Dear Philip,

I am writing to urge you to cancel any further proposed sale of the Royal Bank of Scotland back to the private sector. 

The OBR forecast that your Government’s plans will cost taxpayers £28.5bn in total, whilst last year’s sale of shares resulted in profit losses of £2.1bn. The sale makes little economic sense.

Moreover, your positon represents a wasted opportunity to realign big banks more closely with the public interest. It was taxpayers’ money which bailed out RBS back in 2008, and the public should get a return on that investment. A state owned RBS could provide this by massively investing in SMEs and local businesses, for example; or by funding a Green New Deal to revitalise areas where traditional industries have declined, providing green investment to rapidly decarbonise our economy.

Selling off RBS would also likely see more branch closures, whereas keeping the bank in public hands could help protect access to banking services for people that rely on using a local branch.

The proposed RBS sell-off is deeply unpopular, with less than 1 in 10 people supporting plans for a quick sell off. Additionally, a majority of over two-thirds worry that the RBS will not be run in the public interest once privatised.

I hope you will listen to my constituents and the public at large and use this opportunity to start the crucial process of building the kind of banking system we need to serve a sustainable economy that works for people first and foremost.

Yours sincerely,