Letter: Future of the PO

Sir: If the Government has decided to leave the Post Office in the doldrums ("Post Office to remain in public hands", 23 October), then this is a huge disservice both to the employees of the corporation and its customers and a massive wasted opportunity to safeguard its future.

Both Conservative and Labour governments will now have failed to transform the Post Office into an internationally competitive venture. It is with an awful sense of deja vu that we hear the same people raise the same scare stories as they did before the privatisation of BT in 1984. Then we were told that rural services, the 999 facility and public telephone kiosks would all be a thing of the past.

The Post Office can succeed in a competitive market against organisations such as privatised European postal operators which are now very active in the UK. It needs two things: escape from the rigours of PSBR and a massive injection of private sector management expertise to match its competitors and emerging alternatives such as e-mail.

PETER WYNN DAVIES

London N2

Sir: The use of a picture of a scrap Ford car, an Escort,