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The Government has shown little appetite to mount a defence. The Chancellor has talked in platitudes about how there are lessons to be learned from the debt crisis that has engulfed Thames Water at the same time as repeating the tired yet vague mantra that Britain must ensure it continues to attract foreign investment.
Beyond that, the Government has been shockingly silent on the future of an organisation founded by Henry VIII more than 500 years ago.
Meanwhile, Labour was so quick to rush out a press release in response to “reported developments” in Křetínský’s approach that the statement was in danger of looking like it had been coordinated with the roll-call of generously remunerated advisers assembled by the Royal Mail board.
Labour has pledged to “safeguard Royal Mail as a British institution”, but it is striking that a party expected to win the next general election by a landslide seemingly isn’t remotely opposed to it falling into overseas hands.
Instead, it is merely calling for a series of “safeguards” that we are led to believe will preserve a company that “is as British as it gets”, in the words of shadow business secretary Jonathan Reynolds.
And this is where the biggest red herring of all can be found in this short but sorry takeover saga. A pledge from Křetínský to sign up to a series of “contractual undertakings” to protect employees’ rights, six-day deliveries for first class letters, and the Royal Mail brand, along with a commitment to keep it headquartered and tax resident in the UK, contains far too many holes for it to be anything like as reassuring as it is meant to be.
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