A return to honesty and honour

WE have yet another banking scandal. The last few years have seen the disclosure of acts of dishonest and reckless behaviour by people who ought to be some of the pillars of society.

Many MPs have made false expense claims. Bankers have been paying themselves massive bonuses on unrealised profits that have, in fact, turned into toxic debt resulting in the public having to stand the cost of rescuing them. Now we find they have been lying about rigged lending rates.

The euro is in a financial mess because some governments have run up massive debts by borrowing in order to maintain lifestyles that are unaffordable. The last labour government is no exception.

Banks are having to repay millions of pounds because of mis selling of payment protection insurance and it now appears likely that they will have to do the same to repay overcharged interest on loans.

There are also questionable business practices, the worst of which has been the telephone hacking scandal. Others include exploitation of the negative contract; that is a contract which is automatically renewed by direct debit or charge to a credit card account unless the customer specifically notifies discontinuation.

The customer normally receives in advance a renewal quotation sometimes containing an excessive price increase which if not spotted and challenged will be taken from their account. Very often when challenged the increase will be canceled or substantially reduced.

The compensation culture is another area open to dishonesty. It is quite right that people who have suffered through the negligence of others should be compensated. However the Yorkshire Post recently reported a case where a doctor in return for a fee of £200 was prepared to issue a false certificate for a whiplash claim.

The fact that someone is prepared to do this indicates that there are others intent on making fraudulent claims, thus leaving the honest people to shoulder the cost through a general increase in insurance premiums. Dare we hope that the case in question was an isolated instance?

There is a price to pay for wrong doing of any kind and sometimes it is not just the perpetrators who suffer (some have even avoided that by receiving a big pay off and a topped up pension pot) but the general public who get caught in the fall out. It is time for a return to sound honourable business practice and Godly living. Much of what we hold precious is based on good Christian teaching and principles and it is time we returned to such.

Bins policy that stinks

From: Mrs JA Mitchell, Lime Kiln Lane, Kirk Deighton, Near Wetherby.

BRAVO Jayne Dowle (Yorkshire Post, July 2). Harrogate Council has just moved back to the Dark Ages with a fortnightly collection and smelly bins.

Some residents in Kirk Deighton and other villages live in terrace houses with no access to the rear of their properties.

Their bins are obstructing narrow pavements – dangerous and not attractive!

The expansion of the recycling programme could have been implemented. A weekly dustbin collection would have been maintained. The bins were hidden away and black sacks carried to the roadside.

Remember the civil servants are employed by the council taxpayers. We pay their salaries. We are not their servants!

Even I agree with Dennis

From: Don Burslam, Elm Road, Dewsbury Moor, Dewsbury.

FOR just about the first time ever, I find myself in agreement with Dennis Skinner. He pointed the finger of responsibility for the latest scandals at Mrs Thatcher’s Big Bang of the 1980s.

She fired the starting pistol ushering in an era of corporate as well as individual dishonesty in financial matters. It also gave rise to the illusion eagerly embraced by politicians that financial services could and would replace the disastrous gap left by the decline in manufacturing.

It should have been obvious to the people who run our affairs that to handle such matters with a light touch would be courting disaster.

What Mrs Thatcher did was to write a post-dated cheque which has now been honoured by the defrauded thousands with mortgages and small businesses.

The delusions harboured by the people who believed in them are on a par with those who believe there is a future for this country outside the EU. Such beliefs are common to many of the same people.

Finish the sentence

From: Richard Billups, East Avenue, Rawmarsh, Rotherham.

SO Philip Davies MP is hoping to have a go at Justice Secretary Ken Clarke about the prisoners let out after a few weeks (Tom Richmond, Yorkshire Post, June 30). Six months become six weeks and 12 months becomes three months, so Mr Davies wants to know why the justice system has become so lenient.

The story reminded me of the chap who got 10 years and told his cell mate he’d be out in no time once his wife came to visit him. His cell mate asked how could she help him? He replied: “We’ve been married for 20 years and she hasn’t let me finish a sentence yet.”