Novocast UK Weblog

I’m watching More4’s Dispatches which, in this edition, is investigating whether reckless bank loans have driven up mortgage rates and increased the number of families losing their homes and supposedly confronts the bank chiefs directly.

They discuss one family whose bank loaned them an amount equal to 4 times their income.  What did the bank in question think was going to happen when they lent someone 4 times the amount of money that person earns in a year?  If I earn £12,000 per year (and that’s a BIG ‘if’), would I expect ANYONE to lend me £48,000 per year?  NOOOO!!!!!  I wouldn’t even ask.  But if I DID ask, I would certainly hope my bank has the good sense to say “come on mate, in a year you earn only one QUARTER of what you’re asking to borrow.  How do you expect to pay it back?”

It would be very soon after that interview that I would be aware I wasn’t getting any loan and, point in fact, I shouldn’t have got it anyway so in the long run it will work out better for me and my family of 3+me.

But their bank loaned them it anyway.  My God…

Barclays chief exec earns £63,000 per MONTH. PER MONTH!!!! And the “Big 5″ can’t find enough spare cash to bail out this family of 4 whose bank irresponsibly loaned them 4 times what they could afford to repay.  Or rather they can’t now afford to give 23 students a 3 grand overdraft to get them through until their student loans come through..

I don’t despise RBoS, in fact I think they have some sound paths to follow, if you have 5 grand to throw into an offshore savings account for 8% interest, then you should most defeinitely give it to RBoS to look after for you if you won’t need access to any of that money without 90 days’ notice.

The show’s presenter is now showing off the Aston Martin he bought with his annual bonus but is now going to have a go at the bank execs.  I now feel zero empathy for the Aston driving TV show presenting wanker in his pink shirt and black pants.

I could rant all night about this show (at least for the next 23 minutes anyway, but I don’t think I will.  It’s not like I’m getting paid to do it and since screen 1 of 3 on my desk (2 of 3 being this laptop and 3 of 3 currently being tuned to Sky News) is currently occupied by a particularly awesome Dungeons and Dragons-based computer game that I want to get back to, I’m going to get back to it

Plus, 48 minutes into the show not a single bank exec has agreed to give comment so I think its time to move on.

Please comment openly about your experiences with Britain’s banks. I for one know that just because the wanker at the other end of the phone’s computer says no, that does not mean that the wanker’s computer cannot in fact be made to say “yes” with but a simple command from someone who sits in the centre of the wanker’s work area.