LITTLEJOHN

PAGE 19

ANATIONAL strike by Royal Mail staff threatens to derail the General election and wreck Boris Johnson’s dream of getting Brexit done by Christmas.

Industrial action planned for this month will hit the distribution and return of postal ballots, potentially disenfranchising millions of voters. Union leaders have rejected pleas to postpone any walkouts until the New year.

Although Royal Mail bosses say they will prioritise election material, including polling cards and ballot papers, widespread disruption would appear inevitable.

We now face the depressing prospect of the election result being challenged by those who claim they have been denied the right to vote. It’s not impossible to imagine the whole business ending up in court and dragging on interminably.

Gina Miller’s probably got her lawyers on standby already. Conceivably, a judge could order the whole election re-run — or at least the postal part of it. So we’d be left without a Government until the New year and, even if Boris Johnson is returned to No10 with a working majority, the next Brexit deadline on January 31 would be missed.

It’s a prospect militant union leaders are relishing. One told a meeting at the weekend: ‘They won’t only say we stole Christmas, we’ll probably steal Brexit off them as well.’

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) had planned walkouts to coincide with those recent American imports Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which have led to a huge increase in online shopping and helped suck the life out of high Street retailers, who rely on Christmas to boost profts — or, rather, make up for heavy losses the rest of the year.

Naturally, the union wants to maximise its leverage when the demand for parcel delivery is highest. A December General election, complete with millions of postal votes, is an unexpected bonus for them.

The dispute is over pay, working conditions and plans to streamline the Royal Mail yet again, with the loss of up to 40,000 jobs.

In the normal course of events, postal workers could expect a good deal of public sympathy.

THEY are a vital, valued part of the community, a reassuring presence on the streets, a reliable, traditional service at a time when banks and police stations are closing everywhere and councils can’t even be bothered to empty the dustbins once a week.

Most of us regard our postman as a trusted friend, in the way people used to look up to the local bobby. We’ve had the same postie, Mike, since we moved in 22 years ago — the same week, incidentally, that our home-beat copper was withdrawn.

If the strike was just about pay and job security, the union could rely on substantial support. But the threat to disrupt the democratic process and prolong the Brexit logjam could easily backfire.

Union leaders may be gloating at the prospect, but they would be wise to reflect on the fact that the reason the Royal Mail was privatised in the first place, and continues to face further cutbacks, is because the Government had to obey EU competition regulations.

And although Jeremy Corbyn says Labour would renationalise it, he wouldn’t be allowed to while Britain remains in the european Union.

Of course, if the strike does go ahead, there is one surefire way of preventing the election being disrupted. And that’s by getting rid of all postal voting, except for a few exceptions, such as the infirm and members of the military serving overseas.

The whole system is completely out of hand and wide open to abuse. At the last general election, a staggering 8.4 million people voted by post — almost a fifth of the electorate. The same number of voters are expected to apply for postal ballots this time.

you won’t convince me that the vast majority of them are incapable of getting to polling stations, which open from 7am to 10pm.

yes, there are legitimate reasons why some people are unable to make it on the day and they can be accommodated. But simply not being bothered to walk a few hundred yards to your local school, church hall or cricket club is not sufficient reason.

An election should be an important day in our national calendar, one which brings us out with our friends and neighbours, whichever way we vote. It has to be something more solemn than pressing the red button on the Sky remote from the comfort of your sofa.

PAST generations fought and died for our right to vote. We owe it to them to get off our backsides and cast our votes in the traditional manner. It should be an affirmation of our democracy, the principle of one person, one vote.

Sadly, because of postal ballots, that’s not always the case.

There will always be those impersonating others to vote more than once. But postal voting has expanded the opportunity for fraud and ballot rigging.

There are plenty of examples of postal votes being harvested by ‘community leaders’ supporting a particular candidate or party, especially in areas with extensive South Asian immigrant populations.

The system can be twisted to allow students to vote twice, at home and at college, as Sue Reid’s brilliant investigation in this newspaper on Saturday exposed.

Not so long ago, the electoral Commission expressed concerns that at least 16 council areas in Britain were susceptible to fraud.

The Government says that since then the rules have been tightened, but prosecutions are still few and far between.

Much more must be done, starting with a drastic reduction in the millions of postal ballots issued, no questions asked.

Until then, we’re stuck with the system we’ve got. And however valid the concerns of Royal Mail staff, a post strike must not be allowed to delay or disrupt an election this country has to hold if there is ever going to be any chance of restoring faith in our fractured democracy.

So please Mr Postman, don’t do it.