A lot to unpack there, Mr RoseI do find it ironic that Coutts, a bastion of the UK's wealthy people and the capitalist system - and banker to the Royal Family - are having a spat with what I'd consider the self promoter of traditional Victorian British values and independence - some might think, looking back to the times of the British Empire? (Ok, perhaps that's some of his supporters speaking out of turn!) Still, some would argue capitalism is based on a dog eat dog culture so perhaps better to leave Mr Farage and Coutts (and NatWest?) to argue it out and, if it improves financial regulations, so much the better? I suspect Coutts and NatWest won't lose much business; as shareholders through our taxes we should hope not.In my experience most high tech and digital businesses, many of which are global and have global stakeholders, have diversity programmes. This allows them to address skills shortages by attacting candidates who have the necessary aptitude and abilities but might otherwise not realise there are career opportunities these in industries. (Something an immigrant to the UK, Stephanie Shirley, successfully pioneered in the 1970s by bringing women into the ICT workforce with a business model enabling them to work from home.) Plus it's a way of avoiding the group think that comes from recruiting in one's own, narrow, image and that can stunt business development and growth. And remember, ICT is now embedded into the heart of all key industries: financial services, retail, travel and transport, telephony (BT's Digital Voice), automotive and other manufacturing …I'd agree Brexit was and still is divisive but perhaps that's something those calling for and creating the referendum should have considered - wouldn't a two thirds majority, like the Scottish independence referendum, been a more sensible threshold for a major, life changing, constitutional change? Those who voted remain are exasperated because there's no sign of the promised benefits from Brexit, only seemingly negative consequences such as the impasse in the Northern Ireland regional government or increased costs and reduction in Eurostar train capacity because of more complex border checks, and what about all those NHS improvements promised from all that retained cash. Good for Mr Farage we still have the privacy benefits of the GDPR :-) Perhaps Coutts are annoyed because they and the NatWest can see evidence of damage Brexit has done to the UK's economy or their businesses? Although I would agree that isn't a reason to close his accounts.Oh, religion: Christian (CoE, Catholic, Orthodox, Quaker, far right creationist/evangelists), Jewish, Hindu, Sikh, ... or were you referring to Muslim organisations and supporting them in the closing or difficulty in opening their bank accounts; sadly, Mr Farage didn't seem to perceive their difficulties as an issue? Perhaps it was lucky he had a GB News programme to bring is to everyone's attention when it affected him but why wait when others experienced it a while ago? And what about UK expats living in the EU who have had their UK accounts closed because post Brexit there are no longer EU/UK cross border banking agreements?However, your reference to G K Chesterton (1874-1936) would seem to suggest to me a return to Victorian CoE religious values of the mine, mill, railway, etc owners? (Sorry if I'm wrong!) They would exploit workers and their families living in poverty, accept a few might die in the pursuit of profit - even support the bringing in of armed troops against those striking and protesting for better conditions - then use their wealth to dress up and go to church to prove how devout and high and mighty they were. It's that hypocrisy with hangovers of it in the 20th century that turned many of us away from religion.Of course there are many individuals in religions who are good people and help others - shouldn't, for example, a good Christian be woke (which I would consider a compliment)? (Looking back we do have the Quakers; Rowntree and the Cadbury brothers had a social conscience about their British workers although I'm not sure how much attention they paid to the conditions of those growing crops overseas?) However, many religions still have a poor track record of sexism and homophobia, and, historically, a bad one of racism, slavery (look at the Fulham Palace exhibition on colonialism) and xenophobia. We are now in the 21st century of machine learning, artificial intelligence, digital transformation, digital currences, genetic engineering, the internet, a global economy, modern slavery, a climate crisis and multiculturalism. Like it or not, life progresses and times change.
Michael Ixer ● 695d