It’s been hard to miss all the media’s coverage of Nigel Farage and the closure of his Coutts bank account. If you’re not up to speed on the story, you can find our take here.
In the most recent development, the heads of the biggest British banks have met with Andrew Griffith, the financial services minister, after much furor over the handling of Farage’s account. Reportedly, they have committed to the principle of “non-discrimination based on lawful freedom of expression” ahead of planned government reforms.
It’s always wise to read between the lines when it comes to government policy, but for now, we don’t have much to go on until these supposed reforms are laid bare.
In the meantime, we should ask ourselves if we trust the government or the banks to champion free speech and our right to political opinion. Actions speak louder than words, as the saying goes, and if we hold the bankers and politicians to this standard, their actions certainly leave a lot to be desired.
It isn’t the first time that people with the “wrong” political leanings have had their bank accounts closed, and by wrong, we mean views which are at odds with the government’s globalist and pro-immigration stances. Several nationalist figures, including our Chairman, Kenny Smith, have been targeted and harassed this way, with no pushback from the government whatsoever. However, Farage is a mainstream personality with establishment-friendly conservative views, so they are happy to backpedal… this time.
But what about next time, or when the discriminated individual isn’t a public figure with an army of supporters ready to create an uproar? The government are, after all, the ones who have been eroding our right to political expression for several decades now. They are the ones who have enshrined into law the notion of hate speech, resulting in some being imprisoned for saying the “wrong thing”.
If anything, it seems the banks are doing the government a big favour. If the threat of imprisonment isn’t enough to deter those critical of government policy, maybe losing the ability to purchase goods and services might do the trick.
Still, let’s wait and see what these planned reforms are. Just don’t be surprised if they come with certain… exceptions.
