The government can and now should order the banks to drop the OFT Case Appeal & order a return of all charges
Memo from the Banks - "Thanks for saving us, but we will fight for the right to be unfair, and use your money to do it!"
Professor David Bailey of the University of Birmingham Business School and I (John Clancy), a longstanding member of CAG, have just posted a joint Blog on Professor Bailey's highly influential and widely read Blog (which often crosses over onto the hard copy of the paper) on the Birmingham Post Website Business Blog called: 'Memo from the Banks - "Thanks for saving us, but we will fight for the right to be unfair, and use your money to do it!"'
It's here.
It makes the point that as we as taxpayers have bailed out the banks we are effectively now paying for all sides of the OFT 'test' case: all the lawyers for all 8 banks, the OFT's lawyers, the judges, the court staff, the expenses etc. Just for the banks to pursue a case that they are allowed to be unfair!
It argues that the government through UKFI (the body set up to protect the taxpayers' investments in the banks) should order the Banks and their huges teams of lawyers now effectively subsidised by the taxpayer, to drop the appeal against the High Court decision that their charges should actually be subject to the test of fairness.
It also argues that the banks should similarly be ordered as a matter of policy now (not legal argument) to return all bank charges which would involve a much needed boost of liquidity into the economy. The money to be used for bankers' bonuses can be used for the great bank charge payout.
It would be great to have CAGers from here also comment on the Birmingham Post website on this rather hard-hitting campaigning approach with a new angle on the debate and help move it into the mainstream there. Obviously feel free to reply here, too!
Professor Bailey is a very well respected commentator and academic, it's great to have him on board.
If any site moderators would like to either reposition this thread or place it where it will be seen by more viewers that would be great. A good number of comments in response to the blog on the Birmingham Post website would also be a coup for our campaign here, I think and help push the agenda forward.
John Clancy
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