Greenwich and Woolwich MP, Nick Raynsford, has again criticised the decision by Nationwide to close seven branches in south east London.
Raynsford secured an adjournment debate in the House of Commons on Friday afternoon where he, and other MPs from the area, highlighted the branch closures.
He called it “a crude and discriminatory exercise in which the leafy suburbs are favoured while inner London is punished”, pointing out that all the south east London branches inside the South Circular would close whilst those outside it would remain open.
He closing remarks in the debate were:
Unless Nationwide accepts that it is making a serious mistake and agrees to consult its customers further on options to maintain access to some branches in the area, it will stand accused of walking away from the inner city, from its history, and from social and economic responsibility. It will be a sad epitaph to the long, proud history of mutuality in the financial sector.