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During this difficult economic time I want to do what I can to help local people manage their finances and cope with repaying their debts.

What I hear about time and time again are complaints from people about unfair practices and rip offs. Whether its over the top charges in credit card bills, credit repayments or the high cost of credit on things like store cards, it's clear that something needs to be done to help consumers, especially during the recession.

Over the summer the Government is looking into this area.  I'll be putting pressure on them to take tough action and let them know the views of local people here in Huddersfield.

I will be calling on the Government to bring in tougher regulations for credit and store cards.  And I think it's high time that we banned the credit card cheques which people sometimes receive with a new credit card despite not asking for them - these are often a total rip off and lure people into high interest debt

I also think there should be tougher rules for how rates are raised on existing debt, how payments are allocated to different sorts of debt and more information on minimum payments that can leave consumers paying off debt for years. Many people don't realise that credit card companies use repayments to pay off the cheapest debt on your card first leaving the more expensive debt building up interest.

In the mean time I want to ask constituents to think very carefully about signing up for a "store card".  It's worth looking at the small print.   They can be quite expensive when it comes to the interest charged and it's not unusual for them to charge 25 per cent and over on the debt run up.

Over the summer I'll be getting in touch with local people to get their views on this.  That way I can tell Government ministers about the problems people locally are facing.  Please let me know what you think and together let's get a better deal for local people: drop me a line or send me an email.