Campaigners Call on Government Not To Turn Dodgy Anglo Debt Into Sovereign Debt

Debt Justice Action: Anglo: Not Our Debt Campaign
Campaigners call on government not to replace promissory notes with sovereign bond

The Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign has warned the government against replacing the Anglo promissory note payments with a long-term sovereign bond.

Campaign spokesperson Niamh McCrea described the debt as "illegitimate - it was accrued to pay off the speculators who gambled their money on a dodgy bank now under criminal investigation. It is not the debt of ordinary Irish people and should under no circumstances be reclassified as 'sovereign'".

Also speaking on behalf of the campaign, Marie Moran said that extending the period of time over which the debt might be repaid was "simply pushing the burden onto the next generation" and called for the promissory note payments to be suspended immediately, not restructured.

Ms Moran said that it was long past time for "technical papers and sleights of hand, we need the government to take a principled stand and renounce unjust debt being foisted on innocent people, over any time frame".

The campaign also called on the government to clarify as a matter of urgency what the total estimated cost of the Anglo bailout will be in the light of reports that this may rise to a staggering €52 billion, a figure described by Ms McCrea as "nothing short of obscene".

Notes
Anglo: Not Our Debt campaign is supported by the Debt Justice Action network, which consists of the following broad range of organizations: http://www.notourdebt.ie/supporting-organisations
A simple 'questions and answers' document on Anglo debt can be found at http://www.notourdebt.ie/