Could you be 'de-banked' for being gender-critical?

[heckmuffin]

I'm sure Nigel Farage has very few fans here. However, in the light of his bank, Coutts, closing his bank accounts due to his political beliefs, could this happen to gender-critical women too?

Farage has obtained documents from Coutts which make it clear that the bank gave him the boot because his views didn't align with their 'inclusive' purpose.

I wonder if GC women such as Posie Parker have had similar issues? Or if this is something that could happen? Believing in humans being a sexually dimorphic species is, as we all know, 'not inclusive'.

@Boulshired It's already happening. Remember how the protesting Canadian truckers' (and their supporters') bank accounts were frozen. That was over protests re vaccine mandates.

Again, a protest/belief that is right-leaning. That's the way the wind is blowing for now. Many on the Left laugh or ignore it all, because it's fun to see natural enemies take a hit.

They were frozen and the banks took money raised for them and gave it to other people, not to the truckers. It is still an ongoing battle.

It’s a great diversionary tactic that deflects many other criticisms. Probably instigated by one or two senior EDI managers and no one else stopped to reflect whether this was an appropriate move or not. Groupthink in action.

More cynically, one could say that it’s still a part of SOP business model. Coutts has been in the press previously tarred with allegations of sexual harassment, money laundering failings, investment mis selling, tax evasion etc. plus as bankers to the royal family we’ve not heard that bastion of ‘values’ de banking Prince Andrew over his ties to Epstein (ie predatory males are fine). But going after NF is a nice easy move to signal the bank’s virtuousness without actually affecting its business model and they may have thought given the antipathy towards him, that they’d be applauded for doing so.

Wings over Scotland, I think.

I didn't say I thought it wasn't true. I would just rather it wasn't.

I will be looking into this after work today when I have a moment.

I would instruct solicitors of I was JK Rowling and Ricky Gervais, their money may all be confiscated and given to Stonewall.

Wings was debunked by FirstDirect this year.

The Free Speech Union was cancelled by PayPal.

https://www.spiked-online.com/2022/09/21/big-tech-is-waging-financial-war-on-dissenters/

*debanked, obvs

Still though. If private bankers can’t keep schtum about a former clients affairs what’s the point of them?
agree re the likely motivations

The Times are reporting now
I feel like we're just waking up to the fact there's been a coup. https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/7095a314-25aa-11ee-8c1b-d5d52b458fbd?shareToken=214d39e3e30b2270dcd445454e3b9966

The papers — which described Farage as a “grifter” and a “chancer” — also included details of his friendship with the tennis player Novak Djokovic, his opposition to net zero and his criticism of the King.

“There are extraordinary phrases in there, things like: ‘While he has not yet been convicted, the hatred, the metropolitan, upper-middle-class, white prejudice comes through’.

Reflecting here that just as Farage was assuming less salience in public life, Coutts have now boosted his profile and given him a cause.
well done lads. Top work. Super smart guys.

It was all to do with him. It reaching the banks financial Requirement nothing else

Maybe read the articles before pronouncing so confidently.

I don't understand how could he bring the bank into disrepute when hardly anyone knew he banked with them? The documents said Farage had revealed who he banked with sometime in the past, but when he did the video recently, everyone was scratching their heads wondering what bank he was talking about. So it wasn't well-known. And, honestly, when he makes a comment doubting global warming, are people really going, "oh what an awful bank he's with, not stopping him talking!!"

It's bonkers and their attitude doesn't make sense.

I'd quite like Hunt to make a statement on this now all the documents have been published.

The papers — which described Farage as a “grifter” and a “chancer” — also included details of his friendship with the tennis player Novak Djokovic, his opposition to net zero and his criticism of the King

So not only do you have to have the 'correct' political views, you have to be careful what sportspeople you follow and/or are friends with and what you say about the Royal Family and if they don't meet the banks' criteria they can use personal abuse as well as blocking you from having an account. Don't recall all this when I opened a bank account.

Well, say what you like about Farage but he's just blown this wide open. I wonder how many other banks will be getting SARs?

Things have moved on since Coutts lied and said it was because he didn't have enough money in the bank.
Documents now released say that he has enough money to remain a customer.

Not for the first time, I’m glad I’m not the DPO in a UK bank 😂

Nigel Farage has made the headlines, but the point is that this could happen to anyone. If banks can just deprive someone of access to their money because they don't approve of their political beliefs, then we should all be concerned.

We are on the way to a social credit system based on political views

But but but that's just a conspiracy theory!

This is chilling from Coutts. There are loads of public figures that I cannot stand, but they should have the right to something as fundamental as banking as long as the law is being followed.

Censorship of this nature should spook everyone. Whatever your politics it is in the interests of NOBODY for arrogant faceless banks to wield this kind of power, they have far too much already.

And whatever you think of Farage, thank god he has the balls and the platform to publicize and fight this the way it absolutely ought to be.

I've been through my Current Account Ts&Cs and there's nothing there to suggest I could get debanked but at the same time there's nothing in there to say I can't. I agree, there needs to be explicit details in our agreements with our financial institutions and debanking on the basis of a personal belief should be outlawed.

This is a major issue - that you can be judged by internal criteria that you aren't actually aware of and that you didn't knowingly sign up to. Kaskaesque doesn't begin to describe it.

Looking at that statement from Coutts there are some personal judgements in there, as well. I wonder if that's a criteria, too? do I personally approve of this customer?

Remember the first episode of The Handmaid's Tale? All the bank accounts of females were closed.
It happened in the Netherlands a few years ago - a feminist charity account was frozen due to their exclusion of men. I can't remember who they were but there was a thread on here about it.

What's amazing, though, is the bank actually had one of the risks of binning him off as being he would go to the press and make the matter public. So you'd think they'd be a bit better prepared for the eventuality than making a false statement that he didn't have enough money in his account.