No Solution on Iceland-Britain Banking Dispute

cwcw

The compensation news is excellent!

But I will never, ever, EVER forget the shocking, despicable behaviour of the Icelandic PM and his government during this entire affair.

CHR15

Me Too. Fantastic news and sooner than I was expecting.

StarRover

cwcw wrote: »

The compensation news is excellent!

But I will never, ever, EVER forget the shocking, despicable behaviour of the Icelandic PM and his government during this entire affair.

Me neither CWCW, I have been appalled at the attitude of the Icelandic Government and to some degree the attitude of Icelandic people generally. This was not the act of a civilised European country. I'm old enough to remember the cod wars which was an earlier example of Iceland doing their own thing in contravention of international law and then crying "poor little Iceland" when Britain despatched the Navy.

home_alone

StarRover wrote: »

Me neither CWCW, I have been appalled at the attitude of the Icelandic Government and to some degree the attitude of Icelandic people generally. This was not the act of a civilised European country. I'm old enough to remember the cod wars which was an earlier example of Iceland doing their own thing in contravention of international law and then crying "poor little Iceland" when Britain despatched the Navy.

Lets send the navy back I am partial to a bit of smoked cod.

gary

London05

After reading an article in the Times today I was really worries this would go on forever - just looked at FSCS website and have really cheered up.
Who Knew Newcastle Building Society were acting for IceSave on their online service. I genuinely thought that IceSave employed staff under its own name, this whole affair smells really bad and if I was of a cynical nature, which I am trying not to be, was this just an attempt by Iceland to grab our cash in the same way we grab their cod!!

Baldur

London05 wrote: »

Who Knew Newcastle Building Society were acting for IceSave on their online service.

It's been mentioned numerous times in various threads on these boards.

EalingSaver

StarRover wrote: »

Me neither CWCW, I have been appalled at the attitude of the Icelandic Government and to some degree the attitude of Icelandic people generally. This was not the act of a civilised European country. I'm old enough to remember the cod wars which was an earlier example of Iceland doing their own thing in contravention of international law and then crying "poor little Iceland" when Britain despatched the Navy.

Sorry, really don't agree with this. And I have money in IceSave and KE, and my OH also has money in IceSave. The PMs statements about 'looking after domestic depositers' and 'not honouring the compensation scheme' were badly judged and may well have made the situation worse for them (I think this stuff came out before KE was declared in default by the UK, may have helped to push it over, and probably influenced the decision of UK to freeze assets).

But this was probably total panic. The currency had gone into free fall (critical for a country the size of iceland, which is utterly dependant on being able to fund imports of even essential stuff); two banks - and then the final and biggest - were completely stuffed; the country was bankrupt. To honour compensation scheme, let alone total deposited amounts would financially cripple the country and its people for a very very long time.

This is the first developed world country since Britain in '71 (?) that has been in such dire financial straits that it has had to go to the IMF to bail it out. It was and is staring down the barrel of a loaded gun with someones finger on the trigger.

I read a quote in a paper a week or so ago from one of the 'Icelandic people' you mentioned. He had been saving up to fund himself to go to University in I think Sweden. His savings were now sufficiently worthless due to currency movements that all hope of that was gone. His comment was, roughly paraphrased, "I'll go back to fishing; I'll work my hands until they bleed to ensure that Iceland can honour its committments ..if thats what it is needed..so that Iceland can hold its head high.."

That, frankly, nearly made me cry. UK savers with Icesave and KE are not the only losers from this god awful mess.

JayTee99_2

cwcw wrote: »

But I will never, ever, EVER forget the shocking, despicable behaviour of the Icelandic PM and his government during this entire affair.

it is now beginning to look like Iceland may be intending to default on their external liabilities.
They certainly haven't made it easy for UK savers, there are still many charities, hospices, local govt and other organisations with no end in sight at the moment, so you are right NOT to forget.
i hope others feel the same way..

baby_boomer

I'm delighted to hear that the British government and the FSCS are to get moving on the compensation front .

The innocent Icelandic people are going to suffer for decades for this disaster.

I feel very sorry for them and will certainly consider a tourist visit in the next few years.

This crisis will devastate the lives of many others before it is through.

Perhaps before instincitvely unleashing internationally hostile feelings towards other countries, we should pause for thought to consider the likely growth in Islamic fundamentalism should the failings of western bankers add further to hunger and poverty in poorer countries of the world.

amistupid

"Your average Icelander is fine. There's lots of nice geysers out there."
(Alf Garnett 1970)