Gina Miller, a prominent anti-Brexit activist, has had her party political bank account closed down “without explanation”.
The BBC reported that digital bank Monzo initially refused to tell Ms Miller why her ‘True and Fair’ party was shut down in September.
Monzo said it did not allow party political accounts and had made a mistake in allowing it to be opened.
Ms Miller called on the Government to step in to ensure access to bank accounts. “We do not have a functioning democracy if you cannot access a bank account,” she said.
It comes after a high-profile row involving Nigel Farage and Coutts bank, which he said closed his account over concerns with his political views. There is no suggestion that Ms Miller’s account was closed due to her party’s views.
But Ms Miller said that ‘debanking’ was a “bigger issue" than the closure of Mt Farage’s bank account.
Nine banks had turned down the True and Fair Party before it got the account with Monzo in November 2021, according to Ms Miller.
She said: “That is the bigger issue, the fact that as a new insurgent political party you have no access to banking services, which is extraordinary in a democracy."
The party has now found a small institution to bank with, but Ms Miller fears “what if they turn around in future and say ‘well actually we’ve decided for no reason that because you’re a political party, you can’t have a bank account’?"
“I think the Government and the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) have got to step in straightaway because if this happened - we lose our account in September for Monzo, and then another bank or our new provider decides that they will use this same rule saying ‘oh well we don’t accept political parties’ - then we in effect won’t exist.
“We wouldn’t be able to operate because we wouldn’t have any access to any banking services."
It comes as the Government announced plans reforms which would require banks to give people three months’ notice of bank account closures and a full explanation of the reasons.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has said nobody should lose their bank account for legally held views in the wake of the Farage controversy.
