Royal Mail must invest its profits to end distressing delays to deliveries

Labour MP Catherine West on Royal Mail’s failure to deal with postal delays, and John and Judy Watson on a late-arriving Christmas card

Many of the complaints that Royal Mail has received (Report, 25 January) are from my Hornsey and Wood Green constituents, as for the second year running our community has been one of the hardest-hit by postal delays. I have had countless distressing emails from residents who have missed urgent cancer referrals, not received death certificates for loved ones, or spent Christmas alone and isolating without a single card or gift arriving.

Royal Mail reported pre-tax profits of £315m in the six months to the end of September, up from £17m a year earlier. It has a near monopoly on letter deliveries, but where’s the investment in enough temporary staff to deal with the backlog and support our hard-working posties?

I’ve already written to Ofcom to urge it to use its regulatory powers to act. Residents and small businesses deserve better.
Catherine West MP
Labour, Hornsey and Wood Green

• Could this be the most delayed Christmas card this year? First-class stamp, date-stamped by Royal Mail in Southampton on 23 December; received 15 January in Manchester.
John and Judy Watson
Manchester

• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication.