The Church of England allies with credit unions to put Wonga out of business

Cameron and Welfare Secretary Iain Duncan Smith work out why...SOURCE GUARDIAN: Archbishop of Canterbury wants to 'compete' Wonga out of existenceJustin Welby lays down challenge to payday lender after launching new credit union earlier this month.OUR RELATED STORIES:State pensions have risen from a steady 5.8% (2007) to 6.9% (2011) of GDP because our bank-crashed (2008) GDP has stalled, not because costs are out of controlLondon Mayor Boris Johnson's £1bn "Affordable Housing" scheme is just spin. You're still eligible even if you earn up to £80,000!...

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Liebrary: Do we have to maintain exorbitant pay for bankers because everybody else does? See the data that shows we've been suckered.

Excessive pay in the banking industry has long been justified by the need to 'stay competitive' in the global market. The UK has to pay bankers exorbitantly, we are told by UK bankers, because everybody else does. We can't stop until they do, the bankers tell us. To add insult to injury, banker pay provides cover for executives in other industries (energy; transport; MPs; etc.) to pump up their own salaries and perks. Which they pay for by keeping ordinary workers' salaries down, and pulling off more and more consumer rip-offs. New data on banker...

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UK Plc grew again by 0.6%. But for whom?..

Chris tells KJ the answer...SOURCE BBC NEWS: UK economy 'on the mend' after 0.6% growth, says chancellor"These figures are better than forecast," said Mr Osborne. "Britain is holding its nerve, we are sticking to our plan, and the British economy is on the mend - but there is still a long way to go and I know things are still tough for families." Shadow chancellor Ed Balls welcomed the growth figure "after three wasted and damaging years of flat-lining", but warned that "families on middle and low incomes are still not seeing any recovery in their...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 25th July)

Archbishop of Canterbury wants to 'compete' Wonga out of existenceThe head of the Church of England, Justin Welby, laid down a challenge to the UK’s leading payday lender after launching a new credit union for clergy and church. Welby, who served on the parliamentary Banking Standards Commission, said he plans to expand the reach of credit unions as part of a long-term campaign to boost competition in the banking sector. There are also plans to encourage church members with relevant skills to volunteer at credit unions. Small, local lenders could...

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Graphs at a glance: how cuts have slashed the number of available hospital beds since 1987

We can't blame everything on 'Austerity' since the 2008 banker induced crisis. The number of hospital beds available has been dropping for decades, through Thatcher, Major, Blair, Brown and Cameron.Shortage of beds is compounded by shortage of staff. The Parliamentary Health Select Committee reported in July 2013Only 17% of emergency departments were able to provide 16 hours of Consultant cover in a working day, and even worse than that during weekends."Emergency staffing at all levels is under strain and a 50% fill rate of trainees is now resulting...

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Graphs at a glance: In 2012-13 Government departments ripped £56 million out of you by using premium rate telephone number. Including 402 million minutes on hold!

Would it surprise you to know the greatest perpetrators of the government premium rate phoneline scam, exposed by the National Audit Office, are IDS's Department of Works and Pensions and Osborne's HMRC? (Yes, we know HMRC is supposed to be 'non-ministerial'. But who are they kidding?). "Callers to higher rate lines paid £56 million in call charges in 2012-13. Callers spent a total of 880 million minutes on calls of which they spent 402 million minutes waiting to speak to an advisor. Customers incurred call charges of £26 million waiting to...

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Huge rise in use of food banks since welfare changes

Fee, Chris and KJ reckon it's not just about the money...SOURCE GUARDIAN: Huge rise in use of food banks since welfare changes, says aid bodyThe number of people being fed by charity food banks during the three months since the government's welfare changes took effect has risen by 200%, according to the UK's biggest voluntary food aid network.SOURCE DAILY MAIL: Hidden hungry: More than half a million people forced to use food banks as families seek emergency help to stave off hungerShocking figures have revealed that more than half a million people...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 18th July)

Iain Duncan Smith defends himself against ONS claim he mis-uses statistics over success of benefits capDuncan Smith has already been criticised by the Office for National Statistics for claiming the cap had led to 8,000 people finding work. He was told by the ONS it was not possible to find any causal link between the cap and those finding work, as thousands of unemployed find work anyway. An unrepentant Duncan Smith said: "You cannot absolutely prove those two things are connected – you cannot disprove what I said. I believe this to be right.”...

