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Ken Livingstone pickets at Waltham Forest money lender

5:24pm Thursday 9th February 2012 in Waltham Forest News By Sarah May Hayes

Photo / Copyright : Eleni Leoussi Photo / Copyright : Eleni Leoussi

KEN Livingstone joined MP Stella Creasy and residents at a picket to beat "legal loan sharks".

Dozens of residents turned out to demonstrate at The Money Shop in Hoe Street, Walthamstow this morning (February 9).

Stella Creasy, Labour MP for Walthamstow, organised the picket to highlight Ken Livingstone's pledge to ban tube adverts for companies that pay out short term loans at high interest rates.

A spokesman for the Money Shop said: “We do not currently advertise on the Tube or have any plans to do so in the future.

"We are a professional short-term lender, fully regulated by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) and only offers its payday loan products to those with a bank account and with an income.

"The Money Shop constantly checks that its advertising complies with OFT and ASA regulations and we are transparent about our charges and interest rates which are always displayed in-store and online."

Comments(11)

driftingcowboy says...
5:34pm Thu 9 Feb 12

Well done, Stella!
That's a great initiative you've started.

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EastEndLass says...
7:17pm Thu 9 Feb 12

would much rather something be done about the illegal loan sharks. the real scary sharks.

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Kingfisher Bill says...
7:29pm Thu 9 Feb 12

This is a legal business paying Business rates to the local council and other overheads and no doubt employing people and serving a purpose. why are these foolish Politicians outside here when they would be better off arguing for a change in the Law? they would be better off outside the five betting shops at the bakers arms. Now that is a true drain on Society-Betting shops

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Robert19 says...
7:59pm Thu 9 Feb 12

Kingfisher Bill wrote:
This is a legal business paying Business rates to the local council and other overheads and no doubt employing people and serving a purpose. why are these foolish Politicians outside here when they would be better off arguing for a change in the Law? they would be better off outside the five betting shops at the bakers arms. Now that is a true drain on Society-Betting shops
I think you will find that Stella Creasy has been trying to change the law through a Private Members Bill so not so foolish I guess.

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mdj says...
11:33pm Thu 9 Feb 12

It's perhaps a bit shortsighted to have branded this so firmly now as a Labour campaigning issue, for much of the support has been cross-party, and it may fall away.
People resort to these lenders because the traditional mainstream banks have deserted them, and there's a huge gap in the market. Perhaps Stella Creasy could ask her sponsors, the Coop, why that is. It has also to be said that the mainstream banks, including the Coop, impose some ferocious penalties for small arrears which can add up to penalties not too different from these high street sharks. An illegal local loan shark was jailed last year: his methods were obviously less inhibited than those of the legal lenders, but it turned out that his rates were quite a bit lower!

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fabster says...
11:55pm Thu 9 Feb 12

4000% APR cannot be legal. Especially when targeted at the less financially aware. Credit Unions are a safer solution for those caught up in spiralling debt. If you'd like to cap the cost of credit, this is the e-petition & takes 2 minutes: http://epetitions.di
rect.gov.uk/petition
s/20219

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Marginalia says...
8:21am Fri 10 Feb 12

Must be a business opportunity here. A one stop shop. In the front a money lender, leading to a betting shop in the back.

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EastEndLass says...
9:33am Fri 10 Feb 12

But at 4000% APR, the 'A' is misleading as that's not what they're designed for! If they're paid off, they can be very handy. Certainly cheaper than an unarranged overdraft. Perhaps there should be an MPR rate shown. My dad used to charge me more than that for a loan the week before I was paid.

Personally, the worst offenders for giving way too much credit and encouraging you to take out more I have ever come across are MBNA.

I like pawnbrokers if you intend to pay off your loan, they;re by far the cheapest option. If you don't intend to pay it off, then it doesn't really matter what the APR is.

Far too much time and effort has gone into this when there is SO much more going on in our borough that the general population seem to be more concerned about!

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Sam Hain says...
5:47pm Fri 10 Feb 12

I don't think it's an 'either/or' situation, EastEndLass, or it shouldn't be, If we want an active and engaged democracy we should get involved in as many campaigns as possible, where they promote social equity and justice, and encourage our elected representatives to support us in doing so.

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mdj says...
12:10am Sat 11 Feb 12

marginalia, you're not far off it: if you look into Cash Converter's window, you'll see that they lend you the money to buy the moody old tat they sell.
If you walk down the High St, it's not just the overt money-lenders and bookies whose main aim is get you into debt or hoover out your cash for minimal return. Look at some of the furniture shops as well.

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Janet1 says...
2:32pm Sat 11 Feb 12

Eastendlass, I agree a lot needs doing here. But it is important to curb the legal loan sharks -- they're a curse on places like this. As Sam Hain says, it's not either/or.

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