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are the Tories becoming dictatorship like now?
So to be clear I am not a fan of Nigel Farage, however I saw on his facebook post today (I follow lots of political groups on facebook does not mean I support them) allegations that he has had numerous bank accounts closed and this is due to the establishment.
to be clear whilst Nigel Farage may have some rather distasteful views if he has bank accounts closed it is a form of censorship and control and is worrying about the civil liberties we all have.
The Tories have come up with this sort of stuff before, there was talk of taking peoples IDs away as punishment EG passports driving licences etc. This is pretty severe and in many ways is more severe then a prison sentence. Without ID one would have a very hard time having any legitimate source of income, as any job I have gone for in the past has asked for ID. Any poker site ID. I mean I suppose I could buy and sell stuff to get by ebay and market stalls etc but still. When it comes to renting and or getting a mortgage this becomes very difficult.
Taking away peoples ability to have any form of income or conduct any form of transactions or attempting to do this, is a direct threat to civil liberties they wont start attacking the people who think are okay. They will attack the people who are unacceptable or who we do dislike first then it creeps down and affects all of us.
if these accusations are true then the creep against democracy is a real threat and we could reach a point where criticising the government makes you homeless and excluded from the state.
to be clear whilst Nigel Farage may have some rather distasteful views if he has bank accounts closed it is a form of censorship and control and is worrying about the civil liberties we all have.
The Tories have come up with this sort of stuff before, there was talk of taking peoples IDs away as punishment EG passports driving licences etc. This is pretty severe and in many ways is more severe then a prison sentence. Without ID one would have a very hard time having any legitimate source of income, as any job I have gone for in the past has asked for ID. Any poker site ID. I mean I suppose I could buy and sell stuff to get by ebay and market stalls etc but still. When it comes to renting and or getting a mortgage this becomes very difficult.
Taking away peoples ability to have any form of income or conduct any form of transactions or attempting to do this, is a direct threat to civil liberties they wont start attacking the people who think are okay. They will attack the people who are unacceptable or who we do dislike first then it creeps down and affects all of us.
if these accusations are true then the creep against democracy is a real threat and we could reach a point where criticising the government makes you homeless and excluded from the state.
Comments
Stop gobbling up the fear-mongering for breakfast, lunch and dinner and then regurgitating to others.
Be thankful you live in one of the least totalitarian states on earth and frankly that has ever existed.
This isn't some sort of Govt conspiracy-this is banks doing what they do best-looking after the interest of Banks. From a Regulatory standpoint, Mr Farage is a nightmare. I don't know all the ins and outs, but I do know the following:-
1. An inability to follow accepted norms in relation to declaring gifts. Previously fined by the Electoral Commission for this. Also failed to disclose to the EU a £450,000 "gift" from Arron Banks. I would point out that, while Mr Banks has been the subject of exhaustive police and financial investigations, he has not (so far as I am aware) been Charged with anything
2. His previous aide/Office Manager, George Cottrell, arrested and pleaded Guilty in the US to wire fraud, likely as some form of plea deal, as accused of various money-laundering activities
3. Farage was declared a "person of interest" by the FBI in relation to possible Russian involvement in the 2016 US election
4. Mr Farage is believed to be habitually mixing his business and private accounts-for example, much of his income goes via a Limited Company. Not necessarily illegal, but questionable and, again, would involve additional expense in relation to Bank Compliance
I'm not saying he is a fraudster. What I am saying is he consorts with some, er, questionable, people. And sails close to the wind on some financial matters.
Which makes Banks think he will cost them money. And Banks like money.
I am a strong proponent of freedom of speech if the guy has dodgy financial dealings then fair enough banks should have the right to suspend business with him. if it is because of his offensive politics they should not.
Ideology? Hardly. I would remind you that Swiss (and other) Banks saw nothing wrong with hiding looted gold for 1930's Germany.
It is almost always all about the money
Many moons ago I sued a Client over an unpaid Debt. I won-I'd love to say it was my brilliant forensic cross-examination, but they couldn't be ar5ed to Defend, so I got Judgment in Default.
Because I knew their Bank details, I applied to the Court for what was then known as a Garnishee Order (now a Third Party Debt Order), whereby their Bank are ordered to pay the judgment money from their Client's account. This particular Bank is very prominent in a particular expat community, and decided to ignore this Order.
