Cameron Thomas
MP for Tewkesbury · Independent · United Kingdom
“I want to put on the record my respect for the right hon. Member for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough (John Healey) and the hon. Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns). Both served in the roles they relinquished last week with the sincerity and integrity that those roles demanded.”
“Zoe Wilson was a well-loved English teacher, a dedicated mother to her two boys, John and Mark, and wife to Matthew. She was the kind of neighbour who delivered fresh baked goods to your doorstep. Will my hon. Friend remember her with me, and thank Matthew for his continuing work, ever since losing her, for better outcomes for others?”
“This cowardly murder is not a reflection on the Sikh community, which has integrated itself into the UK with honour and modesty. I understand that the weapon wielded was not that traditionally carried by Sikhs.”
“I fully endorse the hon. Member’s comments. I often feel self-conscious about bringing this issue forward as a man, when really we should be listening to the voices of women and girls, particularly those who have been victims of these crimes.”
“They rarely, if ever, consider the victims. Social media commentators periodically ask me, “What are you doing about grooming gangs?”; they never ask me what I am doing for the victims. Elon Musk’s interest in the 2024 summer riots and the unimaginable crimes that they followed was not in the protection of women and girls.”
“It should not take a humanist to recognise that various interpretations of the Quran, the hadiths, the Torah and the biblical Old Testament continue to validate varying degrees of female subjugation. Malala Yousafzai was shot by religious fundamentalists in Pakistan for daring to advocate for girls’ education.”
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“Zoe Wilson was a well-loved English teacher, a dedicated mother to her two boys, John and Mark, and wife to Matthew. She was the kind of neighbour who delivered fresh baked goods to your doorstep. Will my hon. Friend remember her with me, and thank Matthew for his continuing work, ever since losing her, for better outcomes for others?”
“In his absence, can the Minister explain when we will see the defence investment plan that he has now been left to front?”
“I want to put on the record my respect for the right hon. Member for Rawmarsh and Conisbrough (John Healey) and the hon. Member for Birmingham Selly Oak (Al Carns). Both served in the roles they relinquished last week with the sincerity and integrity that those roles demanded. Each should be commended for putting the needs of our country before their own this past week, citing the Government’s underwhelming commitment to defence investment—of course, the rest of us will just have to take their word for it. I also have great respect for the incumbent Secretary of State for Defence. I know that he is with the King this week and is unable to explain what it is about the Government’s approach that inspires him but not his predecessor.”
“This cowardly murder is not a reflection on the Sikh community, which has integrated itself into the UK with honour and modesty. I understand that the weapon wielded was not that traditionally carried by Sikhs. However, I believe this murder may give reasonable grounds to review existing exemptions to knife legislation on the grounds of religious reasons and national dress. I know that the Home Secretary wants to halve knife crime within the next 10 years. What message do the exemptions give? Is she honestly going to rule out even a review?”
“The rational among us would want integration to take place, so let us not take it for granted. Where there is incompatibility between cultures in this country, no inch should ever be given that would undermine the rights of women and girls.”
“It should not take a humanist to recognise that various interpretations of the Quran, the hadiths, the Torah and the biblical Old Testament continue to validate varying degrees of female subjugation. Malala Yousafzai was shot by religious fundamentalists in Pakistan for daring to advocate for girls’ education. Therefore, where exploitation has taken place by groups that entirely comprised men of Pakistani heritage, there can be no pretence that culture did not factor in their subjugation of those women and girls. I am proud that the UK leads much of the world in our elevation of women. I am equally proud of the enrichment that cultural diversity has brought to our own. But why pretend that integration is frictionless or that any two cultures are perfectly compatible?”
“I thank my hon. and gallant Friend the Member for Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross (Jamie Stone) for moving the motion. At the heart of this issue are exploited children and predatory men. Sexual exploitation of children continues to occur across the country. It is not exclusive to a particular skin tone, an individual culture or religion, but leaders and those in authority must acknowledge and address patterns. Who are any of us to deny the testimonies of the victims, as were so heavily laid out by the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth (Rupert Lowe)? Those with responsibility must feel empowered to act in defence of women and girls, without fear of persecution or judgment or of prosecution under the Equality Act.”
