The announcement to shut five further Lloyds bank branches and Halifax building society offices in the North East has caused outrage from customers, local businesses and MPs.
Joe Morris, the MP for Hexham, has written to Charlie Nunn, Lloyds Banking Group Chief Executive, urging a change of mind on the closure of branches in the Tyne Valley towns of Hexham and Prudhoe.
“These closures will impact on the residents and businesses of Hexham and Prudhoe but also vast swathes of Northumberland,” he said.
“Lloyds Banking Group will leave my constituents in England’s largest constituency by land mass, which spreads across an area wider than that contained by the M25, with just two dedicated bank branches.”
“These bank closures will not just mean an inconvenience to my constituents; they present a toxic cocktail that both damages quality of life and holds back the growth of our rural economy.”
Of course, this latest decision by a business which made nearly £4 billion in profits after tax in 2023, comes as no surprise. Northumberland has lost over 70% of its bank branches since 2015. Only five bank branches remain in the whole county. A similar story could be told all over the region.
Joe Morris MP described it in a recent House of Commons debate as a “banking desert.” Ian Lavery, the Blyth and Ashington MP said, “Vulnerable people are suffering greatly where banks have just up and left without any accountability.”
Banks are a public service as well as a business. But this seems to have been forgotten, and short memories are a problem for the banking industry. It seems to have collective amnesia over how we bailed them out to the tune of £33 billion after the financial crash of 2008. Twenty billion went to Lloyds Bank alone.
Response from Lloyds
Lloyds, of course, blames us. They point out how banking habits have changed. The closures, it says, are because people’s habits have shifted in favour of digital banking. A spokesperson for Lloyds said that; “Over 20 million customers are using our apps for on–demand to access their money.”
That may be true. But to state the obvious. Not everyone has access to a computer. Not everyone can use a computer. Not everyone feels comfortable moving money around on a computer. And what if you’re a local business with cash to bank?
Rural Services Network
The Rural Services Network in Northumberland have been fighting bank closures for years. Speaking after earlier decisions to close Lloyds and Halifax branches this month in Alnwick, and a branch of Barclays in Seahouses, it said, “This situation is emblematic of the broader struggle within rural areas where residents are often faced with limited access to essential services.”
Often the answer given is to use local Post Offices. But it too has closed branches in recent years. A post office in Chester-le-Street is on the latest list of 115 closures announced before Christmas. Unlike Royal Mail, the Post Office side of the business is still owned by the state. But it seems a new Labour government won’t stop closures either.
Whether it’s the health service, social care, roads, libraries, banks or post offices, it seems all our public services are declining or disappearing. Is this the country we want? Is this what we voted for? The danger is that those answering these questions, with a compelling form of make-believe nostalgia politics, will come from the right.
And we can see from the chaos, lies and moral vacuum unfolding in America where that will take us. It’s time to fight back against big business. Growth doesn’t just mean a growth in profits, increased investment, wages and the rest. Growth must mean a better life for all.
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