WORLD NEWS

LONDON: Gordon Brown's handling of the Royal Mail strikes comes under criticism from the public and Labour backbenchers today, with a poll showing most voters believe the government should get directly involved in the dispute and force management and unions to go to the conciliation service Acas.

The Communication Workers Union's executive announced tonight that two days of strikes would go ahead from tomorrow morning, with the union adamant that management and the Labour government were in a conspiracy to break it. The union also said it would announce the dates of further strike action later this week.

The union's deputy general secretary, Dave Ward, said the business secretary, Lord Mandelson, and senior Royal Mail management were working to block a settlement. He said: "The real truth behind this dispute is that Lord Mandelson, in cahoots with people running the company, clearly feel it is payback time because we defeated them on their proposals on privatisation."

Ward said he had no trust or confidence in Mandelson, the Royal Mail chief executive, Adam Crozier, or the Royal Mail managing director, Mark Higson, accusing them of vetoing a deal on how to introduce changes to working practices. He said it was inevitable that 130,000 postal workers would be on strike this morning.

Billy Hayes, the union's general secretary, derided Mandelson as "the minister without responsibility" who "just wants to wash his hands in this dispute".

The Royal Mail's management said it had reached agreement with the CWU on Tuesday, based on no further industrial action until after Christmas in return for an agreement that the company would not seek to change working practices before then. Royal Mail claimed this deal was thrown out by the CWU's executive yesterday, and said ministers did not seek to veto the agreement.

A poll conducted by YouGov for the left-wing pressure group Compass showed that the public, by 55% to 34%, would like to see Mandelson more directly involved in securing a settlement.

By a similar margin, they believe the government should force the unions and management to go to Acas. In addition, 60% say ministers should set up an independent review into how Royal Mail can be modernised in the interests of business and the public.