So far, so dull
He rang the Bank and asked to speak to the CEO. He was busy. The Judge explained who he was, and the reason for his call. He then said 1 of 2 things were going to happen in the next 30 minutes:-
1. They were to pay me my money. The Judge did not care whether the Judgment Debtor had the available funds, I was to receive my money; or
2. He would issue a Warrant for the Arrest of the CEO for Contempt of Court immediately, and, unless he received a spectacularly good reason, he intended to imprison that CEO
Unsurprisingly, I got my money
Proper justice, that.
A Bank Customer was seriously in debt. The Bank were demanding money.
Customer had replied, saying that debts fell into 3 categories.
1. Those that must be paid, or else there were terrible consequences. Food because of starvation. Council Tax because of possible imprisonment etc
2. Those that really should be paid. These he put into a pot, and drew them out, and paid what he could as he drew them out, so some got paid and some did not
3. Those that could just ------- wait. And the Bank could just ------- wait.
I loved the reply from the Bank employee:-
"Dear Mr X
Please put the Bank in the Pot.
Yours sincerely"
A PEP is someone who is in public office and is, therefore, at higher risk for potential involvement in bribery or corruption due to the nature of their position.
PEPs include MPs, ministers, members of the Supreme court, and their family members, among others. Accounts owned by PEPs require banks to apply enhanced due diligence measures.
Mr Farage admitted that it was sensible for banks to ensure that foreign countries were not paying money to "corrupt politicians", but said extra compliance costs for banks had to be proportionate.
A prominent Leave campaigner in the Brexit referendum and now a presenter for GB News, Mr Farage suggested he could be facing "prejudice" because the "corporate world" had not forgiven him for Brexit.
He also claimed in his video that the "only explanation I can think of" for the decision was a claim made by Labour MP Chris Bryant in the House of Commons that Mr Farage had received nearly £550,000 from Kremlin-backed TV channel RT.
Mr Farage has categorically denied the claims by Mr Bryant - which were made under the protection of parliamentary privilege and which he has not repeated outside the Commons.
"The truth is I've never received any money from any sources with any link to Russia," Mr Farage said.
The key to me is that Mr Farage appears to insist that he has his personal and business accounts with the same bank. The bank are, even on Nigel Farrago's version of events, perfectly willing to allow him to have a personal account, but not both.
No money from any sources with any link to Russia? Arron Banks seems intent on SLAPP silencing anyone who refers to any links he may or may not have with Russia.
I'm not saying Arron Banks has done anything remotely illegal. I am saying that, if I had received £450,000 from him then my bank might review my account...
Last week the Brexit campaigner said he had been told by his bank they no longer wanted him as a customer. He has now confirmed the bank in question is Coutts - but does not deny he fell below the wealth cap.
Nigel Farage has failed to deny he has too little money at the exclusive bank used by the Royal Family to keep an account.
The Brexit campaigner and former leader of the UK Independence Party last week claimed that a bank - which he has now confirmed as Coutts - had decided to stop doing business with him.
Mr Farage claimed this was due to him being a "politically exposed person", or PEP.
The BBC reported this morning that the reason for the withdrawal of services was due to Mr Farage falling below the level of wealth required by Coutts.
According to their website, the boutique financial institution requires clients to have at least £1m in investments or borrowing - including a mortgage - or £3m in savings.
The bank, founded in the late 17th century, has links with the royal family dating back to George III.
https://news.sky.com/story/nigel-farage-doesnt-deny-he-fell-below-wealth-cap-at-coutts-bank-used-by-royals-12914753
Many customers have said that they fail to meet the criteria, but remain customers of the Bank. I suspect that that is because of their Royal/Billionaire connections, rather than their Politics.
His politics? Irrelevant.
His mixing of business/personal accounts? Unknown. But it is clear that that is at least part of the problem, at least according to Banks.
His associations with money launderers/failure to be transparent about gifts? At best, dubious.
Coutts are part of the Nat West Group. And Coutts are one of the fussiest banks. The fact that a lot of other Banks have turned him down is rather more concerning. Nat West have offered him a personal account. Just not a business one.
Any normal person would accept the personal account offer, believing that to be a problem halved.
But not Crusader Farage