Contribution
It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Twigg. I thank the hon. Member for Buckingham and Bletchley (Callum Anderson) for setting the scene incredibly well, and for highlighting a vital debate around the future of our financial services sector. I thank him for bringing this matter to the Floor of the House; if there is one thing that affects every single household, from the City of London right across to the beautiful shores of Strangford lough, it is the stability, accessibility and integrity of our financial systems.
It is also a joy to see the Minister in her place again. I think we are level pegging for how many times we can speak in Westminster Hall today. We are both at the touchline, and if she manages to stay for the third debate, she will find herself equal with me. I thank her for all her answers this morning and this afternoon, in anticipation of the passion she has for the subject matter of this debate. I mean that sincerely, because I think we are all encouraged by her knowledge and helpfulness in trying to answer the questions we pose.
When we talk about the future of financial services, the pundits and the media often look straight at the glass towers of London—they look at fintech, AI and the complex global trading systems. I am a proud Unionist; I want the City of London to remain the pre-eminent financial powerhouse of the world—as it is and as it should be—because that benefits us all. It brings billions to the Treasury, and a strong City means a strong United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
The hon. Member for Peterborough (Andrew Pakes), who just left, referred to Nationwide in an earlier intervention. As I said this morning, the Nationwide branch in Newtownards has committed to working with the community and to staying in the town until 2030, and we hope that the commitment will go beyond that. I am not a member, stakeholder or customer, but I have noticed the large numbers of people who come in, and I understand that Nationwide is filling in where the banks sometimes fall short.
My main concern—indeed, the common concern of the DUP—is what the future of financial services looks like for the working man and the working woman. That is what I want to focus on. It is about the squeeze on the middle class and the ordinary families who are trying to navigate volatile inflation and changing economic climates. If financial services are to have a successful future across the whole of this United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, we must ensure that they are built on three fundamental pillars: financial inclusion, regulatory fairness for small businesses and unwavering integrity.
As banks look to a digital future, they are shutting physical branches at an alarming rate, which we discussed this morning. It is all well and good to say that everything will be on a mobile phone app, but what about the elderly constituent in Portaferry in my constituency, who relies on the face-to-face chat to manage their life savings, and who has to travel some 22 or 23 miles up the road to Newtownards because there is no bank in the entire Ards peninsula? What about the young people trying to understand credit and mortgage products without an accessible high street presence? The future of banking cannot be one that locks out the vulnerable, the elderly or those without reliable internet. We must protect physical access to cash and also look after consumer support.
There is a duty to protect our small and medium-sized enterprises, our small charities and family-run shops. In Newtownards we are privileged and honoured to have so many family-run shops. Whether they are agribusinesses or local hospitality venues, they are the backbone of our economy—certainly they are in my constituency. The future regulatory framework of the Financial Conduct Authority must be tailored to protect those businesses from hidden credit liabilities and predatory lending practices. The hon. Member for Buckingham and Bletchley referred to that in a previous debate in Westminster Hall—I remember it well. We need a financial system that acts as a springboard for entrepreneurship, providing firm, clear foundations of support rather than wrapping our local shopkeepers in suffocating red tape.
The future must be defined by absolute transparency and a transformation of corporate culture. Trust in our financial institutions was severely damaged in the past. As the FCA continues its work on transforming the culture in financial services, we must demand that the big banks treat customers with the respect they deserve. Every pound looked after by a financial institution is a pound earned by hard work. There must be no question of dishonesty or systematic unfairness.
The United Kingdom’s financial services sector has a bright future—I believe that with all my heart—but only if it remembers its core purpose, which is to serve the people. As we as MPs serve the people we are elected to serve, they should also serve the people that we represent. So let us ensure that as we innovate, we build a system that levels up every corner of our great nation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and preserves our high streets, supports our small businesses, and protects the hard-earned money of the working-class families who are the backbone of this country.