EARLY DAY MOTION ACTION AND CENTRAL UPDATE POINT

I'm not a constituent, but I am on his mailing list, & have just asked him a second time for his support. He has an expat background, so there is some hope.

Hi all. Like lorraine I haven't logged on for a long time.

I have just posted the letter to Sir George Young but don't expect a favourable reply after reading this on his web site:-

"I am afraid I don’t add my name to EDM’s. They are, in my view, Parliamentary graffiti and not a good way to influence the Government. I prefer to speak out in debate and pursue matters directly with Ministers.
Best wishes, George Young".

Will let you know if and when I get a reply.

Here's an update on the EDM situation at 22 Feb 2010
54 MPs have signed the original EDM and 4 have signed the amendment.They include 2 fairly high profile Tory MPs, Nicholas Soames and Michael Mates. So it is not impossible to get Tory MPs to sign up although many of them hide behind the supposed Hoban attempt to get an enquiry or the 'Myners' letter'.
First suggestion: write to your MP if he has not signed and tell him that the Hoban approach and the EDM are complementary not exclusive. Signature of the EDM will reinforce the Hoban action because it will get cross-party support for an enquiry.
Second suggestion: we are told we are approaching a General Election - thank God, say I - so those MPs who have not signed up and will be seeking re-election will be fairly sensitive about their image in the constituency and the local Agent might have some influence on the MP. So, write to the Agent at the local constituency office, tell him what is going on and that your MP is not being very cooperative and suggest that he takes action to influence the MP. A hint that a letter to the local paper might follow might help the matter.
We really do need more effort behind this tactic.
Could the former HNW help?
Thanks to all those who have got their MP to sign up and best wishes to you all.

My MP, Michael Fabricant, has declined to sign the EDM but has sent me a letter sent to him by Paul Myers, which contains the usual guff but which, interestingly, includes the following paragraph:

"The Early Day Motion refers to advice from an indepenednt financial advisor. The UK FSCS can cover losses arising from bad investment advice, poor investment management or misrepresentation. The FSCS can pay compensation for claims on events that took place on or after 28 August 1988 (after the firm became authorised). This is the date from which these activities were first protected in the UK. For further information your constituent may wish to refere to the FSCS website: http://www.fscs.org.uk/."

Having had a reply from my MP (Ben Bradshaw, Exeter) saying he couldn't sign the EDM as he was a Minister, he forwarded my letter on to the Treasury. He has forwarded me their reply as follows:

Thank you for your letter of 6th Jan ........

Oversight of KSF IoM is the responsibility of the IoM's FSC and therefore arrangements for depositors in KSF IoM are a matter for the Gov of the IoM.

The TSC in its report on the failure of the icelandic banks recommended that we should not provide cover for the deposits held by British citizens in jurisdictions outside the direct control of the UK. This is consistent with the principled position adopted by us. Arrangements for depositors in banks in overseas territories are a matter for the Gov's of those territories. This principal is consistent with that expressed by the Chief Minister of the IoM.

We take seriously our constitutional responsibilities for the Crown Dependancies. Although the MoJ is the Gov Dept with responsibility for managing the UK's relationship with the Crown Dependancies, the GOV as a whole shares the constitutional responsibilities which the UK has for them. The Treasury is the UK Dept with the necessary expertise and is therefore fulfilling this role.

On 8 Oct 2009 the FSA determined that KSF UK no longer met its threshold conditions for the purposes of its authorisation to accept deposits and was unlikely to be able to continue to meet its obligations to depositors. The FSA, in the exercise of its regulatory functions, concluded that KSF UK was in default for the purposes of the FSCS.

Regarding action taken by the Treasury, your constituent may be interested to read the decision of the Administrative court in the Judical review brought by Kaupthing, the icelandic parent bank, which is available from: www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWHC/Admin/2009/2542.html. The court considered that the Treasury was fully entitled to act as it did.

The EDM 474 refers to advice from an IFA. The UK FSCS can cover losses arising from bad investment advice, poor investment managment or misrepresentation. The FSCS can pay compensation for claims on events that took place on or after 28 august 1988 (and after the firm became authorised). This is the date from which these activities were first protected in the UK. For further info your constituent may wish to refer to the FSCS website.

