The United Kingdom is to investigate banks who have been accused of closing accounts because of the political views of account holders.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt says banks will have to answer for the practice amid claims by Brexiteer Nigel Farage that his account was cancelled because of his political views
The establishment are trying to force me out of the UK by closing my bank accounts.
I have been given no explanation or recourse as to why this is happening to me.
This is serious political persecution at the very highest level of our system.
If they can do it to me, they… pic.twitter.com/O4xQ1h79ub
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 29, 2023
Farage said he feels almost unable to continue living in the UK and that he received a phone call from the bank he has been a customer of since the 1980s informing him that his personal and business accounts would be terminated.
The former UKIP party leader says he approached seven other banks seeking to open accounts with them but was refused on each occasion.
City Minister Andrew Griffith who has been asked to spearhead the investigation told the Financial Times that banks and payment providers such as PayPal, “occupy a privileged place in society” saying it would be “a concern if financial services were being denied to those exercising the right to lawful free speech,”
This week, an Anglican Vicar in Yorkshire, Reverend Richard Fothergill, had his account with Yorkshire Building Society closed after he submitted ‘feedback’ about his bank promoting gay pride.
Speaking on GB News the reverend said he had “serious ethical problems” with the “transexual agenda” and how it’s “impacting children”.
Fothergill answered the bank’s online request for feedback by ‘writing a few short paragraphs’ detailing his discomfort with the financial institution using its energy on something other than handling money.
The vicar said he submitted the comments via the building society’s online portal assuming nothing would come of it but received a letter some days later advising that his account would be terminated in 14 days due to his relationship with the bank being “irrevocably broken down” .
Reform of the body monitoring so called PEPs or ‘politically exposed persons’ – individuals who are held to more stringent observance of the law by banks – has also been called for amid concerns that financial institutions may not be adhering to guidance on the issue.