MERSEY MP Stephen Hesford vowed to quit the Government last night unless Gordon Brown backed down over selling off part of Royal Mail.
The Wirral West MP threatened to sacrifice his unpaid post as a ministerial aide by voting against the Bill to hive off up to 30% of the business to a foreign postal operator.
The threat – and similar protests by up to seven other Parliamentary private secretaries (PPS) – came as Mr Brown was warned that pressing ahead with the legislation would be a “kamikaze move”.
Nearly 150 Labour MPs, including nine from Merseyside and North Cheshire, oppose the part-privatisation, warning the Royal Mail’s “universal service” is at risk. The scale of the revolt would force the PM to rely on Conservative support to win a crunch Commons vote expected early next month.