A number of these questions raised are either a matter for the FSA or the IoM's FSC. I have passed your letter on to them and have asked them to write to you directly.

Alaister Darling.

........... I am lost as to what to do now - any suggestions?????

Jenny Willot, Lib Dem MP for Cardiff Central, has just written me a letter saying she has signed EDM 474 - "I agree that the British government should be pressing for fair compensation and repayment to be made to all those affected by the collapse, and I have therefore signed Early Day Motion 474." And I am not even her constituent as I live in France and have done for a long time! Good for her. At least some MPs are prepared to act in the interest of justice and not just out of self-interest. I shall be writing to thank her.

Mary was initially very supportive and raised questions in the house of commons regarding our plight, however mum received a letter the other day telling us that she will not be signing the EDM. Apologies, but I can not tell you the exact wording of the letter as mum was too upset and threw the letter away. I think it was something to do with her new job within in the government. Anyway, we will keep on writing letters and fighting for 100%.

Interesting to read that German depositors got 100% with interest...

Thank you all for your continued effort.

All the best

Jenny

Wrote to my local MP (Ochil & South Perthshire)- Gordon Banks - who has since confirmed(26/01/10) he has signed the EDM. He has also written to the Economic Secretary at the Treasury, on the issues raised by expat in the draft letter.

I hope to get a response

Well Grapow, I'm sorry to hear that you think this has been/is a complete waste of time. Much of what we do or have done could fall into the same bracket - perhaps. My view is different. If we had all pulled together in the same direction from Oct 8 2008 and got our act together we would perhaps not be in the state we are today, but even the disorganised band we are have seen off the SoA which would I think have been a disaster.
Action seems to me better than inaction in the face of the injustice that has been done to us.
For those who are asking for an update on the EDM : as at today 54 MPs have signed the original EDM and 4 have signed the amendment tabled by Mark Todd. So nearly 10% of MPs have supported us.And every day brings 1 or 2 more. This action is far from at an end.
Several, including Percy Holmes and Edward Leigh have promised support but have not yet signed up.Of course some will hide behind the Hoban smokescreen and others will excuse themselves on the grounds of their job in Govt or Opposition.
I would ask all of us who are still interested in trying to get back 100% of our money to support this initiative. We need to get some support in Parliament for an enquiry and this is our current approach to getting support.
I also suggest that those who want to keep in touch with the the situation should go to the DST site at www.ksfiomdag.com
Best wishes to all

Paul Holmes MP - Lib Dem - Chesterfield has confirmed he has signed the EDM.
A lot of depositors have done a lot of work on this now at the request of DAG. Could DAG please apdate us on how our efforts are achieving our goal ?

My MP Maria Eagle has written back that she is unable to sign EDM as she is a member of govt (Minister of State at the Ministry of Justice) - a fact she has kept quiet up to now. She has not offered any help at all so far other than to write to the treasury but i will now press her in her capacity as minister at MOJ to press our cause with the IOM.

Wrote to me to say that he has read the text of EDM 474 carefully but is mindful that it makes some contentious and controversial points. He has decided to write to the Financial Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms, to ask for his response to the substantive points that the motion raises.

'I shall, in the light of his comments, decide whether or not EDM 474 is one that warrants further support.'

Reply from Christopher Fraser MP for South West Norfolk.

Thank you for your letter of 8 January about Kaupthing Singer and Friedlnder Isle of Man (KSFIOM) and Early Day Motion 474.

I understand your disappointment at the delays now faced by depositors in KSFIOM who are waiting to recover savings above the £50,000 threshold. I also understand the questions you have for the UK authorities.

Conservatives have for some time been calling for an inquiry into the handling by the Government and the Financial Services Authority FSA, of the Icelandic banking crisis. While it was right for the Government to protect UK savers with deposits here, there remain questions about whether the authorities could have acted sooner. We need an inquiry to find out what the Government knew and when it knew it.

