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10 January 2006
Scotland is the most debt-ridden area of the UK, a paper by the Scottish National Party (SNP) has revealed.
Using results from a survey by Debt Free Direct, it showed that that average Scot possesses £7,848 of unsecured borrowing - considerably higher than the UK average of £5,993.
Furthermore, 27 per cent of Scots have outstanding credit card balances - four per cent higher than the typical UK figure. This is fairly unsurprising when considering the statistic that 61 per cent of people north of the border paid for Christmas entirely on their credit cards.
Kenny MacAskill, SNP justice spokesman, said that banks, as well as individuals, must take responsibility for the unfolding debt crisis.
He stated: "There is clearly a debt crisis looming in Scotland as the cost of Christmas returns to many Scottish households with a vengeance as credit card bills arrive.
"Whilst individuals must take responsibility for their spending, they are entitled to protection from outrageous credit card charges. A fair return on lending is one thing, usury and exploitation is another."
Mr MacAskill said that Westminster had failed to tackle the issue of banks' exorbitant interest rates charged on credit card debts, and urged that the Scottish parliament itself should get a stranglehold on consumer debt.
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