Postal workers vote for strike

Commenting on the planned postal workers strike, David Cameron's official spokesman said: "The Prime Minister's view is that he hopes that industrial action won't go ahead.

"It is not necessary. It should be talks and not strikes to resolve issues."

In response to a vote for strike action by postal workers in November, the Royal Mail says any action, or threat of action, is damaging to the business.

The Direct Marketing Association, which represents the advertising mail industry, accounting for £1 billion of Royal Mail's turnover, said the strike will have a "severe" financial impact on tens of thousands of companies, charities and others.

Executive director Chris Combemale said: "The UK economy is only just emerging from recession and we cannot afford any further impediment to its recovery.

"The build-up to Christmas is a critical period that typically accounts for a significant proportion of businesses' annual revenues and charities' donations.

"People who rely on Royal Mail to deliver billions of pounds of goods ordered online would have their festive season disrupted, and loss of trade would lead to job cuts in many companies across the economy.

"Commercial users account for the biggest percentage of Royal Mail's turnover. Any disruption to service would quickly lead businesses to take their custom elsewhere, which is an outcome that would not benefit the postal workers that CWU represents."

A postal workers strike on November 4 will take place just seven weeks before Christmas, hitting the start of the busy festive season - the busiest time of year for the postal company.

Postal workers have voted 4-1 in favour of strikes and will walk out on November 4, the Communication Workers Union said.

The union said the strike was over a number of issues linked to the privatisation of Royal Mail.

Read: Royal Mail share prices soar

Nearly three quarters of British adults (72%) expect postal services will be more expensive after Royal Mail's privatisation, the ITV News Index carried out by ComRes has found.

Just 11% of those surveyed did not agree that prices would rise.

However, 22% expect Royal Mail customer service will improve following its privatisation, compared to 48% who said they did not think that would be the case.

Half of Britons think that the Royal Mail was “seriously undervalued” when it was floated on the stock market, the ITV News Index carried out by ComRes suggests.

The poll found 51% feel the 330p debut share price "seriously undervalued" the company, compared with just 12% who disagreed.

Nearly two in five (37%) said they do not know.

The British public are split over the proposed strike by Royal Mail workers, according to the ITV News Index carried out by ComRes.

Of those questioned, 38% said it was reasonable for the Communication Workers Union to go on strike over the privatisation of Royal Mail, with the same proportion disagreeing.

However, the British public are slightly less likely toactively condemn the strike - 35% agree that it is notreasonable for staff to go on strike compared to 41% who disagree.

ComRes interviewed 2,042 British adults online between 11-13 October.