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The Royal Mail boss is fighting for a job after being recalled by MPs only to be attacked again
The future of the Royal Mail boss has been thrown into question after he was recalled by MPs to be attacked again.
Simon Thompson will be dragged before the Commons Business Select Committee for a second time after chairman Darren Jones claimed in a letter that the answers he gave at a previous session may not have been ‘completely accurate’.
Analysts warned the embattled president would face “serious questions about his leadership” if he was found to have misled parliament.
Questions: Royal Mail boss Simon Thompson (pictured) was told the answers he gave at an earlier session before the House of Commons Business Select Committee may not have been entirely accurate
The decision followed an embarrassing appearance at the committee last week when Jones said Thompson’s answers raised “serious concerns” about the company and reminded him that it “would not be appreciated” if his answers turned out to be untrue.
Royal Mail chairman Keith Williams, who was not present at the previous hearing, has also been summoned.
“This is yet another negative headline faced by Royal Mail, which is already struggling under the weight of industrial action,” said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at investment platform Interactive Investor.
“There will be serious questions about it [Thompson’s] leadership if it turns out that his answers in parliament last week were incorrect.
“Drastic changes are needed at Royal Mail to revitalize its finances, be it a spin-off, new leadership or the abolition of Saturday delivery services.”
A spokesman for Royal Mail said the company welcomed the opportunity to “expand on all points on which the committee would like clarification” but claimed it was seeing “an increasingly false narrative” about an ongoing dispute over remuneration which it said was “intended was to sow fear’. and uncertainty among our employees’.
The recall comes amid growing signs that Thompson’s authority is beginning to crumble as Royal Mail remains consumed by a bitter and protracted labor dispute that has crippled the company and left it with estimated losses of more than £2million a day.
Matters were made worse earlier this month after a cyber-attack knocked out overseas delivery operations.
On Monday, representatives of some 20 major shareholders met with union leaders to try to resolve the disruption that has caused shares in Royal Mail’s parent company International Distributions Services (IDS) to fall nearly 50 percent over the past 12 months.
News of Thompson’s recall was quickly picked up by the Communication Workers Union (CWU), which represents about 115,000 postal workers, who said they “warmly” welcomed the decision.
Thompson has been attacked by his predecessor Rico Back, who earlier this month berated company management for his “confrontational” approach to the strikes.
There are also lingering concerns about the motives of Daniel Kretinsky, a Czech billionaire who owns 23 percent of the company through his vehicle Vesa Equity.
Kretinsky is believed to still be supportive of Thompson, with rumors he could advise him to solve the company’s problems.