New campaign wants end to ‘legal loan sharking’
Today a broad coalition of citizens groups, campaigners, MPs and celebrities have called on the government to end legal loan sharking. Currently lenders can charge any price for credit which means some loan and credit companies charge £82 for every £100 lent.
Annual interest rate charges of over 2500% are also now common (despite the Bank of England base rate being just 0.5%). Borrowing at these rates repeatedly tips customers into inescapable cycles of debt and poverty. According to the OFT £16,000 of excess profit is made every hour in this sector.
These calls come in the same week that banks reveal vast profits. The campaigners have highlighted that a low Bank of England base rate has not meant cheap credit for customers and further steps must be taken to ensure citizens have access to low cost, short term, affordable credit.
Co-ordinated by the Compass pressure group, this new campaign coalition have called on the government to ban excessive prices for credit and provide alternative sources of credit through CDFIs, credit unions and a post bank.
The government has pledged to clampdown on interest rates for credit and store cards and the campaign believes it should do the same for the high cost credit market.
Neil Jameson, Executive Director of Citizens UK said:
Citizens UK have spent most of 2009 in conversation with thousands of members who confirmed the need for money to be controlled and for the reintroduction of anti-usury legislation as a reasonable response from civil society in light of the economic crisis. This proposal was lodged with all political parties before the election and whilst were glad the coalition has agreed to cap store cards and agree to a review of credit and interest rates, Citizens UK is delighted to add our weight and mandate to continue to lobby for a cap on commercial lending
Lisa Nandy, Labour MP for Wigan said:
The government has committed to curb excessive rates on store and credit cards but not high cost credit. This means the 3 million people who use high cost credit will have no defence against their excessive profiteering. We need to ask, is the government looking out for the middle classes and ignoring the needs of the poorest borrowers?
Take action here: http://action.compassonline.org.uk/endlegalloansharking
Full list of signatories to the campaign statement:
Jon Cruddas MP (Labour) – Dagenham & Rainham
Neil Jameson, Citizens UK
Lisa Nandy MP (Labour) – Wigan
Chuka Umunna MP (Labour) – Streatham
Caroline Lucas MP (Green Party) – Brighton Pavilion
John Hilary, Chief Executive, War On Want
Martin Horwood MP (Lib Dem) – Cheltenham
Damon Gibbons, Debt on our Doorstep
Benjamin Fry, BBC Spendaholics
Gavin Hayes, General Secretary, Compass
Oliver James, Clinical psychologist
David Rodger, Debt Advice Foundation
Reverend Paul Nicolson – Chair of Zacchaeus 2000 Trust
Prof Stefano Harney, QMUL
Aaron Porter, President, NUS
Adrian Sanders MP (Lib Dem) – Torbay
Alan Whitehead MP (Labour) – Southampton Test
Alex Cunningham MP (Labour) – Stockton North
Andrew George MP (Lib Dem) – St Ives
Ann Pettifor, Advocacy International
Baroness Helena Kennedy QC
Bill Esterson MP (Labour) – Sefton Central
Billy Hayes, CWU
Bob Russell MP (Lib Dem) – Colchester
Cat Smith, Compass Youth
Cathy Jamieson MP (Labour) – Kilmarnock and Loudoun
Child Poverty Action Group
Dai Havard MP (Labour) – Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
David Hall-Matthews, Social Liberal Forum
Dave Anderson MP (Labour) – Blaydon
Dave Prentis, Unison
Derek Twigg MP (Labour) – Halton
Dr Martin Parker, University of Leicester School of Management
Dr. Sally Ruane, De Montford University
Eric Illsley MP (Labour) – Barnsley Central
George Howarth MP (Labour) – Knowsley
Gisela Stuart MP (Labour) – Birmingham Edgbaston
Glenda Jackson MP (Labour) – Hampstead and Kilburn
Howard Reed
Ian Murray MP (Labour) – Edinburgh South
Jenny Chapman MP (Labour) – Darlington
Jim Dobbin MP (Labour) – Heywood & Middleton
Jim Dowd MP (Labour) – Lewisham West and Penge
Joe Benton MP (Labour) – Bootle
John Cryer MP (Labour) – Leyton and Wanstead
John Hemming MP (Lib Dem) – Birmingham Yardley
John McDonnell MP (Labour) – Hayes and Harlington
John Pugh MP (Lib Dem) – Southport
John Thurso MP (Lib Dem) – Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross
Jonathan Rutherford, Professor of Cultural Studies Middlesex University
Kate Green MP (Labour) – Stretford and Urmston
Kelvin Hopkins MP (Labour) – Luton North
Ken Livingstone
Kerry McCarthy MP (Labour) – Bristol East
Lilian Greenwood MP (Labour) – Nottingham South
Lindsay Mackie, New Economics Foundation
Lord Puttnam
Mark Durkan MP (SDLP) – Foyle
Mark Lazarowicz MP (Labour) – Edinburgh North and Leith
Mark Serwotka, PCS
Marsha Singh MP (Labour) – Bradford West
