All this talk of the part privatisation of Royal Mail worries me enormously. Can we have such a vital service in the hands of any Tom, Dick or Harry?
These are no idle concerns; if ever you needed evidence of the importance of an independent postal service, take note.
Recently I saw the classic 1969 Bond film, ‘On her Majesty’s secret service’ (again).

Bond had just escaped from the clutches of Blofeld. And he’d hitched a lift with his conveniently available girlfriend, Diana Rigg. She then proceeded to hurtle them with gay abandon down ice-covered hairpins in the Swiss Alps, pursued by machine gun totting villains.
Bond, realising that Western civilisation depended on him passing over the details of Blofeld’s plan as fast as possible, turned to the lovely Diana and uttered the immortal line…. “Take me to a post office.”

All I ask Mr Mandelson is that you make sure one of the bids isn’t from a company called SPECTRE.