MEP Defends Civil Liberties Against Government Attack

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Wed 30th Jun 1999

Diana Wallis MEP will today defend the civil liberties of thousands of individuals across the country who are threatened by a Government Green Paper proposing to change the civil enforcement system.

Speaking at a conference held by the Money Advisors Association in York, Diana will say:

"The Government is proposing to brand people who are in financial hardship as criminals in the same league as muggers, burglars and car thieves.

"To have these people threatened with such measures as withdrawal of their passports and driving licences is tantamount to imprisonment - normally imposed only for criminal offences, not civil matters, such as non-payment of debt."

Other proposals will force the courts to use tax-payers' money to investigate the financial background of people in debt, offsetting the failures of those who lent the money in the first place. Public money could be used to compensate for the irresponsibility of lenders.

"This would signal an endorsement of irresponsible lending to creditors.

"There is no excuse for large credit institutions failing to make proper enquiries before they lend, rather than relying on public resources to sort out the problems that they have created when people borrowers end up in court through financial hardship."