesis

[@EdMcF1]

Call it Wenceslas Post.

[@PrivatePrivate-so4if]

Ghastly! We have sold off everything in this country and in all cases the services have collapsed! We own nothing any more and are being screwed over prices and services! How could they have privatised the utilities in the first place. ScotRail was sold to the Netherlands. Arriva to Germany. And over £900million from our energy bills goes abroad each year. It’s sheer lunacy.

[@pauloakes5718]

How can these idiots destroy something so good and pure?

[@mariGentle]

What idiots..... George Osbourne sold it for pennies

[@derekwhite2929]

Going Going Gone🤦‍♂️

[@uweinhamburg]

Well, with a national debt of 120 bn GBP per year 3.5 bn will last for roughly 11 days. What's next??

[@oralogarro9932]

This is bad nothing good can come of this, higher prices for stamps and everything else

[@paulwilson7234]

Not much left to sell . 😢

[@BillDavies-ej6ye]

Billionaires accumulate wealth. So, bits will be sold off, debts will rise, dividends will rise. And a few years down the line, it will get sold on. We've been here before.

[@Ironbuket]

The letters side of it is broke. Multiple people come past here in a day delivering parcels, would make a lot of sense to have that merged into as few visits as is efficient. However, that may result in letters getting chucked in the bushes to finish a round early and existing workers being fired and rehired at lower wages which will inevitably bring down standards anyway. Probably should have stayed as state owned and never been privatised in the first place. Might have cost the tax payer to keep it going, but worth it in my book

[@dprout3392]

Going private, it should lead to a reduction of income tax 🤔 but also lead to an increase in postal costs. It is no longer a public service but a profit making business where investments will prioritise profits. That's the way not only the cookies crumble.

[@francessimmonds5784]

Let’s not forget the tories sold off Royal Mail in the first place. Then once in private hands the owner can do what they like.

[@joanneblowey3001]

They sold the last steelworks they will sell everything.

[@Kieran-m7f]

They'll sell the rest of the prison service to private security companies too as can't control it

[@Charonupthekuiper]

The Czech's in the post.

[@Ricimer671]

Oh, hohohohoho, good one!

[@CL-un9gg]

😂

[@Vinylathome]

Royal Mail once a great company with employees proud to work there. All gone since the sell off. No trust there no pride anymore it’s finished as a brand.

[@Kieran-m7f]

Everything used to be a good company to work for till we sold everything

[@OldWorldFool]

NHS next.

[@jordoncampbell5118]

Nigel has plans for NHS.

[@Kieran-m7f]

Prison service army schools probs everything as bankrupt but won't admit it

[@Lilym661]

Hello everybody, everything is sold or up for sale here at the uk . Just the air above us is left, no doubt someone is working on how to flog that. Isn’t it depressing?

[@mk5346]

Step by step, it's back to serfdom for the once proud and mighty British nation. No wonder Farages and BoJo's need to whip up a frenzy (any subject will do) to make sure the public don't pay too much attention to how it's been imprisoned (Brexit) and how the country's future is sqandered away. Tragic, really.

[@colintuffs568]

For sale sign board gone up in front of Windsor Castle . Any offers for the Crown Jewels ? Surely the Royal Mail belongs to the Crown. Has the King agreed to the title Royal being owned by a foreigner ?

[@carlpierce2486]

Now thats one privatisation i would support ! Royals are at the heart of the corruption.

[@chrisbutterworth6685]

RM is a massive employer, so the new National Insurance hikes will cost millions. Prices will inevitably go up and job cuts will definitely be coming.

[@johnnoddings6926]

A very bad day. 500 years! Very disappointed in Starmer, very.

[@mariGentle]

George Osbourne sold it off to his mates

[@jjefferyworboys8138]

The Unions supported the sell off.

[@KnowYoutheDukeofArgyll1841]

​@@mariGentleBoth parties are in it together. And anything now, is under Starmer's watch. Not doing such a great job either, just like the last sorry bunch.

[@gjohnston6052]

They don't see national security, they see product.

