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Britain |
Britain's Royal Mail to be sold off to private investors |
2013-09-12 |
LONDON – Britain’s Royal Mail, whose origins date back to the reign of Henry VIII, is to be sold off to private investors, the government announced Thursday, setting up a bitter battle over the selling of a national icon. Even former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, who happily sold off other services such as Britain’s railways, considered unloading the Royal Mail a step too far, reputedly saying that she wasn’t ready to “have the queen’s head privatized.” Queen Elizabeth II’s profile appears on all stamps in this country. But the Conservative-led government says that letting go of the Royal Mail is an idea whose time has come as officials try to shrink the public purse in an age of austerity. |
Posted by:Grolulet Whomoth1741 |