My colleague, the Shadow Financial Scretary to the Tresury, Mark Hoban MP, has written to the Treasury Misister Ian Pearson MP, calling for an independent inquiry whose remit should be to:

• Establish a proper chronology of events from the first time that the Tripartite Authorities became aware of the problems of the Icelandic banks and the threat that this posed to UK depositors.
• Set out the discussions that the FS had with the Icelandic banks operating in the UK prior to 8 October about their solvency and any actions that they could have taken to strengthen their position.
• Explain when KFSUK had breached its threshold conditions, thus triggering the transfer of deposit accounts to ING Direct and putting these two businesses into administration.
• Set out discussions that the Tresury and the FSA had with the authorities in the IOM abut the operations of the Icelandic banks including any advice given to them and
• Establish whether the actions of the UK authorities triggered the administration of KSFIOM.

Mr Pearson has rejected our call for an inquiry. Rather than sign the EDM, which calls for no debate or ministerial reply, I will continue to press for an inquiry.

A majority of KFSIOM depositors opposed a Scheme of Arrangement proposed by the authorities in the IOM, which they said would allow for quicker payments than we are now seeing. Instead the IOM courts granted a winding-up petition and depositors will receive now the lower balance of their account or £50000 adn those with deposits over £50000 will have to await the outcome of the winding up process to see how much more they will get. Observers estimate that depositors will ultimately get approximately 80% of their money back. However, this may take several years. I recommend contacting the FSC in the IOM should you require more information.

Once again thank you for taking the time to contact me.

Yours sincerely.

From Sir Malcolm Rifkind's office. Profuse apologies for the delay. They are contacting Mark Hoban's office and will be in touch with me again.

Here is my MP's response to request for EDM vote.....not exactly supportive - alas :-(

22nd Jan 2010

I refer to your letter of 2nd January and email of 3rd January 2010.
Early Day Motions (EDMs) that request that the Government take action on an issue are reserved for the signature of backbench MP's. As I am a Minister of Justice, I am not a backbencher and cannot therfore sign an EDM.

I have read your latest correspondence and noted the points that you raise. They all appear to be substantively similar to those that we have exchanged correspondence on in the past.

As such I have nothing furhter to add to the comments that I have made in previosu letters to you.

Your sincereley,

Claire Ward, MP Watford UK

Sent 2nd 'e' mail to Iain Wright, MP. He, again, replied that he couldn't sign the EDM because he was a Government Minister. He did say, however, in his 1st letter that he would make further representations on my behalf. In my 2nd letter I asked him to do just this and make further representations on our behalf. Have now received a reply asking me what I want him to do. Simple, I want him to get our money back in full!!!!!! Seems to me that he is just trying to be polite by replying to my mail and that he has no intention of getting involved at all.

This is a request to ALL members to do their bit to get MP's to sign the EDM. Although an initial effort to write to M.P.'s there is sadly not enough responses by our members. This is not like the Battle of Britian where the many owed to so few. This is where numbers count and the efforts of the prominent members are not going to carry those who can't be bothered to fight for their money back. This whole situation has been incredibly wearing - both physically, mentally and spiritually on all and de-motivating as time goes on. However, template letters have been created to minimise the effort but without these reaching the MP's they will be just that - an ineffective template letter. We may guess that our MP may be unsympathetic or ignore our requests but it is only by highlighting our cause that we can get up their on their horizons. Please take the time to send these letters. Any problems in doing so, please contact and help will be at hand. Thanks.

Sadly, he won't sign the EDM

QUOTE Thank you for contacting me about Kaupthing Singer & Friedlander Isle of Man (KSFIOM).

I understand your disappointment at the delays now faced by depositors in KSFIOM who are waiting to recover savings above the £50,000 threshold. I also understand the questions you have for the UK authorities.

Conservatives have for some time been calling for an inquiry into the handling by the Government and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) of the Icelandic banking crisis. While it was right for the Government to protect UK savers with deposits here, there remain questions about whether the authorities could have acted sooner. We need an inquiry to find out what the Government knew and when it knew it.

My colleague, the Shadow Financial Secretary to the Treasury, Mark Hoban MP, has written to the Treasury Minister Ian Pearson MP, calling for an independent inquiry whose remit should be to:

Establish a proper chronology of events from the first time that the Tripartite Authorities became aware of the problems of the Icelandic banks and the threat that this posed to UK depositors;
Set out the discussions that the FSA had with the Icelandic banks operating in the UK prior to 8 October about their solvency and any actions that they could have taken to strengthen their position;
Explain why Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander UK had breached its threshold conditions, thus triggering the transfer of deposit accounts to ING Direct and putting these two businesses into administration;
Set out discussions that the Treasury and the FSA had with the authorities in the Isle of Man about the operations of the Icelandic banks including any advice given to them; and
Establish whether the actions of the UK authorities triggered the administration of Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Isle of Man.

