UK Banks Closing Accounts For Political Reasons

Nigel Farage is the latest alleged victim

Nigel Farage is a divisive character in the UK - in the same way Trump is in the US. Of course I’m generalising but if you speak to someone from the ‘metropolitan liberal elite’ or someone who passionately voted for Britain to remain in the European Union (EU), Nigel is the anti-Christ.

Farage is a former politician who very successfully lead the UK Independence Party (UKIP) until the Brexit referendum in 2016. It could be argued that the UK voted to leave the EU in 2016 due to the larger than life personalities of Farage and Boris Johnson. He was also a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) where he often criticised the EU in his scathing/humorous/cringey speeches.

Since leaving politics, Nigel has become a broadcaster and recently won “News Presenter of the Year” at the Television and Radio Industries Club (TRIC) Awards.

He is right-wing but not far-right as many like to claim. UKIP was an awkward political party and did have some strange characters in it. There were some in UKIP who were too far to the right and some of their policies were questionable but many ignored those because they just wanted to leave the EU. Leaving the EU was as divisive as Covid vaccines. You aren’t anti-vax if you’ve had all your previous injections but don’t want the novel gene therapy, you are just anti-novel untested gene therapies. Similarly, you weren’t anti-European or racist if you wanted to leave the political institution of the EU, you were just anti-EU.

Today, Farage claimed that his career is being attacked and “the establishment are trying to force me out of the UK by closing my bank accounts”. He said that within the last few months his bank account was closed with no explanation.

I have been with the same banking group since 1980. I’ve had my personal accounts with them since that date and my business accounts right through the 1990s when I worked in the City of London and in recent years too. I’m with one of the subsidiaries of this big banking group, one with a very prestigious name, but I won’t name them just yet. I got a phone call a couple of months ago, to say ‘we are closing your accounts’, I asked why…no reason was given. I was told a letter would come, which would explain everything. The letter came through and simply said, we are closing your accounts, we want to finish it all by a date, which is around about now. I didn’t quite know what to make of it. I complained. I emailed the chairman, a lackey phoned me to say that it was a commercial decision, which I have to say, I don’t believe for a single moment.

Nigel says there is nothing irregular or unusual in what he does. The payments that go in and out every month are pretty much the same. He also keeps a large positive cash balance.

He thinks this is happening to him because a few years ago the EU came up with a definition of somebody called a PEP - a Politically Exposed Person. A PEP is an individual who holds or has held a significant public office, and due to their position, they might be more susceptible to involvement in corruption or bribery. The term can also include their family members and close associates. Financial institutions often apply enhanced due diligence when dealing with PEPs due to the increased risk of money laundering and terrorist financing. Being a PEP does not indicate wrongdoing but simply a higher risk factor requiring additional scrutiny.

So anybody in public office, whether part of the government or a local councillor, can be designated a PEP. Once you are a PEP, the banks say they have increased costs for compliance, so no longer want your business.

Nigel has also tried to open new accounts but with no luck.

So I thought, well, there we are, I’ll have to go and find a different bank. I’ve been to six, no seven banks actually. Asked them all, could I have a personal and a business account? And the answer has been no in every single case.

He rightly points out that without a bank account you effectively become a non-person, you don’t actually exist. Worryingly, you no longer have the right to a bank account. And without a bank account you are unable to function in a modern society.

This is a worrying trend that is happening more and more. It happened with the Canadian truckers and it has been happening on the quiet in the UK.

In May, Konstantin Kisin from the Triggernometry podcast announced that their bank account had been shut down with no explanation, despite a healthy balance and transaction history.

It seems the banks are increasingly shutting down accounts purely based on political views held by the owners. For now, these are relatively big accounts who can probably find alternative means to survive. But in a short space of time it could easily be you or I who has a bank account shut down. Then how do you pay your mortgage or feed your family? You can’t. The only way is to stick to mainstream views, get your injections and be a good citizen. Self-censoring without anyone even having to tell you to.

The only way out of this is Bitcoin.