Debt seminar Parliament

it has been another busy week for me attending meetings. On Monday evening 26th June was the last of the series of seminars that my MP John McDonnell has been putting on in Parliament.  These seminars are very well attended and some are travelling in to attend from outside London. It feels like many are wishing change in politics and certainly for voices to be heard in what is a peoples parliament. This session was a very worrying look at debt Global and close to us all = household debt given the stress of cost of living that we are all experiencing.  I personally heard from a woman passenger on the train saying she was in a situation where she was using her credit not debit card to buy food.  The cost of mortgage payments and energy over powering her funds despite working hard.  Oh this reminds me of my situation in the Thatcher recession was impossible to keep on top especially as my husband of the time was made redundant and in the NHS contracts were hard to come by for me yet agency was possible. But Agency work you are at the mercy of timesheets being processed to get funds in your bank to hit a direct debit. If it misses then throws finances into chaos!  So I can feel for the population now falling into this trend.   Reducing spending power fails my logic analysis how this can reduce inflation when all it does is inhibits customer spending to businesses and then they go under making staff redundant. Maybe I think too simplistic or is it that bankers and financers make things far to complicated. But then it gets complicated as there are too many fingers in the pie all wishing their share of profit. Even making money out of debt!  My thoughts on this!

Now some notes from the seminar though I have put the links into the two organisations that the speakers were from. Adrienne Roberts from The Money Charity and Heidi from Debt Justice. 

Household debt £65,513 average debt

10 million in debt in UK

greater than £2,000 debt on credit cards

every 4 mins a declaration of insolvency and bankrupt

Lower income pay highest % of interest on debt

Private renters in debt and this also has impact on landlord and property 

2019 collective debt in UK £1.6 million Click on The Money Charity link to learn more.

There was also a reference to Johanna Montgomerie "should we abolish household debt? book is available on this.

I was able in the Questions and comments stand up for women DV survivors and the fact perpetrators will financially ruin their victim - leaving her at the mercy of benefits. Benefits paid in arrears thus a starting point for debt in new life = this is dangerous given her vulnerable mental state. I pointed out that I had vocalised in the APPG poverty that this is not her debt but the system failing her and generating debt with poor management of support see Women's Voices to be Heard
 Debt Justice  The Money Charity 

We also looked at Global debt with the problem of Debt & Climate Crisis.

Shocking to hear 54 countries in debt crisis. Yet as I pointed out in COP26 pre read pdf download $70 trillion was available for countries and communities to go green.  Heidi confirmed this would be given in loans so the issue compounds in paying back the loans allocated. Yet we also have heard recently that USA in trillions of debt and had to raise the ceiling on debt to keep the country going!!?? This all man made we really need to rethink our economy models.  I keep seeing all the war tantrums causing tantrum like attacks on life and infrastructures. Utter madness! Please click on the link for Debt Justice to read and learn more as I will too. I may add more to this blog post over the next few weeks or create more posts on the subject of debt. 

A few of us arrived early for the meeting and were able to sit in the staff room in Porticullis to chat among ourselves.  Someone recommended this read which I need to find a copy of.