Sell-off will ‘short-change’ public

General union Unite has slammed chancellor George Osborne for selling off the public stake in the Royal Bank of Scotland. The bank received £45 billion of taxpayers’ money following the 2008 financial crisis.

While a final date to begin the sell-off is yet to be named, the public’s 80% share in the bank is expected to be sold at a substantial loss. Responding to the news, Unite, which organises in the finance sector, said the deal would “short-change the public” as well as wasting a chance to change Britain’s banks.

Rob McGregor, Unite national officer for finance, said: “That Osborne is choosing to let the Treasury lose out on millions, while using the deficit to justify £12 billion in welfare cuts shows he is motivated by pure ideology.” McGregor added that the government would do better if it forced the banks to reform and used the public’s stake in RBS to support the bank’s workers, bring transparency to the boardroom and restore trust in the industry.

Further bad news hit banking staff with the announcement that banking giant HSBC is to cut up to 8,000 UK jobs from the bank by 2017.

www.unitetheunion.org/news/osbornes-cut-price-sell-off-of-rbs-wastes-a-chance-to-change-britains-banks

www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jun/09/hsbc-cuts-25000-jobs-globally