UK government U-turn on Post Office
It is believed that the UK government is looking at finalising plans for a "People's Bank" which would be based upon the 12,000 strong network of post offices around the UK. This comes despite the fact that the Royal Mail, with the support of the UK government, has been systematically closing many branches up and down the UK. Indeed it was only a few months ago that the UK government was looking to sell off Royal Mail and now it may well become the central plank of the "People's Bank".
However, there are already concerns about the UK government becoming directly involved in the UK financial markets and whether this would create a conflict of interests for the authorities. It is ironic that talk of a "People's Bank" to help those on low incomes in the UK has materialised just weeks before the next general election when the Labour Party has had over a decade to introduce such plans. There is again a feeling that lipservice from various political parties will probably result in little change after the election when many plans could be shelved or "kicked into the long grass".
Ed Miliband, the cabinet minister in charge of the Labour Party manifesto for the next election, has also outlined plans to increase the minimum wage to offset poverty in the UK and reduce the voting age to 16.
Share this..
Related stories
Virgin Money looking to create an instant branch network
Virgin Money's new chairman Brian Pitman has today hit the ground running with a suggestion that the company is interested in acquiring branches which will at some stage be sold off by Lloyds bank and Royal Bank of Scotland. These branch selloffs were part of the EU agreement which allowed the UK government to bail out the two companies and it looks as though Brian Pitman, the former chairman of L...
Read MoreBankrupts unable to open bank accounts
As the number of bankrupts in the UK continues to grow there is concern that many banking operations in the UK are preventing the opening of very simple and non-credit-based bank accounts. There is no legal reason why a bankrupt should not be able to have access to simple banking operations with no credit and no overdraft facilities are available. So why are UK banks doing this? From a banking...
Read MoreRBS to close 44 branches
04/04/2014
The Royal bank of Scotland is set to close 44 UK branches, with 14 of those being classed as the “last banks in town.” The closures have been announced despite the bank making a pledge in 2010 not to close its branches.
However, an RBS spokeswoman stated “the world has changed since then,” citing a 30% fall in branch transactions since the pledge was originally made.
Northern Rock Ex-Management Face Possible Legal Action
In a move which will be welcomed by many investors and economists it seems as though the ex-management of the fallen Northern Rock may face legal action for their part in the run on the bank. It seems as though the present management, led by Ron Sandler, has initiated lawyers to consider whether there is some kind of case against the former directors and the way the business was run.
Read More
New “Number Spoofing” fraud alert
29/10/2014 Criminals have started to use a new technique to try and get peoples bank details called “number spoofing”. Financial Fraud Action UK’s (FFA UK) have advised that the scam involves criminals cloning a telephone number of an organisation they are trying to impersonate, such as a bank, police officers or other trusted companies to make the victim believe they are talking to s...
Read More