Royal Mail and the Post Office

I definitely agree with my hon. Friend, who makes an important point. As far as the closure programme is concerned, Royal Mail is constrained by the Government's saying that it has to close 2,500 post offices. Mull is just one example of a worsening service, and there are many others throughout the country. Royal Mail's current strategy of constantly raising prices, combined with a worsening service, will inevitably lead to reductions in the volume of mail posted. That will get us into a vicious circle, triggering higher prices, leading to reduced volumes and so on, eventually making the entire business untenable and threatening the maintenance of the USO.