Has the Royal Mail become such a total failure that it’s time to let it die a natural death?

I used to love the pick ‘n’ mix in Woolies, but fully understand why it’s now just a pleasant memory from my childhood.

Likewise, long before mobile phones were even thought of, I found payphones a Godsend but I haven’t used one for decades now.

Sure, it’s sad when things we hold dear become obsolete, but everything changes and we need to accept when it is time to let things go.

I realise the Royal Mail’s catastrophic decline has been caused by a catalogue of different causes and we may disagree on the reasons for its new low but surely no one can deny its ultimate demise is now inevitable.

The shift to online communication and electronic messages is clearly the biggest driver in destroying the Royal Mail, but privatisation, whether you agree with it or not, also had a major impact on its ability to operate effectively and efficiently.

Of course, posties are bound to blame their bosses and management will claim those at the coalface are not pulling their weight – the truth will fall somewhere in between.

Likewise, there will be disagreement from a political point of view – the Tories will receive flak for turning it into a company run for profit that is ultimately responsible to its shareholders, while others will point the finger at rabble-rousing Labour-leaning unions.

“The writing is on the wall for Royal Mail and it’s only a matter of time before this anachronism goes the same way as Woolworths and red phone boxes...”

Posties say they’re now having to work harder and faster than previously, but whatever anyone says, conditions for workers at RM are still infinitely better than they are at any of the delivery companies they now compete against.

It may be sad but I would argue the performance has plummeted so badly that the writing is on the wall for Royal Mail and it’s only a matter of time before this anachronism goes the same way as Woolworths and red phone boxes.

It may cling on for another 10 years or so but in that time the final generation who’ve ever put pen to paper will have died off, so when the last dinosaurs within the legal profession are finally forced to accept the march of modern technology, hard copy letters will be consigned to history.

As a footnote, I hadn’t seen anyone use a red phone box for years but I recently needed to visit Westminster and witnessed scores of people queuing up to use one – sadly, they were all tourists who had no intention of making a call. Ironically, all they wanted to do was use their own phone to take a photo in front of the iconic Houses of Parliament.