“I thank the right hon. Member for his intervention. I have to say that I am not entirely familiar with the specific instance that he has laid out, but certainly it is ongoing today and across the country. The reasonable among us must not avoid these uncomfortable societal issues. We must never leave the floor open and unchallenged to racists and white supremacists who unfairly denigrate demographics at large for the crimes of a few. In the absence of reasonable voices, this issue has been weaponised by the far right and deployed by its propagandists to sow racial, cultural and religious division.”
“Last year, he was paid £40,000 by Elon Musk through his platform X, the same platform over which Musk provoked the riots in 2024. In closing, let us bring forward this motion, and let the evidence show that I am sure most sexual abuse of this kind does occur within the family—but let the evidence show where it does not, and let us act upon it as one.”
“They rarely, if ever, consider the victims. Social media commentators periodically ask me, “What are you doing about grooming gangs?”; they never ask me what I am doing for the victims. Elon Musk’s interest in the 2024 summer riots and the unimaginable crimes that they followed was not in the protection of women and girls. Rather, it was based upon his apartheid-nostalgic white supremacism. Musk’s concern for women and girls extends only to his own attempt to exploit them, as evidenced through his reluctantly public exchanges with sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein. That brings me to the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth—again, I feel self-conscious for delivering this from behind him. Despite Musk’s relationship with paedophile Jeffrey Epstein, the hon. Member for Great Yarmouth continues to publicly court him.”
“I fully endorse the hon. Member’s comments. I often feel self-conscious about bringing this issue forward as a man, when really we should be listening to the voices of women and girls, particularly those who have been victims of these crimes. Victims of domestic and sexual abuse, exploitation and trafficking deserve to be treated with compassion and sincerity. Their tragedies should not be a foundation over which clamber opportunistic and ambitious politicians desperate to score political points over their opponents, as did the Conservative party in January 2025. It is a continuing tragedy that these cases are most vociferously contested by thugs who attack police and defile our national emblems, by political opportunists and by hostile foreign commentators who call for civil war and violent uprisings against the elected Government.”
“Last year I met UK businessman Steve Wisbey, who explained the nightmare of red tape that Brexit has caused UK businesses. He spoke of the additional costs of work visas since freedom of movement was surrendered, of temporary import licences, and of cash flows inhibited by VAT now paid up front. Other Members might be keen to avoid rehashing the old arguments of Brexit, but we must not deny its cost. Backing business means undoing the damage caused by Brexit.”
“If the UK is serious about generating growth, we cannot be cowed by taboo. We must reckon with the reality that leaving the European Union has been a diplomatic and economic disaster. Reform UK wants to abolish the Office for Budget Responsibility, perhaps because it reported that the UK economy will be 4% smaller by 2035 for having left. That will not help my constituents with the cost of living crisis. Indeed, the OBR’s estimation seems conservative compared with that of other economists. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development estimates a deficit of 5% by 2030, and the US National Bureau of Economic Research says that by last year the impact was already negative by 6% to 8%. No greater mechanism to effect economic growth is available to the Government than negotiating a new customs union with the EU.”
“It is a key enabler of the Tewkesbury garden communities project. Combined, those projects will facilitate tens of thousands of new homes, with the community infrastructure that is so desperately needed. In the current geopolitical climate, backing business for economic growth means unleashing the UK’s world-leading defence manufacturing sector, and few regions of the UK boast Gloucestershire’s engineering heritage. In my constituency, I proudly represent Babcock, GE Aerospace, Moog and Safran, each at the top of a chain of small and medium-sized manufacturing and logistics enterprises. The M5 junction 9a project can further enhance Gloucestershire’s contribution to economic growth through the sector, and help the Government to meet their pledged 3% of GDP on defence by 2030.”
“I stood in this Chamber in September last year and spoke of my pride to represent 52 pubs and three breweries. I warned the Government then that, despite their protestations that they were supporting businesses, their hikes in employer national insurance contributions and business rates were hitting hospitality hard. Since then, Winchcombe’s Corner Cupboard inn has closed, and the Inferno Brewery has vacated Bredon Road in Tewkesbury. If the Government do not row back their business taxation, I expect to be back with an updated list. There is one very clear route to economic growth in Gloucestershire. The M5 junction 9A and A46 Ashchurch project requires a Government injection of approximately £1 billion, but it will unlock 100 hectares of employment space while releasing capacity on the UK’s crucial trans-midlands trade corridor.”
