Readers' letters - February 5

After financial crisis, banks owe a big debt to society
Banking should be seen as a service, says a correspondentBanking should be seen as a service, says a correspondent
Banking should be seen as a service, says a correspondent

For more letters: https://www.wigantoday.net/news/your-say/readers-letters-february-1-1-8998018https://www.wigantoday.net/news/your-say/readers-letters-february-1-1-8998018

I’m alarmed that banks are putting profit before customers. In her reply to MPs, who are concerned about bank closures in their constituencies, the Prime Minister said that was a decision for the banks to make on commercial grounds and it was not for the Government to intervene. This argument does not hold. Surely the pressure the Government is putting on energy companies to charge fairer is a form of intervention? By saying it’s up to the banks to do what they think best, this gives them a green light to close as many branches as they can to improve profitability. In a cashless society, people lose the building blocks to appreciate the need for savings, budgeting and the care that should be taken in borrowing money.Banking should be seen as a service. After the financial crisis, banks owe a big debt to society.Scott AndrewsAddress supplied

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Will they ever listen?Widespread inconvenience is being caused by bank branch closures generally. The banks tell us that people prefer to bank online but the queues in the branches which have remained open seem to have got longer, so it appears that there is still strong demand for over-the- counter service. You can’t pay cash and cheques in online and this must create serious problems for many, particularly small businesses and charities.It seems clear that banks are more interested in making profits than providing customer service. Those making the decisions about branch closures are, no doubt, the same ones receiving big fat bonuses as a result of the increased profits. Once again, shame on the banks.Will they ever listen to customers? Chris Jacksonvia emailAnother case of ‘Project Fear’?

As the Government is about to enter the next stage of Brexit negotiations, it has been suggested by a leaked official document that the UK economy would be worse off outside the EU under each of the scenarios modelled.Buzzfeed is said to have seen the document which forecast that UK growth would be five per cent lower with a free trade agreement, eight per cent lower without a trade deal and even two per cent lower with continued access to the single market.Various Government institutions were involved in “Project Fear” prior to the 2016 in/out EU referendum in which we were warned of all kinds of economic disasters if we voted to leave.The majority voted to leave and no disasters happened.In fact, the economy is doing better than predicted, with employment up by 102,000 in the last three months, along with record VAT receipts and UK growth of GDP of 0.5 per cent in Quarter 4, up slightly on the previous quarter.There are far greater opportunities which we can and should seize and we should not be put off by those who feed us scaremongering stories. They need to accept our decision to leave and get on with the job.Phil Griffiths North West political commentator and broadcaster UK’s double standardsI didn’t see the Piers Morgan interview with Donald Trump, but heard Piers bleating on about the scoop of the century on radio and TV.I don’t really have an opinion on either of them but, listening to Morgan on Radio 2, he said something I hadn’t thought of. He said Britain offering Donald a state visit was not the wrong thing to do as Britain offers the welcome mat to Saudi Arabia and China and we have all heard about the human rights issues these countries are accused of. Yes, Donald may have a bad track record where women are concerned, but in China, women can only have one child. These are abuses as well, but when Britain wants to trade with these nations, the diplomats don’t care.Jayne Grayson via email