Fair's Fare

Over the weekend it was reported that 207 people (mainly women) have died since losing their money in the Farepak scandal - without receiving any compensation for their loss.

Farepak - many people will recall - was a Christmas saving scheme which involved putting a little money away each week - before getting it all back to spend on presents and whatnot for the festive season.

But Farepak went bust - almost overnight five years ago - and lots of people lost their money - people who could ill afford to do so. 

Ever since there has been a campaign to compensate the victims of the scandal - but 207 have died while waiting for some kind of justice to be done.

And a Scottish MSP -  Mike Weir, SNP spokesperson on consumer affairs  is calling on the UK government to speed up the compensation claims - so that whatever people are due they can at least get their hands on the money - while they remain on this earth.

Now I have every sympathy for the people involved - although I can tell you that a many council employees are affected in exactly the same way - waiting for their equal pay claims to be settled.

I don't have any exact figures to hand - but I have spoken personally to the spouses of Action 4 Equality Scotland clients - who have literally died while waiting on their equal pay claim to be settled.

Not a pleasant experience for me - and I'm sure an even worse one for the families of the clients involved.

Many councils are still dragging their feet - for example North Lanarkshire - which has been in the news for other reasons recently.

So I'll think I'll contact this MSP - Mike Weir - in fact it would be even more effective if people directly affected - were to do so themselves as well.