Richard, I tend to take a slightly different line on the general populace given the reported average debt of the UK population as a whole.
For me deregulating the banks under Thatcher was like opening the sweet shop to kids who had access to very few sweets since the war, and unfortunately it seems too many gorged themselves in the following decades. Perhaps those who had a tougher time in the fifties and sixties well remembered what life was like back then, and the idea of getting into debt given all the insecurities of the past was just not for them.. But then borrowing to buy an old run down flat was the only way forward to get out of the rent trap, and in life one has to save, take risks and work hard to minimise the ONE debt as the first step in building a future..... That the same is not available for kids today is a crime committed by politicians of all colours, in collusion with the financial services industry taking full advantage of the sweet shop mentality...
Plenty of kids out there giving it their best shot, while others look for excuses...and some if helped onto that first step, have more than enough of what it takes to begin to build their lives...
I live in hope...
