Michelle Welsh

As the proud daughter of a postie, I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests. The performance of Royal Mail in parts of Sherwood Forest has been poor. Constituents in Clipstone have had no reliable postal service for over five months. At first, the Mansfield sorting office said that it was due to demand over the holiday period, but we are now in March. I have reached out nationally to Royal Mail, but had no response. As I said, this issue is deeply personal to me. My dad was a postie for over 30 years; I lost him on 6 September last year. It is clear that Royal Mail used to represent something more than it does now. It provided good, secure jobs; the jobs were tough, yes, but Royal Mail workers were respected, supported and had strong terms and conditions. Over the years, those terms and conditions have been eroded. Posties in my constituency tell me that the job has become near impossible, with chronic understaffing, ever-changing regulations, different terms and conditions for people doing the same job, and top-down ideas that simply do not work on the ground. These posties are not people who want to see Royal Mail fail; in fact, they are quite the opposite. However, in my recent meetings with the Communication Workers Union, I was told that 50% of new Royal Mail staff leave within their first year, which amounts to 27,000 workers leaving since 2022. Royal Mail is not just another company; it is a proud British institution, part of the fabric of our communities. There is something fundamentally British about the idea that, six days a week, someone in a red and blue uniform walks our streets to deliver mail. For constituents in Clipstone, for my communities across Nottinghamshire and for Royal Mail workers across the country, I urge the Minister to act, and act now.