Postal Services Bill

Very briefly, I recall that 55 years ago, I used to be responsible for making 5 foot 8 inch diameter tunnel sections for the GPO tunnel system. The firm was called Head Wrightson, and it made many tonnes of the segments that made up the tunnel. There is no question of them deteriorating. As with the Northern line, which is older, they will be there for ever, because in London clay, cast iron has an almost infinite life. You will notice that when the Underground does things on old lines, it does not have to replace the tunnels. On a more serious point, I urge my noble friend to have serious thought about the non-public records part—what could be loosely described as the stamp collection. It would be a great shame if it were not kept coherent and whole. I do not know if that can be achieved by some partnership agreement with the British Museum, for example, or some other imaginative idea about who would undertake some combined financial responsibility—perhaps partly charitable and partly public money. It would be a great shame if it was not kept together.