Thank goodness for campaigners.
What would we do without these splendid people who rail against financial injustice – often when either the ‘establishment’ or powerful corporate entities do all they can to stop them in their tracks.
Think Equitable Members Action Group, a group of policyholders who in the 2000s campaigned for financial justice for the million victims of the Equitable Life scandal.
And think Pensions Action Group, a band of passionate people who in the early 2000s campaigned for financial justice to be handed out to those who lost a big chunk of their work's pension when their employer went bust, leaving an under-funded pension scheme in place.
Although neither EMAG nor PAG fully got the compensation they campaigned for, they achieved outcomes that would not have happened without their tireless work.
Today, there is no more splendid example of such campaigning than that led by the fearless Alan Bates. He has dedicated a big chunk of his life to getting justice for sub-postmasters wrongly accused of stealing from the Post Office, when all along the disappearing funds were a result of a computer system (Horizon) that was not fit for purpose.
Slowly, this monumental wrong is being addressed; although the compensation will never make up for the pain (and deaths) it caused. As for the perpetrators of this wicked witch hunt against sub-postmasters, I imagine they will never have to atone properly for their sins.
Yet there are currently other campaigners who are also doing great work. Yes, it might not be as significant as that done by Bates, but important all the same. Their efforts should be acknowledged.
For example, I met a two campaigners a couple of weeks ago (John Bachtler and Mark Lauterberg) who three years ago were instrumental in getting a banking hub installed in the community of Cambuslang in South Lanarkshire.
Maybe I’m going a little soft in my old age, but I shed a tear or three as they told me about the work they had done, and the battles they had fought, to get the hub (a community bank) installed. I was humbled in their presence.
All the banks have long fled Cambuslang, a town that has its challenges – stemming primarily from the impact of massive deindustrialisation in the local area and social deprivation.
Here are two individuals, I thought when I met them, who without payment have fought to keep their community’s fabric intact. They have done so because they love and passionately care about Cambuslang.
Their tireless campaigning has reaped its rewards.
The hub they helped establish is now an essential part of Cambuslang’s high street and is being used by a mix of local businesses and residents. Steadily, the number of people trickling through the former butcher shop’s doors is increasing.
