Downing Street Says

Asked if the Prime Minister would give up a day’s salary for Farepak’s relief, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that Ian McCartney had said that this was a matter for individual MPs. Therefore it was not in the PMOS’ domain, as MPs would make their own individual decisions.

Asked if there was a spokesman for the individual MPs, the PMOS said that all MPs would have to make up their own minds, and they would do so in their own good time.

Asked if the MP for Sedgefield had made up his mind, and it would be helpful to know, as it was a good story, the PMOS said that he had not yet had a chance to ask the MP for Sedgefield, and whilst it might be helpful to the journalists, the PMOS said that he would take his time and ask at the right moment.

Put that this was the sort of thing that the Prime Minister would want to do, as it would "look a bit daft otherwise", the PMOS said that he would pass on the journalist’s personal advice to the Prime Minister.

32 Comments »

Dear Mr McCartney, after seeing you on breakfast TV yesterday, I thought about this:

I understand that Farepak had an arrangement with large stores and sold those store’s vouchers to customers who had saved with them.

Wouldn’t it be a nice gesture for those stores to show some loyalty back to the Farepak customers and offer them a decent % saving if they still shopped there?

Good luck with your campaign.

Regards
Adele Woodward
Comment by Adele Woodward — 10 Nov 2006 on 10:11 am | Link
Has the Personal Fund for Farepak victims charitable status thus being eligible for GiftAid? If it is what is being done to publicise this?
with regards, John Martin
Comment by John Martin — 10 Nov 2006 on 11:26 am | Link
Has the Personal Fund for Farepak victims charitable status thus being eligible for GiftAid? If it is what is being done to publicise this?
with regards, John Martin
Comment by John Martin — 10 Nov 2006 on 11:26 am | Link
Why not use some of the \xA32Billion or so sat in dormant bank accounts to resolve this situation…???
Comment by Andy Spence — 10 Nov 2006 on 11:36 am | Link
Why not use some of the \xA32Billion or so sat in dormant bank accounts to resolve this situation…???
Comment by Andy Spence — 10 Nov 2006 on 11:42 am | Link
Could the supermarkets etc not enable the general public to help the fund by opting to donate their loyalty card points to the fund for a period of say a fortnight? 20 million families spending say \xA3100 per week at a 1% bonus rate would generate the \xA340 million in this time.
Comment by Steve Oxtoby — 10 Nov 2006 on 10:09 pm | Link
why is it that the goverment has not stepped in to save all these people from a miserable christmas. the owner of farepak will not have a miserable christmas , not like my son who was made redundent in feb cant get a job as he is epileptic and he saved that money for his 2 childrens christmas present, why have they not frozen his bank accounts and made him sell his house , to pay all these people back, what he has stolen , he is a stinking thief ,if a man steals from a house . he goes to jail . he has stolen from people so why have they not sent him to jail,
Comment by sandra pickford — 10 Nov 2006 on 10:54 pm | Link
okay, has the prime minister- said yes?
why cant the government make all the parent companies of europern retail, foot the bill, on 31/10/2006 they all made millions of pounds profit —-lets name and shame them all !!!!
i would also, like to say that the royal bank of scotalnd whom continued to take all our monies as only put a \xA32million pound goodwill pack together, well, just kick us all in the teeth some more—-they had know for ages what was happening …well they are owned by halifax bank …what have they put in the fund?
i have never felt this robbed in all my life, if i had done this i would be behind bars now…….
SORT IT OUT AND SOON, THE BRITISH PUBLIC WIL NOT TOLERATE THIS ……………………………..
Comment by zoe ashby — 11 Nov 2006 on 1:55 am | Link
i have lost \xA3500 with farepak, and i cannot believe that the government, public and companies havent donated enough money to cover all that has been lost by customers.if this had happened in another country, millions would have been raised by now, but yet we cant help our own.i think the national lottery should donate alot, seems as though its the british that pay for the tickets.
Comment by anna meeds — 11 Nov 2006 on 8:18 pm | Link
have these people who saved with farepak ever heard of savings accounts? if they had put this money in a savings account they would not be in this mess.
Comment by joe bloggs — 15 Nov 2006 on 10:06 pm | Link
have these people who saved with farepak ever heard of savings accounts? if they had put this money in a savings account they would not be in this mess.
Comment by joe bloggs — 15 Nov 2006 on 10:06 pm | Link
WILL EVERYONE WHO READS THIS PLEASE WRITE A LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR ABOUT THE FAREPAK SCANDAL. THE MORE PEOPLE THAT WRITE, THE MORE PRESSURE HIS GOVERNMENT WILL BE PUT UNDER TO RESOLVE THIS FIASCO.
Comment by Pete Foy — 15 Nov 2006 on 11:05 pm | Link
WILL EVERYONE WHO READS THIS PLEASE WRITE A LETTER TO PRIME MINISTER TONY BLAIR ABOUT THE FAREPAK SCANDAL. THE MORE PEOPLE THAT WRITE, THE MORE PRESSURE HIS GOVERNMENT WILL BE PUT UNDER TO RESOLVE THIS FIASCO.
Comment by Pete Foy — 15 Nov 2006 on 11:06 pm | Link
I and my two daughters have lost over \xA3500 on gift vouchers for xmas gifts ,its discusting that farpak can get away with it and yes people are right in saying other countries help and why shouldnt we save and not in bank accounts like other people have said.FARPAK took a cheque from my account two days before they went bankrupt i even rang them to find out the final payment as i paid up early, nothing was mention to me.like other people i have had no answer to my claim as yet.
Comment by lorraine rae — 16 Nov 2006 on 10:11 am | Link
myself and my partner have lost \xA31600 this was our whole xmas and birthday presents gone.i have been saving with farepak for about 10 years,and think it is a disgrace that these people have got away with our money,sitting in their million pound houses.i checked the fund today from the companies kind enough to put money in and it hasnt changed from the day it started,did the novelty wear off that quick,we need more companies to help all these people to give their kids a decent xmas…
Comment by karen moore — 16 Nov 2006 on 4:12 pm | Link
myself and my partner have lost \xA31600 this was our whole xmas and birthday presents gone.i have been saving with farepak for about 10 years,and think it is a disgrace that these people have got away with our money,sitting in their million pound houses.i checked the fund today from the companies kind enough to put money in and it hasnt changed from the day it started,did the novelty wear off that quick,we need more companies to help all these people to give their kids a decent xmas…
Comment by karen moore — 16 Nov 2006 on 4:12 pm | Link
Ive lost \xA3400 . I think they should have had there accounts frozen and there houses sold from under them to giv us all our money back . Instead the thief is awayon holiday not given us a second thought and the stress he has caused thousands of poeple he should be locked up
Comment by elizabeth low — 16 Nov 2006 on 6:53 pm | Link
Why is it that us brit’s can raise millions with in hours of a crisis some where else in the world but we can\x92t help people who have suffered a lost in our own country?
Comment by Kenny Everitt — 16 Nov 2006 on 7:13 pm | Link
A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE FROM TONY BLAIR

