Charles Kennedy visits Twickenham CAB

1.21.00pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 3rd Aug 2004

Charles Kennedy visited Twickenham CAB on Monday to launch the Liberal Democrat's latest initiative on personal debt and debt advice with the party's Shadow Chancellor and local MP Vincent Cable.

Charles Kennedy and Vincent Cable are proposing a strengthening of the national network of money advice centres, so that people in growing financial difficulty with debt can get early, genuinely independent, advice before they default and risk trouble with bailiffs and home repossession. The banks would help to finance the network with a small levy on their profits.

Vincent Cable said: "The CAB staff are at the 'sharp end' and see, even in a fairly affluent area like ours that there are very many people struggling to service mortgages and other debt. If interest rates continue to rise they could face severe problems".