Royal Mail privatised 'for no good reason'

A union leader has told the BBC that the decision to privatise the Royal Mail is "about greed" and there is "no good reason" for it.

Royal Mail is about to make its stock market debut, with each share priced at 330p, giving the company an initial value of £3.3bn.

Demand for shares far outstripped supply, with almost 700,000 private investors applying for shares.

Billy Hayes, general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, told the Today programme's Evan Davis that the privatisation of the company was "a tragedy".

He went on the express his disappointment at the decision, explaining that the government "nationalised the debt and they privatised the profit."

First broadcast on BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Friday 11 October 2013.