“Peoples Bank” Planned By Labour For Cheap Loans And Savings
It is widely expected that the next general election is likely to take place during the month of May this year and one minister has announced that if Labour are re elected, then they will introduce a new socially responsible financial system.
Helen Goodman MP, Secretary of state for work and pensions, made the announcement during a speech to the Northern Money Conference last week, in which she said that Labour was planning to introduce a “People’s bank”, which would be made available to individuals through the Post Office network in the UK.
The new bank will be designed to offer banking services such as personal loans and savings accounts to those individuals on low incomes, as well as to be able to offer bank accounts and loans to those individuals who may have been rejected by the main high street banks, due to having a bad credit rating.
Mrs Goodman said that the new bank will include “a reformed social fund, a strong credit fund, increased pressure on loan sharks and an expansion in good money advice services.”
She also commented that the new bank will be able to offer cheap loans with particularly low interest rates, to those people on low incomes who may not normally be accepted for a personal loan.
Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats claim that the Government are still not doing enough to force the main high street banks to offer loans to UK businesses, as the latest figures for investment by businesses fell by 24.1 per cent over the course of last year.
John Thurso of the Lib Dems said “This dramatic slump in business investment bodes ill for economic recovery. Banks are failing to meet their lending commitments, starving businesses of capital needed for investment. The Government needs to get a grip and make sure the banks’ lending agreements are more concrete and better policed so that recovery doesn’t peter out.”
