On Wednesday, 16 December 2020 at 15:28:56 UTC, Dave Plowman (News) wrote:

Remember the postal service has a flat rate for letters across the UK.
Meaning the service to distant parts is 'subsidised' by local deliveries.

Cream off the easy stuff and the distant will become totally uneconomic.

I think it a bit unfair to whinge about the PO at the moment. Many
services are suffering due to Covid.

Cost is not proportional to distance. From what I vaguely remember, it is delivering tiny quantities of mail to remote locations that are most expensive to serve per item. Even if they are not that many miles away.

Also, has anyone come up with a sensible postage system within a country which is based on differential charging by location (effectively, by distance)?

Mind, I always thought they made a mistake with the letter classes. First class should have been more expensive and better service than is offered. Thus only being a tiny percentage of mail.