First Direct and Natwest closing bank accounts for political reasons inc being gender critical

[Snorkers]

Apprently First Direct have closed the account of the Wings over Scotland founder for his beliefs (He's Gender Critical), and Coutts, owned by Natwest, closed Nigel Farage's account.
Whatever you think of Nigel Farage he is entitled to a bank account.

This is really worrying.

I bank with First Direct. I am gender critical. Do I need to hide my beliefs to keep my bank account? Will tey stop me getting access to my money?

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12249755/Nigel-Farage-claims-three-loved-ones-bank-accounts-closed-Brexit.html

Surely this would be unlawful under the equality act as service provision?

I'd be putting in a claim if anyone closed my bank account for my gender critical beliefs

But the bank doesn't tell you why they close your account, and they don't have to...

Coutts charge 2 grand a year so I would not be too upset if they didn't want me! I don't want them either.

It's the first I've heard of a bank admitting why.

I've had a few clients that have had their bank accounts closed with no explanation as to why. Just a "we're ending our banking relationship with you" letter. If they ask why they just say "We won't tell you, you can't appeal, our decision is final", which is incredibly frustrating!

Neither of the clients I know this happened to are dodgy, or would have said anything out of turn and certainly aren't in the public eye, so I still have no idea to this day why they closed their accounts.

At the end of the day, a bank doesn't have to do business with you, just like if you run a shop you don't have to serve everyone that comes in. You can refuse service to anyone you don't want to serve.

It doesn't sit comfortably however, for the banks to admit to closing bank accounts just because of something a customer has said.

With Nigel Farage, it's because he's a Politically Exposed Person and therefore is deemed to be much higher risk, but I bet they're not closing down Rishi Sunak's bank account!

It’s veering a bit close towards the intention behind the Chinese Government’s social credits system. You toe the party line (whatever they’ve decided it’ll be this week) or life is made very very difficult for you.

This

As the UK becomes more and more of a cashless society, how are people supposed to survive without a bank account?

I mean even convicted criminals need access to their money

I never considered the monitoring of giving to crowd funders.

I never thought banks could essentially disenfranchise you unless you were on a watch list.

I can't think of anything I agree with Farage on but it's well beside the point. They should not be doing this.

I also recall that Conservatives for Women had their Ko-Fi account "unpublished" and then shut down. I don't think they ever found out why.

twitter.com/cforwomenuk/status/1575143302550233088?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

twitter.com/cforwomenuk/status/1588091837675339779?s=46&t=WHoOZ_3Kv5G6-FyQuvE0LQ

If they are doing it using money laundering regulations then probably no, because that counts as tipping off, which attracts a prison sentence. Max five years, I think.

There are threads on here about accounts being closed and it's a nightmare - people can't access money and no-one will tell them what's going on. This happened in Canada last year and if banks are doing this it's a slippery slope I really don't want this country to be on.

At the end of the day, a bank doesn't haveto do business with you, just like if you run a shop you don't have to serve everyone that comes in. You can refuse service to anyone you don't want to serve

They still have to comply with the Equality Act though, so if they're closing accounts for discriminatory reasons, they can't. Difficult to prove though, unless it's something like a B&B not wanting to accept single sex couples.

Bit late for Barclays to be closing an account now for something that may or may not have happened during the lead-up to the Brexit referendum though. Stable, horse, door bolted, much?

With Nigel Farage, it's because he's a Politically Exposed Person and therefore is deemed to be much higher risk, but I bet they're not closing down Rishi Sunak's bank account

Or Suella Braverman or JRM, both of whom are equally as odious as Farage.

I hope that Maya Forstater's £100K damages award today will make some of these companies sit up and take notice.

Farage says that some of his relatives have had their accounts closed as well, so if true the banks are going down the guilt by association route; which is even more sinister.

Surely this is illegal? Can they be reported to the fca and every mp etc? Do we live in China or have dictatorship now? Bet they don't close the accounts of people in prison or domestic abusers.

I hadn't considered that banks are aware of where I've contributed to crowdfunding. I think I'll always use the same bank to do do in future- at least I'll only lose one of my three accounts in that case.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Politically_exposed_person

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4838904-yorkshire-building-society-closing-accounts-down-on-people-with-views-that-dont-agree-with-their-policy?page=3&reply=127280277

Most people are in denial.

As the UK becomes more and more of a cashless society, how are people supposed to survive without a bank account?

I mean even convicted criminals need access to their money

The Handmaids Tale by Atwood was eerily prescient in predicting the move to a cashless computer society, which was a necessary move in order to take all cash away from women and force their compliance.

Perhaps we should open a credit union for the crowdfunding campaigns and the like? Not sure how it would work, but if the banks don't want the business there must be an alternative.

Private bodies which provide essential 'public' services like banking, energy/utilities, comms and transport should be politically neutral. These services are as important as the healthcare, policing and education provided by state bodies. EVERYONE should have access to these things.

The way things are going, I think there should be legislation to safeguard this.

Otherwise BigComms PLC could cut off my mobile or broadband because my political views don't 'align with their values'.

This.

There may be more to this with Farage, but banks should not be permitted to close accounts on the basis of anyone's opinions. And the hypocrisy is eye-watering, given that banks are perfectly happy to accept money from oligarchs, dictators, and basically anyone, as long as they are rich enough (the anti-money laundering rules are easily circumvented with a sharp lawyer and accountant).

I think it's hugely worrying and dismissing how much of a problem this could be in the future because it first happens to people who you don't like or are not well liked in general is very shortsighted.

Very few people can exist these days without a bank account, access to online banking facilities and the rest of it. Cashless societies make life easier in some ways but it also hands over a lot of power that can be used against us.

What happened in Canada last year was very disturbing regardless of whether you agreed with their protest.

It would be very unwise to make the assumption that the banks “must have a good reason” or that there’s “more to this than we’re hearing about.”

Most people would have assumed that the hundreds of sub-postmasters were convicted on solid grounds, for instance. After all, why would the Post Office stitch anyone up?

How long have the government been aware that the NHS does this via Annexe B, that women have been raped, lied to, lied about to the police, they don't care.

Nothing will stop this, there is no appetite to stop any of it, it's engrained and most people are cowards.

Yes, this is already starting, and it's incredibly sinister. I'd include social media platforms in your list. I don't think Twitter should have been allowed to exclude Trump - vile as he is, he was the frigging US president. They could have censored his individual tweets that appeared to incite violence or insurrection, without a ban.

Twitter and Facebook also censored and banned people who thought that Covid came from a Wuhan lab leak, even though many scientists acknowledge this is a possibility.

These are dangerous precedents.

It's fucking terrifying. Especially as we head towards cbdc and cashless society. I'm reading more and more of these stories since the Canadian truckers one. It's very very easy for banks to know what your views are.