“Trump donor Larry Ellison and his son David own CBS News, will soon own CNN, and part-own TikTok. In 2024, Ellison senior’s Oracle paid a six-figure sum to Hanover Communications, for whom Michael Prescott was a managing director. One year later, Prescott’s leaked internal memo landed the BBC a $5 billion lawsuit from Donald Trump. Rupert Murdoch and GB News founder Robbie Gibb know that when you own the news, you own the people. I believe that our independent news broadcaster is under attack from within and without. How are the Government going to protect it?”
“I thank my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. Many of my rural constituents are also paying the price of President Trump’s latest exploration into market manipulation. Given that heating oil customers are not protected by the Ofgem price cap, will he join me in calling on the Government to take the Liberal Democrats’ line and implement such a price cap for heating oil customers?”
“Two of my constituents, Tom and Emily—they are brother and sister—got EHCPs after tribunal fairly early, because their parents were so robust. They then only got suitable schools after tribunal, against the will of the local authority, because their parents were so robust. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree with me that any reforms to the process must be enforceable?”
“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for giving way once more. He is treading this compassionate tightrope very delicately. I have an organisation in my constituency called Children Lead The Way, which takes children who are struggling in the traditional setting outdoors, and some of those children are later able to go back into the school system. Rather than underdiagnosing, which, if we are not careful, might be the end result here, would the right hon. Gentleman be willing to accept that if we reconsider the settings, it is possible that children who are taken out of settings may later be reintroduced?”
“I thank the hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) for securing the debate. I have several constituents with EDS, one of whom is a young lady who has suffered from malnutrition, regular hospital visits and frequent misdiagnoses. She now lives in a hospital bed in her parents’ living room, fed through a tube. She cannot get the care she needs, because it is not available on the NHS, which means her parents have to raise money to take her overseas for treatment. Will the hon. Lady join me, as so many other Members have, in calling for a clear treatment pathway for people with EDS?”
“A constituent of mine experienced several instances of sexual harassment within the Church of England’s diocese of London between 2017 and 2020. Within that timeline, she was also raped by a church worker after she was coerced by the Church to report historical abuse. Through a series of written questions, I learned recently that the Church of England body responsible for managing safeguarding risks is also responsible for managing reputational risks. It strikes me that those two objectives are incompatible. Does the Leader of the House agree?”
“The UK sent this man, who travelled 10,000 miles to serve the UK in the Falkland Islands, back to Nepal with one eye, a walking stick and £2.50 a month. Shame on us.”
“Throughout those six months, Ghanendra cried day and night. His hopes of a long Army career as an electrician were over at 22. “The Magician”, as he was described by his team-mates on the battalion basketball team, would never play basketball again, and his days on the right wing of a football pitch were over, too. After his discharge from hospital, Ghanendra returned to Kitchener barracks, wanting to seek legal advice, but he was ordered not to leave camp. In 1983, he was told he was no longer fit for the Army and was flown back to Hong Kong. He was physically and psychologically broken, and would have nothing to offer back in Nepal. He was offered a partial pension by the UK Government, amounting to 40%. It was worth 500 rupees—less than £2.50 in today’s money.”
“He regained consciousness at Port Stanley hospital, several hours after evacuation, where he was told by a doctor that he would lose his eye, and that his hands and legs were badly injured. He was told, before he passed out, that he would be returned to the UK for treatment. Ghanendra was first moved to Ascension Island on 4 December, where he received further treatment, and he remembers being unable to pass urine. He remembers being given another injection, before regaining consciousness at Queen Elizabeth hospital in Woolwich. He was blind in both eyes for two weeks, during which he was operated on by Colonel Youngson, who told him he was lucky to have survived at all. Following six months of treatment, Ghanendra lost one of his eyes, but retained sight in the other, and he kept limited use of his hands and legs.”
“Until 14 June, over the course of the war, during which Britain lost six ships, Ghanendra and his engineers remained aboard the QE2, knowing day and night that they too could be attacked. They remained aboard long after the war ended, to clear ordnance, which littered battlefields across the islands, but Ghanendra states that he was never trained in minefield clearance. On 1 December 1982, Ghanendra was attached to 49 Explosive Ordnance Disposal Squadron, Royal Engineers, and was deployed by helicopter to Two Sisters hill. Members of 49 EOD located an unexploded Russian anti-aircraft rocket and began to initiate a cordon. Ghanendra was closest to that rocket when it detonated.”
