This week I spent time on the picket line outside Sunderland Post Office to support staff who are defending a service so many of my constituents rely on.

Members of the Communication Workers Union and Unite are protesting over franchising, job-losses and the closure of a final salary pension scheme.

Dave Ward, the general secretary of the CWU, believes the Post Office is now at crisis point. The unions are asking the Government for an immediate halt to the cuts. Read more here: bitsy.in/20601