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Graphs at a glance: How the top 1% of the top 1% rip-off the bottom 99% of the top 1%

It is, I suppose, some consolation that the 1% are undiscriminating when they rip-off the 99%. Even when you look at the 1% itself: the top 1% of the top 1% get a far greater share than the bottom 99% of the top 1% as is shown by this report from a London School of Economics study "Banker's Pay And Extreme Wage Inequality In The UK". The report states that the top 5% of the top 1% took 23% of the top 1%'s wages. Hope that is clear.Remember as you read this post that the graphs show data for the top 1% only."we rank the top percentile...

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Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt breaks promises for a minimum price for alcohol and plain packaging on cigarette packs

Cameron checks whether Jeremy Hunt has got his sums right. He has!..SOURCE GUARDIAN: Big tobacco has got its way – now let's find what big alcohol is up toThe coalition has dropped plans for plain packaging amid murky circumstances. Public health measures such as this and minimum alcohol pricing deserve better than death by lobbyist.OUR RELATED STORIES:How lobbying (probably) works: The Bureau of Investigative JournalismTax havens boost their lobbying efforts in the UK and Bruss...

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Graphs at a glance: See how the government caps benefits for the poor but subsidises "affordable housing" for people on £80k

July 2013 saw the rollout of a £500 per week (after direct taxes) cap on benefits paid to a family. Using graphs produced by the BBC we contrast how far the government will go to help the poor, with how far it is prepared to go to help the rich. The impact of this is families on benefits will be pushed out of the South East, while families earning up to £80,000 will be subsidised to buy properties in 99% of the UK.Our assumptions relate to renting or purchasing a 3 bedroom property at the cheaper end of the local market in each area:1)...

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Graphs at a glance: Legal usury in the high street. How high street banks push people into the hands of payday lenders.

This graph produced by Bristol University's study on high cost lending shows the cost of borrowing £100 for one month in the form of:a) a loan from a group of Payday lendersb) an unauthorised overdraft from a group of high street banksc) an authorised overdraft from a group of high street banksBristol University coyly declines to name the payday lenders and high street banks.Cost of borrowing £100 for one monthHowever the report does provide a helpful link to Which?, showing the data from 2011, which does name them:You might say charges...

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Graphs at a glance: How we are being conned about the cost of pensions. Has the cost of pensions doubled in the 20 years to 2011, or gone up by 25%, or just risen 1.4%? Answer: all three are true

Austerity is being used as a smokescreen to reduce the share of the many and increase the share of the few. It is happening with wages, with benefits, and with pensions. All under the smokescreen of 'unaffordability'.Take a look at the three graphs below showing how we are being bamboozled over the cost of pensions.Using Data from the Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) you can show how the cost of pensions has doubled in absolute cash terms, but only gone up a tad as a share of GDP:The graph below, produced by the National Audit Office shows...

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Should MPs get a pay rise to attract talented top executives?

Fee and KJ state the obvious...OUR RELATED ARTICLES:Graphs at a glance: MPs are paid more than 95% of Britons, and that doesn't even include their expensesAre MPs underpaid? Read how their actually their basic pay puts them above 95% of Brit...

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Rip-off News round-up. Our pick of the last week's media (Thu 11th July)

London loses control of scandal-plagued £350tn Libor market to NYSENYSE Euronext, the New York-based transatlantic exchanges operator, won the right to take over and reform the Libor global interbank lending rate benchmark, which serves as the reference point for more than $350tn in contracts worldwide. The new administrators will be charged with restoring confidence in Libor amid a global probe that has seen three banks pay nearly $2.6bn in fines for rigging the rate. An independent committee, set up by the UK government, selected the NYSE over...

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Graphs at a glance: MPs are paid more than 95% of Britons, and that doesn't even include their expenses.

It's astonishing how many rational people believe that an MPs salary is too low to attract good people. We are grateful to @simplem_ths for this simple graph that gives you the facts at a glance. Next time you hear this 'underpaid' nonsense use this to rebut it:Those who claim MPs work so very hard they need extra money to console themselves need look no further than the Members' Register of Interests. Here they will see the many MPs who find they have enough spare time to hold second jobs earning them thousands of pounds. Names of MPs in...

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“Historic” £3.2bn Swiss tax dodge deal only brings in £347m

Cameron grills Chancellor Osborne over the embarrassing news...SOURCE GUARDIAN: “Historic” £3.2bn Swiss tax dodge deal only brings in £347mTwo years on from the deal between the UK and Switzerland, only a £347m advance payment has been collected, and little more is expected. The Swiss Bankers Association said: "First indications from selected banks in Switzerland show that there are fewer untaxed UK assets in Switzerland than had been previously assumed. This is mainly due to the fact that many clients have resident non-domiciled status." So confident...

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