POL: CAMPAIGN FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A POST BANK

[TrueBlueTerrier]

http://www.cwu.org/ltb-211/09-pol-campa ... -bank.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

LTB 211/09 - POL: CAMPAIGN FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A POST BANK


No: 211
Ref: 132
Date: 6th March 2009

TO: ALL BRANCHES WITH POSTAL MEMBERS

Dear Colleagues

POL: CAMPAIGN FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A POST BANK

I am pleased to advise Branches that, at our instigation, a coalition of supportive groups has been established in order to gain greater publicity and added momentum to our campaign for the creation of a state-run people's bank (to be known as "Post Bank"), administered via the Post Office.

The Post Bank coalition group includes:

· The Federation of Small Businesses
· nef (New Economics Foundation)
· The public interest research centre (PIRC)
· Unite

The Case for a Post Bank
The CWU and our coalition partners have constructed a position paper entitled "The Case for a Post Bank", which outlines our vision and recommendations for a people's bank run within the trusted network of Post Offices. A copy of the document will be published and distributed next week.

Campaign Launch Event
In order to raise awareness of our campaign amongst politicians and interest groups, we will be formally launching our campaign for a Post Bank at The House of Commons. The details are as follows:

Tuesday 17th March
2pm-4.30pm
Room 14
House of Commons
Westminster

We have invited a number of key speakers from all parties to address the meeting. A full list of speakers will be sent out once we receive confirmation of their attendance. Baroness McDonagh, former General Secretary of the Labour Party, has kindly agreed to chair the meeting and Tony Benn, former postmaster general, has confirmed his attendance as a keynote speaker.

Key themes of our Position Paper
The coalition believes the Post Bank should offer, amongst other services, current accounts, access to credit, direct debit facilities, and savings accounts. As an integral part of the Post Office, the Post Bank will be well placed in the community and would therefore be a vehicle for tackling financial exclusion. Subjects for discussion include the following:

· A radical redesign of banking, a model which isn't just about profit maximisation and shareholder driven, but creates a bank that is fair, community based and trusted.
· The introduction of a 'Universal Banking Obligation' which would guarantee access to fair finance.
· A Post Bank that

o offers current accounts, mortgages, access to credit, direct debit facilities and savings capacity.
o is well placed in the community and would, therefore, be a vehicle for tackling financial exclusion.
o could reconnect with local economies, allowing credit to small businesses - bringing affordable financial services to the heart of communities.

There has been much speculation in the press regarding the establishment of a people's bank. Whist this is encouraging, we need to ensure that this becomes a reality. To this end it is important that we have a good turnout at this event, and, accordingly, I would urge Regional Secretaries, Branch Secretaries, and Counter Section Secretaries to support this launch.

Further developments will be published in the near future.

Any enquiries should be addressed to Claire Bowers at cbowers@cwu.org

Yours sincerely

Andy Furey
Assistant Secretary