Farepak loss must never happen

Our hearts go out to the thousands of Farepak customers who are today facing the grimmest of Christmases. The wonder is that saving clubs like Farepak have survived into the 21st Century.

They are a throwback to the old days of door-to-door saving when working families who would never dream of opening a bank account handed over sixpence or a shilling every week to a local agent.

Careful families who saved in this way knew that, whatever else happened in the way of unemployment or illness, they would be guaranteed a slap-up Christmas celebration and never face the stigma of charity.

Today, almost everyone has a bank account and credit cards provide instant extra buying power. And yet the saving clubs survive. Thousands of customers were happy to sign up to what they regarded as Farepak’s cast-iron guarantee.

And why should they worry? Only a couple of years ago the firm recorded a £1 million-plus profit.

But by August of this year it was clear to shareholders that Farepak was running short of money.

Yet it was not until this week that Farepak customers, and the local agents who unwittingly carried on collecting money, realised the firm had collapsed. Customers are facing a total loss. Some agents, blameless but deeply embarrassed, feel morally obliged to repay some of the money.

Trade Minister Ian McCartney says he wants Britain’s major retailers “to help the most difficult and needy.”

This may sound good in Whitehall but people who saved with Farepak and similar schemes are proud, thrifty people. Why should they be reduced to accepting charity?

The Farepak fiasco has revealed a scandal in part of the UK business world that some MPs probably did not even know existed.

It must not happen again.

Saving the planet is wishful thinking

Tony Blair, never at a loss for a good sound-bite, says we have 15 years to save the planet and avoid a “catastrophic tipping point” in climate change.

This has echoes of Mr Blair’s 1997 declaration that Britain had “24 hours to save the NHS.” Deadlines come and deadlines go.

What never changes is the belief of politicians that they can have a booming economy, rampant immigration and a soaring population and still create a green, sustainable Garden of Eden for all time.

It simply is not possible and, if Mr Blair and world leaders were serious about global warming, they would be working now towards a smaller population and lower fuel consumption.

They are not. They are long on speeches but short on conviction.