TIME TO GET TOUGH WITH THE BANKS

For the past few years I have had what's called a "tracker" mortgage. I took it out a couple of years ago in anticipation of falling interest rates. And guess what, Lloyds TSB has now withdrawn it . Still, I'm one of the lucky ones. Unlike many of the High Street leanders, Lloyds is one of the passing on the full interest rate cut to its borrowers. Many of the rest, including those part nationalised by the Govt, are refusing to do so. People are not impressed with this disgraceful attitude -so much so that John McFall MP was on the news last night calling for full nationalisation unless they did the decent thing and responded to the Bank Of England's one per cent reduction. He seemed to see this as a regrettable threat. I think it should be a promise to all the taxpayers who have helped bail out the banks and mortgage companies from imminent collapse.
Gordon Brown told GMTV yesterday: 'I think banks should really pass on the interest rate cut. We are talking to the banks. Remember last time there was a cut, we had to speak to them before it was passed on and we will be speaking to them again.'
Actions speak louder than words, Gordon. Let's stop the banks and lenders taking the mickey and go for full nationalisation and public ownership.It's our money which is propping up these arrogant profiteers after all .

CREDIT CRUNCHED

In times like these, it helps to have a bit of gallows humour. So I am sitting here in the gathering gloom with the central heating switched off and contemplating the worst financial times I personally have had since 1980.
My bank balance arrived earlier which curtailed any thoughts of blogging as I frantically wrote the two articles this week which will earn me some money. It's a far cry from the years when I wrote two articles a DAY but so it goes in freelance journalism.
I'm only scraping by because I don't drive and have an extremely low mortgage.But even the scraping is starting to get difficult.In starting this blog two years ago I rather burnt my bridges as suspect my previous job as part-time press officer for the Government might not be up for grabs. So what to do?
Well what I won't be doing is building up any more credit - an bitterly regretting a recent splurge which will take me months to pay off. Rule 2 is also not to panic .Rule 3 cut out unnecessary trips to the pub, outdoor coffees, impulse shopping. And most of all Rule 4. Start looking for full-time employment.

HOME IS WHERE THE CASH IS

Yesterday I was in Warrington and while sheltering from the interminable rain I found myself inside an estate agent's shop window. If you live in that part of the north-west, the Government's quick-fix suspension of stamp duty is good news. There was very little for sale over £150,000 - I even saw a house for £75,000 but unfortunately I have not the slightest inclination to up sticks fior an even grimmer part of the north. And therein lies the rub as far as Gordon's latest populist ploy goes. 1. It's only for a year and 2. It only affects a tiny proportion of the housing market.
Last week I happened to be staying in Chiswick - it was a sunny day and i was idly glancing in the estate agent's window. Basically, my ( considerable) capital from selling this house would not buy me a garden shed in any desirable part of London. Which is why the hard-pressed British public is likely to be underwhelmed . If you live in the south-east, it's meaningless.
Also, the basic problem we have is nowehere near enough social housing for RENT.
OK, Communities secretary, Hazel Blears, yesterday unveiled a £200m "rescue" package, aimed at helping 6,000 people with mortgage repayment problems enter shared ownership schemes. Plus, 10,000 first-time buyers earning less than £60,000 will benefit from loans of up to 30% of the price of a new home, while £400m already committed for new council homes is to be released early. Fair enough. But frankly it's just not enough - we need a wholesale commitment to building thousands of new council homes, we need local authorities to have the power back to do so. We also need brave steps like local authorities being able to buy back reposssessed homes and take them back for good into the public sector.

