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

Alexandra Tolstoy was on GB news this morning talking about NatWest closing her account and sounded awful. She has 3 children to support as a single parent.

The bank wouldn't even give her her money after closing her account.

She discovered there is a large firm supplying information regarding clients to severa different Banks. Apparently there are millions of people in the UK with information about them held unknowingly on this firms lists, and in her case the information it held about her was false. She is still fighting to get information about the decision to close her account from the Bank.

*it sounded

This is what we should all be worrying about.
Not crowing about NF and his Coutts account.

She is still fighting to get information about the decision to close her account from the Bank.

Hopefully she will be able to do this now NF has managed to.

We should be worried about it happening to anyone. At least for tolstoy it (thus far) seems to be unconnected to any personal political views she might have.

But a single mother (I daresay A.T. still has resources many other single parents wouldn't, but that is by the by) today, a UC claimant tomorrow, a random person for their GC views next week. We shouldn't tolerate it at all in a liberal democracy. So called.

This 'siding with Farage' nonsense is what passes for ‘political’ discourse now - get the general line from your ‘side’ and reproduce it. And the broad-brushstrokes centre on individual personalities - so Farage stands in relief against the unremarkable background of a millionaires’ bank. And it has to be all about him.

It’s a corollary of identity politics, and serves the interests of the establishment. It’s depressing for those of us who want actual socioeconomic change rather than endlessly repeating ‘hooray for our side’.

She discovered there is a large firm supplying information regarding clients to severa different Banks. Apparently there are millions of people in the UK with information about them held unknowingly on this firms lists, and in her case the information it held about her was false.

Big fleas have little fleas. Do these companies have to register? Can we all inundate them with GDPR Requests.

Does anyone know the name of this firm and who is in charge of it?

The more we learn the worse this gets.

The more we learn the worse this gets.

Yes. How long has this been going on? Who uses this firm that supplies information (apart from NatWest)? How is the information gathered?

If this is true then effectively we already have a social credit system in the UK introduced by the banks behind everyone's backs. I wouldn't assume other companies like utilities aren't using it, either.

Agree with this.

It's a data firm called Will Check (?) or something. Data firms provide info to banks. I guess it's something akin to credit checking firms, but far more intrusive with ability to check newspaper articles about you and social media postings.

Are you referring to NF here?

"That doesn't mean people have the right to go to their bank and make racists/xenophobic/anti LGBTQ+ remarks.
Those types of hate speech are guaranteed to have your accounts closed."

What Coutts says in the dossier:

"The dossier noted that there was 'no evidence of regulator or legal censure' of Mr Farage, that he was 'professional, polite and respectful' to staff and that he had recently been downgraded from a 'higher risk politically exposed person [PEP]' to lower risk, and was on the way to being classed as no risk at all. "

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12314423/The-Coutts-Farage-dossier-bank-admitted-ex-Ukip-leader-DID-meet-commercial-criteria-used-tweet-Ricky-Gervais-trans-joke-Novak-Djokovic-ties-decide-odds-position-inclusive-organisation.html

Will you just stop it. People like me who have no love for NF are having to spend time defending NF because we happen to prefer the truth - even about people who we don't like.

This checking service doesn't sound particularly compliant with U.K. data protection legislation, and the principles of data processing outlined in the DPA 2018.

She discovered there is a large firm supplying information regarding clients to severa different Banks. Apparently there are millions of people in the UK with information about them held unknowingly on this firms lists, and in her case the information it held about her was false.

Why are banks monitoring their customers for unrelated wrongthink and more to the point who is encouraging them to do it?

And who is overseeing them and has failed to stop it? Because this has been going on for quite a while so the powers that be that oversee the banks must have known about debanking. Why have they not been more rigorous in their enquiries into what was going on?

Why have they not been more rigorous in their enquiries into what was going on?

If you mean the FCA. there's a perception that their relationship with the banks is a bit too cosy and there's a bit of a revolving door between FCA and banks as far as jobs are concerned. Would you want to rock the boat if you were in the FCA and looking at a lucrative appointment in the private sector?

https://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/news/wheatley-defends-fcas-revolving-door-into-private-sector/

Principles for exiting a customer, dated 2019. Won't it be interesting to see if Coutts and the other banks followed these?

https://www.ukfinance.org.uk/uk-finance-principles-exiting-customer

Would you want to rock the boat if you were in the FCA and looking at a lucrative appointment in the private sector?

Good point. You have to wonder if the rush of some journalists to defend Coutts has been done with their eye on aucratibe financial future too!

^^
Oh I don't know what happened there.

You have to wonder if the rush of some journalists to defend Coutts has been done with their eye on aucratibe their financial future too!

To preserve their sources, as well. And it's clear from this site and others that a lot of people can't see past their utter detestation of Farage to see the wider picture here.

Can data be processed for any purpose?

Answer
No. The purpose for processing of personal data must be known and the individuals whose data you’re processing must be informed. It is not possible to simply indicate that personal data will be collected and processed. This is known as the ‘purpose limitation’ principle.

commission.europa.eu/law/law-topic/data-protection/reform/rules-business-and-organisations/principles-gdpr/purpose-data-processing/can-data-be-processed-any-purpose_en

GDPR but it's baked into U.K. DPA.

Farage isn't letting this drop.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12326949/Ex-UKIP-leader-lodges-formal-complaint-Information-Commissioner-Coutts-account-closure-rower-cost-bank-17-5m-misusing-data.html

This data thing reminds me a bit of the blacklist that construction companies were found to have illegally kept, but worse.

Yes, I've been put in mind of the illegal blacklist too. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_League_(United_Kingdom)