AS THE Conservative Parliamentary candidate for Ealing North, I receive a lot of correspondence from policyholders of Equitable Life, who have been so badly treated by this Labour government.
The parliamentary ombudsman ruled 18 months ago that the government should make payments to policyholders who have suffered losses as a consequence of the government's failure to regulate Equitable Life properly.
Straight away, the Conservatives accepted the ombudsman's recommendations that: * There should be a scheme to deal with the losses suffered by policyholders * Payments should reflect relative and not absolute loss (ie take into account market performance) * The impact on the public purse should be taken into account in the design of a scheme.
Gordon Brown has failed Equitable policyholders and sought at every stage of the process to block, frustrate and delay justice for policyholders.
The latest example was in a debate in the House of Commons, on March 16, where Labour MPs once again let down policyholders.
Disgracefully, not one of Ealing's three Labour MPs voted to support Equitable's policyholders.
It is disappointing that Gordon Brown's MPs are blocking a fair remedy, but I can assure you that a Conservative government is committed to delivering justice for Equitable Life's policyholders.
COUNCILLOR IAN GIBB
Conservative parliamentary candidate for Ealing North