Dear Customers and Friends

PEERPAK Christmas Hampers 2006
For reasons that you will all appreciate, we at Downing Street Catalogue Shopping are unable to offer this traditional range of festive products this year. The ever-growing burden of government red tape has forced us to withdraw the following items from sale:

‘His Lordship’s Hamper’ including Levy’s Traditional Smoked Salmon wrapped in Real Ermine
‘Old Texan Delights’ including The Laura Bush Bakehouse Fully Fruited Seasonal Cake, Condoleeza’s Rice Pudding and Rumsfeld’s El Paso Honey Glazed Ham
‘Eastern Mysteries’ including real Baghdad dates and Abu Ghraib sweetmeats (last month’s 2-for-1 special offer)
‘The Kirkcaldy’ including shortbread, fudge and oatcakes – the economy choice for pensioners
! ! ! ! WE ARE STILL TRADING ! ! ! !
For those of you who have been saving with us and may have been alarmed by irresponsible media coverage, let me put your minds at rest right away! Unfortunately our new range of personalised ID cards at \xA390 isn’t yet available (problems at the suppliers AGAIN!) But there’s good news! We have decided to recommend the audiobook of Anthony Blair Captain of School as this year’s official Downing Street Christmas gift.

As you know, Christmas can be a difficult time. This is the last festive season before my retirement as chairman and CEO of this small but dynamic family company. Apres moi le deluge. For those of you who are worried about the future (and who isn’t?) listening to this new unabridged audiobook may stop you thinking about the next tax demand.

Anthony Blair Captain of School is a fabulous adventure story for all the family, written by John Morrison and read by Peter Donaldson (who’s usually reading news bulletins on the Bolshevik Broadcasting Corporation). As a typical small businessman, the only books I know about are the ones I have to balance, so I’ve not yet had time to listen to it myself. But my staff tell me I’m the hero, which can’t be bad! Apparently there’s also a boy called Brown, and I expect he’s the villain. Anyway, the kids have promised to put it on my iPod so I can listen to it by the pool in sunny old Barbados.