[@markrobinson1458]

This Czech isn't stupid,but our government are, watch the jobs go, the royal mail has been in decline for over 30 years because of piss poor management on all levels, every front line manager just towing the line in fear of losing their jobs, higher management never heard just how bad it was on the front line, I know,I was seeing it happen daily thankfully I'm out of it now, it all started when Leighton and crozier got their greedy noses in the trough. Now it's on countdown to extinction

[@graveneyshipright]

Thats why I have been waiting 6 days for a parcel collection! won't touch the pension pot... yeah thats right, that will be plundered when it quietens down and we'll see another mirror group carve up and this golden share, that will be sold off to plug a hole somewhere. if not this year but at some time. I was once proud to call myself a briton from great briton. I cant do that for fear of being laughed at. Thanks for a good vid Prof. Please bring us som good new and start using the daily star as you news source or is that sauce?

[@stephfoxwell4620]

Brings a new meaning to the Xmas Post. But what we need is a cancelled Czech.

[@ipohtennischannel5482]

There is nothing in Britain that is not for sale to foreign investors, or that has not already been sold off to foreign investors.

[@paulcarter8705]

The Genesis album “Selling England by the pound” springs to mind

[@patrickkeating7074]

In Ireland, we would never nationalise our State companies....Electricity....Rail...Water....Post...Etc... because they make many Billions in Profit for the state and give secure jobs with great pensions.....What the f....is going on in Britain.....

[@smythharris2635]

Kretinsky is already in Ireland with EPH at the Tynagh power plant. He's also all over Europe in a total of 11 countries.

[@salparadise1220]

Then it has to drop the word Royal from its title, for it is not the Royal Mail if the Crown doesn't own it.

[@Manu-Official]

UK never learned since Margaret Thatcher, even when most rivers are contaminated with privatised raw sewage. As a side note I sent a Christmas card to my dad who lives in France - the stamp did cost more than the card.

[@grahamtranter3616]

Its thirty years since Margaret Thatcher privatised water . Have you actually researched in detail sewage contamination in the first ten years of privatistion. I was around at the time and my recollection tells me the waterways became cleaner due to the investment from the private sector. No-one used to talk about the prospect of seeing otters in our rivers in the the sixties and seventies.

[@alanbithell4587]

It must give up its crown protection then. They should also have to publish the contract you enter when you purchase postage.

[@colinsmith1288]

I think the post office scandal finally killed off the Royal Mail being a reputable company.

[@dinnerwithfranklin2451]

The government was responsible for the scandal not the workers or citizens.

[@andrewfrancis584]

G'day from WA. Nothing suprises me any more.Prof

[@CamMcIntyre-c8z]

The world has become an oligarchy.

[@DonnoP-d3b]

I applaud all that you say. I think the most significant comment you make is "will this modernisation improve service or simply prioritise profits". All I have seen is a deterioration since Royal Mail was privatised. We don't have to look far to see what has happened in other areas of privatisation of what should be a service and not profit-making; one of the most glaring examples is Thames Water. I see the supply and disposal of water as one of the most basic requirements of a civilised society. The Romans were pretty good at it.

[@milerale5286]

Sold to Czech guy who is very good friend of Putin. Love it

[@maryotoole7389]

Everything’s for sale if you put money on the table now and this started with thatcher and still continues today

[@michealchesworth3817]

Not a good sign when a labour party allows this

[@KevinRudd-w8s]

I don't believe this is a Labour party anymore

[@smythharris2635]

The "labour" party no longer exists and hasn't for a long time. It is now almost completely owned by the upper middle classes.

[@jjefferyworboys8138]

The Unions supported the sell off.

[@glennaustin37]

Claret and blue letter boxes? ⚒️

[@catherinehall4862]

Sold Of,to whom? He isnt 'Royal,"It NO LONGER Can be called Royal Mail!!!Its Unconstitutional,Full Stop.Thanks again Prof.

[@SC-g2b]

No more post men pat and his black and white cat.

[@robertreynolds580]

Good riddance. Tired of getting emails stating package delivered...ok...where is it? When it was privatised...and taxpayers lost money on it...I laughed...only a matter of time before it got taken over. And here we are

[@spittinchips5175]

What would Anthony Trollope say about this?

[@daveblack5109]

When there's nothing left, there's nothing to fight for...

[@jonathanbrown1177]

Should be a REFERENDUM on this

[@jjefferyworboys8138]

The Unions have backed it.

[@dieselbushcraft1299]

A sad state of affairs. If I’m being honest it’s core business of delivering letters is probably only going to go one way in this modern age of electronic communications. I’m probably a rebellious looney left sort in my views but I think there has been too much sold into the private sector. Anyway my opinions don’t count and even if they did I couldn’t do anything.