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The SNP have joined with leading trade unionists to sound the alarm over the impact which delays to letters could have on postal ballots, as well as campaign material.
On Tuesday, Royal Mail – which was privatised by David Cameron’s Tory government in 2013 – admitted it does not record specific data on how many letters are de-prioritised for parcel deliveries after MPs on Westminster’s Business and Trade Committee raised concerns about “chaos” in the postal service since Christmas caused by stormy weather and staff sickness.
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Roz Foyer, the general secretary of the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), has written to Business Secretary Peter Kyle over the “crisis”.
“The perilous state of Royal Mail should concern everyone across Scotland,” Foyer said. “We all need a reliable, accessible and universal postal service that caters to the needs of society, not shareholders.
“To hear of significant backlogs of mail, delayed deliveries and chronically high staff turnover rates speaks to a company in crisis and a reform agenda that simply does not work in Scotland.”
She added: “Democratic accountability and scrutiny matters. With the election a mere number of weeks away, we simply cannot compromise the validity of that vote if Royal Mail fail to deliver election material or postal ballots as expected.”
Craig Anderson, the Communication Workers Union regional official for Scotland, said there “is a viable and genuine threat to our democratic process if Royal Mail are allowed to run rampant with their rogue reform agenda to the Universal Service Obligation (USO)”.
He went on: “Their unworkable Optimised Delivery Model simply does not work. High staff turnover and poor conditions, unsurprisingly, is leading to delayed deliveries and stacks of mail piling up with no end in sight.
“These failures don’t just fail the company – they fail communities. We need the UK Government to show leadership and facilitate further meetings between the company, unions and politicians to ensure the upcoming elections are not threatened nor compromised by the current failures of Royal Mail.”
SNP MSP Jim Fairlie said: “Postal workers are sounding the alarm on Royal Mail and it’s time the Labour Government got a grip and sorted it out.
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“What we’re seeing is unprecedented delays in the postal service – that hampers the delivery of time-sensitive election materials and postal votes.
“This is a consequence of privatising the postal service – something the SNP has been against from the start and now the democratic process is under threat.
“The UK Labour government must now intervene in Royal Mail to ensure a proper and fair election on May 7.”
A spokesperson for Royal Mail rejected any suggestion that delays in the service could impact on the Scottish elections.
“We reject claims that postal services in Scotland pose any risk to the delivery of election material or postal votes,” they said. “We take our role in supporting UK democracy extremely seriously and have successfully delivered elections for many years.
“Our dedicated elections team plans year-round and has been working with the Electoral Commission, Scottish Government, local authorities, political parties, printers and suppliers to ensure candidate mail, poll cards and postal votes are delivered securely and on time.
“Robust processes and daily operational oversight are in place throughout the election period to maintain service stability and resolve any issues quickly.
“These well-rehearsed measures mean we are fully prepared to deliver election mail across Scotland, and suggestions that the delivery of election mail is at risk are simply wrong.”
