“I THINK you can do the maths yourself,” was Business Minister Margot James’s patronising putdown to Labour MP Christian Matheson’s point about postal workers’ right to be aggrieved over threats to their pension rights.

The Labour opposition, Communication Workers Union (CWU) and other unions in Royal Mail are perfectly capable of doing the maths, which is why they pursue renationalisation of the industry.

As shadow business minister Gill Furniss told Parliament, privatised Royal Mail has axed 12,000 jobs and wants to slash pensions by 45 per cent.