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Equitable members' backlash begins
He who lives by the blog, dies by the blog.
Following TS's revelation that Paul Braithwaite, the general secretary of the Equitable Members' Action Group (and noted contributor to the TS blog), had made disobliging remarks about journalists covering the Equitable Life trial, one of them seems to have turned on him.
Quoted on The Motley Fool saying that Equitable Members' had voted for motions at the AGM like 'dim-witted sheep,' The Daily Telegraph saw fit to publish remarks slating Braithwaite from no less than Equitable chairman Vanni Treves.
'EMAG and its general secretary claim to represent the interests of all policyholders yet they have a funny way of showing it. Braithwaite's comments are distasteful, derogatory and derisory. Annuitants have suffered enough in recent years, and mockery of them is contemptible,' Treves was quoted as saying.
The piece was by one James Moore who has, needless to say, been covering the trial.
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No - not dead yet!
The article by James Moore did at least quote the whole sentence (see below).
There is, of course, another side.
The fact is that it is the ELAS board and not I that has shafted the annuitants by shearing their pensions each year and I was speaking UP for them.
The Motley Fool discussion board on Equitable and EMAG's own website are THE places that provide the comprehensive detail of what's going on.
I attended the AGM on May 18 and reported VERY extensively on the proceedings on the discussion board, including detail on inaccurate assertions made by the chairman, Vanni Treves. For example he asserted that fraud and misfeasance by former directors was central to the current litigation AND that anybody who believed what was said in Court was living in a fantasy land. On Monday, the Society's barrister was forced to disavow both, them having been brought to the attention of Judge Langley. So I argue that I have performed a service to policyholders to communicate was was said at the AGM and to highlight inaccuracies - like Mr Treves saying the Court case cost £8m, yet the report and accounts to 31 Dec 04 confirms £22m - and that figure will be doubled this year unless the case is abandoned.
The fact is that Vanni picked on a rather long-winded annuitant who had a number of questions. At every opportunity - and there were several - Vanni mocked the frail and infirm Arthur White. This was unwarranted because Arthur WAS asking heartfelt very important questions, yet the chairman of the AGM encouraged a vociferous element of the members to drown Arthur out. It was those attendee annuitants that I expressed my personal frustration about. The Telegraph did have the courtesy to reproduce this sentence of mine:
"It seems incredible to me that the gathered demonstrably loyal annuitants, of all people, should behave as dim-witted sheep being manipulated to sneer at a peer trying to pose heartfelt vitally important questions.
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=9309841&sort=whole#9318665
To see just how ill-received The Telegraph's article was by the best informed group, read the following thread!
http://boards.fool.co.uk/Message.asp?mid=9316736&sort=whole#9317192
The consensus there seems to be extremely hostile to Vanni Treves' alliterative outburst and the fact remains that EMAG has never waivered from speaking up for with-profits annuitants.
Not least this afternoon when six of EMAG's committee had a three hour progress meeting with the investigative team of the Parliamentary Ombudsman.
The board cannot possibly rival the ACTUAL behaviour of EMAG in seeking compensation from the real culprit - the government's regulators - through the PO and through the EU. I make so bold as the suggest that in the end we may prove more successful than the Equitable's eye-wateringly expensive ventures in Court 76. Just MHO.
Posted by :Paul Braithwaite | May 25, 2005 7:50 PM