MSPS urged to oppose RBS closure plan
● Leonard motion lodged at Holyrood ● Unite brands plan ‘morally bankrupt’
Labour leader Richard Leonard has lodged a Holyrood motion calling on MSPS to back a campaign opposing widespread RBS local branch closures.
It came as the Scottish Government last night hit out at the Treasury, which has a controlling share in the bank, for failing to halt the closures.
The Edinburgh-based financial giant unveiled plans to axe 62 branches last week in a move which has been described as “morally bankrupt” by the Unite union.
Mr Leonard says the UK government, which still owns a majority shareholding in the bank, should now intervene and halt the closures.
The motion lodged at Holyrood warns that the “proposed closures have triggered concern about a lack of support for small businesses, people in rural areas and the elderly.”
It calls on MSPS to back the Unite union’s call for “the UK government to block these cuts as it will decimate RBS’S high-street network and could mark the end of branch network banking.”
The recently elected Labour leader said: “This decision flies in the face of decency, diligence and honesty. It is an insult to RBS workers, customers, and all those who worked to rescue RBS with the use of funding from the taxpayer when it was in dire straits.
“The people of the UK own a majority of RBS and – if RBS bosses won’t listen to reason – the UK government must intervene to stop these closures.
“I hope MSPS will join with me in adding their voices to the chorus calling for RBS branches to be saved.”
Scottish Government business minister Paul Wheelhouse raised the issue during talks with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Barclay yesterday.
The Unite union says RBS has reneged on a promise never to close a branch when it was “the last bank in town”.
Unite’sdeputyscottishsecretary Mary Alexander says in a letter to Mr Wheelhouse: “The plans are not actually about inefficient, under-used services for the most part. They are about money, and making more of it for RBS shareholders. We actually believe RBS is morally bankrupt.”
The Treasury said after the closures were announced that it did not interfere with commercial decisions. But Mr Wheelhouse hit out at the intransigence after talks yesterday with Mr Barclay.
“I am disappointed that the UK government– despite being majority shareholder in RBS – is reluctant to to call a halt to this potentially damaging programme of closures, or even interrogate the detail, given concerns regarding its impact on the range of services available and the risk of losing further ATM provision,” he said.
RBS has argued that the move is in response to more customers accessing services online or via mobile devices. RBS said the number of customers using its branches in Scotland had fallen by 44 per cent since 2012, while the number of regular mobile users had increased by 39 per cent since 2015.