'Infuriated' caller shames 'scumbag' banks profiteering from coronavirus – 'OUTRAGEOUS'
ENRAGED caller Bill attacked banks over their insistence for personal guarantees to grant Government-backed loans to people struggling through the coronavirus crisis.
Coronavirus: Radio caller rages at ‘abominable’ banks
British banks have come under fire after devising new loan tactics allowing them to go after personal assets if a business goes bad and owners are unable to pay back the loan. Bill from Plymouth was left enraged from the "abominable" behaviour as he insisted banks should not be allowed to continue mistreating Britons through the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking to talkRADIO, Bill said: "Banks, as usual, the scumbags of society.
"They are at it again, with people trying to get these loans and their interests. The interest rate, bear in mind, has been dropped to one percent.
"I know our boss has been asked to put his house on the line and everything – he’s already six figures in the hole through no fault of his own.
"And the banks are absolutely abominable."
The Plymouth resident continued: "They brought this country to its knees in 2008. It’s about time we took these people on and sorted them out.
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"It’s infuriating, to be profiteering, it’s even racketeering, at a time of national crisis is abominable.
"What sort of people think of this in this crisis? What is wrong with these people?"
He added: "They need to respect the public. It is outrageous!"
Speaking to BBC News, Alex Harris, who owns bar Behind This Wall in East London, said he had inquired about the government-backed loans with his bank but was offered a different product.
Mr Harris said: "The Government-backed loans are from £25,000 up to £5million.
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"We got offered a financial product of theirs, another loan which is not part of the coronavirus package.
"It's for up to £24,999, but will come at up to 22 percent interest, which would initially bankrupt my business."
Faced with the ongoing uncertainty the coronavirus outbreak has been causing, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Fair Business Banking called on the Treasury to offer more clarity to small and medium-sized businesses.
The group wrote on Twitter: "There is confusion about coronavirus business interruption loan schemes.
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"Treasury must issue clear guidance on parameters and not allow security at 'discretion of the lender' to muddy the waters.
"Unprecedented times require emergency funding. Keep it simple, and no personal guarantees."
The chair of the group, Conservative MP Kevin Hollinrake said: "I asked the chief secretary to the Treasury in the House of Commons - does the new scheme include personal guarantees and he said it was his understanding that it would not. Well, it's my understanding now that it will.
"It should not include personal guarantees. If it does, very few business owners are going to want to take it up.
"In normal business circumstances, you can't expect banks to lend money without some sort of commitment. But these are unheralded times and unprecedented measures."