Regulator Postcomm announced that the postal service market will be opened to full competition from January 1 next year, paving the way for private firms to deliver letters in opposition to the Royal Mail.

Royal Mail has welcomed the news, but the Communication Workers Union said it was "ill-advised".

Do you welcome the loss of the Royal Mail monopoly on postal services? Do you think it will have an impact on how your mail is delivered?

This debate is now closed. Read a selection of your comments below.

The following comments reflect the balance of opinion we received:

SUGGEST A DEBATE This topic was suggested by Helen, UK: Do you welcome the loss of the Royal Mail monopoly on postal services? Send us your suggestions for Have Your Say debates

I have become indifferent to the future of the Post Office as I intend to seal off my letter box in the near future. I am contacting my bank, BT etc, informing them I will only deal with companies who can communicate with me via e-mail, phone or in person. The Post Office are welcome to the rest of my mail which is unsolicited junk!!
Tony B, Leeds, UK

I am worried about the prospect of deregulation of the postal services. Can anyone say that the trains or directory enquiries have become easier to use since they were opened up to competition? I do not claim that Royal Mail is perfect but given the experience we have had with other "improvements" in recent years, I have no confidence that "competition" will improve the service.
Mark, Pontypridd, Wales

A little competition never hurt anybody... and probably benefited the consumer. It's common knowledge that monopolies are not good for the customer.
Jack, London

The profitable bits will be cherry-picked by the private companies Matthew, Leicester

I can see it becoming a big expensive mess. The profitable bits will be cherry-picked by the private companies, Royal Mail will still have to offer a one-price-fits-all service but they won't have the cash to subsidise the deliveries to rural areas. The postal system is flawed, but this is the last thing it needs.
Matthew, Leicester

I don't welcome this at all. Simple economics mean that the Royal Mail still have to deliver to all the places as often - yet will receive ever-decreasing revenues for doing so. I have no problems with the current service at all - indeed, I'm constantly surprised at how speedily the mail arrives to my relatively remote location. Privatisation is likely to result in duplicity and a less dedicated service.
James Robson, UK

Will it go the same way as parcel deliveries with some firms refusing to supply remote areas? The major national couriers don't even bother delivering to the house in remote areas but put goods on public service vehicles to be dropped at the terminal. Not even a phone call to say it's coming.
Mike, Orkney

I get about ten letters a day excluding junk mail and bills. Yes the service could be better but it is generally reliable, inexpensive and improving. My outgoing mail mostly arrives next working day. The competition is by email. Competition will subdivide a mature market bringing diseconomies of scale. Far better simplify the rules to help Royal Mail make itself more efficient. Perhaps a change of government will stop this lunatic idea.
Jeremy Blatchford, Bristol, UK

So the inefficiency has been introduced by the government in their wish to privatise it, now they have their excuse! Mike Green, Leeds, UK

My dad has worked for the post office for 20 years, and has seen the management deteriorate from people who were previously promoted from the ranks to people who think they know how to manage but have no idea how the system works. The parcel delivery used to subsidise letters, then it was split off (with a view to privatisation I might add!) and now letters to businesses are delivered by a separate postie from parcels, when one man could have done the job.

Casual posties who aren't trained properly are being brought in more and more as cheap labour in another cost cutting exercise. That's what leads to losses and problems. Pride is reduced in another service sector (nurses and teachers) so people don't see it as a job they will be supported in, and the service deteriorates. So the inefficiency has been introduced by the government in their wish to privatise it, now they have their excuse!
Mike Green, Leeds, UK

The Royal Mail is a fantastic public service and the envy of other countries. Amazon put the fact that it made a profit in the UK so quickly down to our superior postal service. Will people be happy when their mail is no longer delivered to their house but has to be collected, as in Canada? Will people in rural locations be happy to pay far more for post?
Paul Webster, York, UK

Okay, so who do we use? Who is responsible for the delivery? Who do we contact to find what has happened to missing items? Stand by for chaos and non-accountability from the government.
Neil Small, Scotland

It's a good thing and long overdue. The Royal Mail is far too complacent and massively inefficient. Whenever there are proposed changes the unions seem to have a strangle hold on them. My service from the Royal Mail is not acceptable at all. Lost letters, mail not arriving till 1pm, disinterested staff and returned letters taking five days to appear at the counter. The customer should have choice.
Zotar, UK

Privatisation will decimate the world's finest postal service Matt Munro, Bristol, UK

