Usdaw donates £15,000
The future of families affected by the collapse of Christmas savings club Farepak will be debated in the Scottish Parliament today.

Labour backbencher Elaine Murray has called for people to boycott Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBoS). The MSP said she would close her account and has asked others to do the same, unless the bank donates more money to the Farepak Response fund. To date, it has pledged£2 million.

Chairman of European Home Retail, Farepak's parent company, Sir Clive Thompson and Farepak managing director Nick Gilodi-Johnson also blame HBoS.

Thompson said HBoS refused to support Farepak because of a£1.5 million funding shortfall and rejected five proposed rescue packages. Gilodi-Johnson said: 'Despite our efforts to resolve the situation, it was ultimately forced into receivership after HBoS terminated its long-standing credit facility.'

However, HBoS has rejected their claims and urged the Dumfries MSP to drop her calls for a boycott, saying in a letter to the backbencher that they had 'behaved honourably throughout'.

Speaking ahead of today's debate, Murray said: 'Like many colleagues, I have been contacted by constituents - mainly women in part-time or low-paid employment or pensioners - who invested with Farepak with the purpose of saving to provide their children and grandchildren with a decent Christmas.'

Murray is also calling on all MSPs to donate a day's pay to the Fund and for other banking institutions to follow suit.

Meanwhile, Labour MP for Livingston Jim Devine said he had documentation showing that Farepak was encouraging savers to carry on paying money to the firm just days before it went into administration. He said: 'These letters are demanding payments to be in just one week before the directors put the company into administration.'

Retail union Usdaw has also revealed today it will be making a£15,000 donation to the Farepak Response Fund. Union leaders were incensed that shopworkers across the UK had lost thousands of pounds they couldn't afford.

Usdaw general-secretary John Hannett said: 'Usdaw represents some of the lowest paid workers in the UK and this donation will go some way to making sure that people who did the sensible thing by not getting into debt and planning for Christmas will at least be able to afford a turkey to put on the table.'