Mandy spins his U-turn: The Royal Mail sell-off is no more

You have to hand it to Mandy as he spins the mother of all U-turns.  In an interview with the FT, he says the part sell-off of Royal Mail is being "jostled for space" in the government's legislative programme:

I want to retain the slot, but... I have to concede that the original linking of the legislative passage and the bidding process for the strategic partner has been decoupled.

In other words, due to the recession, the sell-off would not raise the necessary money to make it worthwhile, not forgetting that the plans would only pass into law with Tory support.

On the day Brown launches “Building Britain’s Future” it is admitted that the Government can't get a major plank of the legislative programme onto the statue book.

There is nothing like keeping the troops happy as Good Ship Labour heads for the rocks.