I have been using the Royal Mail for over 20 years and must have posted hundreds of items - yet I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of times anything has gone wrong. Privatising the post service will be a disaster, costs will rise and standards will fall - as they did with the railways, hospital cleaning and directory enquiries. How many private companies will deliver a letter from one end of the country to the other for a few pence? Privatisation will decimate the world's finest postal service.
Matt Munro, Bristol, UK

I can't believe that they're doing this! The trains don't work, the directory enquiries service doesn't work, the electricity and gas companies don't work, etc, etc. All of these things used to be fine. Why play around with them? Come on somebody. Prove me wrong. Show me a service that has gone from the public domain to the private without the whole thing ending in confusion. Does Germany do this? Does France? Italy? Leave it alone!
Matt, Crowborough, UK

If it means we'll actually get stuff delivered (instead of going missing) and that it will arrive on time (instead of days or weeks late) then I welcome it!
Suzi, Swansea, Wales

No other company has the capacity to compete with Royal Mail - the network is so vast - which is why I believe this sleight of hand is happening. The competition will glean the best bits (as with deregulation of bus services) and only be interested in small lucrative sections (a further nail in the coffin of rural areas). What will happen to other services like the Postbus - it will disappear.
Peggy Reeves, Christchurch

Why should a private firm be allowed to cream off the easiest deliveries D J Lucas, England

I don't welcome the news at all. Whatever is the Government thinking of, we need our present post office services particularly in rural areas. Why should a private firm be allowed to cream off the easiest deliveries and leave the rest for the post office to pick up.
D J Lucas, England

Why should we all have to subsidise the postal service and local shop of people who choose to live in middle of nowhere? The '30p letter to the Highlands' gets a massive subsidy, that forces us all to pay over the odds for letters sent within urban and suburban areas. Competition is long overdue. It's lowered the costs of our phone services, broadband, electricity and gas, and forced the former monopolists to stop taking their customers for granted. It will do the same for mail.
Karim, London

I think it is about time something was done about the national monopoly that was the post office. I'm not sure whether the prices would increase if there was competition, surely the reverse would happen in a competitive market. However, this market will not be a fully competitive market. It will be the sort of part-privatisation (with government money being injected into any failing parts of the service) which has largely failed with the railways and the utilities. Fully nationalised or fully competitive, not somewhere in between that means we get the worst of both worlds.
Nathan James, Liverpool

Oh dear oh dear! When will they ever learn? De-regulation constantly leads to chaos because the new participators in the industry never get regulated properly and standards actually fall. (British Rail? I rest my case.) I get a regular delivery of mail every day and have never had anything lost in the mail and I'm sure my experience is amongst the huge majority in the country - only the complaints ever get publicised, not the good news. What happened to socialism under New Labour? Surely it's still there somewhere!
Chris, Surrey, UK

As usual with so many things like this there isn't any detail on how it will all work. At the moment I can put a letter in the post to my uncle who lives in the middle of nowhere in the Lake District and it will get there. From next year I assume I will have to find a "carrier" who has a service in my area and delivers letters in my Uncle's area and then find out how much its going to cost. How is that going to work in reality? Aren't we now privatising things just for the sake of privatisation?
Steve, Cheltenham, UK

I see trouble ahead. Deregulation of rail travel has shown how to turn an average service into an indifferent one (at best). I'm sure competition can create good service at low cost within and between cities, but what about the rest of the country?
Jerry, Bedfordshire, UK

The service will not be improved and the cost of postage will certainly rise Stephen Lee, Bolton

From my experience the royal mail has always been speedy and reliable. To expect that a service as large as the postal service should not experience delays is ludicrous and anyone thinking that this signals the start of a better postal service will be seriously mistaken. The service will not be improved and the cost of postage will certainly rise.
Stephen Lee, Bolton

We think mail delivery is bad now! Just wait until we have no idea who it has been sent with. Royal mail gives a service, and they do it ok. Why make all these changes that will eventually lead to chaos and more missing mail etc than we have now and more excuses for it.
Adele, Manchester

It took weeks to train as a postman. We had to pass IQ tests and prove ourselves to be upstanding citizens holding a responsible position. The future will see money-grabbing companies employing cheap-labour with little understanding of the language and its nuances. I mean, if a letter is marked with nothing but "Sue, Fenton Road" will a so-called privatised postman think laterally enough to know where she lives? Or even be bothered? I can see nothing but sacks of important mail stuffed into bins, or worse still tipped into hedges etc. The problem with those at the top making these decisions is that they have no conception of everyday life.
Postie, UK

