According to the Evening Standard, 400,000 households will be defaulting on their mortgages by the end of the year. But they really shouldn't worry. Gordon Brown set up a scheme last November to ensure that people wouldn't lose their homes. Great news for all concerned...
What's that you say? It's only helped eight families in nine months? No, that can't be true, surely.
Sadly, it is. Another case of spin triumphing over substance.
I think you should be also asking how it came about that Lloyds managed to be persuaded by Brown to actually pay good money to buy HBOS.
ReplyDeleteOn top of which we now see zillions have been written off.
Never mind that they had limited time in due process - my grandmothers cat knows how many beans make 5.
At the time of waiving competition law Brown knew perfectly well that ultimately Lloyds BG would sack countless thousands of people in order to make the long term sums work.
If in power of course he will ensure as few of them as possible are in Scotland - with the Harridian ensuring as few as possible are women. Under labour it will pay to be a Scottish female bagpipe player.
The Lloyds HBOS merger has not killed anybody - yet, but the whole story stinks with the same smell as the run up to the invasion of Iraq.
Wow.
ReplyDeleteNot seen those stats Iain.
Truly shocking times.
This guy Brown should be tried for economic crimes against humanity
I've just taken in a kitty as their owners are selling up due to the credit crunch.
ReplyDeleteThey have been to the CAB etc and were told they were only eligible for Labour's rescue scheme if they were:
- not in negative equity
- not behind with their payments
Why would anyone need 'real help now', if they were in this sort of financial health rather than being strapped for cash through unemployment and the victim of falling house prices???
FFS - lost for words...
It's what Labour do best!
ReplyDeleteWell, Iain, you know, it's funny you should mention this!
ReplyDeleteBecause
"The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has pledged to step in and plug a funding gap after the Government reneged on promises to fund homes in the capital"
Gee. Nicely done, Gordon. Attacking Boris via the homeless! Way to go! You da man, Gordy!
wv = fucesstr
Plato, good for you, taking in the kitty! Our cat says thank you.
ReplyDeleteSwallower - strange how the last few days have provided quite a few positive economic signs and you seemed to have mised them all.....oh look you have dragged a story up from a few months back. Do try to keep up Swallower you a few months behind everyone else.
ReplyDeletePS thanks for vindicating my latest blog post completely.
True. Within the current system it never could have been anything but spin. The government were never really going to "save" people from repossession on serious default, because to do so would be to undermine the entire financial order.
ReplyDeleteGiven that Brown was perfectly well aware of this, his crime is one of wantonly giving hope to people for whom there was and is no hope.
There's a word for that type of person. Bas*ar*.
You don't have to be helped by the mortgage rescue scheme to be helped by the mortgage rescue scheme, if you see what I mean. A constituent of mine, who actually had a repossession order against her, contacted me and I put her in touch with the people at Westminster who run the government scheme locally. They agreed that she could be helped, and got on to the mortgage lender. The mortgage lender agreed not to go through with the repossession.
ReplyDeleteOnly now is the application for the prevention fund being processed, but had the scheme not existed she would have been evicted. A little less cynicism might be a good thing.
Hey Red Rag..you mention on your Liebour Party Politco broadcast about there being some good news and we all might want to hear it...............
ReplyDeleteWe certainly do..we want your mate, the one eyed dopey Cowdenbeath Clown to jack it in....now that would bloody good news for everyone in this increasing rancid land....
Seems it's OK for (taxpayer-owned) banks to lose £billions, yet someone who provides a public service (albeit at 2,437% interest)gets jailed.
ReplyDeletehttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8186001.stm
Gordon will promise the Earth to deliver.
ReplyDeleteImpossible promises should be dismissed by default. If only the poor mortgage holders could dismiss their debt. Shame on you, Brown. And enjoy your luxury holiday. Priorities, eh?
the banks are also not lending the £125 billion they received from us, the hard up tax payer.
