Huntingdon MP and Shadow Minister for Postal Services, Jonathan Djanogly, comments on the first day of the Royal Mail national strike. Commenting on the first day of the Royal Mail national strike Jonathan Djanogly MP for the Huntington constituency and Shadow Minister for Postal Services noted: “This strike is a disaster for the Royal Mail and should never have happened. I hope that the management and unions sort this situation out and fast. The Government have also played their part in allowing the situation to reach this point through their inactivity over the last 12 years and failure to increase the pace of modernisation. As a result Royal Mail has fallen behind its competitors. Indeed, the prediction is that mail volumes are likely to fall by up to 10 per cent this year and that is before the strike. Naturally, the strike could make the downturn much worse, particularly if business customers lose confidence in the service and go elsewhere. The Communication Workers Union is now more determined than ever to get its own way and block the final stages of modernisation – modernisation that is critical to the survival of the Royal Mail. However, whilst striking is the wrong way forward, I can understand why postal workers are worried for the future of their company, their jobs and worried for their pensions. This is because the Government gave in to leftwing backbenchers and pulled their own bill to bring in the vital structural reforms needed to take the business forward. These involved accessing further investment, reforming its pensions scheme and changing its regulator. Now we all face the consequences of the Government’s weakness. The Labour government have failed the employees of Royal Mail and its customers, the businesses and the people of this country. They have a lot to answer for.”