If profit is the only motive, then the unprofitable services, like the home delivery of letters, will become far more expensive, or disappear altogether. I hardly write any myself, and most of what I get is junk mail, so I don't really care.
Steve, UK

I worked for the GPO for many years. When the GPO had the control of the telephones, the price of stamps were quite small and the product very good. One made huge profits and offset the other. But the Government of the day chose to split them this led to a really large increase in the price of postage. Now the Government are planning once again to split services, i.e. business and private. And as before, one is subsidising the other, won't this now lead to huge increases as before.
H Maher, Blackpool England

My experience in New Zealand was that the "independent" mail companies would deliver downtown but slap a 40 cent NZ Post on anything that was out in the sticks so our mail was delayed. The independents paid by going broke.
John Mycroft, Asheville USA

Royal Mail is an institution although mismanaged should be kept on but with very different guidelines to make it more efficient. Trade Unions would do well to help their workers into the 21st century.
Carole, UK

A couple of big companies with MPs on there boards will make lots of money, quality of service for 90% of the population will be rubbish, and Royal Mail will be bankrupt.
Nathan Hobbs, Luton, UK

Why do people keep repeating the mantra that competition improves standards and efficiency? Have none of them travelled on a train in past decade?
Alex M, London

As someone who works in a post room for an insurance company I can tell you that the service the royal mail delivers is far superior to any other service. We have problems with mail not being delivered on a regular basis. Given a choice don't touch these other people.
Frank Lowles, London

Anyone who's travelled will know that the UK postal service is one of the most reliable in the world. As with all privatisation, this change will provide nothing but chaotic service and customer confusion. Just who is going to benefit from this? Not the customer I bet.
Tim Belcher, Swindon, UK

I would gladly pay 35p for a first class stamp and keep the royal mail. Why aren't the public consulted on such decisions ? After all, it's the public that will bare the brunt of the impending chaos that will come with an open market.
James Munro, Kent, England

Well, privatising public transport, public utilities, (water gas and elec), Directory enquiries and the like prove a success didn't it? No? Shhhhh! We don't want the public to know the real cost of our tax cuts.
Chris Hollett, UK

Head in hands, again. Yet again New Labour proves it is New Tory by giving to the private sector what should remain public. I suppose we'll have to choose who to send our mail by! Yet another choice to burden us along with all those wretched private companies billing up and having to choose, choose, choose. It's a war of attrition in that I fear we're all being worn down by choice. What's the ultimate aim because it sure isn't making life easier or better for us all.
Paul Bridle, Hoddesdon, UK

I have family who have worked in the Royal Mail for decades, and I can certainly say that this is a step in the wrong direction. Whilst Royal Mail may not be perfect, I doubt whether any other company could meet the challenge of posting a letter anywhere in the UK for 30p, and the item arriving the following day. This is going to be another example of an industry that is to be laid to ruins, all in the name of an open market.
Andy, Leeds, UK

British Rail losing their monopoly was a disaster. Deregulating Directory Enquiries has been a disaster. Deregulation of buses has been a disaster. I shudder to think what the results of postal deregulation will be. I predict....a disaster!
Craig, Stirling, Scotland

I am very satisfied with the services from Royal Mail, I will not be using anyone else. Our business will be staying with Royal Mail.
Maggie, Aberdeen

About time! I get the wrong mail delivered to me on a weekly basis. I complain again and again and nothing changes. Finally I'll have a chance to hit Royal Mail where it really hurts and stop using them!
Nick Daniels, Dunstable

Brilliant. Take one of the best postal services in the world (if not the best) and one that also happens to make a healthy profit, mess with it for a few years to the point where it starts to fall apart and then tell the British public that only 'competition' and 'choice' can sort out the problems and provide the modern postal service that the country deserves.
Matt, Harrogate, UK

This idea allows private firms to cherry pick those areas and services which will make most profit. Therefore the post office will not make enough money to cross subsidise those areas which make least profit. So what we will see is a total breakdown of rural services which may not affect cities or much of England but which will severely affect most parts of Wales and Scotland where large distances have to be undertaken to deliver even one letter. Another nail in the coffin for rural Britain. Next will be the abolition of the need to provide newspapers to all and a further denigration of non-city dwellers way of life. No broadband, no decent TV let alone digital TV or radio, soon to be no daily post and no newspapers. Ahh Stone Age here we come.
Ian, Brechin, Scotland