“Ghanendra was selected to train as an electrician, but before he could begin his specialist training, on 2 April 1982, Argentina seized the Falkland Islands, 10,000 miles from Nepal. As Ghanendra recalls, he could barely identify the islands on a map. Britain declared war, and Ghanendra’s platoon commander immediately reassigned him to pre-deployment training. On 12 May 1982, eight days after HMS Sheffield was sunk with the loss of 20 personnel, the British ocean liner Queen Elizabeth 2 embarked for the south Atlantic, carrying Gurkhas, Scots Guards and Welsh Guards. Later, at Ascension Island, 21162121 Sapper Limbu and his fellow engineers boarded, and he recalls being ordered to prepare to fight immediately on arrival into theatre. Most of them had never travelled by sea, and were constantly sick over the next 11 days.”
“His parents were immensely proud of their son, but his success meant that he would soon leave his family behind to travel to Hong Kong and begin 11 months of training. In Hong Kong, Ghanendra—with his rural background—learned how to survive in conflict and operate various weapon systems; that included learning how to wield the Nepali kukri in hand-to-hand combat. His field engineer training then took him to Kitchener barracks in Kent, where he trained as a driver and a field engineer. Throughout this period of training, Ghanendra and his fellow Gurkhas were vaguely aware of the increasing tensions between Argentina and the UK over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands. On completion of his training, he was assigned to the Queen’s Gurkha Engineers, which provided the British Army with builders, plumbers and electricians.”
“Like many across Nepal, he grew up in poverty, despite both parents working long hours as farmers. His ambition was to one day join the Gurkhas and serve alongside the British Army, as some of his uncles and cousins did—it would be a route out of poverty and into a life of expedition—but it was an ambition shared by hundreds of thousands of young Nepalese. At school, Ghanendra excelled in football and basketball, but his English was also exceptional, which would soon prove pivotal to his future. In 1977, he travelled to the recruiting centre near Kathmandu and applied to join the Gurkhas. The recruitment process was robust and highly contested; there were tens of thousands of applicants to join a brigade only 8,000 strong. Ghanendra was the only person from his village to pass selection.”
“I beg to move, That this House has considered support for Gurkha veterans. I rise to speak on the subject of support for Gurkha veterans and their dependants. As I speak, Ghanendra Limbu is in hospital, where for two weeks, he has helped me put together this story in a manner that I hope will be befitting. I hope the House will join me in wishing him a swift and full recovery. Nepal is a country smaller than the UK, bordered by global giants China to its north and India to its south. Its highest point is Mount Everest, and it is from Nepal that for over 200 years, the UK has drawn some of its most resilient, courageous and loyal soldiers. Ghanendra was born in the mountainous village of Khamalung, which has a population of 900, on 27 January 1960.”
“I thank the hon. Member for his well-timed contribution. I fully agree, and I will further state that Gurkha veterans, as well as all veterans and members of our armed forces, are lucky to have him as the Chair of the Defence Committee.”
“It reads: “Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you.” I want to believe that comment is genuine, and that the reasons for the injustices are that they are so numerous, so complex and so historical that they persist not through lack of will, but through lack of understanding. I want to believe that the relationship between the UK and the Gurkhas is one of friendship, not one of exploitation.”
“In closing, I want to recognise the dedication of the Gurkhas, as I have observed, on behalf of the chair of the all-party parliamentary group on Nepal, the hon. Member for Aldershot (Alex Baker). She apologises that she cannot be here this afternoon, otherwise she would, I know, have contributed with a genuine and heartfelt speech. I thank the hon. Member for organising a marking of remembrance at the memorial to the Brigade of Gurkhas in November 2025. She offered me the honour of laying the wreath at that service, which I proudly accepted. When I placed the wreath, I took a moment to read the inscription beneath the feet of the Gurkha Soldier.”
“I was told by my Gurkha friends that the Home Office, under this Government, almost exclusively refuses visitor visas for relatives of Gurkha veterans living in the UK. I was told that, since 2019, Department for Work and Pensions rules state that those receiving benefits may leave the UK for a maximum of only 28 days continuously. This timeline is especially prohibitive for Gurkha veterans wanting to visit their families in rural Nepal; it can take over a week to reach these regions as, having transited the airbridge to a major settlement, doing so demands journeys of hundreds of miles over mountainous terrain by road and foot. I have some questions for the Minister, but I will put them forward at a later point, because I am conscious of time.”
