Speeches by Cooper.

“I wonder whether that is the point, Dame Wendy. Are we asking the wrong question here? I often think of television. You do not need to understand Rediffusion to change the channel on the TV. Are we looking at this through the wrong model? Are we trying to centralise control when we should be diffusing control?”

“Thank you, Chair. I should say that I have a relative who is a postman in Dumfries and Galloway. I printed off from your website this document, “Rebuilding Royal Mail”, which talks about the deal you did at the time. It is full of really warm words; there are great things about pay, additional earnings, opportunities, …”

“Can I just return to this question about what you said to the Government? Did you give them guarantees on service levels, delivery levels and staff numbers?”

“T8. Nith Inshore Rescue in my constituency has lost a sponsor that provided it with free fuel, because of soaring costs. Will the Secretary of State go to the Chancellor and point out that VAT and fuel costs are a matter of life and death in remote and rural Scotland?”

“You say it is a judgment call, but it is a repetition again, isn’t it? It is another fine that has followed on. You asked them to produce an improvement plan. What else have you done? Did you give them a warning about future performance? You referred to your system—your scorecard, if you like. Have you talked that thro…”

“I think we know how difficult the job is, Mr Křetínský, and you must have known that coming into it. You say that you did not know much about the business, but you must have understood how the system basically works. If we look around Europe, such as at the Italian postal service, it is actually doing rather well, and …”

“It is an old quote—I am sure my hon. and gallant Friend will recognise it, given his service—that while veterans talk logistics, amateurs talk tactics. He is outlining a dire situation, because we are not gripping the logistics problem.”

“So you think those talks are going to continue. Do you think that there is an opportunity to avoid a return to industrial action, for instance?”

“What about service guarantees? You must understand that our constituents are deeply concerned about the level of service that they are getting. I represent Scotland, where the NHS is analogue—there are no apps. They are heavily reliant on letters coming and going, and being delivered on time. Did you give guarantees ab…”

“Mr Křetínský, what promises did you make to the Government? Getting this deal over the line was quite difficult, so what promises did you make to the Government? Alex Brummer in the Daily Mail today is very sceptical about these highly leveraged deals. He cites previous examples, such as that of Thames Water, which hav…”

“What lay behind the latest fine of £21 million in October 2025? What triggered that?”

“So the idea that there is £3 billion of high interest rate loans on the books is incorrect, is it?”

“This is a question for both of you, then. How can you honour those commitments? As consumers of your service, we cannot have you firing an arrow in the air, seeing where it lands and then painting the target around that. We need to set targets and have you meet those, not the other way around. Are we being asked to acc…”

“Mr Křetínský, are we paying more for less? Is that basically what you are offering us?”

“Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker—[Interruption.] Excuse me; I have swallowed a fly.”

“Small boat returns run at around 6% of the total numbers arriving in this country, but the Home Secretary denies that this is anything to do with the European Convention on Human Rights. If not the ECHR, which part of the Government’s flawed policy is responsible for that feeble rate?”

“I think I just about am, yes. The situation we are talking about today is a shooting war, but of key interest to us is the tug of war going on between the MOD and the Treasury over the defence investment plan. We have some indication of what is going on—I think we have gathered that it will not come out this week. Can …”

“I beg to move, That leave be given to bring in a Bill to make provision about the role and functions of the Lord Advocate; and for connected purposes. Chaos and decay are priced into the lives of people in Scotland as they suffer under the yoke of the Scottish National party Administration at Holyrood. However, the lat…”

“So you have not ruled this out in principle, then?”

“And we have not picked that up. Are we saying no or are we still considering it?”