Payday loans have become something of a sexy political topic. Stella Creasy has done a great deal of work to get it in the spotlight and Ed Miliband kicked off Labour’s local election campaign with a pledge to give councils the power to push payday lenders (and bookies) off the high street. Like the SWP, I’m always happy to clamber aboard a passing bandwagon and, to this end, I invited Carl Packman to come and speak to Stoke-on-Trent Central Labour Party’s meeting on Friday night. As readers may be aware, Carl has become the ‘go-to’ man for payday loan comment and recently had his Sky News debut cut short by the expiration of Margaret Thatcher. Continue reading →