Fear for rural postal services

Nor was this without cause considering the situation: a growing number of private companies were competing to deliver mail in profitable urban areas, inevitably affecting Royal Mail’s resources and making it harder for the company to maintain the level of service in rural districts where there was little profit to be made and in which rival companies had scant interest.

So it is no surprise that, a year after privatisation became a reality, the situation has deteriorated to the point where deliveries to remote rural areas are now under threat, at least according to evidence gathered by the Rural Services Network.

A thorough assessment of this situation would therefore be useful, but Ofcom has said that the review which it is legally obliged to carry out will not be performed until the last possible moment, at the end of 2015.

Given the urgency of the situation, however – rural communities are already hit hard by lack of public transport, the price of fuel and the speed and reliability of broadband connections – it is vital that this review is carried out far sooner so that the situation can be rectified as early as possible.

Privatisation was supposed to give Royal Mail the freedom and flexibility to overcome its failings and maximise its income so that there was no shortage of cash available to subsidise its universal service. If this is not happening, it is better to find out sooner rather than later.

Maguire murder

Should killer ever be released?

GIVEN such an appalling and inexplicable crime as the senseless killing of dedicated teacher Ann Maguire, it is understandable that there is a fierce reaction to the sentence meted out to her 16-year-old murderer, Will Cornick.

Indeed, even the judge’s decision to name Cornick has proved controversial, although surely Mr Justice Coulson was correct to say that this was justified given the need to learn lessons from an unprecedented crime which has generated wide public interest.

With a criminal who committed his crime at such a young age, however, the hope that some form of redemption may eventually be possible, that the offender might one day be able to play a constructive, law-abiding role in society, is always there. And consequently, it is to be hoped that his sentence, and subsequent treatment within the system, does not extinguish any chance of this happening.

By the same token, however, a crime so appalling, one which has devastated not only a family but also a school and its pupils, demands a severe punishment which must take precedence over any programme of rehabilitation.

It is inevitable, then, that the life sentence, with a stipulated minimum of 20 years in custody, will be attacked by some as too severe and by others as too lenient.

It is only to be hoped, therefore, that the continual assessment to which Cornick will be subjected during his sentence will ensure that the correct judgment is eventually made and that, unless there is clear evidence of remorse and rehabilitation, this killer is never released.

The gloves are off

Fall of the expendable Mr Baker

ACCORDING to Norman Baker, who has resigned as a Home Office Minister, working with Home Secretary Theresa May was like “walking through mud”.

Well, Mr Baker, welcome to coalition Government.

The transition from protest party to government has been a difficult one for many Liberal Democrat Ministers, but few have been so spectacularly unsuited to this process as Mr Baker.

A dedicated campaigner who is known for his unusual views on everything from UFOs to the death of weapons inspector David Kelly, it was surely only a matter of time before Mr Baker found Home Office orthodoxy too stifling.

Indeed, his resignation has been on the cards ever since his support last week for a report which suggested decriminalising drugs.

However, in deciding to quit, Mr Baker is not only satisfying his conscience, he is also performing a useful service to his party. Six months before the General Election, the Lib Dems are increasingly desperate to show their dwindling band of supporters that they are not in the pocket of the Conservatives and, in this particular battle, in which the gloves are now off, Mr Baker has proved eminently expendable.