THE Coalition’s privatisation of Royal Mail came at a huge price.

A critical report from the public finance watchdog, the National Audit Office (NAO), found that our postal services had been sold off at a knockdown price, for much less than its actual value.

On the first day of trading, Royal Mail’s share price rose to 455p, 38pc above the offer price of 330p. An increase worth £750 million went straight to the new shareholders.

Since then the shares have continued to trade between 38pc to 86pc above the initial price. The government privatisation was totally at odds with public opinion. Most people wanted our historic postal services to stay in public hands.

Despite this the Liberal Democrat Business Secretary, Vince Cable, ensured that special treatment was given to “priority investors” or City institutions who, in many cases, resold their shares at a huge profit. According to CWU general secretary Billy Hayes, the Audit Office report exposed the privatisation for what it was, “a political opportunity for a government that had committed itself to selling off this national asset regardless of whether it was a good deal or not.”

It was never about establishing a long-term shareholder base and all about making a quick buck for City investors.

City firms pocketed huge fees from the taxpayer as advisers to the sale. Lazards pocketed £1.5 million as corporate finance adviser to the sale, while the “investment banking syndicate” — Goldman Sachs, UBS, Barclays, Merrill Lynch, Investec, Nomura and Royal Bank of Canada — pocketed a £12.7 million in fees. It is criminal that we have seen an historic institution and valued public service privatised against the public interest for private profit.

Joan Pritchard-Jones Deane