Orders of the Day — Postal Services Bill

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 5:23 pm on 15 February 2000.

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Photo of Stephen Byers Stephen Byers Secretary of State, Department of Trade and Industry 5:23, 15 February 2000

The report of this debate will be read by many people who have a real interest in the Post Office network. They will read with interest that when I replied to a specific point about a subsidy hon. Members opposite did not want us to proceed in the way that I described. That is the implication of what they are saying. They are playing games.

I shall bring forward an amendment that secures the possibility of providing a subsidy. If Opposition Members do not agree with that, so be it. They can raise the matter in Committee and deal with it then. We intend to adopt that measure because we believe that it is a suitable course of action to ensure that we can protect the network. In 19 years, the Opposition did not provide such an opportunity, but we intend to do precisely that.