The decision by a number of Labour MPs not to oppose plans in Parliament to close 26 Birmingham post offices has been labelled the “Silence of the Labs” by a Conservative councillor.

Coun John Lines (Bartley), the cabinet member for housing, attacked the city’s MPs for publicly supporting constituents who were against the closures, without voting on the subject.

He told the full council: “We are being told that the Post Office are losing millions of pounds. Lots of Labour MPs voted against the closures but not one single Labour MP from the city of Birmingham. They were too busy to turn up. Instead they were concerned with their second home subsidy. It was the ‘Silence of the Labs’.”

Relating Post Office Limited’s situation to that of the Northern Rock bank, currently under the ownership of the Government, he added: “What if they were in the North-east and were called Northern Rock? They could lose millions and the Government would still bail them out.”

His comments came as he joined Coun Neville Summerfield (Con Brandwood) in a motion calling on the council to investigate how to minimise the impact of the closures.

They said: “This council and a whole range of organisations, the public at large, our local press and even some Labour MPs, totally denounces the Government’s latest Post Office closure programme”.

Coun Summerfield added the elderly, disabled and workers would be affected by the closures.

“The bell tolls for the post offices” he said. “The only winners will be the graffiti yobbos who will enjoy 24-hour canvases.”

In response, Labour group leader Sir Albert Bore (Ladywood) said that although he was campaigning against the closure of a number of post offices in Birmingham, it was inevitable that some would have to close due to a lack of customers and the increase in dependency on the internet and email.

“We know the way people keep in contact has changed,” he said. “People use emails and the internet and there is a wider availability of banking access.

“The Post Office has lost something of the order of four million customers and that is why they are losing £3.5 million per week.

“That is a serious amount of money and any responsible Government has to deal with that.”