There’s a 6 CD unabridged set (ISBN 0955027624) which costs \xA319.99. The running time is 6 hours 42 minutes and it will be on sale very soon from Waterstone’s and Amazon. For reasons that are frankly beyond me, you may find it classified under TRUE CRIME. Those who prefer to save a bob or two can already download it in mp3 format from the Spoken Network website. <a href="http://www.spokennetwork.co.uk/Title.aspx?titleId=7121">http://www.spokennetwork.co.uk/Title.aspx?titleId=7121</a>

One more thing. I’m told that John Morrison’s original hardback novel, with illustrations by David Hopkins, is still available (ISBN 0955027608) for only \xA39.99. Even the guid folk of Kirkcaldy can afford that!
So don’t forget – for all your seasonal gift shopping, go to the authorised Downing Street supplier http://www.blackpigbooks.com
Must go now! Cherie is already checking out the position vis-a-vis extradition. Frankly, you’d think Scotland Yard would have better things to do than start snooping around the world of mail order luxury goods!
Season’s Greetings!

Tony Blair

ps
If you’re a satisfied customer, please pass this message on to all your friends.

——————————————————————————–
Comment by John Morrison — 16 Nov 2006 on 11:05 pm | Link
i think the boss of farepak should be sent to jail for stealing all those people money, and made to sell all his wordly belongings to pay the people back, why should he be enjoying himself on holiday when thousands of people face a dismal christmas.
Comment by louise turner — 17 Nov 2006 on 3:37 pm | Link
I am sorry for those who have lost money, but would they not have been better to put their money in a Post Office or similar savings account and used it to buy reasonably-priced goods instead of just what was in Farepak’s catalogue?

I feel sympathy for the genuinely cash-strapped people who lost out, but I suspect that, in some cases, Farepak was a means to launder money.

The government is under no more obligation to bail out Farepak savers than they are to bail out anyone who’s investments go belly-up.

After all, where does the government get its money? From all of us.

As for those who believe that we should help out people affected the way we contribute to foreign aid, may I remind you that we have a social security system in this country and you can access food and clean water,unlike millions across the globe.

You’ve lost money, it’s sad, grow up and get on with it!
Comment by John — 17 Nov 2006 on 10:25 pm | Link
Further to my previous posting, I see That I am not the only one with similar views.

See http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1945802,00.html

Farepak seems like it was a relic of a past time, like Provvy Cheques, and as naff as having a Fray Bentos Pie as a Chrimbo treat. How anyone could be taken in by such a scheme defies belief.

They’d have been better to stuff their money in a biscuit tin.

Use your local Credit Union.
Comment by John — 17 Nov 2006 on 10:55 pm | Link
Further to my previous posting, I see That I am not the only one with similar views.

See http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,,1945802,00.html

Farepak seems like it was a relic of a past time, like Provvy Cheques, and as naff as having a Fray Bentos Pie as a Chrimbo treat. How anyone could be taken in by such a scheme defies belief.

They’d have been better to stuff their money in a biscuit tin.

Use your local Credit Union.
Comment by John — 17 Nov 2006 on 10:55 pm | Link
why is it there are people saying we deserve it if it was them that this has happened to they would be upset aswell.
we were all doing this for our children to make there christmas a bit better than usual.
why say we should have put it in a bank account we all thought this was a good company and our money was going to be safe so in a sense it was like putting it in the bank the only differents is you cannot touch it.
if we were from a different country the goverment would have bailed us out a long time ago.
when you have the national lottery and children in need and the goverment and nobody wants to help whats the saying charity begins at home well its not in this country.
Comment by LISA — 20 Nov 2006 on 8:08 am | Link
i carnt beleive that ass hole is on holiday enjoying himself and good hard working peoplee ave lost xamsif we robbed we would be in court.my husband works in the freezing cold and in the very hot heat to get us a better xmas this year.i carnt beleive that no one is helping us if we werent english every one would help us but no they would rather help anothe bloody place.i think its a disgrace that the english arnt helping there own.
Comment by Anne Read — 20 Nov 2006 on 9:41 am | Link
First I would like to say that anybody who saves money via a hamper-company is less than market savvy. Why not put the money in the post office savings bank or premium bonds or other secured investment? So, I do not think that the farepak investors should be bailed out by the public. However I do think that the Company Directors should be made to repay the missing millions and/or sentenced to a period of imprisonment. In this country we are far too soft on Company sharp practice. In the USA all these rogue directors would be facing long jail terms.
Comment by Brian Cooper — 20 Nov 2006 on 11:08 am | Link
With regards to the comments that Farepak customers should save with a bank or a post office, we do not do this as sometimes there may be an unexpected bill and it would be to easy to dip into the savings account to pay for this.

