lisabrett

Drinking coffee in Washington DC.

[Tumi Hawkins 🔶️ @CouncillorTumi]

British Gas profits soar by staggering 889% to record £969m as households struggle https://t.co/td8oMvwX1w

[Carol Vorderman @carolvorders]

Is this parliament the worst ever?
Asks @andrewrawnsley

I’m going with a YES

What do YOU think ?
Yes or no?

https://t.co/7Hm1UwSSm6

[Wera Hobhouse MP 🔶 🇺🇦 @Wera_Hobhouse]

Why is the government investing in oil and gas while falling to deal with cheap and popular renewables?

We still have restrictions on onshore wind and solar, and these technologies can bring bills down.

The Conservatives must prioritise fuels of the future - not the past.

[Claire Young MP 🔶 @ClaireforTAY]

Delighted to have been selected to fight to win back Thornbury & Yate - people are fed up with this government’s mishandling of the economy and the NHS and want a change

[Liberal Democrats @LibDems]

We've won a stunning victory over the Conservatives in Someton and Frome.

Join us today and be part of what's next: https://t.co/vA8HtwMQRH

[Liz Webster @LizWebsterSBF]

Britain declared war on her own sovereignty by doing Brexit!

We had collective sovereignty with EU member states but #Brexit robbed it off us and we lost control of our overseas territories.

Now as a diminishing power, the world can challenge British sovereignty and we have no friends to back us up.

https://t.co/VgIAcRYYNH

[Carol Vorderman @carolvorders]

In my humble opinion, some form of PROPORTIONAL REPRESENTATION is needed in future. The first past the post, two party system fails us appallingly.

2019 GE Results
Tories managed to break Britain with just 43.6% of vote giving 365 seats.... so 8.4 seats per % of vote.
Lib Dems had 11.5% of vote but only 11 seats.... so less than 0.96 seat per % of vote

So every Tory vote was worth nearly 9 TIMES MORE than a Lib Dem vote.

It's a broken system

[Jessica Simor KC @JMPSimor]

Please share and share and share. And then share again.

[Monster Of Truth @TheMooseOfTruth]

Well… he won’t be invited back… 🤣

#GBNews

[Hugh Grant @HackedOffHugh]

I want to marry Dr David Lloyd.

[Farrukh @implausibleblog]

Gillian Keegan, "Strikes don't work."

Krishnan Guru-Murthy, "They do work, you increased your offer."

Gillian Keegan, "Well... yes."

[Ben Goldsmith @BenGoldsmith]

We need a majority of people to know 5 things, which they largely do not:

1. Pollution from oil, coal and gas is heating the earth and causing dangerous weather.
2. All the climate scientists agree.
3. We must move quickly if we are to save a livable climate.
4. There are exciting solutions available right now, most of which save money.
5. Big polluting companies knew, lied, and stopped action. They need to pay to clean up their mess.

[Jenny Jones @GreenJennyJones]

Our Govt ... (Apologies to the cartoonist whose name I don't know for using the pic, but it's perfect.)

[Supertanskiii @supertanskiii]

Nicely done Just Stop Oil.

I loved seeing a politician interrupted and inconvenienced by little tiny bits of paper.

It was harmless, the point was made and nobody likes George Osbourne.

Excellent work.
https://t.co/pInIssj2yJ

[Good Morning Britain @GMB]

'The Sufragettes did far more than anything Just Stop Oil do... people look back and think - whatever the tactics, the injustice was far more evil. How is this going to look in 30 years?'

.@OwenJones84 discusses the Just Stop Oil protests at Wimbledon and the climate crisis.

[Owen Jones @owenjonesjourno]

They hated the suffragettes, too.

#JustStopOil

[Tim Reid @timreid69]

The photo I'll use to show my Grandkids I did everything I could.

[Yvette Cooper @YvetteCooperMP]

For a Govt Minister to give orders about painting over pictures designed to reassure lone child asylum seekers is astonishingly callous. Helps them with no policies. Just shows lack of any basic decency or humanity in treatment of vulnerable children https://t.co/d8e13nDnVS

[Sarah Dyke MP 🔶 @SarahDykeLD]

It was great to talk the @BBCNews in Somerton this week.

Back in 2015 I was elected as a councillor in this constituency with a majority of one. 4 years later I won with 72% of the vote.

I never take people for granted and I'll keep working hard for our communities.

[Mark Kieran - Democracy Activist @MarkKieranUK]

Nigel Farage claims he may be forced to leave the UK because his bank of 30+ years has decided it no longer wants his business, and no other bank will take him on.

He says it's pure persecution...the Remainer Elite taking revenge for his role in delivering Brexit. But there's a bit more to it than that. Needless to say, Farage is being more than a little economical with the actualité.

He DOES admit to being a Politically Exposed Person (PEP), as defined by the Financial Action Task Force, an international body established in 1989 to set international standards for countering money laundering and terrorist financing.

He should not be surprised, then, that as a result, his bank is obliged by UK law - the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 - to carry out robust due diligence on him and his banking activities.

From what Farage has said, it appears that the bank has done this due diligence and concluded that he represents a level of risk they cannot tolerate.

So, why might that be?

Well, the main reasons a bank might close a PEP’s accounts are:

Suspicion of Money Laundering or Other Illegal Activity: This is the most common reason for closing a PEP's account. This can result from unusual transactions, particularly those involving large sums of money or transactions that do not match the account holder's typical behaviour.

Failure to Comply with KYC/AML Regulations: All banks are required by the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations to carry out strict checks on their customers. If a PEP fails to provide the necessary documentation or information, or if the information provided raises concerns, the bank may choose to close the account.

Reputational Risk: By their very definition, PEPs are under public scrutiny, and any scandal associated with them can potentially harm the reputation of the bank. If a PEP becomes involved in a public scandal, especially one involving financial wrongdoing, a bank may decide to close an account to protect its own reputation. (Perish the thought that Farage would ever be involved in a public scandal!)

Regulatory Pressure: Sometimes, banks face pressure from regulators to sever ties with certain PEPs, particularly in scenarios involving international sanctions, corruption charges, or other high-profile legal issues. Bad as he is, Farage probably doesn’t quite fall into this category. Yet.

Business Risk: Banks also need to consider the business risk of maintaining the account. If the costs and risks associated with maintaining and monitoring the account outweigh the potential benefits (e.g., due to high compliance costs or the risk of fines for non-compliance), the bank may decide to close the account.

Given the limited amount of actual information in Farage’s theatrical outburst, it’s impossible to know which, if any, of these was behind his bank’s decision. But none of them seems like particularly good news for him, so it'll be worth keeping an eye on how things unfold...especially if it looks like he might feel the need to emigrate as a result of it all. (Will he take a small boat to France, I wonder?)

[END]