Founded in 1516, heading private The Post Office privatisation, the great mushy pea mystery and Fergie's secret passion After nearly 500 years in state hands, Royal Mail, the world's oldest postal service, is close to being privatised. Can anything stop the sale? The coalition hopes to achieve a stock market flotation this autumn. Vince Cable, business secretary, says it is "aiming to sell a majority of the ownership" though no decision has been made on exactly what percentage to sell initially. Observers think the company, whose fortunes have been improving as a result of modernisation and the boom in internet-related packet deliveries, could be worth £2bn-£3bn. As a fallback in case the market for initial public offerings dries up, the government could sell a stake to an investor such as a private equity house, sovereign wealth fund or industry buyer, before a later IPO. A sale has been promised in some form before next April. Legislation to privatise Royal Mail was passed in 2011 after failed attempts by the Tories" Lord Heseltine in the 1990s and Labour's Lord Mandelson, who wanted to sell a one-third stake, in 2009. Labour now opposes full privatisation, though in truth knows it can't stop it. Instead, it wants stronger guarantees that Royal Mail services will be sold through the separate Post Office and for staff to get more than the minimum 10 per cent of shares promised. The centre-right Bow Group warned yesterday that privatisation would be a "poisonous legacy" for Conservatives because prices would rise and the financial viability of rural post offices would be threatened. But this seems unlikely to put ministers off. The Communication Workers Union, which opposes the sell-off, is holding a consultative ballot on a boycott of delivering mail sorted by Royal Mail's rivals. Industry insiders say that would be unlawful, though other forms of action cannot be ruled out. This ballot, and strikes taking place at the Post Office over pay and jobs, may be linked to the fact that CWU leaders are up for re-election this spring. Investors will watch for the outcome of talks with the CWU on a two-year pay and conditions deal. But it seems unlikely that union militancy can halt the sale. The factor most likely to cause ministers sleepless nights, it appears, is a stock market crash. Mushy pea puzzle Can anyone help me solve the great mushy peas mystery? This question was prompted by the National Theatre's splendid play This House, in which a Labour whip makes a joke about the dish in February 1974. A pedantic voice in my head said: "That's a bit early. They hadn't caught on widely by then. Mushy peas, now a ubiquitous British phenomenon, are generally assumed to be traditional in northern England and the east Midlands, eaten with pies or fish and chips, or sometimes on their own. But if that is the case, why can the Oxford English Dictionary find no written reference to the term before 1973? The earliest one was in a Roy Clarke script for the Yorkshire-set television series Last of the Summer Wine, in which Norman Clegg (Peter Sallis's character) says: "We only left him last night. Stuffing his face with fish, chips and mushy peas. Unless my memory is faulty, I never heard of them in my Manchester youth: perhaps it was a mushy-pea-free zone. I first encountered them in Yorkshire. What is going on? Marrowfat peas cooked in their own juice have no doubt been eaten for centuries, but my guess is that the term itself only gained currency more recently. In some places, they were known simply as "hot peas." I will buy a pint and a pie with mushy peas for anyone who can find a written reference to the term before 1973, or a better explanation. Fergie and JFK Sir Alex Ferguson, feted as he retires from Manchester United, is a US history buff with a strong interest in the assassinated President John F. Kennedy, which takes him close to obsessives" territory. "I have a copy of JFK's autopsy report," he once said. I got a letter from the lad who runs the JFK assassination committee and he sent me the report and part of the Warren Report. I also have a brand new copy of the Warren Report signed by the former president, Gerald Ford, which is the only one he signed. Oxymoron One of Scotland's Summer Isles is up for sale. I always thought the name created unrealistic expectations.