Another week, another blow to Lincolnshire's high streets. Lloyds Banking Group has announced yet more branch closures across our county. This time, Brigg, Louth, Sleaford, Gainsborough, Skegness, and Halifax in Sleaford are losing their banks. This isn't just an inconvenience—it's a devastating hit to our communities.
For years, we've seen banks pull out of our towns and villages, stripping away essential services and leaving thousands of residents—particularly the elderly, small businesses, and those without reliable internet—without access to cash and in-person banking. The result? More isolation, hardship, and yet another sign that Lincolnshire is being left behind.
Neither Labour nor the Conservatives have lifted a finger to stop this. They've let it happen, year after year, as if rural communities like ours don't matter. The Tories like to talk about supporting businesses and "levelling up," but where is that support when local traders in Brigg or Skegness can't deposit their takings without driving miles out of town? Labour, on the other hand, pretends to stand up for working people. Yet, under their watch (and with their silence in opposition), banks have been shutting down across the country, making life more challenging for the people they claim to represent.
We're told digital banking is the future. That's fine for those in cities with full-fibre broadband and an app for everything. But here in Lincolnshire? Many of our rural areas still struggle with basic internet access. Pensioners in Louth who have banked in person all their lives aren't suddenly going to become tech wizards overnight. And what happens when your banking app fails, your card is lost, or fraudsters strike? You're left with nowhere to go.
The Real Cost of These Closures
This isn't just about banking—it's about the slow death of our high streets and the stripping away of essential services that people rely on. Every bank that shuts means fewer people coming into town, fewer businesses surviving, and fewer reasons for young people to stay in Lincolnshire.
Post Offices are supposed to pick up the slack when the banks go, but they're closing, too. Mobile banking vans? They're a stopgap at best, with patchy availability and no proper support. Banking hubs? A handful have been set up nationally, but they're a token effort, nowhere near enough to replace what's been lost.
Lincolnshire Deserves Better
We're tired of being ignored. Lincolnshire contributes billions to the UK economy—through farming, manufacturing, tourism, and logistics—yet we are treated like an afterthought. There would be outrage if these closures were happening on this scale in London or Manchester. But because it's happening here, where we don't have the media's attention or the political clout, they think they can get away with it.
Well, they can't. I will fight tooth and nail for the people of Lincolnshire to get the services, infrastructure, and respect we deserve. Our communities matter, our people matter, and it's time we had leaders who fight for us—not just when an election rolls around, but every day.
In the meantime, I have written to the Chief Executive of the Lloyds Banking Group asking for an explanation and answers on what they are doing to support those customers who will be cut off.
The next time you hear a Tory or Labour politician talking about "supporting communities," ask them this: where were you when Lincolnshire's last bank closed?
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