LET'S BUILD MORE SOCIAL HOUSING - NOT LAY PEOPLE OFF

Fears of recession deepen as the housing industry faces a serious slump - and serious implications for jobs.
Today, major players Bovis and Redrow have revealed they are in the process of shedding about 40 per cent of their workforce - 400 jobs at Bovis, and around 550 at Redrow.
The news comes a day after another housebuilder, Persimmon, announced that 1,100 full-time staff had been cut since January.
Last week, other developers including Taylor Wimpey and Barratt Developments together revealed around 3,200 job losses. Why? Because the demand for homes to buy has been drastically hit by rising prices, falling wages, and general fear of economic downturn. Yet affordable homes are needed now more than ever.
The slump in the homeowner market could be used as an opportunity for now redundant development sites to be transformed into places where social housing could be built. Thousands live in sub-standard rented accommodation. The Government should step in and facilitate the building by local authorities or housing associations of much-needed homes for rent. And save the jobs of thousands of building workers in the process

TIME TO ACT ON CRIPPLING COST OF ENERGY

As I write, the central heating is turned off for the summer. And it is likely to stay that way given the predictions that fuel bills are set to go up even more over the next few months. There was a time when Labour campaigned against the privatisation of our utilities. Now it seems the Government allows the fat cats in charge of our water, gas and electricity to run riot profiteering - at our expense.
Which is why campaigners are urging Ministers to force providers to deliver affordable energy following predictions that gas and electricity bills could increase by 40 per cent this winter.
Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks has said he is concerned about the scale of possible rises. That's not good enough. Obviously, our gas water and electricity should never have been allowed to fall out of the hands of the public sector. Renationalisation - without compensation to the fat cats - would be my solution to this problem However that, as we know, is not going to happen in the foreseeable future. So the Government must find some way of holding companies to account.
Energywatch has already warned that a 40 per cent rise in energy bills would leave over six million households living in fuel poverty. Many of these will be old people who will die prematurely as a result.

CREDIT CRUNCH GONE MAD

Don't usually do girly stuff on this blog but the other week I had a bit of a clothing crisis and ended up at St Pancras buying one or two things I had not anticipated. Stupidly I succumbed to the allure of a Monsoon storecard - partly vindicated by the fact I will get a small clothing allowance for the next 12 months . So when a credit card arrived the other day with a £5000 limit I thought it was connected to this expedition. Not so. Turns out somehow I have been sent an additional bit of plastic as today the Monsoon card arrived separately and it has a modest £350.00 limit. Having been as good as gold for two years and not used my credit card at all I've now got three -with the obvious temptations they bring with them. I have no idea why I've got this additional card and yes, I should tear it up. But I probably won't.
As I'm relatively disciplined about money this will probalby be OK , but if they're handing our cards without even being asked well, no wonder people are getting into serious debt. And why are credit card companies sending them out unsolicited at a time when recession is about to strike......

CUTTING ONE'S CLOTH....

How touched I am that the Queen has apparently cancelled a champagne banquet which was to have marked her Diamond Wedding. As recession looms for the rest of us commoners, she felt it would not be "appropriate." for us to see the aristocracy enjoying themselves.

No such qualms, of course, over the ridiculously opulent banquet whch greeted Nicholas Sarkozy on his state visit to Britain.

Back in the real world, it's been a tough week financially and like everyone else I am battening down the hatches for a rough time ahead.Food prices are going through the roof, utilities bills a nightmare.And just to make matters worse my teaching work is about to come to an end for the summer.

On the advice of a finance "expert" I recently switched some savings which were losing money hand over fist to a "low risk" ISA. Which in just threee months has cost me another £300 in lost cash and a complaint is in the pipeline. The money is now in a bog-standard deposit account where at least it will not be prey to the worst horrors of the stock market. I have no pension as I am self-employed and the likelihood is that I will have to carry on working in 15 years time when I am 65. Still, at least I only have to fend for myself and only have a few years to go on the mortgage. One of the lucky ones.....

Today, Ivan Lewis MP, not normally one to rock the boat, claims Gordon Brown has lost touch with the realities of life for most ordinary working class people. He's absolutely right. White tie and tails at Windsor Castle does not exactly endear him to the electorate.