Any Excuse

The price of a first-class postage stamp went up by 5p to 46p yesterday, while second-class letters will now cost 36p– up 4p.  The post office whined:

"If we don’t generate more income, we will simply not be able to keep funding our six-days-a-week collection.  After these increases, Royal Mail will continue providing value-for-money as our prices will still be among the lowest in Europe. We are investing heavily to modernise our operations."

Mail volume has fallen by 20% over the last five years and post office lost £163 million on handling letters last year.  Stamp prices have gone up at double the rate of inflation over the last five years.