The Royal Mail has said that it will have to raise prices for customers and cut costs amid the growing cost of living crisis.
After it was confirmed by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) yesterday that UK inflation has now risen to 9% – which is the highest the figure has been for the last 40 years – with prices hiked across a broad range of everyday goods and services during April, the Royal Mail has issued a statement this morning warning that it sees “significant headwinds” from rising costs – including wages, energy, and fuel.
In an attempt to bolster its position, the postal and courier service revealed that it aimed to make cost savings of £350 million over the course of its current financial year.
Today’s statement on price rises comes after the group already notably hiked the cost of posting letters by an average of around 7%, and parcel prices by an average of about 4% – which took the cost of a first-class stamp to 95p, and a second-class stamp to 68p.
But the Royal Mail says it still sees numerous threats from rising costs ahead, and claimed that it is now at a “crossroads”.
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The Royal Mail has said that it will have to raise prices for customers and cut costs / Credit: Geograph | Royal Mail
Explaining the current situation in its most-recent results statement, the Royal Mail said: “We are now at a crossroads.
“We need to deliver the benefits from change more quickly to deliver sustainable growth. We have made significant operational change already, but this needs to translate into real efficiency savings which deliver a financial benefit next year and beyond.
“Delivery of our existing agreements and the successful transition into the next agreements, as part of the current negotiations with the CWU, will be key to future profitable growth. We have made a substantial pay offer to our people which will enable the change we need to remain competitive, grow and secure their jobs for the future.
“Our market is changing quickly, and agility in our response is key.”
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The UK’s largest postal and courier service claimed it’s now at a “crossroads” / Credit: Royal Mail
Speaking more on the need to raise prices and cut costs going forward, Simon Thompson – Chief Executive at the Royal Mail – added: “As we emerge from the pandemic, the need to accelerate the transformation of our business, particularly in delivery, has become more urgent.
“Our future is as a parcels business, so we need to adapt old ways of working designed for letters and do it much more quickly to a world increasingly dominated by parcels.”
He added: “Our focus now is to work at pace with our people and our trade unions to reinvent this British icon for the next generations, so that we can give our customers what they want, grow our business sustainably and deliver long-term job security for our great team.
Manchester United reject offers for Mason Greenwood as rep says he ‘should be allowed to move forward with his young life’
Danny Jones
Manchester United have reportedly rejected a number of offers for Mason Greenwood as the club continues their internal investigation into his behaviour.
The club have reportedly received a number of offers for the young forward from Turkish teams in recent weeks and months while Greenwood has been suspended from playing or training. He has yet to return to the sport after charges of attempted rape, controlling and coercive behaviour and assault occasioning actual bodily harm were dropped.
The charges handed down in January 2022 were ultimately dropped last month when key witnesses withdrew, more than a year on from the incident that was widely circulated on social media.
Now, following a behind-the-scenes feature by The Athletic and ‘new material’ leading the Crown Prosecution Service to drop the case for the foreseeable, it seems United are now the only party still investigating Greenwood, with his own team and figures around the club pushing for a resolution.
▪️ Police spoke to #MUFC about Greenwood during lockdown ▪️ Senior staff offered guidance but no specialists brought in ▪️ Man United have rejected offers from Turkish sides as internal investigation continues
— The Athletic | Football (@TheAthleticFC) March 27, 2023
Speaking to Laurie Whitwell as part of the piece, one of Greenwood’s representatives argued that there is “no real substance” to the allegations, them “a mix of old news, speculation, half-truths and completely untrue claims.”
He went on to say, “Mason is 21, he has been cleared and should be allowed the opportunity to rebuild and move forward with his young life.”
Another source is also said to have told the outlet that the youngster has been fundamentally changed by the experience, insisting that he “would run through a brick wall” to be back playing at United.
As for the club’s stance, it remains to be seen what their final decision on his future will be, but it was reported earlier this month that a potential return is still “firmly under consideration” and his number 11 shirt has not yet been vacated as many would have expected if he was set to move on.
His potential ‘phased return’ could include everything from therapy to a TV interview.https://t.co/DTisidvpRr
On the other hand, the article goes on to detail questions surrounding Greenwood’s conduct and general attitude during his relatively short time as a senior player too, the suggestion being that he was slacking in training because “he knew he was a good player”.
His attendance at Carrington is said to have been raised as an issue on more than one occasion and then-manager Ole Gunnar Solskjær often covered for training sessions and games he missed after failing to turn up to the team hotel for “unexplained absences”.
Another source who watched him play aged just 16 also went on to reveal that Bradford-born academy product “wasn’t shy about telling someone they were s***”, apparently even calling out Cristiano Ronaldo as “dead [finished]” when he was still at Real Madrid.
Greenwood played over 100 senior games for United and was widely considered one of the brightest young prospects in England, let alone the club, but the career trajectory he looked to be on is widely different from the problematic position he finds himself in now, regardless of any offers from abroad.
Led By Donkeys fool MPs into revealing ridiculous £10,000 daily rate in fake job interviews
Danny Jones
British political campaign group, Led By Donkeys, have once again taken aim at the Conservative government, managing to fool multiple MPs by putting them through fake job interviews.
The campaigners hatched the plan to see just how easy it is to ‘hire an MP’, with Tory politicians having been criticised for earning an additional £15.2 million in added income from ‘second jobs’ since 2019 alone — that’s on top of their already £80k-a-year salaries, of course.
So, after setting up a fake consultancy firm based out of Seoul, South Korea called Hanseong Consulting and inviting along a number of MPs, many of whom either previously held or currently sit in senior party positions, they began holding Zoom interviews with the various candidates to see if they’d be interested.
More importantly, however, the crucial question was “how much would they want to be paid?”. The likes of former Matt Hancock and Kwasi Kwarteng had very simple but nevertheless astounding answers:
🚨MPs FOR HIRE: a Led By Donkeys undercover investigation🚨
As you can see in the trailer for the full mini-documentary, both the former health secretary and the ex-Chancellor of the Exchequer quoted their day rate as up to £10,000.
In fact, Hancock broke down his figures even further, insisting that an hourly rate would equate to “around £1,500”. Wonder how that sizes up to the fee he was paid to be on I’m A Celeb? (yes, that wasn’t a fever dream, it really happened). We’ll let you do the nauseating maths on that one.
Other Tories who were duped into putting themselves forward for the made-up job included Gavin Williamson, Stephen Hammond and the Chairman of the party’s 1922 Committee (a private members group known to influencers backbenchers), Sir Graham Brady.
Well, they were the only ‘candidates’ to have issued statements after the fact trying to play down the story, anyway. The campaigners approached 20 different MPs under the guise of the fabricated company, with other individuals dropping out in more preliminary stages.
After having asked for £60k a year on top of his £48k annual salary as the representative for Manc constituency Altrincham and Sale West, this would have been Brady’s fourth job besides his two marketing and comms advisory roles, but assured he would always act “within the Code of Conduct”.
Hammond had more to say on the matter, responding that “scamming is an unpleasant activity undertaken with malicious intent”, while Hancock’s office responded by labelling it a “failed attempt at entrapment” and insisted he is free to look at “exploratory options” as he is set to stand down as an MP.
Led By Donkeys are now in the process of gradually releasing each one of the fake job interviews in full on their YouTube channel.
Emily Sergeant -
19th May 2022 