Mr Pearson has rejected our call for an inquiry.

A majority of Kaupthing IOM depositors opposed a Scheme of Arrangement proposed by the authorities in the Isle of Man, which they said would allow for quicker payments than we are now seeing. Instead, the Isle of Man courts granted a winding-up petition and depositors will receive now the lower of the balance on their account or £50,000 and those with deposits over £50,000 will have to await the outcome of the winding up process to see how much more they will get. Observers estimate that depositors will ultimately get approximately 80 per cent of their money back. However, this may take several years. I recommend contacting the FSC in the Isle of Man should you require more information.
Stephen Hammond MP UNQUOTE

I have contacted Michael Fabricant, MP for Lichfield, Staffordshire, who, after a shaky start has displayed a keen interest in our situation. No reply yet but will keep you posted.

I sent the first letter to my MP, Linda Gilroy, and she responded as follows:

"Thank you for your email.

Parliamentary protocol prevents me from signing Early Day Motions (EDMs) because of my role as Assistant Minister for the South West.

However, I am grateful for the very full and clear briefing that you sent me and I will certainly write to the Secretary of State for Justice and press the case for depositors such as yourself.

I will be in touch when I receive a reply."

Hi,

Many have been expatriate for a good while and may be outside the 15 year point, in which you can maintain a vote within the UK. If so you may like to send your letter, to raise a MP's support for the Early Day Motion, to either Mark Hogan MP (Fareham) who has been designated by David Cameron (CON) to look after this issue or to Roger Gale MP (Thanet) who seems to have championed expat issues in the past and certainly had the KSFIOM issue on his website. Their contacts are:

Mark Hogan M.P. www.markhogan.com Email - mail(?)markhoban [dot] com

Roger Gale M.P. www.rogergale.com Email - galerj(?)parliament [dot] uk

Good luck

I sent the first letter to Stephen Hammond MP for Wimbledon on 5 January 2010, via email and copy by post. I sent the first reminder by email 12 January 2010. No response as yet.

I am still a householder in Wimbledon although I'm not on the voters' list and have worked abroad for 18 years.

Will send the third when you advise. Good Luck to us all.

Hi - if you like you may like to register your support by filling in the poll about contacting your MP's. Many thanks.

i have posted a letter from abroad to Jack Straw where my mother still lives we used to live there 20 years ago.

As a (now Australian) Expat of more than 20 years standing I was abruptly disenfranchised by the Blair Labour Government , along with inumerable others, some years ago. However as a UK born , British depositor of Anglo inheritance (it should not matter) , I support any action being carried out by DAG with UK MPs to obtain an equitable , just and prompt return of our monies.

If relevant, Australia has always been a subscriber to the Double Tax Treaty system, and I have always been faithful taxpayer , declaring worldwide income, in this jurisdication.

Thank you for the opportunity to comment and good wishes to all..

We have posted our letters to Christopher Fraser, Norfolk South West. Not sure how interested he will be as we now live in France but we do still have our vote in SW Norfolk!

I have today received the following reply from Ben Bradshaw (Exeter):

Thank you very much for your recent correspondance regarding the collapse of KSF (IOM) and your request for my support of Early Day Motion 474.

Unfortunately, as a Government minister I am unable to sign an EDF myself. However, I have now written to the Treasury about this matter, outling in detail the points that you made, and drawing particular attention to Appendix 2 of your letter - potential questions for the KSFIOM EDM.

As soon as I receive a reply I will contact you again. In the meantime if I can be of any further assistance please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Ben Bradshaw

IS THAT IT ........ IS THERE ANY MORE I CAN DO ???

I have sent the EDM letter to CLARE SHORT MP (Birmingham Ladywood) today.

Hi just recieved an e mail re EDM ( 11th Jan ) and confirm I have now sent my letter to my MP Ms Ann Cryer.

After reading more of the posts my estimate of sigs to contacts is way out sorry about that but it does seem that a lot of MPS NEED that 2nd and 3rd letter to get them to shift thier arse and get thier finger out and support thier constiuents. Get sending guys