Angus North and Mearns SNP MSP Mairi Gougeon is to meet RBS bosses to state the case for retention of its closure-threatened Montrose branch.
She will meet RBS officials on Wednesday along with Montrose SNP councillor Bill Duff and Mearns SNP councillor Leigh Wilson and said “actions speak louder than words”.
Mrs Gougeon also hit back at claims by Angus Conservative MP Kirstene Hair that Montrose’s RBS branch has been “sold down the river” by a “grubby back-room deal’ by the SNP.
She said: “The people of Angus and neighbouring Mearns have been let down badly by the Tories over the proposed closure of the RBS branches across the country, particularly the closure in Montrose which affects those across Angus and Aberdeenshire.
“The provision of banking is a matter reserved to Westminster and, as such, MPs should be taking a lead on saving threatened branches but instead there has been silence.
“RBS is publicly owned, giving the Tory UK Government considerable additional leverage over this decision but — for reasons known only to them — they have chosen not to protect communities all over the country from the effects of the 62 proposed bank closures.
“Sadly, it seems both the Prime Minister and her MPs have focused on media soundbites as a deflection tactic to shift the blame away from their complete failure to act.
“They have failed on this issue since day one of the announced closures and are more interested in playing the blame game than taking action.
Montrose will lose its branch of the bank in June this year, following moves by RBS to close an initial total of 62.
SNP Westminster leader Ian Blackford’s struck a deal to secure a stay of executive for 10 of 62 in towns where the branch would be the last remaining banking outlet.
She said: “Montrose branch serves a wide community and its customer base has expanded greatly on the back of recent closures in Laurencekirk, Brechin and Stonehaven.
“Everyone previously served by those branches was redirected from their own communities to Montrose.
“Significant investment was made into its refurbishment and it sits in a prime location in Montrose High Street.
“Rather than carp from the sidelines, we are doing everything we can to reverse the decision to close the Montrose branch.”
