Vince Cable

Launching the Liberal Democrat Debt Summit today, Liberal Democrat Shadow Chancellor, Vince Cable MP will highlight the need for a programme of action to tackle the ever rising burden of personal debt.

Commenting, Mr Cable said: "There is a distinct lack of preventative advice for people before the burden of debt becomes too much. Although there is some financial education and help for people when they are in difficulty, the focus should be on tackling this problem before it occurs.

"There should be a genuinely independent financial advice network to help people before financial hardship takes hold.

"The Government has shown alarming complacency on this issue. Action must be taken to increase financial awareness and clamp down on irresponsible behaviour so that debt levels do not spiral out of control.

"One area of particular concern is that of irresponsible behaviour of lenders and of consumers. Lenders who raise credit limits and extend overdrafts without prior instruction from the consumer must be stopped.

"With personal debt now estimated to be around 150% of income and with debt repayments as a percentage of income creeping toward their early 1990's levels, the problem is getting worse."