“He receives £1,200 as a monthly pension payment. My Gurkha friends recounted this week that, at the conclusion of the Borneo confrontation in 1966, thousands of Gurkhas who had fought for and served the UK’s interests found themselves superfluous and were discharged from the Brigade of Gurkhas. They were left ineligible for a pension. Those who had served over nine years at discharge were issued a single payment of £360, and those who had served for less than nine years were given £250. Today, thousands of the descendants of these warriors live in the rural regions of Nepal, because they cannot afford to live in Nepalese cities—the dependants and descendants of our veterans, who have been left with barely even a historical footnote.”
“His pension does not factor into those contributions, and his fellow veterans report the same anomaly. It was further reported to me that the Headquarters Brigade of Gurkhas sidestepped pension contributions by paying Gurkhas through local overseas allowance while they were based in Brunei and Belize. Since 2006, Gurkha pensions have been aligned with their comparative armed forces pension schemes—AFPS 05 and AFPS 15—as they always should have been, but service prior to 2005 returned a paltry figure. Bhimraj retired after 18 years in 2003, before the alignment, and the lump sum that his pension accrued amounted to only £3,000. He receives less than £400 a month. The lump sum issued to those on armed forces pension scheme 75 for comparative service, which included Bhim’s brother, a retired staff sergeant, was £78,000.”
“He told me that he wishes he could have his time back—that he could be 22 again, with the use of both of his eyes and his body. I cannot give him that, but I am honoured to be able to speak for him today. This week I met several other Gurkha veterans in Portcullis House, and all feel a continuing sense of injustice, which I share. A retired warrant officer class 2 of the 10th Royal Gurkha Rifles, 21154152 Phurba Sherpa, told me that he served this country for 20 years and 119 days, yet the years that he served in Asia prior to 1997 were not factored into his accrued pension. A retired infantryman in the 2nd Royal Gurkha Rifles, 21167476 Bhimraj Tumbahangphe, told me that 18 years of his national insurance contributions, collected by the Headquarters Brigade of Gurkhas, are not recognised by His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs.”
“Within one month, the then Home Secretary announced that all Gurkhas who had served for at least four years could settle, but it should never have taken such a prolonged and public campaign, with the backing of Opposition MPs and Labour rebels and only one year out from a general election, to deliver this piece of justice for our veterans. Ghanendra was granted indefinite leave to remain in 2012, and he moved to Aldershot. He is now 66 years old, totally disabled and clearly unable to work. He survives through food bank donations and the support of Farnborough church members. Notwithstanding the fact that but for a parliamentary anomaly, this country would have kept him hidden away in Nepal, this is a shameful injustice. Ghanendra is tired, desperate and ill.”
“As always, I thank the hon. Gentleman for his meaningful contribution, and I fully agree with him. It gives me an opportunity to recognise that the Gurkhas’ service boosts the morale of all our armed forces. My prevailing memory of serving with the Gurkhas is that they were constantly smiling, which always lifted the morale of everybody they worked with. In 2004, Ghanendra’s first application to return to the UK was rejected because he had retired prior to 1997, but the Gurkha Justice Campaign continued to fight for equal settlement rights for all Gurkha soldiers. On 29 April 2009, a Liberal Democrat motion to deliver equal rights to settle for all Gurkha veterans delivered Gordon Brown’s Government a shock defeat.”
“The shadow Minister, the right hon. Member for Rayleigh and Wickford (Mr Francois), is a student of military history, and he always expresses himself with such character. I always enjoy my conversations with the Minister, and I am thankful to him for turning up today.”
“I thank everybody who has contributed to the debate. We have seen very well-mannered contributions from Conservative, Labour, Liberal Democrat and DUP Members, including the hon. Member for Rochester and Strood (Lauren Edwards) and my hon. Friend the Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour), with her ode to the Gurkhas. We heard from the hon. Member for Doncaster Central (Sally Jameson) and the right hon. Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell)—history will remember him as a man who stood on his principles—and from the hon. Members for Reading Central (Matt Rodda), for Bracknell (Peter Swallow), for Nuneaton (Jodie Gosling) and for Ashford (Sojan Joseph). We heard from the Liberal Democrat spokesperson, my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), who is also a fan of Gurkha cuisine.”
