AIBU to tell you that First Direct closed bank account of gender critical blogger

[Snorkers]

https://twitter.com/WingsScotland/status/1673371351942307840

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1673371351942307840.html

Who's next? What other beliefs are no longer allowed to partake in society?

I had a problem with one of my accounts going wrong a while back (technology problem). Since then, I've made it my business to have several accounts with different banks. Which is looking like a smart move...

I wonder about that, given how many instances there have been of perfectly ordinary UK citizens having had their accounts closed with no reason given and no follow up from the authorities?

I'd be very surprised in the cases of Tice and Farage if there weren't solid indications of Russian money and they may well have been reported - they have no right to know and nor do we.

Being an arsehole doesn’t usually preclude you from having a bank account ….

No, but taking that arseholery out on the bank staff would.

I agree but you know that's what happened to JKR and was considered ok? We need respect all round which is not currently the case

It's a corporate version of social credit and it is very sinister. Believe that men and women are defined by sex and not by sexism and have your bank account closed. We seem to be at the start of an age where people are being punished more for their opinions than their actions.

I opened this thread think oh no that’s terrible. But, it’s wings, I think he counts as more than just gender critical. I think I can guess what the issue is and and I very much doubt it’s hi Gc views. He’s courted controversy for a very long time.

I get the worry that there’s more to the story, but I also think that the way many GC people have been treated by employers / event organisers / news programmes means it is perfectly possible that banks have been applying Stonewall Law.

With Farage, the first person I saw highlight this was an anti-Russian war journalist (I followed initially for Syria news and now Ukraine) so I’d be very surprised if the allegations of Russian money are evidence-based. I seriously dislike Farage, and almost every one of his views. But he shouldn’t be refused service because of his politics. There should have to be a proper investigation by the FCA or actual discrimination / abuse of staff. (By actual discrimination or abuse I mean to the extent that employers are legally required to protect their staff from, not “he has a different opinion to me and it hurts my feelings”.)

I am avoiding banking staff now. I used to go into the branch to help save their jobs. I am too scared if I look at them the wrong way now, they will cancel me.

Exactly!!! I'd take anything he says with a large pinch of salt.

Besides HES the one saying he BELIEVES its because of his beliefs. That's not been said by anyone else

I expect FD will have a different version of events

For goodness sake.

Slightly overdramatic 🙄

Has this been verified from a reputable source?

Well - it's from the horses mouth [Mr Nigel Farage]. Also in the Mail.

Your opinion or advice is the very last I would be interested in or take.

This. Banks should not be permitted to close accounts because they don’t like a customer’s opinions.

wings is a divisive character and has been long before he got involved in the Gender identity debate. His posts started off informative on all manner of topics and became more vitriolic and obsessive as the years went on. All it would take would be a post or two discussing his banking with FD
for them to believe he was damaging their reputation with his oftentimes offensive posting.

The fact he hasn’t given any reason is the most suspect part of the whole debacle. There’s likely to be a legitimate cause, it won’t be having gender critical views alone.

the horses mouth is rev stu (wings over Scotland)

Don’t be ridiculous- UN sanctions are published and there are none against Nigel Farage! Also there is no evidence whatsoever that rev stu abused any staff whatsoever.

He said they gave no reason.

Canada temporarily froze the bank accounts of some of those participating in an illegal protest (a 3-week long occupation of the capital), though the accounts have since been released.

You should seek appropriate medical care.

He doesn't need to be subject to United Nations sanctions.

The Financial Action Task Force has published guidance which:

"sets out a collection of red flags and indicators for suspicion that can be used to assist in the detection of misuse of the financial systems by PEPs during a customer relationship. Examples of such red flags are the use of corporate vehicles to obscure ownership by PEPs, information being provided by the PEP being inconsistent with other publicly available information (such as asset declarations and published official salaries), or doing business with PEPs that are connected to higher risk countries (such as those for which FATF issues public statements) or high risk industries or sectors."

Fair enough. It wasn't advice and I don't care what you think about my response. I wasn't alone in finding the comment over dramatic.

I think you are projecting!

When a bank has a PEP as a customer they will usually verify their source of wealth. If they have a suspicion that some of their wealth has come from a sanctioned jurisdiction e.g. Russia, or if their transaction monitoring systems pick up suspicious activury and the PEP cannot explain this then potentially their accounts could be closed. Any relatives of said PEP could be subject to account closures as well though I would think that to be harsh if there is no evidence or suspicion that money from the PEP has entered their account.