Royal Bank of Scotland Branch Closures

Debate between Deidre Brock and Sarah Dyke

Tuesday 14th May 2024 Westminster Hall

[Deidre Brock]

Yes, Sir Charles. A number of people expressed interest in being here and talking about branch closures in their areas, so I have allowed for that in my timing.

I absolutely agree with the hon. Member for Strangford (Jim Shannon) and I will make some points about that later. The impacts on rural areas are particularly stark and I am very much aware of them, having been part of the Scottish Affairs Committee that conducted an inquiry.

[Sarah Dyke (Somerton and Frome) (LD)]

In my constituency, Frome—with a population of 30,000 people —will lose its last bank. It follows in the footsteps of other market towns in my area: Castle Cary, Martock and Wincanton. Many of my elderly constituents are very worried that they will lose their physical, face-to-face contact with their banks. Does the hon. Member agree that, to combat the loss of bank branches, we must support communities by triggering the development of community banking hubs that safeguard people’s right to face-to-face contact with their banks, particularly in rural areas?

[Deidre Brock]

Absolutely, and I will make some points about that later.

I say, with a heavy dose of sarcasm, that banks cannot be expected to cut their profits and serve their customers when they have shareholders to please, even when—in the case of RBS—taxpayers bailed them out when they needed it and still own a third of the business. How often can we in this place bemoan bank branch closures while the Government sit on their hands and refuse to meaningfully intervene? The speedy decline in branches is alarming: almost 6,000 have gone, across the UK, at a rate of 54 a month since 2015. Do we just accept sleepwalking into a cashless society and the deepening of the digital divide? Should we all be forced into using systems that may go against our very human preferences for face-to-face services just because it is cheaper for the banks? What kind of society do we want to be? A society that looks out for everyone, or a society where markets rule and only the fittest survive?

UK Food Security

Debate between Deidre Brock and Sarah Dyke

Tuesday 19th March 2024 Westminster Hall

[Sarah Dyke]

The hon. Gentleman is quite right. I will come on to that later in my speech.

We must ensure sustainability in our food production, which encompasses the nutritional quality of food, its accessibility and the stability of supply. When we talk about the sustainability of food production, we must first look inwards at food being produced at home. British farming is facing a crisis. I hear daily from members of my own family, neighbours and friends about the challenges that they are facing, and their concerns and anxieties regarding their business.

For that reason, I feel honoured to work alongside organisations such as the Farm Safety Foundation, which campaigns to raise awareness of the mental health crisis facing farmers and farm workers. The immense pressure that the industry has faced over recent years is taking its toll financially, physically and mentally. Many farms across the country are on the precipice, with 110,000 farms having closed their farm gates since 1990. Many farmers do not know whether they will survive the next 12 months.

[Deidre Brock (Edinburgh North and Leith) (SNP)]

The Environmental Audit Committee has said that the food system globally and in the UK has become too driven by price alone. That race to the bottom for the cheapest food results in a squeeze on farmers’ incomes and results in the mental pressure the hon. Lady is talking about, as well as undermining food security. Does she agree that the Government must do more to ensure that UK trade policies support fair terms of trade for farmers here and abroad, rather than driving the import and export of cheap food?

[Sarah Dyke]

That is my very next point—the hon. Lady makes a very good one.

Unfair supermarket buying practices are leaving family farms teetering on a cliff edge. The current groceries supply code of practice is inadequate and rarely enforced. Nearly 70% of British fruit and veg farmers agree that we need tougher regulations to address the imbalance of power. Although our food system is structurally resilient, it is functionally non-resilient and it is not sustainable in the long term.

British farmers are receiving incoherent messages from the Government. On the one hand, they are told to engage more on sustainable practices, which is welcome, but on the other hand, this Conservative Government sign irresponsible trade deals with Australia and New Zealand that undercut our farmers on welfare practices and food standards. Good food security needs a trade policy that protects British agriculture.

We also need proper scrutiny of our trade deals. Even the former Environment Secretary, the right hon. Member for Camborne and Redruth (George Eustice), did not have a positive opinion of them, stating that the UK’s free trade deal with Australia was

“not actually a very good deal for the UK.”—[Official Report, 14 November 2022; Vol. 722, c. 424.]

We need to support the production of sustainable food at home and allow parity in the market. We should allow the system to put more emphasis on localism to provide a food system that is resilient and delivers a vibrant, cyclical local economy. I represent a constituency in rural Somerset, where people live next to local food suppliers, but their food is not always available to buy locally, despite the wishes of those producing it.

Polling by the Sustain alliance states that 75% of farmers indicated that gaining access to alternative, local markets gave them opportunities to demand a more competitive price for their produce, while keeping revenue local to create local jobs, and incentivise further investment on their farms. The current market limits those opportunities, whether that be difficulties with planning applications, stopping the construction of farm shops, for example, or the restrictions with buyer contracts that prevent farmers from shortening the supply chain.