This afternoon I met with Laura Gattis and Colin Smith from the GMB trade union. We spoke about Npower – which is a major employer in my constituency – and the recent decision to reduce its workforce by around 900 members of staff.

This decision has caused significant concern locally, and GMB officials have been working with Npower to try to lessen the need to make redundancies. I share the GMB’s concerns around the insecurity this causes workers at Rainton Bridge, and I’m doing all I can to raise the wider issues with government ministers in Parliament.