RBS boss called to appear before Scottish Affairs Committee to explain closures

The UK parliament’s Scottish Affairs Committee, chaired by Perth SNP MP Pete Wishart, has summoned Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Ross Ewan to appear before of MPs to explain the 73 per cent state-owned bank’s plan to close 62 of its branches throughout Scotland.

The move comes despite RBS’s announcement this week that it has granted a stay of execution for 10 of the branches on the chopping block, along with the warning that if use of them doesn’t increase by the end of the year then their closure will go ahead as planned.

Mr Wishart said: “We welcome the announcement from RBS about 10 branches 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 the threat of serious consequences for remote or deprived communities has been removed.

“We will now be calling Ross McEwan to give evidence to clarify the contents of their announcements and press him on the future of the other branches in the RBS network.”

Mr Wishart’s intervention comes as this fellow MP and SNP leader at Westminster Ian Blackford demanded in the Commons that Prime Minister Theresa May follow the Scottish Affairs Committee’s lead and summon Mr McEwan to Downing Street to explain the Edinburgh-based banking group’s ‘branch network review’, which will also see 197 of its NatWest-branded outlets close south of the border.

The Highland MP said: “On three occasions, I have asked the Prime Minister at PMQS to call Ross Mcewan into No 10 Downing Street. Will she accept her responsibilities – given that we own RBS – now that we have saved 10 branches; will she call in Ross Mcewan and join us in calling for all the branches to remain open?”

Mrs May, who has continually responded to calls to intervene since the closures were announced in December by saying she would not question what she sees as a “commercial decision for the bank”, said she welcomed RBS’s decision to hold off on closing 10 branches in Scotland and stressed it was important customers, especially vulnerable ones, could call on the services they needed.

However, responding to Mr Blackford, she said: “If he is so keen on ensuring that people, including perhaps those in remote communities, have access to the services they need, he should ask himself why the Scottish Government has been such a failure in ensuring people in remote communities have broadband access to online banking. The Scottish Government needs to get its act together because, quite simply, Scotland under the Nats is getting left behind.”

Dismissing the PM’s criticism, the SNP leader retorted: “That was pathetic. The Prime Minister has not lifted a finger. We saved the banks.”