'An Open letter to the PM' blog discussion

Martinslovechild

A nice email, Martin.



I, like others here, share a sense of scepticism around whether Gordon Brown will either:-

• Choose to reply
  or
• Reply, but in a way which allows the government to drag their feet and eventually ignore the issue (i.e. the government may 'consider' your points in a future House of Commons meeting - but the result may well be 'no change')

I've often wondered how much the government receives in [STRIKE]bribes[/STRIKE] 'political donations' from the likes of the big credit card companies & banks.

After all, the banks rely completely on people requiring credit (read 'debt') and hopefully (for the banks at least) people making financial mistakes. The Government rely on people spending to keep the economy moving. The Government therefore need the banks more than the banks need the Government.

Put these two things together and the result is pure dynamite. Whilst the Government must be 'seen' to be taking tough actions on banks, they can't make it too tough or else the economy may struggle. However, make it too easy and a recession might occur.

In a nutshell, if the Government decides to support the consumer on this issue then it's likely that some of the banks will threaten to close branches and/or make thousands of bank workers unemployed. I believe that this is why David Cameron is offering a lot of rhetoric on this subject but not much in the way of real substance.

I truly hope that you succeed, but I fear the eventual outcome might be messy... similar to one of those high-profile tobacco/cancer court cases which takes years to go through court, somebody eventually wins but then nobody ever seems to get paid because the tobacco companies can afford the best legal teams in the world. Many banks have access to similar legal teams...

bacardiancoke

As it took 13 days for him to respond to an unavoidable issue in the spotlight (Adelbaset Ali al-Megrahi) then I wouldn't hold your breath on a response before the new year for this one.

bubbles65

Martinslovechild wrote: »

The Government rely on people spending to keep the economy moving.

So if the banks give us back the stolen cash, what better way to stimulate the economy?.........Remember when everyone was getting payouts from their Building Societies turning into banks, that 'windfall' pumped a lot of money into the economy. Far better than printing money!

allan2006

The banks are broke, where do you think the money will come from if they have to return it.....the govt.

I can see the goverment siding with the banks in a ruling.

Keep_The_Change_2

The longer the bank charges claim is on hold, the more our debts accumulate. We're desperate for a resolution. We also have a PPI claim against One-Stop Money Shop who haven't yet replied and a Welcome Finance PPI claim that's been turned down. It feels like we've fallen through a net and are vulnerable to all those sharks out there. Could any MP ever imagine being in that space? Not likely. Feeling glum at the moment about money and would welcome a bit of encouragement.:o

janck_2

Thank you Martin for writing the letter to the PM on our behalf.
Is there anything we, the public, can do to help the process?
I agree entirely that Bank charges should be an automatic payout, we always have to fight for everything in this Country and without you we wouldn't have a clue where to start!

Triumph1000

I am quite willing to let the wheels of justice turn, slowly, but they do turn. In a case like this, the final outcome CANNOT and MUST not be hurried, or it will be too open to "interpretation" by the banks. I would rather wait until the final i has been dotted and the final t crossed. That way there is no possibility of any "interpretation" by the banks because if there is any restitution ordered then they will certainly "interpret" the rules to suit themselves. We have to be on our guard as I DO NOT trust this lying cheating government or the thieving deceitful banks 1 mm, as parliament is full of ex bankers!!! Need I say more! As for automatic repayments, I`m not too keen on this as its those very banks, who ripped us off, who`ll have to perform the financial acrobatics. I would rather see an outside European (i.e. Independant) agency taking care of the repayments. O.K it`ll take longer, but who do you trust, them, or our banks, its a no brainer as far as I`m concerned. As an aside, I beat a wheel clamper yesterday, so I`m over the moon on TWO things now!!!!!

MSE_Martin

An update on this the PM has replied see

Gordon Brown responds on bank charges