Barclays Bank, a major retail bank in the United Kingdom, has settled a lawsuit brought by the UK-based Christian ministry the Core Issues Trust over the former’s decision to suddenly suspend its banking services in 2020.
At the time, far-left LGBT activists had accused the Core Issues Trust, which is based in Northern Ireland, of engaging in “conversion therapy.”
Via Reclaim the Net:
The start of the incident occurred in mid-2020 when a Twitter user highlighted the accounts associated with the Core Issues Trust and the International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice. The tweet triggered a barrage of over 300 phone calls and messages, lasting for days, directed at the ministry. Among them was a disconcerting text to Dr. Mike Davidson, the ministry’s chief executive, which contained despicable wishes towards his staff members’ families, The Times reported.
Dr. Davidson, who had been a lifelong customer of Barclays and had opened accounts for the Core Issues Trust and the counseling federation in 2011 and 2017 respectively, received a letter from Barclays on July 13, 2020, notifying him of the termination of his account.
A lawsuit from Davidson quickly followed, alleging that Barclays Bank had discriminated against him on the basis of his religious beliefs.
The bank would ultimately avoid a trial, instead opting to pay a settlement of £21,500 (roughly $27,120), plus legal expenses to Davidson. However, Davidson’s bank accounts were not restored.
Efforts to “debank” and financially blacklist perceived opponents of the progressive establishment agenda have accelerated in recent years, as proponents of censorship explored new ways to cut their opponents off from mainstream society.
As early as 2019, far-left activists were pressuring Mastercard shareholders to cut off services to the “far-right.”
In the UK, Nigel Farage’s former Brexit party, now rebranded as the Reform Party, had its bank accounts shut down in 2021.
In the U.S., Chase Bank has come under scrutiny from state financial regulators over alleged debanking on the basis of political and religious views, although CEO Jamie Dimon has denied that his company engages in the practice.
Allum Bokhari is the senior technology correspondent at Breitbart News. He is the author of #DELETED: Big Tech’s Battle to Erase the Trump Movement and Steal The Election. Follow him on Twitter @AllumBokhari.