Brown must end agony for PMS savers
ALMOST 10,000 people invested their hard earned money in the Presbyterian Mutual Society.
Many of them were elderly who put their life savings into a society they believed was part of the wider church, in which they worshipped.
When the society collapsed, the Presbyterian Church dithered and prevaricated about what to do and many of the investors felt they had been cast adrift.
There was also a strong feeling of anger in the pews, from people who believed their own church had failed to come to support them when they needed it most.
The scandal of the PMS will haunt the Presbyterian Church for many years to come and eventually there will have to be a full investigation into what happened. The shambles cannot be swept under the carpet.
The Moderator, Dr Stafford Carson, has taken up the battle on behalf of the investors and has given strong leadership.
Yesterday, the investors suffered another blow when a court ruled that those who had savings of 20,000 or less would not be classed as creditors. This means that they are not entitled to share in any of the 20 million of income the society has generated since it went into administration in 2008.
Dr Carson described it as disappointing news and said the Prime Minister Gordon Brown must step in and help savers get back 100 per cent of their money.
Dr Carson was speaking after meeting a delegation from the Ulster Unionist Party, including its leader Sir Reg Empey.
Thankfully there has been support for the investors from political parties.
The DUP leader and First Minister, Peter Robinson, and the Sinn Fein Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness were in Downing Street yesterday to meet Mr Brown about the PMS.
Mr Brown has spent billions of pounds supporting the financial institutions in the United Kingdom.
It is time he put his hand in the Treasury's pockets to end the misery of the PMS savers.
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Tuesday 14 February 2012
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