WORLD WORLDWIDE UK News Journal Update - (en) UK, ACG: Exclusive Private Bank versus Fake Voice of the Underdog? A Plague on Both their Houses! (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

 We have no time for Coutts Bank, a private bank company exclusively for

the rich- "Coutts offers private banking and wealth management services
for high net worth individuals and their families, with the human
touch". We shed no tears for the forced resignation of both Peter
Flavel, head of Coutts and Dame Alison Rose, chief executive of NatWest,
the parent company of Coutts. ---- But neither do we have any sympathy
for Nigel Farage, who now positions himself as a knight fighting finance
capital. Farage has always been a fervent supporter of capitalism. He
was a City trader up until the big crash of 1986. His father was a
stockbroker and his brother was a broker too. He was a member of the
Conservative Party before he founded UKIP. It is ironic that Farage, who
looks to stop freedom of movement, portrays himself as a champion of
freedom.

He is no voice of the poor and oppressed, he is as much a supporter of
the system as Flavel, Rose, and indeed the billionaire Sunak, who waded
into the controversy on Farage's side, afraid of losing more votes to
right-wing populism.

Back in 2015 the Co-Operative Bank closed down many bank accounts,
including that of the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, twenty local groups
involved in similar work and charities imvolved supporting women's
education in Gaza. There was no massive outcry in the media then. In the
mean time many small charities and community groups often face great
difficulties in obtaining accounts. It's the same with local allotment
associations and joint freeholder associations.

The Sunak government is now considering legislation to "protect free
speech" by threatening to remove licences from banks if they blacklist
those with controversial views. We doubt if this planned legislation has
anything to do with protecting any of the groups mentioned above.

Since Brexit, Farage has been looking around for a soapbox issue to
attempt to claw back his influence. UKIP crumbled in 2018, and Farage
went on to form the Brexit Party, which became Reform UK. It and Farage
failed to gain traction over various campaigns, including over migrants
crossing the Channel. Farage now hopes that the Coutts controversy will
re-ignite his populist appeal, with its fake anti-establishment
rhetoric. That remains to be seen.

https://www.anarchistcommunism.org/2023/08/01/exclusive-private-bank-versus-fake-voice-of-the-underdog-a-plague-on-both-their-houses/
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