RBS to start lending again .. but only in Scotland

! This post hasn't been updated in over a year. A lot can change in a year including my opinion and the amount of naughty words I use. There's a good chance that there's something in what's written below that someone will find objectionable. That's fine, if I tried to please everybody all of the time then I'd be a Lib Dem (remember them?) and I'm certainly not one of those. The point is, I'm not the kind of person to try and alter history in case I said something in the past that someone can use against me in the future but just remember that the person I was then isn't the person I am now nor the person I'll be in a year's time.

Good news!  The Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it is going to use £1.7bn of the magic money the Bank of England invented to issue new mortgages.  But only in Scotland.

RBS is, I imagine, keen to reassert its Scottish credentials now that the “English” government owns most of it.  How ironic that the Royal Bank of Scotland is using money from the Bank of England to finance mortgage spending exclusively in Scotland.  How wrong that the Royal Bank of Scotland is using money from the Bank of England to finance mortgage spending exclusively in Scotland.

I wonder whether the Scottish Chancellor had a hand in the decision.  Let’s find out shall we?

Subject: FOI Request
Date: Wed, 11 Mar 2009 08:17:40 +0000
From: Stuart Parr
To: public.enquiries@hm-treasury.gov.uk

Hi,

Under the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to know the following:

  1. What guidance or instructions have been given to banks in receipt of taxpayers money as to what percentage of that money should be targeted at:
    • Scotland
    • Wales
    • Northern Ireland
    • England
  2. What consideration was given to the perceived detrimental effect on the Scottish banks’ reputation from being partly or majority owned by the British government and what was the outcome of any discussions about it.
  3. What involvement has the Chancellor had in any decision to prioritise lending in Scotland?

I would like this information in an electronic format.

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