GORDON Brown complains in his memoirs that Fred Goodwin (and by implication many others) swanned off into the sunset with his massive pension, tax-free lump sum and bonuses largely intact (“Bank chiefs ‘should have been jailed’”, The Herald, October 31).

But it was Mr Brown, his Chancellor Alistair Darling and their City minister Lord Myners who permitted this. Without our bail-out, RBS was bankrupt and should therefore have been treated as all other bankrupt companies were, which by law in 2008 limited all individual pensions to around £27,000 per annum. His Government could and should have imposed such a limit on all the RBS pension scheme members’ entitlements, as a pre-condition to our bail-out.

That would have taken care of the phone-number pensions and lump sums. It might have been more complicated to have required some or all of their previous years’ bonuses to be refunded (which it was now clear were paid from bogus “profits”) but had the Government demanded that, would the RBS directors have refused and thereby forced the bank into liquidation? I doubt it.

John Birkett,

12 Horseleys Park,

St Andrews.

TALK about the pot calling the kettle black. Gordon Brown should be jailed for taxing dividend payments (wrecking private sector pensions - but not his own); off-loading our gold in a fire-sale; his tripartite financial regulation (leaving no-one in charge); failing to spot the housing bubble and associated shady dealings (which resulted in the 2008 crash) and his obscene public sector borrowing.

The bankers hardly cost me anything but Mr Brown cost most of us an absolute fortune.

Rev Dr John Cameron,

10 Howard Place, St Andrews.

I CONFESS I have not read Gordon Brown's book, My Life, Our Times, and I have no intention of reading it. Mr Brown is no different to any of the past political failures who have held high office but who now feel the need to make more money by publishing their "sanitised" version of events. John Prescott, Tony Blair et al, to these people it was always someone else's fault.

Undoubtedly the bankers who profited from the financial crisis must be held to account, as should the serving government at the time. So far the Labour Government at the time have got off scot free. Gordon Brown should remember the old saying, "when you point your finger because your plan fell through, you've got three more fingers pointing back at you".

John Martin,

11 Paterson Terrace, The Murray, East Kilbride.

MIKE Dailly is correct when he states in a comment article thousands of households are likely to be tipped into financial trouble if the Bank of England increases interest rates on Thursday (“Financial ruin for thousands as cost of debt repayments are set to soar”, The Herald, October 30).

Where I disagree with him is in believing this will result in a significant increase in the number of bankruptcies. Ever since the Scottish Government introduced the Bankruptcy and Debt Advice (Scotland) Act 2014 (Badas Act), Scottish debtors have been struggling to access solutions for their debts.

At present, in England and Wales, the number of consumers using Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVA), a voluntary type of personal insolvency, is at a 30-year high; however in terms of the Scottish equivalent remedies, the number of consumers using remedies are now at record low levels.

In actual fact, since the Badas Act was introduced by the Scottish Government in 2015, the number of consumers using all of Scotland’s formal debt remedies have fallen. In terms of the Debt Arrangement Scheme, the number of consumers accessing the solution is still 46 per cent lower than the number accessing it prior to the introduction of the Badas Act. In terms of Protected Trust Deeds (the Scottish equivalent to an IVA) numbers are still 23 per cent lower and in terms of bankruptcy, the numbers remain 32 per cent lower.

It would be foolish to believe this was evidence of how well Scots are dealing with their debts, as all the available evidence suggest personal debts are now at pre-credit crunch levels again. Common sense would suggest that the number of consumers seeking solutions should proportionately be similar to that elsewhere in the UK.

The problem is, when the Badas Act was introduced by the Scottish Government, it was claimed it would re-balance Scotland’s debt laws back in favour of creditors, but all it has done is trapped more Scottish consumers in unmanageable debt, by denying them access to solutions. The danger is in time this will lead to a build-up of unmanageable debt, similar to that which has been experienced by Ireland, which continues to struggle with historic, pre-credit crunch personal debts.

The Badas Act has now been in place for more than two years, and as the Bank of England looks set to increase interest rates, I would suggest the time to acknowledge the Act wasn't Badas after all, but just plain bad.

Alan McIntosh,

52 Selvieland Road, Penilee, Glasgow.

WITH a Budget approaching, Christopher W Ide’s letter (October 31) was an interesting scenario on the topic of National Insurance (NI) contributions and the over-65s. Interesting because there is another scenario regarding NI contributions, that of women born in the early 1950s who are currently being denied their state pension as the country moves to age equality for the state pension.

I have no issue with equality of age, the problem is many women in this age group did not get the Government’s 10 years’ notice of an increase to their state pension age, resulting in no time to make alternative income / pension provision for themselves, yet they are still expected to pay NI contributions if fortunate enough to still be in employment.

There is no compensation from the Government for those unable to continue in employment, only benefits available if you qualify, a real false economy.

The Chancellor has surely to recognise the cross-party support for those women at Westminster and in the House of Lords, so Phillip Hammond in his upcoming Budget should and could put to rest the unfair scenario of those disproportionately suffering the consequences of age equality for state pensions.

Catriona C Clark,

52 Hawthorn Drive,

Banknock, Falkirk.