Business of the House

Steven Paterson Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2015 Commons Chamber

[Chris Grayling]

I think we are all concerned about what is happening in Israel and the west bank. Utterly unacceptable incidents have taken place, including stabbings out of the blue and other incidents that have led to death and serious injury. We need to be constantly aware of that in this country and use every opportunity to try to facilitate talks and peace between the two sides. Obviously, I will ensure that my right hon. Friend the Foreign Secretary addresses the issue in this House before too long.

[Steven Paterson (Stirling) (SNP)]

Yesterday I attended a reception organised by Citizens Advice Scotland about the barriers facing Scotland’s rural customers. It has produced an excellent report that is well worth a read, and one part that caught my eye was the section on rural banking provision, which lists the difficulties facing rural areas and villages. I am sure that the situation is the same in constituencies across the country. May we have a debate on the issues facing rural communities with banking and other services, such as post offices?