Wait a Minute Mr Postman…

“The Government has just performed a rather unglamorous U-turn and awarded the Post Office Card Account contract to, well…the Post Office. Cue cheering on all sides of the House of Commons. The only problem being that they had previously set up a procurement process for those wishing to tender for the contract which they are now by-passing. Presumably the process cost money and – equally presumably – the participants will be looking for compensation. In an otherwise comprehensive statement just now, Work & Pensions Secretary James Purnell seemed reluctant to put a figure on the taxpayer money which has just been written off. It’s just lucky there isn’t a recession on……..”