What happened on 29th July 2023 - With your comments in the Web

In the early hours of Saturday, the BBC warned that time was running out for people to use any standard non-barcoded stamps as Monday is the last day they can be used to post items.

After Monday, customers sending mail with these stamps risk the recipient being given a surcharge of £1.10.

However, commemorative and non-barcoded Christmas stamps will still be valid. People can swap their old stamps for barcoded stamps through Royal Mail's Swap Out scheme, where there is no deadline for exchange.

Royal Mail said: "A leaflet with a form [for the Swap Out scheme] was delivered to every household recently, but customers can also print out a form from our website; call our Customer Experience team to order one; or pick one up at a local Royal Mail delivery office or Post Office."

The deadline for using the old stamps was extended from 31 January as more time was required for users, Royal Mail said.

After Monday, Royal Mail says a £1.10 surcharge fee will be applied to mail sent using non-barcoded stamps. Those receiving mail sent using non-barcoded stamps will be given a "Fee to Pay"' card telling them they must pay a surcharge before the item can be delivered

Barcoded stamps will take the place of older classic stamps

Yet, that wasn't an acute news for "People can swap their old stamps for barcoded stamps through Royal Mail's Swap Out scheme, where there is no deadline for exchange."

On Saturday either, travellers faced disruption as rail workers walked out.

It is part of a long-running dispute about pay, jobs and working conditions. About half of the usual services are expected to run across the network, and some will finish earlier than usual.

The RMT says it is waiting to be invited back to the negotiating table. The government says the union should put an existing offer to RMT members.

With many schools across the UK on their six-week summer holidays, the strike could disrupt family holiday travel. Cricket fans travelling to the fifth Ashes Test at The Oval in London may also face delays.

At London's Euston railway station, some travellers told the BBC they had some sympathy for rail workers, as others spoke of their frustration as they tried to make alternative plans.

Also, travellers through the Port of Dover are waiting up to two hours to get through border controls, officials have warned, as rail strikes hit the country.

Nine-lane-wide queues have filled the approach to where French border guards are checking passports.

On Twitter, Port of Dover officials told people overnight not to arrive more than three hours before their sailing time but by 7am Saturday morning, they warned that travellers were waiting two hours to be processed.

 

Yet, British Redditors didn't much mind.

"Isn’t that the whole point of a strike, to cause disruption"

"They need to put the pay offer to there members tho or the goverment is not going to negotiate with them"

Some had their own opinion, however.

"Instead of wasting a bunch of time, Union leaders can put out a mass consultation to see if the membership would consider the offer before they go through the formal process of balloting to accept. If its obvious that there isn't support for a Yes vote then they'll just kick the ball back - which is what's happened here. They haven't formally balloted for acceptance because the informal check shows the support isn't there."