1ST SEPTEMBER 2010: THE sale of 318 branches of the Royal Bank of Scotland to Santander has angered a number of Nick Griffin's North West constituents.

One gentleman from Southport told his MEP:

"The European Union may think this is a good move but neither I nor my wife do.

"I have been a customer of RBS since they were Williams & Glyns, nearly 40 years ago.

"Regardless of what happened at a much higher level, I love my local branches in Ainsdale and Formby and can always get through to them by phone. They are always very responsive.

"Now they have been taken over by Santander which has an awful reputation for customer services.

"I refuse to be a Santander customer so are now forced to change banks. I think this is another example of the European Union throwing its weight around at the inconvenience of the citizens of individual member states."

Responding to constituents on this issue on Nick's behalf, Constituency Office manager Tina Wingfield wrote:

"RBS - which is 83% owned by the British taxpayer as a result of the Government’s multi-billion-pound bail-out of the bank - has been forced into the sale by the European Commission. The sell-off was demanded by the Commission in order to appease Britain’s European banking competitors who were concerned that “fair” competition had been undermined as a result of RBS receiving government help.

"Given that Spain's Santander already owns the former UK brands of Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley, and is the eurozone’s biggest bank, this hardly seems to be the correct means to ensure “fairer” competition. In the topsy-turvy world of the European Union however, such strange logic is common currency.

"Competition on the high street has, in fact, been reduced as a consequence of this sale, with British banking customers left with an ever-decreasing and less diverse pool of service providers to choose from. Couple this with the increase in unemployment which is a consequence of British jobs being exported overseas, and the net effect is undoubtedly detrimental to the interests of the British consumer and worker.

"Whether the European Union approves this sort of take-over initiative for the good of its European citizens, I’m afraid the answer is “not likely!”.

"Some 1.8 million retail customers and about 244,000 small to medium business customers will see their accounts transferred to Santander and, given that the bank has a well publicised reputation for offering poor customer services, it is reasonable to conclude that improving services for the British consumer wasn’t highly placed on the EU’s agenda.

"The European Union is an intrinsic part of the global economy; a politico-economic institution designed to facilitate the march of the multinationals. Hence, the EU’s reckless and relentless race to dismantle independent political structures, remove national borders and merge cultural identities. Such concepts represent barriers to the global greed machine which must be dispensed with in order to create the perfect conditions for the new European mega-market.

"This multinational market for the ‘big business players’ certainly hasn’t been constructed with the benefit of European consumers in mind. On the contrary, the drive to create ever larger multi-national companies - whether they provide banking, telecommunications or utility services - is fuelled by the primary aim of maximising their profits and minimising production costs. The long-term interests of the consumer and the worker are 'externalities' that fall outside of their corporate calculations.

"I am afraid that the inconvenience that many RBS customers will experience as a result of the sale of so many UK high street branches to Santander is therefore, not a matter of concern for the EU or big business.

"If you are unhappy about being perceived as a valueless purchasing pawn, and feel angry at the way British workers are treated as dispensable economic units, there is something you can do about it.

"The British National Party offers an alternative approach to global economics; our economic strategy is premised upon protecting the long-term interests of Britain and the British people. If you would like to see a the development of a society that truly values its citizens and recognises the importance of national independence, then please take the time to read the Party’s Manifesto, available on the British National Party website: www.bnp.org.uk."