RBS is feeling the heat over branch closures after taking a “hell of a roasting” in the Commons, says a Perthshire MP.
The Scottish Affairs Committee is weighing up whether to haul the bank’s chief executive Ross McEwan into Westminster after the Scots MPs found answers from his more junior colleagues infuriating on Wednesday.
Pete Wishart, the SNP MP, suggested RBS might be considering a retreat in the wake of campaigning from The Courier, communities across Scotland and politicians from major parties.
The taxpayer-owned bank says it will save £9.5m by closing 62 branches north of the border, with eight of those in Courier Country,
Mr Wishart said: “I think they took a hell of a roasting on Wednesday and what I’m beginning to sense from them is just a little bit of insecurity, a sense they know they are totally on the wrong side of public opinion.
“I’m hoping they’ll still do the right thing. They are fully aware of the strength of feeling. This is coming from every party. But calling Ross McEwan is definitely an option.”
Les Matheson, who runs RBS’ high street operation, refused to reconsider the closure programme in his appearance before the committee on Wednesday.
He appeared to give little thought to older people and small businesses when he said “it doesn’t make sense” to keep branches with low footfall open.
The personal and business banking boss also admitted the £9.5m savings from the closure programme is “not significant” for the £4bn operation he oversees.
Meanwhile, an internal RBS memo emerged on Thursday showing managers encouraging staff to let struggling business customers “hang themselves”.
Stewart Hosie, the Dundee East MP and member of the Treasury Committee, said although the memo is historic and not widely distributed it “gives us an insight into the culture that existed”.
He accepted there have been big changes at the bank, but suggested it was taking a backwards step by closing branches.
“We are now in a position where, as part of that process, branches are closing, including in parts of the country the last bank in the town or the last bank in the village,” he added.
In a Commons debate on Thursday, Labour’s Clive Lewis led a flurry of condemnation over how the bank’s global restructuring group (GRG) operated.
Treasury minister John Glen said he will “stop at nothing” to help small and medium-sized (SME) businesses “failed” by the Royal Bank of Scotland and others.
Mr McEwan said the internal memo “at no time formed part of GRG or RBS policy.”
A statement from the bank said: “We have acknowledged for some time that mistakes were made and have apologised that we did not always provide the level of service and understanding we should have done for these customers in the aftermath of the financial crisis.”
