by Sally Bercow

If you’re lucky enough to live in a Royal Palace, you’re not surrounded by “gold for cash” pawnbrokers. Neither do the door-to-door moneylenders that plagued my street in Tower Hamlets come to call. So I’m not going to go all faux woman of the people and pretend I rely on high cost credit. I don’t, haven’t (leaving aside the odd store card) and hopefully never will. But too many people in Britain do; millions of low income households depend on loan advances from pawnbrokers, payday lenders and doorstep lenders just to make ends meet.

These loans with sky-high interest rates come with devastating consequences, as borrowers are forced to cut back their spending on food, rent, utilities, fuel and other essentials in order to meet their loan repayments. The debt trap is blighting the lives of too many people, causing physical and mental health problems, damaging local communities and increasing the pressure on the public purse. In other words, high-cost credit affects everyone, whether you use it or not. (more…)