If I had a NatWest account I’d be closing it after bank’s attack on Farage – ROBERT TAYLOR

When I saw Nigel Farage’s Twitter video telling us he might have to leave the country because no bank would have him as a customer, I assumed there must be a catch.

Surely, he must be exaggerating. Surely, he must be making a self-serving political point. Surely no bank would refuse someone services based on their political views. Horrifyingly, I was wrong. To my knowledge, NatWest has not denied that its decision about Farage was purely political.

Once again, therefore, the attacks on freedom of speech and thought are exceeding our worst fears. Gone, thank goodness, are the days when pubs, restaurants and hotels would refuse to serve someone because of the colour of their skin.

But now, it appears, they will refuse you based on your vote in the Brexit referendum. Or on whether you believe in curbs on illegal migration. Or on your views about Trans athletes competing in women’s sports.

Since 2016, I’ve had many lively debates with people who voted Remain. Sometimes these debates have got heated. But I always assumed my companions agreed I had a right to hold my views. Can I be sure about that anymore?

A lot of people hate Nigel Farage. They’ve never met him of course, but hate him nonetheless.

Yes, “hate” is a strong, horrible word. But it is accurate. I’ve heard people speak dispassionately about serial killers. I’ve heard them speak moderately about Vladimir Putin.

But they will rage about Farage as though the man was the bastard child of Hitler and Pol Pot. Self-appointed social media tyrants say he should be “strung up”, “taken out and shot” and “beaten to a pulp”. And of course the perennially un-funny Jo Brand suggested he should have acid thrown in his face.

Such language demonstrates an utter psychotic loathing – simply because they don’t share a political view. So, is it any wonder that NatWest thinks its actions are acceptable? Might the bank think it’s doing something ethically good?

I fear so. I fear that the bods at NatWest are so consumed by self-righteousness – as all corporate virtue-signallers are – that they have convinced themselves that the man most associated with “small c” conservative and pro-Brexit views, which millions of people throughout the country share, must simply not be allowed to function.

As for the impact on freedom of speech and thought, well, I doubt if that’s even a factor.

Quite a few Remainers will be thinking, “serves Farage right”. “He’s had it coming”. “He deserves it”. Yes, it’s tempting to wish misfortune on our opponents. Yet, if it is acceptable to deny basic services to Farage, what next? Might you, one day, find yourself discriminated against? Isn’t this a slippery slope?

I’ve railed before against the lack of respect for free speech in this country. This trend terrifies me. And it should terrify you. Research just published by The Higher Education Policy Institute is staggering. Incredibly, 11 percent of students believe

Conservative Party politicians and representatives should be banned from speaking at higher education institutions. The proportion of students who believe ‘universities are becoming less tolerant of a wide range of viewpoints’ is now at 38 percent.

This trend is having a huge impact. When the BBC Question Time host, Fiona Bruce, asked her audience last week to raise their hands if they agreed with the Government’s Rwanda policy, not a single person did so. Yet the polls show that around 50 percent of people support the Rwanda initiative. Why did they all keep their hands down? Because they are terrified of speaking freely.

These are worrying times. And NatWest has just taken it to a whole new level. Passive resistance will do nothing. The only meaningful response is to fight fire with fire, and to show that if you deny free speech, you lose. If you go woke, you go broke.I don’t bank with NatWest. But if I did, I’d now be moving my account elsewhere.