The Government is pushing ahead with a plan to sell off RBS at a massive loss to the UK public. Instead of selling it off, the Government should keep RBS in public ownership and put it to use for the public good.

In November 2018 the Office for Budget Responsibility predicted that a sell-off at current share values would mean a loss of £28.5 billion.

Selling the public’s stake in RBS is a historic missed opportunity to reform Britain’s broken banking system. Our big banks have a record of consistently failing to meet the needs of the UK economy, with the vast majority of their lending going towards speculation on property and financial trading, and only a fraction invested in productive sectors like small businesses, manufacturing or green energy.

We own 62% of RBS. Rather than handing over our stake to private shareholders who want to carry on with business as usual, the government should be making the bank work in the public interest.

The bank should be given a mission to lend to small businesses, provide services to neglected consumers, and support the parts of the country still reeling from the 2008 crash that banks like RBS helped cause.

A YouGov poll commissioned by Positive Money in February 2019 revealed that just 9% of the public think RBS should be sold off in the near future and only 11% of people think RBS would be run in the public interest if it returns to private ownership.

Philip Hammond: don't miss this opportunity. We demand you cancel any further sale, and keep RBS in public ownership with a mission to serve the UK public.

This petition is supported by the New Economics Foundation and We Own It.