The reactions have been interesting. Often, when refusing custom, we hear how it’s the right of the company to refuse it if it doesn’t fit with the beliefs (see bakers and gay couples wanting wedding cakes). Of course banking is more fundamental to our existence, but legally it could get very messy regarding this, and for that reason I wouldn’t be surprised if Sunak drops it. It is odd seeing free market supporting Conservatives wanting state control over how such companies operate.
I do not like the exclusivity of banks in this regard, and makes me think lesser of them (especially regarding how they have handled the fall out), but I am struggling to see how we can stop exclusive banks like Coutts from acting like this, legally. It’s wrong, the cited examples include weak examples (liking a Ricky Gervais joke, for instance), but I think we should dial down tones of echos to Nazi Germany or any other totalitarian system. They wouldn’t have offered him an account at NatWest. I don’t think his political views are reason enough for him to lose a Coutts account, but if it was some totalitarian play to get him out of society, there wouldn’t be an offer at all.
