I NOTE that the Royal Bank of Scotland has announced it is to close 30 branches (“RBS to close 30 branches and axe jobs”, The Herald, March 24). Originally, only the sovereign had the power to issue money. In time banks arose to store people's spare money. By lending this spare cash at interest back to the public these banks then usurped the power of the sovereign.

Over time the banks were joined by the building societies in this “at interest” money creation scam. Soon, the amount of money created by them far exceeded that created by the sovereign (or his treasury).To illustrate what this debt-based financial system actually means in practical and numerical terms we need only consider the Bank of England's March 1997 statistical release. This gave the total extant UK money stock to be approximately £680 billion (that is, the total of all the money in existence in the economy – coins, notes, banks building society deposits). The total of money created by the Treasury on behalf of the UK Government was a mere £25bn (notes and coins). This represents but three of the total UK money stock. So, where did the other £655bn (the other 97 pe cent) of all the money in the UK come from? It had been created entirely by banks and building societies – ex nihilo. It is a myth that banks lend only what they have in their vaults.

We are now seeing the final stage in the total usurpation of the creation and management of money by the banks via the complete digitalisation of the entire financial system. Very soon plastic cards will be the sole means of paying for goods and services, and when that day dawns, the entire financial system will be in the hands of – guess who? – those few private banks. If you suspect mistakes have been made in your financial affairs then your only recourse will be to – guess what? – your plastic card.

Doug Clark,

6 Muir Wood Grove,

Currie, Midlothian.