PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
CLOSURE OF NATWEST BANK, LOFTUS (18 April 2000)

That this House condemns the decision by the Royal Bank of Scotland to close the Loftus, Cleveland, branch of Natwest Bank; notes with grave concern that this follows hard on the heels of closure announcements made by Barclays of their branches in the nearby villages of Skelton and Brotton; notes that hundreds of workers in local factories and at the local potash mine will be inconvenienced; sees this as closure by stealth which flies in the face of assurances made by the Royal Bank of Scotland at the time of their takeover of Natwest that there would be no branch rationalisation; sees this as yet another example of corporate greed trampling over community needs; and calls on the Board of the Royal Bank of Scotland to reconsider their decision in the light of those needs.

Sponsored by:
Dr Ashok Kumar (Labour)