Stamps News

Commemorative stamps are being issued to mark the 60th anniversary of the launch of Royal Yacht Britannia.

The book of 10 Royal Mail first-class stamps feature images of the yacht being launched by the Queen in 1953, the apartments inside the boat and its final overseas trip to Hong Kong in 1997.

During its 44 years serving the Royal Family, the boat went on 968 official voyages around the world and is said to have travelled at least a million miles.

The yacht's barge led around a thousand boats for the Thames Jubilee pageant last June, carrying the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Built by workers at the John Brown shipyard in Clydebank, near Glasgow, Royal Yacht Britannia was launched on the Clyde on April 16, 1953.

It is now a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, hosting around 300,000 visitors a year.

The stamps are on sale from Tuesday, exactly 60 years since the Clyde launch.

• UK
• Stamps

A set of new stamps celebrating Britain's contribution to space exploration is being issued by the Royal Mail.

The six stamps, which go on sale next week, mark the 50th anniversary of the launch of Ariel 1, Britain's first satellite.

Images on the stamps include the cavernous craters of Mars, the rings of Saturn and the burning intensity of the Sun.

• UK
• Royal Mail
• Stamps

A Royal Mail spokesman explained the rise in stamp rises:

Raising prices is never easy. It is not a decision we have taken lightly but regretfully we have had no choice but to do so. We have thought very carefully about the impact on our customers and on our own business.

We need to secure the future of the universal service.

Ofcom (the postal regulator) has said there is a real risk to the universal service. They also found price controls failed and there is a need for material increases to ensure its viability.

Royal Mail has made a loss in its core mail business, including packets, of almost £1 billion over the last four financial years. That is not a sustainable position for any business.

• Money
• stamps

Royal Mail has defended stamp increases coming into force today, pointing out that the new 50p second class rate will still be the lowest in Europe.

The price is rising from 36p, while first class stamps will increase from 46p to 60p, which will be in the bottom half of most prices in other European countries.

Chief executive Moya Greene said the new prices were "incredible value for money", with first class stamps around half the cost of posting letters in France and Germany.

• Money
• stamps

The stampprice increases are unfortunately necessary to protect the universal postalservice. The rise has led to a spike in demand for stamps and the NFSP (National Federation of Subpostmasters) isworking with Post Office Ltd to ensure that subpostmasters continue to receivea full supply. As far as we are aware, there are currently no significant stampsupply problems at post offices.

• Business
• Royal Mail
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"There is no shortage of stamps available to our customers. We have more than adequatestock in place to meet customer demand through around 45,000 outlets across the UK.

"When the price of a First Class stamp increases from 46p to 60p on April 30, it isimportant that the proceeds of this price rise go to Royal Mail. We have lost £1 billion over the last four years.

"We need to put the Universal Service on a sound financial footing through these price rises for the benefit of everybody in the UK."

• Business
• Royal Mail
• stamps