This is a bad move, even the most capitalist nation on earth, the USA only has state run US Mail.
Ian, Maidenhead, UK

I would like the service I grew up with - answerable to the Crown that delivers next day to anywhere Tim, London

Delivering letters is something that has been going on for 150 years. Why is it such a difficult thing to do all of a sudden? Why have I had three items (computer, Inland Revenue, Credit Card) intercepted, opened and tampered with in the last month? I would like the service I grew up with - answerable to the Crown that delivers next day to anywhere. First class should be just that and priced properly to make money to pay for the posties who also sort their own round and thus are responsible for the integrity and performance of that round. Unions, Politicians and the PO Management are all to blame for this. To privatise is a mistake and I smell a rat, as the call comes just as the PO is at its weakest!
Tim, London

This is a most ridiculous idea. Royal Mail is the only mail service to go to any house, any business, any where. As for a competitor/rival company, I don't think they would be so keen to deliver to the "hard to reach places", therefore making them unreliable. Also Royal Mail would benefit a lot more by setting up a system where everyone has mailboxes outside their property. It would save Royal Mail time and money and make Royal Mail a quicker and more efficient postal service.
Sam Galvin, Canterbury, Kent

It is a great pity that people in this country do not appreciate what they have Chantel, UK

I have never had a problem with Royal Mail. I find them to be efficient and polite. They have also made great improvements to their service. It is a great pity that people in this country do not appreciate what they have. When you post a letter 1st class in South Africa, you are lucky if it gets there in 4 days... that is if it is not stolen. Stop whining and be grateful that you have such an excellent service.
Chantel, UK

From my point of view it can't come quickly enough. Over the last couple of years the service has degraded at an alarming rate. I cannot believe that it can be any worst than it is now. I have experienced several aspects of this: - lots of other people's mail being delivered to my house - and not just neighbours' but mail to other roads and districts then the postman being rude when politely challenged. I think the business should be given to someone who will actually wants the trade.
Steve Castle, Fareham, Hants

The competition theory sounds plausible, but I believe it will end up being a disaster -like Railtrack - more chaos, more mail going missing than ever before and longer delivery times. Impose the law of the jungle, and you'll get the jungle!
Bill Wilcox, NW London, UK

This is long-overdue. The government has for years forced the post office to compete with one hand tied behind its back, namely that it was not free to operate as a private company. It just proves one thing - governments are poor at running business (how many members of the cabinet have ever run any kind of business?)
Richard, Cambridge, England

The royal mail needs to be reformed and re-organised but de-regulation will merely result in a muddying of relatively clear waters. Only a fool would conclude that such a move will result in improved services - More expensive services maybe but who wins in that situation. Well done Postcomm you've ruined a national institution.
B, UK

If Royal Mail had been allowed to charge a much more realistic price for first class mail there wouldn't have been any problems at all by comparison. 28p to send a letter is ridiculously low. What else can you get for 28p these days?
Peter, Evesham, England

The Royal Mail is a monopoly for a reason. It's going to be incredibly difficult for so many different companies to organise a nationwide business. All it's going to cause lots of confusion for customers. Some aspects of the Royal Mail may need making more efficient but this is not the way to go about it.
Hayley, Herts, UK

I think its bad news that Royal Mail is to lose its so called monopoly. We still have one of the best postal services in the world, despite the things people say about it. There is nothing really wrong with Royal Mail. I think this will be a flop. Too many cooks spoil the broth!
Sam, Bristol, UK

Trains were privatised and got worse. BT was privatised and is retarding the countries broadband growth. Private TV shows nothing but inane game shows and celebrity gossip. Why can't the post office just up the price of a stamp to 50p to cover its costs and continue to provide a quality service ? Competition, as has been demonstrated over and over, doesn't work
Simon Soaper, England

This can't happen soon enough Rebecca, Wales

This can't happen soon enough! In some months the Royal Mail has managed to lose or damage up to 50% of orders we send out to customers - leading to a loss of business for our small company. Our private and business mail takes at least 2-3 days by so-called first class post. What kind of service is that supposed to be? The amount paid for postage isn't an excuse - they shouldn't be selling a service they can't deliver!
Rebecca, Wales

