EMAG

The independent action group for current and ex Equitable Life policyholders, funded by contributions.

Equitable Members Action Group

Equitable Members Action Group Limited, a company limited by guarantee, number 5471535 registered in the UK

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Press Releases: 10/12/2007 - EMAG’s reaction to third delay to PO 2.

Gordon Brown’s broken moral compass

Equitable Life campaigners say that newly announced delays to the publication of the Parliamentary Ombudsman’s report into the Equitable are part of the same jigsaw that has led Gordon Brown to block compensation for the 125,000 occupational pension victims.

Paul Braithwaite general secretary of the leading action group EMAG said:

“Gordon Brown’s stubborn refusal to do the right thing for the occupational pensioners augers ill for next summer, when we expect the Government finally to allow the PO report to see the light of day. Every delay has been orchestrated by the Treasury. The damage to trust in regulators and the finance industry done by the Equitable debacle is immeasurable.”

MPs will today be opening a letter from the Parliamentary Ombudsman, apologising that her report will be delayed for a third time until at least next summer - fully six years after £4bn pounds attributed to failed regulators was lost to 1.5 million pension savers. Campaigners point to the shabby comparison with Northern Rock, whose investors were saved in just six days.

Paul Weir, chairman of the ELCAG activists group said:

“In his March budget Gordon Brown promised the occupational pensioners £8bn compensation but so far Mr Bean has paid out buttons. In thirty years, no previous Government has ever gone against the PO’s recommendations or challenged its constitutional power. Gordon Brown’s moral compass isn’t just confused, it’s completely broken.

Ends/

Paul Braithwaite, general secretary of EMAG on ….

Notes for editors:

There are ten times as many victims in Equitable Life as there are in the occupational pensioners’ scandal. The PO’s investigation was commissioned in July 2004 and had expected to be published two years ago. £4 bn of losses were crystallized in 2001, more than six years ago. In June, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly in favour of the EQUI report, which criticised the UK’s regulation of Equitable Life and called for compensation to be paid. The UK Government has refused to comment, citing that it wishes to wait for the PO’s report.