To Do Or Not To Do Business, That Is The Question

The People's Countryside Environmental Debate Podcast

“After the Coutts Bank/Nigel Farage scandal, do you think banks have the right to close accounts of people that hold political views they don’t agree with? Ok they were wrong to discuss Mr Farage details with a journalist, but should they be allowed to decide who they do and don’t do business with?” That’s the listener question, this time sent in by Elaine, in Telford, Shropshire, England, which co-hosts Stuart and William will try to unpick.

William understands that the whole issue was that Nigel Farage didn’t have enough money to be able to have a Coutts bank account. He hadn’t heard of it being made political, other than those trying to make it so, because of it being Nigel Farage. William doe’s explore though whether we’re collectively giving the banks too much power, and that surely the bottom line for a bank is, how much money an individual has?

Stuart isn’t sure that this issue was purely a political thing, it’s just that Coutts may have wrongly revealed that he didn’t have enough money to bank with them. Because he’s on the edge, it’s easy to believe that someone made the decision purely based on who he is and what he represents.

Stuart raises the point that shouldn’t all businesses have the right to dictate who they do business with and who they don’t? Are we saying that not all businesses are the same? If a bank is more powerful and corrupt, are, and should the internal ethics and processes be the same as other businesses, or should they be monitored differently?

William raises that maybe it’s all a difference between ethical and legal. He asks the question: how do you balance allowing businesses choices about who they serve and don’t? He himself couldn’t get a Coutts bank account, and asks is this discrimination, or is it just a business choice?

William feels that it was a bad move business wise for Coutts to talk publicly about the situation to a journalist. These types of conversations should be held behind closed doors. He gives the example of the football manager Sir Alex Ferguson, always keeping a lot of the criticism of his players behind closed doors. A difficult discussion would be better done privately and ideally face to face.

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