This will be an unmitigated disaster. Instead of one service with one infrastructure, able to make long term plans, we will now have many services, all with their own costly infrastructure, competing for a slice of the pie, with profit as the ultimate goal. How is this going to make things better for the consumer? We are just going to end up with higher prices and utter confusion.
Chris, Bristol, UK

I'm astounded by all the people who perceive that they get a sterling service. I can only assume that they unaware of how much of their mail goes missing. In the last week we have had 10 letters (inc 1 registered delivery allegedly signed for) delivered to our property for people in different streets and postcodes. This is a common occurrence. We have also had credit cards stolen from Royal Mail in the last year. They are a disgrace. Removal of their monopoly is long overdue.
Richard, London

I simply do not understand the thinking behind this. The delivery of mail is a public service - I cannot see the 'added value' that privatisation is supposed to add. Rather like the annoying plethora of expensive and indistinguishable directory enquiry 'services' this feels like privatisation for the sake of it, rather than because of any proven benefits. Sometimes very useful things don't make money but that does not mean they don't do their job properly.
Katherine, London, UK

Opening up the postal service so other companies can deal with letters is a good idea and the Royal Mail has themselves to blame when people desert them for others who can guarantee a letter gets to its destination within a sensible timescale. How about modernising the post offices themselves whilst they are at it?
Sarah, Chester, UK

Mike Parker is right, other businesses will cream off the most profitable areas. The idea is a good one, competition improves services and lowers costs, but only if the Royal Mail is allowed to alter its prices - up and down - to reflect the costs it really faces. Unfortunately the Post Offices in rural areas are gone, but that is really a different business to the Royal Mail. Its time the government stopped interfering in this industry at all!
Dan, London, UK

No I think the Royal Mail provides an excellent service and I would gladly pay more for my first class stamp if it meant that they could afford enough staff to get my post delivered on time. Either this is a business which means that they can charge as seen fit (i.e. inflationary rises) or it is a public company which the public subsidises through taxes you cant have both
Fiona, Derby

With an open to competition, profit driven postal service I wonder how long it will be before the rural delivery routes go the way of the rural bus routes: shutdown as unprofitable?
Simon, Bollington, Cheshire

The postal system, like trains, are a public service and should not be run for profit Robin, Birmingham, UK

The postal system, like trains, are a public service and should not be run for profit. I fail to see exactly how any company is going to run things any cheaper except possibly in a few very lucrative areas. Everywhere else will go to pot. As with all of these ridiculous ideas, we will end up with worse service, higher costs and more confusion for the customer.
Robin, Birmingham, UK

Usually I'd be cautious about welcoming such a change but surely nothing could be worse than the constant late delivery and frequent missing items that the Royal Mail has the temerity to describe as a 'service'.
Bill, London, UK

I will certainly welcome them if they come through different letterboxes: the non-Royal-Mail companies are going to specialise in delivering junk mail!
Simon Richardson, London, UK

I went to post some parcels this Wednesday, only to find the local Post Offices all close for a half day, and to be made to feel stupid for not knowing it! That's no way to run a business, but I'm sure they'll be the first to complain about their livelihoods being threatened when somebody comes along and offers a better service.
Paul Rowlands, Bracknell

Look at other monopolies that have been 'opened up' and you see a service that is no cheaper and service that has deteriorated.
Mark Baillie, Southampton, England

The problem with the Royal mail is not the people on the coalface, but that political will and management buzzword required a cut in staff, but more spending on IT infrastructure. The Royal Mail was for delivering letters, not giving a SysAdmin a job!
Mark, Exeter, UK

Another recipe for disaster looms. I can see things going the way of 192 - used to be fine, open it up to competition and it becomes chaotic.
Ian, UK

Another government idea for so called competition but will only make the service more expensive and chaotic. Do the people who come up with these ideas ever visit Earth? One has only to look at the railways, telephone inquiries, gas or electric services etc to see that it will not work. Courier companies will welcome it as a licence to fleece customers!
David Hamilton, Ilford, Essex

Like the Directory Enquiries fiasco, this is another ill-planned over-complication of a service that, although had problems, was fine. The Royal Mail needs to make improvements, but otherwise is a good service which is simple for consumers to understand and use. We are now going to be bombarded with different tariffs and services which will make posting a letter more of a hassle than a service. I mean, how many people really think that we now benefit from having a huge number of directory enquiry services which replaced one perfectly good service. Sometimes having a choice is not the best way forward.
Lee, Birmingham UK

