Backlash against boasting SNP MP who nearly derailed the deal
THE SNP’s Westminster leader was condemned yesterday for trying to claim credit for RBS’s partial U-turn on branch closures.
Ian Blackford announced at the weekend he was ‘very close’ to reaching a deal which would see branches saved from closure.
The Scottish Daily Mail understands his intervention – in the Sunday Mail and on the BBC – infuriated RBS bosses, who had shared details with several politicians privately but had not informed bank staff.
Sources close to the negotiations say the MP’s interventions could have put the entire plan at risk.
As soon as the decision was announced yesterday, Mr Blackford posted pictures of himself outside his local branch with his thumbs up, announcing he was ‘delighted at the RBS announcement saving ten branches, including Kyle and Beauly in my own constituency’.
In a later statement, he said: ‘This is very welcome news – following a concentrated campaign by the SNP to keep these banks open. While this will come as a relief to the communities who can continue to use their branches, RBS have failed to perform a complete U-turn and the SNP will continue to campaign for the remaining branches.
‘The Tories have been letting Scotland down by failing to lift a finger to save local banks from closure – leaving many communities with the damaging prospect of losing their last bank in town. While the Tory UK Government has repeatedly refused to take action, the SNP will continue our campaign to save these banks.’
It is believed members of the Scottish Affairs Committee, which has inquired into the RBS proposals and was pivotal in encouraging it to reverse its decision, raised concerns about Mr Blackford’s actions yesterday and in a private session on Monday.
Discussions are said to have ‘blown up’ following anger at his weekend intervention. One MP said: ‘A lot of people were very angered by it. He should not be talking publicly about the work of the committee. He has stuck his foot in it to try to take the credit. He shouldn’t have done that.’
Another MP on the committee said: ‘We were working on a cross-party basis and Ian Blackford came sailing in at the eleventh hour, trying to take credit for it.
‘We all had been working to get the best outcome for our respective branches and he was trying to make out he was doing something separate to our work.
‘When we saw the front page on Sunday, we could not believe what had happened – it completely smashed the cross-party nature of our work.’
Edinburgh West Lib Dem MP Christine Jardine said: ‘These branch closures will be a bitter blow for staff and customers. Rather than slapping themselves on the back, Ian Blackford and Co should be standing up for the communities which are still set to lose their bank branches.’
Nationalist MP Pete Wishart, chairman of the committee, said: ‘We welcome today’s announcement as the first steps to addressing the concerns raised by the committee. However, given there is a still an active closure programme being pursued by RBS, we remain to be convinced that the threat of serious consequences for remote or deprived communities has been removed.
‘We hope RBS will continue to consider the action they have taken and listen to local communities about the impact it will have on them.’
But it was claimed Mr Wishart admitted in private that he was concerned by Mr Blackford’s intervention.
‘A lot of people were very angered’