Last week was Children in Need and I think the money should go to the Farepak Children in Need, i.e. those children who Santa cannot visit this year. Charity should begin at home afterall.

Carol A Harper
Comment by carol harper — 21 Nov 2006 on 12:23 pm | Link
this farepak carry on is just terrible i myself and two friends lost 1500 between us why should that man get away with !!!!!!! a lot of generous people are donating which is great but lets face it there is no way they are going to raise enough to give back a desent amount so how about the LOTTERY FUND this would be agood way of raising money after all if like me and thousands of others we do the lottery and never win anyway so its just like getting some of our money back HERES S HOPING along with thousands of others for a merry christmas !
Comment by EB — 22 Nov 2006 on 6:45 pm | Link
why dont we use the lottery fund
Comment by eb — 22 Nov 2006 on 7:05 pm | Link
"i myself and two friends lost 1500 between us why should that man get away with !!!!!!!" Posted by EB on 22 Nov 2006 18:45 | Link | Abusive comment?

While it is difficult not to sympathise with those who lost money, it is things like this and the general state of the country and the inexorable march towards a police state that should open all your eyes. Once again, for those who haven’t got it yet. Democracy does not exist. Can’t you SEE that? We are ruled by a Plutocracy and they DO NOT CARE about you. They would lose no sleep if every single one of you lost every single penny you own, and they will (and are!) trying to take every penny back off you right now. That is what things like Farepak are really all about. The rich stealing from the poor – and there’s f*ck all you can do about it until you all open your eyes and read your own history!

This country is owned lock stock and barrel by the Bank of England, which is NOT part of the government, despite the 1946 "nationalisation". The BoE owned the government and the judiciary long before that, so they can sign bits of paper saying anything they want. I’d suggest people start to look into the history of the BoE, especially from 1815 onwards. While they’re about it, I’d suggest they take a good look at the US Federal Reserve, owned by the same people, and then at the World Bank, again, owned by the same crew. "The man who pays the piper calls the tune" – and the tune is being called by people other than the visible government, which is just the PR department for the real ruling interests. Follow the money, all the way to source.
Comment by SmokeNMirrors — 24 Nov 2006 on 3:47 pm | Link
why give pakistan two billion pounds for fighting terrorists like they did this week when our own people suffer this goverment stinks of horse ====
Comment by shane craig — 24 Nov 2006 on 6:54 pm | Link
2 billion quid to train more terrorists, more like. Pakistan is the centre of most of the world’s terrorist training camps, to which the USA has turned a blind eye for a long long time. Really think we have any interest in combatting terrorism? COURSE we don’t! This government and the USA needs every excuse to carry on the "War of Terra", even if they have to create every incident themselves. And they will, make no mistake about that, they will…! If you don’t believe me, cast your mind back to the 2 "British" (read: Israeli) Special Forces soldiers captured in Iraq dressed as locals and driving round in a car full of explosives who were sprung out of jail at all costs by half the British Army. And if you need any more examples of the unbelievable hubris of the British and American governments look at your own comment about our government giving 2 billion to Pakistan when this country is in such a mess. Wouldn’t believe it, would ya? And did they ask OUR permission? That is, after all, OUR money!!

Noooooooooooooooo!! We are being robbed blind by a criminal syndicate fronted by a PR department known as a "Government" and most people are too blind to see it. And sadly, the majority of people actively ENCOURAGE the ridiculous "Fight against Terrorism", little realising it is nothing more than a government cash cow to fleece the public!
Comment by SmokeNMirrors — 25 Nov 2006 on 1:48 pm | Link

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Post a public comment

Name (required)
E-mail (required)
(You must give an email address, but it will not be displayed to the public.)
Website
(You may give your website, and it will be displayed to the public.)

Comments:

This is not a way of contacting the Prime Minister. If you would like to contact the Prime Minister, go to the 10 Downing Street official site.

Privacy note: Shortly after posting, your name and comment will be displayed on the site. This means that people searching for your name on the Internet will be able to find and read your comment.

Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089. Material is reproduced from the original 10 Downing Street source, but may not be the most up-to-date version of the briefings, which might be revised at the original source. Users should check with the original source in case of revisions. Comments are © Copyright contributors. Everything else is © Copyright Downing Street Says.

» Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Farepak

32 Comments »

Post a public comment

Search

Supported by

Recent Briefings

Archives

Links

Syndicate (RSS/XML)

Credits

Enquiries