Lloyds accused of debanking left-wing media outlet The Canary
Lloyds Banking Group has been accused of debanking the left-wing news website The Canary in a move that has left the media outlet with “barely any funds”.
The bank was slammed by the media firm on Tuesday for allegedly “withholding a substantial amount of our money” and debanking them after nearly a decade of use.
“Lloyds has not explained why it has taken this action. Despite multiple communications from us, the bank has not been forthcoming with its reasoning,” it claimed.
The Canary said it was now in a “financially precarious situation” and did not know when “money that Lloyds is holding will be returned”.
The firm speculated the reasons behind the decision and said whilst it does “not currently know the reasons behind our debanking, we cannot afford to be naive about this”.
“It is an outrage that the Canary has been unceremoniously dropped into financial instability with no notice or explanation from Lloyds,” it said.
The Canary – which brands itself as “” – unveiled plans in May to launch a daily weekday national newspaper in the UK, with some 25,000 copies distributed at news agents across England and Wales.
The Canary added it was aware “other politically engaged people have suffered similar actions by other banks”.
A spokesperson for Lloyds said: “We do not comment on individual customer accounts.”
Canary puts spotlight on politics
The move lays bare the extent to which banks have distanced themselves from individuals and organisations viewed as politically controversial.
In one of the most notorious cases of the last few years, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was dropped by the King’s Bank Coutts, part of Natwest Group.
Farage’s debanking scandal led to the resignation of Natwest boss Alison Rose after Coutts identified the politician as a politically exposed person (PEP).
PEPs refer to those who hold public office and as a result are subject to extra due diligence by financial firms. Farage has long claimed his account was shut down unfairly because the bank disagreed with his personal and political beliefs.
Across the pond, Donald Trump turned up the heat on JP Morgan with a $5bn lawsuit aimed at the bank and its top boss Jamie Dimon after he claimed he was debanked for political reasons.
Trump blasted America’s biggest bank for “incorrectly and inappropriately” discriminating against him after the President alleged JP Morgan stopped offering him services after the Capitol riots on 6 January.