ReplyDeleteit is one of the biggest scandals of modern times and will go down in history as a con.
IIRC the whole purpose of the "plan" is to ensure that the Banks do not damage the quality of their loan books, period.
ReplyDeleteHomeowners? Incidental. Collateral Damage.
400,000? And the rest!!
ReplyDeleteIain, I still don't think you really get this. We have hit the debt wall, both in the US and, particularly, the UK.
Interest rates back in the last crash CAUSED the the meltdown. The economy overheated, interest rates were raised (mortgage rates at 15.4% if memory serves), the political death wish to stay in the ERM kept them high, and the housing market exploded.
Ermmm... that doesn't sound like this time around does it? Sure, the economy has been in a 'boom' but a false 'boom'. It was a credit boom, not an economic one. We hit the debt wall. No one was willing to lend money to ANYONE - period. Becasue they feared they would never get their money back.
So demand plummeted, inteerst rates fall to a 300 year low and STILL house prices fell at a faster rate than the '90's. Albeit, the mugs seem to think this is over! Ha ha.
So what the hell do you think will happen when the Government can't raise the finance to pay the bills? Would it not be that interest rates rise... and fast?
If that happens, it won't be a market crash, it'll be bloody armageddon.
And, unfortunately, there is simply no way out. It's called Brownian economics. And it's more fatal than swine flu.
McApartheid.
ReplyDeleteStudent denied college fees because she's English
Jul 24 2009 by Stuart Wilson
A STUDENT claims she’s been denied financial support – because she’s English.
Anna Shepherd applied to Scotland’s Awards Agency for help with her college tuition fees.
But they booted out her application, leaving her with massive bills to pay.
They claim she hasn’t lived in the country for long enough to qualify for any money.
But Anna, a UK resident all of her life, has already lived in Ayrshire for two years.
She says the snub makes her feel like she doesn’t belong in Scotland.
Anna, of Patna, explained: “I’ve been studying healthcare at Ayr College for two years and now want to do my HNC.
“I’ve never had a problem getting a bursary from the college, so this has come out of nowhere.
“I was born in Oldham but moved up here to help care for my father, who has cancer.
“I wanted to get the healthcare qualification, partly because it will help me care for him better.
“But I don’t know how I’m going to pay for it now. I’ve been made to feel like I’m two inches tall and don’t belong in the country.”
The SAAS guidelines are set out to prevent foreign students entering Scotland specifically to gain a paid-for education.
So Anna, who’s 28 and always lived in the UK, can’t understand why she’s been knocked back.
She insisted: “It’s discrimination and I’ve been made to feel like an immigrant.
“I want to give something back to the country – I didn’t come here to sit about and do nothing.
“I’m getting an education and working at a local care home.
“My mum and dad were really looking forward to seeing me in my cap and gown once I’d graduated.
“It would make my dad so proud – especially considering all he’s been through.”
Her parents, who live in Bellsbank, are equally enraged at the treatment dished out to their daughter.
Janice, 50, said: “Anna’s being told she has no right to move here for an education – but that’s not what she did.
“She came to help care for him and what’s happening is an absolute disgrace. She’s being treated like an illegal immigrant.”
A spokesperson for SAAS added: “To be eligible for support from the Student Awards Agency for Scotland, an applicant must have been ordinarily resident in Scotland on the relevant date, in this case August 1 2009, before beginning their course.
“If a student had for example lived in England but moved to Scotland to take up a course, then they would need to apply to their local education authority for support.
“If such support was refused, then the applicant could apply to SAAS to ask for their case to be reviewed.
“However, as the rules surrounding residence are complex we would urge this applicant to get in touch with the Students Awards Agency for Scotland to discuss the circumstances of their case and ensure that all the necessary information is available to support their application and enable it to be given appropriate consideration.”
http://www.ayrshirepost.net/ayrshire-news/local-news-ayrshire/ayr-news/2009/07/24/student-denied-college-fees-because-she-s-english-102545-24208638/
This guy Brown should be tried for economic crimes against humanity.
