‘Democracy gone flawed’: Gina Miller criticises Monzo for closing checking account

Businesswoman and aspiring MP Gina Miller has mentioned Monzo Bank’s determination to shut one in all her accounts is a case of “democracy gone wrong”.

Ms Miller, the authorized activist who challenged the federal government’s dealing with of Brexit, informed Sky News that Monzo Bank had written to her on 13 July to clarify that her account for her True and Fair Party can be closed in September with out offering a proof.

However, the financial institution later confirmed it didn’t enable political celebration accounts and the preliminary determination to open it had been made in error.

Ms Miller, who’s standing for the True and Fair Party within the subsequent normal election, mentioned she had tried to arrange an account with “almost every other bank in the UK” earlier than approaching Monzo, however all of them turned down her software.

She warned “we don’t have a functioning democracy” if new political events can’t entry banking companies as she urged the federal government and monetary companies watchdog to step in.

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Concerns about “de-banking” have mounted after former Brexit Party chief Nigel Farage complained that his account with non-public financial institution Coutts had been closed owing to his political opinions.

The story first got here to gentle when the BBC inaccurately reported the account was shut as a result of he didn’t meet Coutts’s monetary thresholds – for which the reporter in query later apologised.

A 40-page doc obtained by Mr Farage via a topic entry request subsequently revealed his political views and connections shaped a part of its determination to shut his account, sparking a debate about freedom of speech amongst politicians.

The fallout noticed Dame Alison Rose, the chief govt of NatWest, which owns Coutts, resign early on Wednesday morning after she admitted she had been the supply of the BBC story about Mr Farage’s account.

She was adopted by Coutts chief govt Peter Flavel, who resigned on Thursday, whereas stress can be mounting on NatWest chairman Sir Howard Davies – who initially backed Dame Alison’s place earlier than an obvious change of coronary heart.

Mr Farage described the row as “serious political persecution at the very highest level of our system”.

Ms Miller informed Sky News’ Sophy Ridge she had some sympathy with Mr Farage, however that her case was a “bigger issue” as a result of “as a new insurgent political party you have no access to banking services, which is extraordinary in a democracy”.

“The three main political parties – the status quo system supports them, but not new entrants,” she mentioned.

She mentioned she believed banks have “overstepped the mark when it comes to politically exposed persons” – somebody who holds or has held public workplace and due to this fact could also be extra inclined to bribery or corruption.

“Nigel’s case is about an individual, but this is actually about how our democracy runs,” she mentioned.

“You cannot have a bank account as a political party – it doesn’t make any sense and this is democracy gone wrong.”

Sky News understands that political opinions and affiliations didn’t issue into the choice to shut Ms Miller’s True and Fair Party account and that the one concern was the kind of account that was requested.

A Monzo spokesperson informed Sky News: “Like lots of banks, we do not accept any political parties as Monzo Business customers in the same way that we don’t currently accept trusts, clubs and a range of other organisations.

“In this case, the account wasn’t initially categorised as a political celebration. After this was recognized and corrected, the shopper was given discover that the account can be closed. We recognise that this expertise could have been irritating for the shopper and we’re sorry for that.”

Ms Miller said that as well as being denied accounts by various high street banks, she had also been denied access to other financial services products such as professional indemnity insurance.

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“The entire system is damaged,” she said.

Ms Miller said she had managed to open an account with a smaller bank but added: “My fear is that there isn’t any assure they will not flip round and do the identical factor.”

Last week, the Treasury introduced reforms designed to supply prospects better protections, together with extra time to problem choices or to seek out substitute banks.

New measures embrace forcing banks to clarify why they’re shutting an account and increasing the discover interval from 30 days to 90 days.

While the reforms have but to be enacted legally, they seem to have been accelerated in response to Mr Farage’s expertise, which sparked outrage amongst senior Tory MPs.