Michael Connarty MP (Labour) – Linlithgow and East Falkirk
Michael Meacher MP (Labour) – Oldham West and Royton
Mick McAteer, Financial Inclusion Centre
Mike Hancock MP (Lib Dem) – Portsmouth South
Neal Lawson, Chair, Compass
Nia Griffith MP (Labour) – Llanelli
Niall Cooper – Church Action on Poverty and Get Fair Coalition
Nick Dakin MP (Labour) – Scunthorpe
Nick Isles
Paul Flynn MP (Labour) – Newport West
Paul Hackett, The Smith Institute
Paul Kenny, GMB
Phil Wilson MP (Labour) – Sedgefield
Prof Colin Crouch, Warwick Business School
Prof Danny Dorling, University of Sheffield
Prof George Irvin, University of London, SOAS
Prof Prem Sikka, University of Essex
Prof Richard Wilkinson, Emeritus Professor of Social Epidemiology
Prof Ruth Lister, Loughborough University
Prof. David Byrne, University of Durham
Professor Peter Case, Bristol Business School
Rachel Reeves MP (Labour) – Leeds West
Richard Murphy, Tax Research UK
Robert Philpot, Progress
Roger Godsiff MP (Labour) – Birmingham, Hall Green
Roger Williams MP (Lib Dem) – Brecon and Radnorshire
Ronnie Campbell MP (Labour) – Blyth Valley
Sally Hunt, UCU
Stephen Gilbert MP (Lib Dem) – St Austell and Newquay
Stephen Twigg MP (Labour) – Liverpool West Derby
Stewart Lansley, author
Stewart Wallis, Chief Executive, New Economics Foundation
Sunny Hundal, Liberal Conspiracy
Susan Jones MP (Labour) – Clywd South
Teresa Pearce MP (Labour) – Erith and Thamesmead
Toby Blume, Urban Forum
Tom Brake MP (Lib Dem) – Carshalton and Wallington
Tony Robinson
Tony Woodley, Unite
Will Straw, Left Foot Forward
William Bain MP (Labour) – Glasgow North East
Yvonne Fovargue MP (Labour) – Makerfield
From a press release
Oona King backtracks on Freedom Pass pledge
London Labour Mayoral candidate Oona King has been accused of backtracking over her pledges on the Freedom Pass – which allows pensioners to access London transport for free.
Blogger Ben Folley has written of instances where Oona stated that there was a case for abandoning universal provision of the Freedom Pass and adopting means testing.
23rd July, Croydon hustings: “The Government is threatening to means test the Freedom Pass. Do you believe it should be means tested?”
Oona King replied:
I don’t want to, but if budgets are tight, money is short, you need to prioritise. I want to help the poorest. That’s why we are in politics, to help the poorest, like my bus policy.. If there is a choice, then I want the money to go to the poorest, not to pay for the richest.. like Prince Charles to go free. My priority is for bus fares to be cut if possible paid for by money from the western extension, congestion charge…
29th July, Brent hustings: “There has been some talk that the Freedom Pass may be means tested. Are there any circumstances in which you would accept this?”
Oona King replied:
There are some circumstances that I would accept saying to someone like Prince Philip or other extremely rich pensioners in London that you can no longer have free travel in London, the average not the poorest pensioner. I think we should extend it onto train companies for example
…
But if you are the mayor and you have got less money coming in you need to ensure the average pensioner can have the same experience or better than those richer ones you need to accept means testing.
But Oona King has now sent out a mailer responding to these claims and calling them “fibs”. She said:
I support – and I will defend with every breath in my body – the Freedom Pass. Pensioners and the disabled need and deserve free travel around London.
I wrote this in my transport manifesto which I published two weeks ago, you can read it here.
Some bloggers are calling it a gaffe.
Martin Hoscik from MayorWatch told us it did not bode well for Oona:
Freedom Pass is administered by London Councils and is protected by primary legislation as a universal scheme. The law doesn’t allow for means testing and any changes outside the statutory minimum needs all london boroughs to agree them.
The real issue is that Team Oona allowed her to comment in response to fears people have expressed to her, rather than learn how the scheme works and calm their fears. It’s not exactly leadership stuff to be honest, and the Mayor has to be a leader.
He also wrote earlier on why the Freedom Pass shouldn’t become a political football.
Update 18:50 pm The row over the Freedom Pass escalates. We’ve been notified that Len Duvall, leader of the Labour Group at the GLA, sent out an email to Labour councillors today stating:
We have to be clear in this debate. It simply does not help Labour to have arguments in favour of means testing the Freedom Pass being mobilised in this way. I welcome the fact that Oona now wishes to change the position she took in these hustings. But London Labour cannot afford to have ambiguity on such important issues when they come up.