Well said 'Lee' from Birmingham. The day we had numerous Directory Enquiry operators thrust upon us was the biggest headache for me. I have found over many years that having more choice is not always a good thing.
Peter, West Sussex, England

About time. The Royal Mail is one of the most corrupt and inefficient organisations in Britain, yet has a total stranglehold over its "customers". Proper competition is vital to force it into improving its service.
Peter, Nottingham

As someone who works in the Royal Mail I take exception to it being described as corrupt. However ill-informed the correspondent allowing space for such views gives it substance it does not deserve. Inefficient, just you wait for real inefficiency when the universal service breaks down and the competition say they don't want to deliver to rural locations. Oh how the detractors will lament the passing of another great institution. So jump on your expensive railways, sit in your comfortable seat and as you travel to work on time, take this thought with you. One day soon the postal service will be like this!
Craig, Leeds

To Peter, Nottingham: I assume you won't mind paying �4.50 to send a letter from Nottingham to Edinburgh then, because that's what is going to happen. Save Royal Mail
Richie, Cardiff, UK

I've not had any major problems with the Royal Mail, and when I have, I have always been compensated for any loss. However, as long as there are local sorting offices from rivals so I can collect post if I'm not in, that's fine. Also, if rivals bring back the local post offices that have all shut down they can have my business!!
Paul O, Halifax, UK

We really won't know what we are throwing away until it has gone Grace Gedge, London, England

I think that this is a very sad day for postal communications. We forget that the Post Office is basically a public service like the NHS. That's why many local communities, both rural and urban, have been devastated by post office closures, obviously occurring to make the service more profitable and more attractive to business. Some things just should not be run for a profit. We really won't know what we are throwing away until it has gone. In five year's time sending a letter will be more expensive and less reliable thanks to privatisation, and post offices will no longer be a central part of community life, leaving many vulnerable people a lot worse off. And this from a "left of centre" government.
Grace Gedge, London, England

I assume this means deliveries will be reliant on various mail operating companies in much the same way as the rail services work? I predict chaos.
Joseph, UK

Occasionally things go missing, but considering the volume of mail they deliver, I think Royal Mail do a fantastic job. I never fail to be amazed that, for less than 30p, I can send a letter to a tiny village in the very north of Scotland, and it will be there tomorrow morning. I suspect that once private firms get involved, with their entire focus on profit, that our services will become much more expensive.
Katie, Luton, Beds

I doubt very much whether it will be as good as the service the Post Office has supplied for all this time. "Opening up" competition in the railways has been an unmitigated disaster. Who does this move suit? Profit! I like to see my regular postmen and women, they do a great job and have an interest in the people they deliver to. People poorly paid (in order to make profit) are rarely likely to take an interest. Change for change sake is not always the way to go. A great loss I say!
Lynn, Herts, UK

I would be happier to pay for the Royal Mail to be properly funded and ban competition Les, Morpeth, England

I think this is yet another effect of the EU forcing us to allow competition from abroad. Postage is currently VAT exempt and thus presents an unfair competitive edge. The obvious implication is that we will now be charged VAT so once again prices will rise due to the EU. I would be happier to pay for the Royal Mail to be properly funded and ban competition.
Les, Morpeth, England

This for me is the beginning of the end of a guaranteed maximum price for a letter to be delivered anywhere in the UK. Of course the regulator wants it, they'd be just another quango and otherwise have nothing to regulate. All the other delivery companies and non-UK national mail companies want it, because they see big profits. And us, the paying public, we quite frankly don't care, until the prices rise and the service gets worse and we suddenly have to know which company delivers where before we know which post-box to put our letters in - like the train companies. For me it will be Labour's legacy, like the railways are the Conservatives.
Bruce, Aylesbury

I can't wait for this. Since we moved into our new house mail has been "going missing" left, right and centre and the post office basically couldn't care less. Of course it will be an unmitigated disaster like all the privatisations . We will still end up with the RM having a monopoly but it might at least cause it to pull its socks up a bit.
Graham Smith, Southampton, UK

This is not a good idea. How is Royal Mail supposed to provide a universal service while competitors cream off the money-making parts of the business? Those customers who are rejoicing now will rue this day when other suppliers fail to deliver in rural areas and to other hard to find addresses.
Mike Parker, Bristol, England