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• Britons face debt management crisis after decades developing credit card debts
  
  

  Families in Britain are drowning in debt and face financial ruin after a decade-long binge developing their credit card debts to record levels. Lenient lending criteria and a huge consumer appetite in the decade leading up to the credit crunch has meant that tens of thousands of British families have developed unprecedented levels of overdrafts, [...]

  
  
  
• Unemployment up 23,000 as almost quarter of working-age Brits jobless
  
  

  Latest unemployment figures released show that there are now 2.47million unemployed people in Britain, up 23,000 from the last quarter. Some experts predict that this figure will continue to rise, with some estimating a further 500,000 people joining the queue over the next two years. More working age Brits than ever before are being forced [...]

  
  
  
• MP Chris Grayling oulines benefit cuts in "workshy" clampdown
  
  

  Incapacity benefit will be cut within four years under coalition government plans to crack down on the long-term workshy. Work and pensions minister Chris Grayling announced yesterday that all 2.5million claimants will be taken off the scheme by 2014. He said that tackling the handout culture was the highest priority, and outlined that more needs [...]

  
  
  
• Surprise inflation rise to hit savers hard
  
  

  Following a surprise and record-breaking rise in inflation last month, experts are warning that savers and mortgage borrowers may be the worst affected. How much has inflation risen? The Consumer Price Index (CPI) – the official inflation measurement – has risen from 3.4 per cent in March to 3.7 per cent in April this year [...]

  
  
  
• Government claims rescue package is the only way for Greece to avoid bankruptcy
  
  

  The Greek government has stated that a joint bailout deal between the International Monetary Fund and the European Union (EU) is the only way to save the country from bankruptcy. Prime Minister George Papandreou is pushing for a bill implementing the deal to be passed, which will hopefully contain Greece’s debt problems and stop similar [...]

  
  
  
• Government debt advice strategy “failure”
  
  

  The Government’s implementation of its debt management strategy, designed to help people to get out of debt, has been branded a “complete failure” by MPs of the Public Accounts Committee. Committee MPs said that 51 various projects had been uncoordinated with no leader in charge since 2004, and reported that 11% of adults were struggling [...]

  
  
  
• Debt problems loom as interest rates on small loans doubles
  
  

  People looking to take out a loan for a smaller amount of money have seen the interest charged more than double in the last ten years, prompting fears that potential debt management problems will be accelerated. According to research released today, the average interest rate for a £3,000 loan is 14.92%, despite a record low [...]

  
  
  
• Prime Minister Gordon Brown highlights changes to help credit card debts
  
  

  Gordon Brown highlighted changes that could help consumers avoid debt problems and save them around £300million a year on their credit card debts. In a reversal of current industry practices, repayments on store card and credit card debt must be used to repay the most expensive debts first before cheaper borrowing. There will also be [...]

  
  
  
• 60% interest rates on credit card debts fuels debt problems
  
  

  In a desperate attempt to secure credit, around a million customers have turned to sub-prime lenders charging 60% interest on outstanding credit card debts. The reported 2,700 people applying daily for sub-prime Provident’s Vanquish card will typically have a poor credit history, and may have experienced debt problems in the past. Average interest rates on [...]

  
  
  
• Bank of England keep interest rates on hold…again!
  
  

  In an increasingly familiar tale, The Bank of England has kept interest rates on hold again for the 12th successive month. Economists anticipated the decision to keep the base rate of interest at the historic low level of 0.5%, as it was widely expected to maintain its record low to aid the struggling economic recovery. [...]