Do you sell stamps? If so you’ve probably noticed the reduction in margin on second class stamps to three per cent. Were you informed? I must admit, if there was a whole heap of hype as claimed by Royal Mail, I missed it. Steve Dyer, from Thornfalcon Garage in Taunton, Somerset, missed it too. “Have I been in a coma?” he asks. At the same time the margin on first class stamps has been raised to seven per cent, but this does not mollify Steve. “I am not in the swings and roundabouts game. If an item cannot achieve a margin of five per cent then I do not consider it viable to sell – even petrol can achieve five per cent on a good day!”

Steve, who is calling for a boycott on the sale of second class stamps, was incensed enough to contact Royal Mail and tell a spokesman that he wouldn’t be selling second class stamps any longer and would put up a notice explaining why. The response from spokesman? “Well, I think that’s what the Royal Mail want anyway.”Given that Royal Mail can’t get its first class post delivered on time, why is it trying to get rid of its second-rate, sorry, second class, service?