A TORY politician has demanded an apology from a Labour MP who voted against stopping post office closures.

Richard Barnes, assembly member for Ealing and Hillingdon, said: "Andy Slaughter failed to speak up during the debate and should now apologise to all those people he led to believe he was supporting."

Mr Barnes' criticism comes after Mr Slaughter, MP for Ealing, Acton, and Shepherds Bush, voted against a Tory motion calling for the Government to suspend the compulsory closure of sub-post offices.

Mr Barnes said: "The sight of Labour MPs, scurrying around their constituencies, claiming to support their post offices, and then shamelessly voting in favour of shutting them down, shows what a sham this Government and this consultation really is."

Mr Slaughter had previously been a vocal opponent of post office closures in his constituency, especially the branch threatened with closure in Bollo Bridge Road, East Acton.