LOCAL MP DEMANDS DELIVERY DEADLINE ON EQUITABLE LIFE COMPENSATION

Speaking following an opposition day debate on the UK Government’s role in paying compensation to Equitable Life policyholders, local SNP MP Alex Salmond repeated calls for UK Ministers to accept the recommendations of the Ombudsman.

Mr Salmond believes that a deadline for delivery of a compensation scheme is now needed, following last week's ruling by the High Court that slammed the UK Government's handling of the compensation issue

Commenting, Mr Salmond said:

"The UK Government must stop prevaricating and pay up. This saga has dragged on long enough – with many of my constituents in Banff & Buchan being affected. After ten years what policyholders deserve now is a clear deadline for the delivery of a compensation scheme. It is unacceptable and unfair for Downing Street to let this drag on indefinitely.

"It was a decade of regulatory failure that led to this mess, and we have had a decade of dither in dealing with it ever since. It is disgraceful that policyholders have had to go through so much. Thousands of policyholders have died since this process began, and many surviving policyholders are still being denied justice.

"UK Ministers must finally accept their responsibilities and bring forward a scheme to compensate all those who have suffered through the UK Government's regulatory failures."