Dark shadow of Labour

Jeremy COrByN’S shiny, pink-tinged, dark anorak failed to draw as much attention at the Cenotaph last weekend. After a time one becomes inured to exceptionalism.

But with the Tories engaged in the fratricide of which only they are capable, it becomes easy to forget that Corbyn and his deceptively bank managerlike partner, Shadow Chancellor John mcDonnell, stand on the fringes of power offering a clear and present danger to Britain’s prosperity.

The International monetary Fund’s description of the impact of a disorderly Brexit is frightening enough. reverting to WTO rules could cost the UK up to 8pc of output between now and 2030 and injure productivity. But Corbynomics would be worse. mcDonnell gave us a flavour of his intentions in this week’s New Statesman.

The familiar theme is tax corporations and the rich until the pips squeak. His claim is that Osborne-inspired cuts in company taxes will have given away £110bn of taxpayers’ money by 2020.

Office for Budget responsibility figures show that this is poppycock and that by 2022-23 the tax take from company profits will hit £66bn – 65pc up on 2009-10.

Similarly, the Tory cut in the top rate of income tax from 50pc to 45pc increased revenues. mcDonnell’s proposal that the top 5pc of people should be hit with wealth taxes will create bigger queues for enterprising citizens at Heathrow’s Terminal Five than a cliff-edge Brexit at Dover.

Public ownership is seen as the answer to problems in the energy market, railways, water companies and the royal mail. But in their thirst for resources, they will battle with plans to reverse welfare cuts, house the homeless and other laudable causes.

No one should expect the trains to run on time or a return of breakfast postal deliveries any time soon.

Goal post

rOyAL mail chief rico Back has learned something from the Persimmon playbook. When under fire over governance failings, skulking behind the woodshed, in the manner of the housebuilder’s departing boss Jeff Fairburn, is not the right option.

All that does is deliver reputational damage which stains the relationship with investors, the workforce and the public.

Back is in a particularly vulnerable position. As a privatised public service, with a 500-year heritage, royal mail has a special place in the eyes of citizens.

It also has a highly unionised, Corbynsupporting workforce which, when angered, can disrupt lives. Back allowed himself to get off to a bad start by extracting a £5.8m golden hello from royal mail when moving from an offshoot, the european parcels company GLS, to take on the top job.

He is confronting his pay deal and his decision to leave his family in Switzerland head on. He is making an effort to understand the heritage of the postal service better and will work his socks off to make sure his commitment matches his rewards.

He assures us the reasons for keeping Switzerland as his home is largely about the safety and well-being of his family.

even critics cannot blame him for a 7pc decline in letter volumes that has hit underlying earnings hard. The age of WhatsApp is taking its toll.

The best that Back can pray for is that the current period of Brexit turmoil triggers a general election or a second referendum and a deluge of mailshots. That may be the short-term prize but the more significant one identified by Back is bringing skills honed at GLS to British parcels.

Shockingly, only 10pc of parcel sorting is automated (against 90pc for letters) yet with the surge of online shopping this is the royal mail’s great growth opportunity.

Back’s goal is to lift automated delivery to 30pc and beyond as soon as possible before competitors eat the cake.

But, as his feisty predecessor moya Greene discovered, making change which disrupts jobs in the sorting centres can be bruising.

If Back pulls that off, his £2.7m potential pay cheque might look less extravagant. But he starts with an anvil of governance defects around his neck.

Data base

WArreN Buffett’s latest filings with the Securities and exchange Commission show the Nebraska-based investment guru has just snapped a £1.6bn stake in database computer software company Oracle.

Sweet sentimentality from the garlanded Oracle of Omaha.