The Royal Mail is a dying giant. An independent analysis published this month found that competition in the postal market had failed to deliver significant benefits to consumers and small businesses. But it had become a threat to the financial stability of the Royal Mail. More proof of the Royal Mail’s plight in the liberalised market came when it revealed a loss at the letters business last year.

The starting point – and often the sticking point – in the UK postal market is the role of the state-owned ex-monopoly. It is dominant yet hamstrung. It loses ground to nimbler rivals. It is ill-equipped to adapt to the changes in how people communicate which drive the decline in letters. It is renowned for inefficiency and under-investment.