PM talks over Presbyterian savers

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/northern_ireland/8104326.stm

Version 0 of 1.

Northern Ireland's first and deputy first ministers are to meet the prime minister later to discuss the plight of the Presbyterian Mutual Society.

Peter Robinson and Martin McGuinness will urge Gordon Brown to compensate the 9,500 members of the society which collapsed in November.

Mr McGuinness said that the British government needed to extend protection to mutual societies across the board.

"The West Bromwich Society was protected over the weekend," he said.

"Other societies have been protected by the British government.

"So what we are looking for is fair play for everyone for the British government to recognise that the difficulties that occurred within the PMS occurred as a result of this world phenomenon, the recession and what was happening within banking and that to a run on the PMS to the detriment of savers."

In March the prime minister promised savers protection when any UK financial institution gets into trouble.

But seven months after Presbyterian Mutual Society collapsed, none of its savers have been given back a penny.

The government has insisted they were not "savers" but "investors" with shares in the society.