Equitable victims' emails fury

EQUITABLE Life victims are furious that an individual working for the Lord Penrose inquiry into the disaster appears to have sent a number of hostile emails to a popular internet discussion board.

The postings to the Motley Fool website, under the pseudonym 'B1ttern,' suggest that policyholders will not get compensation because of their high social class.

When other participants tried to contact 'B1ttern', their e-mails bounced back from a sender using the name 'Davis, Tom (Penrose Inquiry)'.

The revelations come as Financial Secretary Ruth Kelly faces a drubbing in the Commons today over her refusal to consider redress.

'B1ttern' suggested that the general public was concerned with 'far more important issues' than Equitable victims who were mainly from 'socio-economic groups A&B' and did not have much 'voting influence.'

The comments appear at odds with the Penrose inquiry's much-vaunted impartiality. A Tom Davis, who lives in Norwich, was one of a number of agency staff working for Lord Penrose.

Asked if he had posted the messages, he said: 'You wouldn't expect me to confirm or deny something like that. I don't have anything to say on that subject.'

The Treasury said the opinions of 'B1ttern' did not reflect those of ministers or Lord Penrose. It added: 'No postings on the Motley Fool have been made by the inquiry or on its behalf.'

Paul Weir, of the Equitable Late Contributors' Action Group, said: 'Lord Penrose was impartial, but I would be very worried if anyone on his team had it in for us.'

The Equitable Members' Action Group said it has lost confidence in the Parliamentary Ombudsman - seen by the company as the best route to compensation - and called on Lord Penrose to investigate the case for redress.

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