When it comes to postage stamps, you’re always dealing with a monopoly

Well, the whole Royal Mail privatisation is going terrifically well, isn’t it? I’m not talking about the pricing of the issue which has obsessed most of the pundits. I’m talking about users. The latest exciting new development from this privatised company with the Queen’s head on the product is that it is to use new technology to let companies know that their promotional material – junk mail as it’s affectionately known to its recipients – has been safely put through the door, so they are now free to cold call households to follow up the delivery. Nice!

But it’s the impact on the price of stamps that really gets me going. I may be the last person on this site to use real stamps for actual cards and letters, though they’re now a supplement to email. And for those who have not passed the door of a post office for a year or two, let me pass on word from the queue: it’s really, really expensive.