Payday lender pays for debt advice fair

The under-fire payday lender Wonga has agreed to pick up the cost of promoting a debt advice fair in east London today after one of its staff attacked an MP on Twitter.

The worker took to the website to brand Stella Creasy, the Labour MP for Walthamstow, "mental", "nuts", and a "self-serving egomaniac" because of her efforts to control the excesses of the payday lenders.

Ms Creasy has led a fight in Parliament to crack down on what she terms "legal loan sharks". Her campaign has led to a crucial House of Lords vote next Wednesday calling for a cap on the charges made by payday lenders.

In her constituency today, Ms Creasy is hosting a free family finances event to help those struggling with debt. As a "gesture of goodwill", Wonga paid for 2,000 flyers for the fair to be printed and distributed yesterday and put an ad promoting it in a local newspaper.

Ms Creasy said: "I asked them to promote the event... because I have seen the damage caused by the payday loans industry to people in my constituency."