ReplyDeleteYes; he most surly should be, just as surly as he will not be.
Is it not as completely obvious, as completely obvious gets, that Brown has been working in a conspiracy with the owners or the international banking system?
Do we conclude like simple minded, lamb faced suckers, that Gordon Brown is the only criminal involved, just because the media has not the guts or independence to spell it out properly?
Do we really believe that trillions of anything, other then sperm cells, can be wasted without a simply massive conspiracy being involved, from the very highest of places?
Do we really STILL believe that this countries economic and political destiny is REALLY controlled by overblown cretins, like Brown, or indeed any, all but totally powerless, elected politicians?
Are we REALLY that collectively stupid, even now after they have skinned us all alive, and are now busy going about ripping the last pieces of fresh from our bones?
If so, are we to remain forever this way?
There will not be a trial for either Blair or Brown simply because far too many ( even if it were only one ) VERY important,, largely anonymous establishment criminals, are without any perceivable doubt whatsoever, involved right up to their eyes balls and beyond, in certainly the greatest crime since WW2. Which is also the largest transfer of wealth, from us to them, since the beginning of recorded history.
Personally I have long since been convinced that we really are collectively exactly that mind numbingly stupid.
What is worse, if our ruling elites ever had any doubt in the matter, they certainly do not have any doubt whatsoever anymore.
Atlas shrugged
Wont lend --- £125 billion? Do you mean QE? Thats not from the taxpayer, thats just the BoE printing money. Created out of thin air.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great wheeze and Brown must be kicking himself he did not think of it sooner. He is printing money - giving it to the banks who then use it to buy the government debt - which allows Gordon to continue spending like a drunken sailor.
Anonymous at 9:59. That's a very scary thought. I'm worried that the non-existant interest rates and QE have done one thing, delayed the inevitable. If this is going to be a double dipper the 2nd wave will be far worse than the initial hit as this one will kick us when we are all ready down. But Brown won't care, he'll be retired in Cape Cod after the election.
ReplyDeleteNow the Governmnet quango The Energy Saving Trust proposes that all the old and poor people who live in poorly insulated homes be banned from selling them unless they improve the insulation. New Labour, new fascism.
ReplyDeleteNever mind. With Gordon you are guaranteed a high quality cardboard box to sleep in.
So, can you find out what is the cost per household helped?
ReplyDeleteAnd how many households did they think would benefit?
David Boothroyd:
ReplyDelete'A constituent of mine, who actually had a repossession order against her, contacted me and I put her in touch with the people at Westminster who run the government scheme locally. They agreed that she could be helped, and got on to the mortgage lender. The mortgage lender agreed not to go through with the repossession'
This kind of help is already available from other agencies,so please spare us the propoganda. The CAB have done this for years but funding cuts have limited their ability to operate.
Replicating effort and responsibilities is nothing to be proud of,especially with borrowed money.u
Putin:
ReplyDeleteRe Boothroyd
Another troughing MP trying to justify his expenses perhaps?
ANOTHER £50BILLION should do it!
ReplyDeleteApparently the scheme has had an influence far beyond those who have directly benefited from it.
ReplyDeleteEven the professionals in the housing finance market say so.
There is now a far greater determination to help people who run into mortgage problems than heretofore.
The Thatcherite thesis, and its Parris derivative, that life is a nasty adventure for many folk, is passe. But some have plans to resuscitate it . . .
After cash for clunkers will we have handouts for hovels.
ReplyDeleteWait until interest rates go up !! There are 0% at the moment and house prices are still falling (if only slightly).
ReplyDeleteI predict that the BofE MPC will hold back interest rates far too long - and create an inflationary bubble, like the good old days, before we exited the ERM.
If interest rates go up imgine how tough Buy To Let Mortgage holders will have it. It makes me shudder to think.