Rowen adds voice to Christie Campaign!
Rochdale MP Paul Rowen has given his backing to the campaign to get Christie Hospital in Manchester its £6.500,000 back. The petition which now has over 5000 signatures and calls for the Financial Services Compensation (FSCS) to reverse its decision to refuse to refund Christie the money lost when Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (KSF) bank collapsed in Iceland.
Paul Rowen said, "I am pleased to give this growing campaign my full support. I am hoping by sheer public pressure, the Prime Minister Gordon Brown will intervene and give this crucial hospital its much needed money back. If the FSCS cannot give this money back then what is the point of it? The Government can give money to bail out the banks so why can they not give compensation to our world famous cancer hospital. I know hundreds of local people who have benefitted from this hospital and indeed many people who wouldn't be here without the specialist help they offer. The money was given to help the fight against cancer - it should be used for that!"
Council Leader Alan Taylor has also back the campaign saying, "The work that Christie do benefits so many people in this Borough and I am pleased to sign the online petition and would encourage everyone in Rochdale to give their backing. I was shocked and disgusted when the FSCS rejected The Christie's claim. They have lost a huge amount of money through no fault of their own. I know a number of Councils are in the same position; fortunately Rochdale Met is not one of those."
The petition can be accessed at http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/TheChristie/. Paul Rowen has also signed EDM 1037 making a similar call.
The petition in full:
MANCHESTER'S world-famous cancer hospital, The Christie, will not get back £6.5m of charity cash invested in a failed Icelandic bank. Now it will take legal action against Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) - the body which decided that it was not eligible to get its money back. The cash - most of it donated by patients and their families - was lost when the Kaupthing Singer and Friedlander (KSF) bank collapsed. The bank held the highest possible safety rating and offered the best interest rates when The Christie was advised to invest there. The lost cash was earmarked to pay for two new satellite radiotherapy centres in Salford and Oldham. Bosses have juggled their finances to fund these schemes but say they will now be unable to pay for planned cancer research projects including one with the University of Manchester. Hospital bosses are also trying to recover a further £1m of public funding through the bank's administrators.