Some press reports suggest that the Tory government may be considering a means test for the national pensioners’ travel concession. So we cannot afford to have arguments in London that help that case either. And if we are not going to do it, why make the case for means testing?
Len Duvall is supporting Ken Livingstone for London’s Mayoral candidate.
When your face doesn’t fit: Facebook censorship
contribution by Elly
Facebook has closed down two groups in recent months, run by progressive sexuality organisations. The Pansy Project, an art project challenging homophobia, had its FB group removed in May. Most recently Our Porn, Ourselves the feminist-informed sex-positive project for women, had its FB group closed last week.
Between them these two groups had amassed thousands of members, and used their presence on the ubiquitous social-networking site to promote events, link to websites and communicate with a range of individuals and activists. So their closure damaged their campaiging.
The reasons given for the censorship have been vague.
continue reading… »
Does social security do nothing in reducing poverty?
One of the claims in Iain Duncan Smith’s Twenty-first Century Welfare really annoyed me when I first read it, and it has been niggling away at me ever since:
The welfare system has failed to tackle intergenerational disadvantage and poverty.
I suppose the reason I find this statement so annoying is that you come across it so often – after a century of social security, we still have poverty and inequality. So obviously social security/the welfare state is a failure.
continue reading… »
Tories prepare ground for BBC privatisation
The television licence fee is “obsolete and unfair” and should be replaced with a voluntary subscription service for certain programming, a report says.
The growing use of the internet for viewing has made licensing TV sets outdated, according to right-wing think tank the Adam Smith Institute.
The BBC’s current TV services could still exist with more flexible methods of funding, its report adds.
A BBC Trust spokeswoman said BBC funding was a matter for government.
Negotiations between the BBC and the government on the next licence fee settlement are due to begin next year.
Labour’s response to the deficit could look like this
Don Paskini asks what Labour’s economic policy should be.
Given that the party isn’t going to be in power until at least 2015, I’m not sure it needs detailed proposals at this stage.
Instead, it needs some general principles. Here are some:
continue reading… »
Just Do It: Behind the rise of climate activism
In early 2009, acclaimed documentary filmmaker Emily James began filming the clandestine activities of several groups of environmental civil disobedient activists in the UK. She focused on three loose groups: Climate Camp, Climate Rush and Plane Stupid.
Allowed unprecedented access, her footage shows us the people behind the politics, providing the often overlooked human element to their story as we watch them take on the combined forces of global capitalism, run-away climate change and the pesky metropolitan police.
Trailer
Just Do It is currently in post-production and will be released in early 2011.
The producers plan to released it under a Creative Commons, non-commercial license and distribute it via free internet downloads, free-ish DVDs, film festivals and guerrilla screenings.
They are also asking for donations to help fund the post-production of the film, and explain why it’s important.
More at: just-do-it.org.uk / Twitter / Facebook
Spread the word.
How the Coalition’s cuts are hitting the private sector
The private business sector has mainly been positive about government cuts, even gleeful at first.
But, as we at the TUC have pointed out, the private sector will also be hit by the cuts – about 30 per cent of public sector spending goes to private companies.
continue reading… »
Will Nick Clegg kill northern liberalism?
When Irving Patnick reputedly described Sheffield as the ‘People’s Republic of South Yorkshire’, he may have been referring as much to his own isolation as he was the radicalism of the 1980s. As the city council defined itself in opposition to the Thatcher governments, so Patnick was defined as a solid blue hold-out in a county drenched in red – the ‘enemy within’, if you like.
For decades his well-heeled Sheffield Hallam constituency – home to farmers, doctors & lawyers, owners of factories & steel works – had loyally returned Conservative MPs, and even as the red flag was hoist above City Hall, Patnick remained a stubborn voice of opposition.
If Sheffield really was a breakaway republic, his Hallam constituency would’ve been a fringe rebel enclave – blue to the bitter end.
continue reading… »
GMB union joins Tory right against AV
The GMB union is to marshal its 610,000 members and “substantial” sums of money to campaign against a change to the voting system.
In a move that will put the union at odds with Ed Miliband, its preferred candidate for Labour leader, the union’s general secretary, Paul Kenny, will play an active role in opposing the alternative vote in the referendum. The campaign, which will target members and the wider public, is expected to be backed by a six-figure sum from union funds.
The revelation is the first sign of campaigners on both sides of the debate preparing for a multimillion-pound marketing drive, with grass-roots movements claiming huge amounts of money will be raised by rallying activists through Facebook and Twitter.
Under Electoral Commission rules, a “designated organisation” will officially front the “yes” and “no” campaigns, and will be limited to spending £5m each.
They will be allowed TV broadcasts, free leaflet delivery to voters, free use of public rooms for meetings and up to £600,000 of public money. With only nine months before the Government wants to hold the vote, a fundraising race is already under way.
Can anyone explain why a union would waste money campaigning against AV rather than, say, Tory cuts?
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