Hands up those of you who have accounts at the Northern Rock then? What? None of you? Well I don�t blame you either... OK then � hands up all those who used to have accounts at the Northern Rock� Ah that�s better� I can see plenty of hands now.

If you once had an account at the Northern Rock and you�ve recently closed it then good for you � You�re not �panicking� or �scaremongering� as suggested by the Government - but you are just showing some good, prudent common sense aren�t you? We put our life savings into banks and trust them to look after our money with care� and if we are told that our bank might be in trouble then surely it�s a sensible precaution for us to take our money elsewhere isn�t it? Yes� of course it is� and do so immediately! If a bank goes bust then all the saver�s money in it mysteriously disappears as the receivers use it to pay other, larger creditors� you get the chicken feed� in most cases nothing at all!

I was in the queue outside the York Road branch of the Northern Rock on Saturday morning and I successfully withdrew my share of the �2 billion that is reported to have been taken out so far and have now closed my account. It seems that half of Hartlepool was there with me and there were worried faces all round. The queues continued throughout Monday and Tuesday as well so the bank vault must be pretty empty by now.

We�ve been told by the Government, Northern Rock itself and the Bank of England that everything is OK with Northern Rock, that all will continue to be well and that we savers shouldn�t be worried. I for one don�t trust this � it sounds like someone rich (i.e. the bank�s owners/shareholders) trying to protect their dwindling fortunes. We all have no choice but to withdraw every penny that we have saved in accounts in Northern Rock. If these business analysts are wrong or are just lying then it�s our money that will be lost� our life savings� our kid�s education funds that we�ve put by� the money we�ve been saving for our daughter�s wedding� cars� holidays� the list goes on. Remember Farepak Hampers and the hardship that caused? Well that will be small fry compared to the effects of Northern Rock collapsing.

There might be a silver lining in all this � if the bank stays open and remains solvent then any Northern Rock shares that you buy at their current low rate might just be worth something in five or so years.

It appears that at the very least Northern Rock will be sold off � it was up for sale before all this palaver began. News sources say that the brand name �Northern Rock� may disappear from the high street as well when the new owners have decided what to do with the company. At the very worst the bank could collapse as it has no assets � very little cash in savings (it specialises in Mortgages) and no substantial income from the money markets at present. If this happens then we could all be up a creek without a paddle as Northern Rock will recall all loans and mortgages (read the small print folks) so everyone will have to switch to another provider. If this has a detrimental effect on the housing market than some new lenders who switch providers could see themselves with a deficit of funding. Difficult times for some if the worst happens then!

So remember� you can do what you like with your money� you earned it, you�ve paid tax on it� it�s yours. It does not belong to the Government. If they believe in the solvency of Northern Rock lets see all the MPs in the House of Commons take the same risk they expect us to by opening accounts there and putting their considerable life savings in. Will this happen? Will it heck as like!

One thing though� if you don�t have any money at all and are in need of some work in the very short term� if you apply quickly� there should be vacancies at Northern Rock branches for cashiers� but ask for your wages in cash!

Cheers!

Headlander


Stockton Hartlepool Middlesbrough Darlington Sunderland Gateshead Redcar Durham Newcastle

Between a Northern Rock and a Hard Place

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