Tories launch commission to tackle spiralling debt
The Conservative Party has announced plans to hold a new inquiry aimed at finding solutions to the growing levels of personal debt in the UK.
Economist Lord Griffiths of Fforestfach, a former head of the Downing Street Policy Unit, will head the Tory commission on household debt, which will gather evidence on the current UK debt crisis and how it can be alleviated.
“I am delighted to be chairing this independent commission,” Lord Griffiths said. “Problems with debt affect poorer and more vulnerable people especially. Imaginative and constructive solutions to these problems are urgently needed, and I believe that the commission will play a valuable role in helping to find them.”
The debt commission will be independent of the Conservatives’ own policy team, but will report to shadow chancellor Oliver Letwin.
Mr Letwin said today: “This a serious undertaking with a serious mission. On current trends, household debt will break through the £1 trillion barrier this autumn. For increasing numbers of people, debt is becoming a serious problem.
“It will require both wisdom and imagination to formulate a sensible and effective approach. I believe the time has come for such width and depth.”
“New ideas are necessary, and I am confident the commission will offer them,” he added.
The announcement comes ahead of a “debt summit” being held by the Conservatives in Westminster tomorrow, which will see discussions held between representatives of the credit industry and consumer advice groups.
Money education charity, Credit Action, estimates that British consumers owed a total of £956 billion in February this year, and total borrowing is growing by £10.7 billion a month. British credit card holders account for almost 75 per cent of the total borrowed on plastic across Europe.
