It would be a pleasant surprise if the Financial Conduct Authority, the financial ombudsman, the chancellor or the prime minister could “work up an indignant head of steam” (Don’t be fooled: this row is about more than Nigel Farage and Coutts – what lies beneath is Brexit, 27 July) about the number of ex-offenders who are either refused bank accounts or have financial services withdrawn. I was one of many former prisoners who had banking facilities suddenly withdrawn by my bank without warning or explanation. As far as the ombudsman was concerned, it was a business decision for the bank and therefore not open to challenge.
I also don’t recall the wave of closures of high street bank branches – which affected millions who can’t bank online – troubling the movers and shakers who rushed to support Nigel Farage. According to the ombudsman, “businesses that provide bank accounts are generally entitled to close them – just as their customers are”. As the French writer Anatole France put it: “The law, in its majestic equality, forbids the rich as well as the poor to sleep under bridges...”
Nick Moss
London
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