WE MUST stop the Royal Mail heist: the six reasons why Labor selling our crown jewels to a Czech connected to Russia is bad for investors, bad for customers and bad for Britain – ALEX BRUMMER

The postie, with his all-weather shorts, is so loved in a small Hertfordshire village that every Christmas resident rallies to buy him a £500 gift voucher plus champagne and chocolates.

This festive season, love it or hate it, the Royal Mail is an enduring feature of our lives.

Whether one is queuing for an hour and a half to send a gift to a loved one in Australia or shelling out a whopping £13.20 for a book of eight barcoded first-class stamps, most households They have a relationship with the Royal Mail. .

There’s nothing better than receiving a handwritten card (even if it’s delayed!) in an age where electronic greetings pile up in your inbox along with scams, junk, and other unwanted communications.

The bright red Royal Mail letterboxes with the monarch’s crest, the stamps with the king’s head (even the constant annoyance of often having to visit depressed sorting offices to collect undelivered parcels) are all an immutable aspect of the British life.

However, this familiar institution, listed on the London stock exchange as International Distribution Services (IDS), is facing an existential crisis.

Daniel Kretinsky, a Czech billionaire who has had historical entanglements with Vladimir Putin’s regime in Russia, is close to taking control with a £3.6bn takeover bid. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has given his blessing to the deal, naively taking assurances about the future of the postal service and the way it is run at face value.

If you think postage is too expensive now – £1.65 for a first class stamp and 85p for second class – wait.

As for delays, Royal Mail was just fined £10.5m for delivering more than one in four first-class letters late. This may also get even worse under Czech ownership, as Kretinsky is likely to try to maximize its profits and reduce its service commitments.

Yet our talkative, insensitive and business-naive Labor politicians don’t seem to care.

Mr. Reynolds has declared the potential buyer, Mr. Kretinsky, a “legitimate businessman.” Scrutiny by a government investigation, under the terms of the National Security and Investment Law, failed to abort the deal.

There are six good reasons why the government, the public, officials and company shareholders should have told Mr. Kretinsky to make an effort:

1. Russian connections

Much of Mr. Kretinsky’s wealth has been accumulated through energy and pipeline deals with Putin (currently sanctioned by the West).

He is still entangled in a long and complex legal dispute in Russia over the fate of his coal interests.

The 49-year-old has been backed in his deal, which includes ownership of West Ham United FC, the elusive Slovak investment bank J&T, which is embroiled in an ongoing legal case of alleged corruption in the distant Turks and Caicos. .

2. Pile of debt

The bid will be financed by around £3 billion in high-interest loans from foreign banks.

This comes on top of £2bn of debts already on the balance sheet of Royal Mail owner IDS.

These highly leveraged, debt-driven takeovers by uncaring foreign financiers have a terrible track record.

The implosion of Thames Water, currently awaiting bailout, has been driven by the need to meet interest on a £16 billion debt.

The result is underinvestment in repairing leaking pipes and tons of wastewater being dumped into the River Thames.

At grocery store Asda, a highly leveraged takeover has caused the group to suffer a calamitous decline in sales, market share and reputation.

3. Security

The Royal Mail’s roots date back 500 years to a “secure” courier service for King Henry VIII.

Centuries later, it’s how vital public services like HMRC, the Metropolitan Police, the NHS and other parts of government communicate with us securely in an age of internet scams.

Of course, it is also key to voting by mail and, therefore, to our democratic process. Most households in Britain will be familiar with the distinctive windowed brown envelopes that arrive at our door.

4. Culture

Royal Mail is one of the most recognized brands in the United Kingdom. The postie in shorts, whatever the weather, is a visitor we eagerly await, especially in the run-up to Christmas, New Year’s Eve or a birthday.

The Royal Family is celebrated with a figure, dating back to Queen Victoria, on the bright red postboxes of every town, city and village up and down the UK.

The stamps, decorated with the head of the monarch, are famous for every school collector.

Celebrating everyone from Sir Winston Churchill to the fictional Harry Potter, the commemorations offer snapshots of everything that makes Britain great.

The price of a first-class stamp may seem high: £1.65. But the service will reach the most remote areas of the country (mostly!) the next day. No other commercial service would offer this.

This uniquely British heritage is unlikely to mean as much if Royal Mail became just another outpost in Kretinsky’s business empire that has spread from its roots in Eastern Europe. You could also try to maximize your profits by cutting services and increasing stamp prices.

5. Investors

Shareholders, including postal officials and other employees who own nearly 5 percent of the shares, risk being shorted.

A group of activist investors believe that if the regulator, Ofcom, gives permission to Royal Mail to be more flexible on the price of first-class deliveries and the regularity of the second-class service, then Mr Kretinsky’s offer price 370 pence per share will be a bargain for him.

They also think that Royal Mail will have been sold for much less than it is actually worth.

In that case, the board, led by former British Airways boss Keith Williams, should withdraw its support or resign, rather than allow shareholders to fall short.

6. City couture

Advisory firms such as Goldman Sachs, lawyers, banks and consultants are set to collect a mouth-watering fee of £146m if the Czech deal goes ahead.

They are not proud of a band of British heritage and will inform the board that they have no choice – saying it is their fiduciary duty (obligation under company law) – but to accept the offer.

It’s nothing like that. Stock market history tells us that brave boards like pharmaceutical group AstraZeneca, mining company Anglo-American and others stand firm and reject unsatisfactory deals.

This shows respect for your company’s history and a commitment to doing your job, which is creating value for your own shareholders, rather than selling out.

Too many foreign takeovers of British companies such as Thames Water, Heathrow and Arm Holdings have been bad for investors, bad for customers and bad for Britain. There is still time to finish the bid for Royal Mail.