SCOTTISH Labour demanded today that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) drop proposals for branch closures after it posted its first profit since a taxpayer bailout a decade ago.

The publicly owned bank recorded a £752 million profit for 2017, even after taking into account the £1.29 billion set aside to cover claims that it had mis-sold payment protection insurance and mortgage-backed securities before the financial crisis.

RBS chief executive Ross McEwan, who was paid a whopping £3.49m last year, warned that the bank faced a potentially multibillion-dollar settlement with the US Department of Justice over those securities sales.