World Watching

Growing Job Queues

The Government is braced for a bout of pre-Budget bad news, with new unemployment figures expected to show another huge increase in the number of people out of work.

Latest jobless figures will be published by the Office for National Statistics, just hours before Chancellor Alistair Darling stands up in the Commons to outline his financial package.

Analysts have predicted that the number of people claiming jobseeker’s allowance jumped by over 120,000 in March following a massive increase of 138,000 in the so-called claimant count in February.

Total unemployment, including those not eligible for benefits, passed the two million mark last month for the first time in 12 years and is expected to continue rising for the rest of the year. Business groups and unions now expect the wider measure of unemployment to reach at least three million next year because of the effects of the recession.

The TUC’s general secretary, Mr Barber said: “I want to see the Government show the same determination in protecting working people from the worst of the recession as it has in protecting banks from the greedy excesses of their bosses.”

I think we would all like to see the government protecting the working people Mr Barber, But its not just the recession they need protecting from.. its the Banks and from the very government as well.

Royal Bank of Scotland has announced that it will give struggling homeowners at least six months before launching repossession action.
The NatWest parent said it was doubling the three-month breathing space currently offered to borrowers who fall behind with mortgage repayments.
News of the move comes days after the Government bought 58% of the bank’s shares for £15 billion – effectively bringing it under state control.
Stephen Hester, chief executive of the Royal Bank of Scotland, wrote in the Financial Times that the bank was “conscious that many people face anxiety” about repayments in the tough economic climate.
He said: “In our UK residential mortgage lending, and as a banker to small businesses, we are determined to serve customers well in the difficult times ahead and have commitments to Government that we intend to meet in letter and spirit.”
It is expected that other banks may also follow suit as the Government calls for greater help from banks for cash-strapped borrowers and businesses.
MPs are also reportedly working on plans for statutory codes of practice in the banking industry, which could replace the current voluntary system.
The move by RBS comes amid pressure from Chancellor Alistair Darling to ensure banks do more to help households in the current economic downturn.
RBS has already announced that it will guarantee overdraft rates and contracts for its business customers for at least a year. It will also return to “normal” lending levels, as part of the Government’s recapitalisation package for the banking sector.

Source: Virgin Media News

Our View:

It’s a sad state of affairs if it takes for a bank to be bought out by the state before it concludes that actually it’s customers are suffering under the present ecconomic climate. Once again the banks prove without doubt just how much contempt they hold their customers in.