Royal Mail’s boss Simon Thompson was bullied out by militant unions

The Labour MP has built up something of a following on the Left for his perceived skewering of company bosses during his time overseeing the business select committee but the impression was that he had already made up his mind about the Royal Mail chief.

This was reinforced by the relatively easy ride that was given to CWU general secretary Dave Ward, who comes across as a man who would fight his own reflection. Once the committee had decided to recall Thompson for a second hearing, with chairman Keith Williams in tow this time, on the basis that he may have provided “inaccurate information” to parliament, there was almost certainly no going back.

Yet Royal Mail should have stood by him. Very few people would have emerged from an ordeal as bruising as this with their reputations enhanced. Indeed, he deserves credit for coming away with any resolution at all. It was the mother of all hospital passes, and if Thompson at times lacked warmth, is it any wonder? 

The CWU and some of its members were about as hostile as it is possible to be from the very start. They set the tone for talks, and not once did the union soften its stance, leaving the company little choice but to meet them head on.

Nor was there ever any acknowledgement that modernisation was needed at an organisation where many of the working practices are from a bygone era. Thompson was right: without change, Royal Mail would soon be rendered an irrelevant dinosaur in an industry being turned upside down by Amazon and others.