It is the same here. The Toronto Star just posted big losses for the fourth
quarter. I get phone calls all of the time asking me to subscribe.As an
environmentalist, I can't subscribe in good conscience. My recycling box is full
as it is with all of the adverts that come to the door. I would put a sign on
the mailbox to not insert junk mail, but my wife likes some of them.

Is the Royal Mail independent or a crown corporation? Canada Post was a crown
corporation but a couple of decades ago it was forced to pay its own way. Now
our stamps costs go up as they please and this affects people's decision to use
the post office or not, often not. We even pay tax on stamps, our equivalent of
the VAT.

We have family and friends in the UK and to send a parcel is ridiculous. When a
cousin had a baby, we spent as much to mail it as the baby gift cost in the
first place. We had friends visiting from the UK and they forgot a whole full
suitcase. We still have the suitcase, but the contents by post cost enough that
I could have flown to the UK with it. Ironically, mailing it was cheaper than
other methods we explored.

We use mail mostly at Christmas for cards and do the rest by email.
Besides email is faster. with things such as Facebook we can check up
on events and see pictures. The internet makes life so much easier.