“At Defence questions last week, the Secretary of State said that the delay to the defence investment plan was not holding up important investment plans, which came as a surprise to me, given that right now there are UK personnel on NATO’s border with Russia without specific equipment that would otherwise have been procured in my own constituency. Does the hon. Member share my concern that the delay is in fact having significant impacts on defence procurement?”
“President Trump recently derided the UK as cowards for not joining his directionless operation in Iran—a pretty hollow statement for a draft dodger who understands neither courage nor calculation. Regardless, does my hon. Friend agree that, based on comments from the Leader of the Opposition just a month ago, under a Conservative Government we would now be engaged in offensive operations in a war for which there seems to be no plan and without the preparedness that this motion calls for?”
“Given the virulence of threats and chastisement from Washington towards European allies—including the UK—and, further, given the UK’s lack of access to the EU’s SAFE fund, which would otherwise support our rearmament, does my hon. Friend recognise that leaving the European Union was a historic mistake that has gravely undermined UK sovereignty?”
“With only TSB remaining on Tewkesbury high street, will the Government support my residents with a banking hub now, or must they wait until they have no access at all? This paints a picture to me that we need more than the 350 hubs pledged.”
“On 13 February, I wrote to Lloyds Banking Group with my concerns. I have yet to receive a response. I echo the criticism that my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives made of Lloyds Banking Group’s communication. Like his constituents, mine were not consulted; neither were my local businesses, and I certainly was not. It is a continuing pattern, which I experienced as a Lloyds customer until I ended my association with the bank, several years ago. The Government have pledged to open 350 new banking hubs across the country by the end of this Parliament. I am glad for those communities that now feature one. Sadly, there is not a single banking hub within the Gloucestershire local authority, and I understand that Tewkesbury will not qualify for one until its final bank branch closes.”
“For our high street businesses, a bank closure means the added administrative burden of closing their account or moving it to a bank with a continuing presence, if one remains. It means that the footfall that would otherwise occur on Tewkesbury high street, from people who live in outlying villages and bank with Lloyds, might now benefit the high street in Cheltenham or Evesham. It means another empty front on a historic high street and another signal from the bank that it will no longer justify serving its customers face to face. I cannot make this case without also stating that these closures are occurring while Tewkesbury borough continues to develop as the fastest-growing borough outside London. How can it be sustainable that, as the local population grows so quickly, the services on our high street continue to diminish?”
“In Bishop’s Cleeve, NatWest and TSB have perished, as has the Lloyds mobile banking service. Winchcombe has not had a bank branch since 2018, and had lost face-to-face banking altogether for a brief but painful period until the post office was reopened in 2025. I take this opportunity to thank Councillor Gemma Madle for her excellent work in securing the reopening of that branch, and indeed to thank the Post Office for providing that lifeline. As I said, such bank closures are prohibitive for residents in rural communities, particularly the elderly, the digitally excluded and those who fear the transition to digital banking due to the threat of criminal exploitation, but they are damaging in other ways too.”
“It is an honour to serve under your chairship for the first time, Mr Western. I thank my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George) for introducing this debate on a subject that is so important to his constituents and those of so many other Members. Lloyds Banking Group recently informed me, with only four months’ notice, that it is set to close its Tewkesbury branch alongside 94 others across the UK. Members who represent rural constituencies similar to mine will understand just how hard that will be for residents, not only of Tewkesbury but of the smaller settlements around it. The closure of Lloyds is only the latest in a sorry pattern that we have faced in recent years. In Tewkesbury town alone, the Barclays branch was shuttered in 2025, following the closure of Halifax only a few years previously.”
“I thank the hon. Member for the advice; I will certainly take that forward. I am glad to hear that his constituents are served by a banking hub. I close by welcoming the formal review of access to cash that the Financial Conduct Authority is undertaking, although, as my hon. Friend the Member for St Ives pointed out, it does not incorporate access to other banking services. I worry about communities such as mine, which will suffer in the interim.”
“I hope my hon. Friend does not mind if I join in on his last point, which adds to the comments made by our hon. Friend the Member for St Ives (Andrew George) about the branding that Lloyds uses to portray itself as “By Your Side”, as though it is a member of the community. It uses the powerful image of the black stallion and powerful music, the name of which evades me. The reality is that it is a multi-billion-pound juggernaut and that black stallion has well and truly bolted from 94 of our communities, ridden by a CEO taking home £17 million.”