5th December 2010
Members and supporters of Carlisle & Eden Green Party peacefully demonstrated outside The Cheque Centre on Devonshire Street on Saturday, to draw attention to the extortionate interest rates these people charge in order to profit from peoples' financial misfortune.
Our protest enjoyed a positive response from the Carlisle public and drew coverage from the News & Star.
Carlisle Green Party member Hazel Bowmaker outside The Cheque Centre at Carlisle
Carlisle Greens chose to protest against The Cheque Centre because we want to make Carlisle people aware of the dangers of being seduced into taking out loans from these high street loan sharks. We regard these organisations as socially corrosive profiteers who damage our communities as they cynically exploit the difficult financial climate we currently face in order to take advantage of and profit from vulnerable people.
John Reardon, the Green Party's parliamentary candidate for Carlisle: "Organisations like The Cheque Centre and The Money Shop have proliferated in the last year or so. Interestingly, both of these outfits are American owned and have been pushed into expanding their businesses in the UK because several US states have banned them from operating within their jurisdictions. Clearly, it's absurd that these organisations should be allowed to market their products at low income customers over here with less regulation than they face in the US."
Why line the pockets of these high street vultures when strong, ethical and localised alternatives exist?
Carlisle Greens urge Carlisle people to support their local economy by rejecting high street loan sharks in favour of localised, community driven financial initiatives such as credit unions.
Carlisle benefits from having a strong credit union, based at 95 Lowther Street. It is a not-for-profit organisation which sets out to offer a community driven, ethical alternative to traditional banking. The credit union is locally bound to Carlisle and district, ensuring that its members' money is kept in the local economy.
For more information about how credit unions are central to Green Party economic policy and, how Green councillors elected in Carlisle would nurture the potential of Carlisle's credit union, see this link
News & Star article
John Reardon's blog