For all their cosmetic bluster about bonuses, our national politicians have never really stood up to the banks: it takes a bloody minded local politician to do that — and win. So some sort of award is surely due to Nader Fekri, the mayor of Calderdale. He attempted to withdraw cash from a NatWest ATM in Hebden Bridge and the machine swallowed his card. When this happens to me I usually just start crying: I know it will take the bank weeks to send out a new one (or “five working days” as they put it) and then another few weeks for the PIN to arrive.
Nader was made of sterner stuff. He did what people would do if this were a normal world — went into the bank, showed his ID, and asked them to give the card back to him. They told him to get stuffed and contact head office, as you would expect. But he didn’t. He refused to budge. Even after three hours had passed, the police turned up and the bank had actually closed, he stayed put. And he got his card back, with an apology. Excellent. Make that man head of the FSA, quick.
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