Royal Mail privatisation plan delayed

Plans to sell a minority stake of the Royal Mail are being delayed, Business Secretary Peter Mandelson has said.

When asked for a date for the Second Reading of the Bill that would allow partial privatisation of the postal service, Lord Mandelson told the Financial Times that it was unlikely to be before the Commons' summer break.

He said he was being "jostled by other bids for the remaining legislative days", but that unfavourable market conditions and depressed share prices were mainly to blame for the delay.

However, he said that he hoped that the bill would be passed before the next election and that one bidder had already expressed an interest in the stake.

Lord Mandelson said that the Government continued to believe that reform and regulation, the bail-out of the pension fund deficit and the introduction of a "minority strategic partner" were "the right way to go".

The three recommendations were outlined in a governmental review of the sector last December, which concluded that the "status quo is not tenable" and advised the introduction of "one or more private sector companies with demonstrable experience of transforming a major business".

The privatisation plans have faced criticism from small business groups and trade unions.

In February, a public opinion poll commissioned by the Communication Workers Union showed that 75% of respondents disagreed with privatisation, and 33% strongly disagreed. In May, the Union argued that the Royal Mail's doubling of profit demonstrated that privatisation was unnecessary.