Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage speaks as people celebrate in Parliament Square on Brexit day in London, Britain January 31, 2020. | Simon Dawson
Regular readers of this column will know that I am no fan of Brexit and the people responsible. As much as I dislike the views of former UKIP and Brexit Party leader, Nigel Farage, I do respect his rights in a democratic country. The fact that his bank account is being closed down for his “views” is outrageous; more reminiscent of the Soviet bloc than a country which prides itself on Free Speech and democracy. If it was the government which had come to this decision, acting on its own information, then perhaps I would be more understanding but this is a private organisation (well not that private as the government still downs a 30 percent stake in the bank). It now appears that banks can decide who they want as their clients, not because of their credit rating but because of their political views.
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Oh, and it's also worth a mention: "Soon we will be told what to think and why". That horse bolted years ago. Britain in particular has a long history of being "told what to think and why". It was what led to Brexit, the political chaos of recent years, a habitual swapping of PMs, and explains much about famous British insularity and the alternate reality that many Brits live in. As often demonstrated here in certain editorial pages of this very publication.
I'm not convinced that this is entirely about Farage's extremist views. Farage made quite a bit of money from Brexit, along with a number of his apparatchiks. Some of that money came from questionable sources (e.g., Russia?), although it hasn't been directly linked to the Kremlin ...yet. But perhaps his bank knows something, is aware that there's risk in having him as a client. Perhaps they're actually complicit, and therefore, is washing their hands of it before someone puts the their dirty laundry out for all to see? In any case, nobody is stopping ol' Nige from spewing nonsensical hate speech. Particularly his bank.