British Muslims are disproportionately denied banking services

Muslims in the United Kingdom have criticized the country's banking system for its discriminatory policies towards them.

Campaigners say British Muslims have been disproportionately denied banking services. They say the bank accounts of British Muslims have been closed without adequate transparency and recourse.

The Muslim Council of Britain has written to the Prime Minister, Chancellor of the Exchequer, leaders of opposition parties, and, the Permanent Secretary to the Treasury, expressing deep concerns over the arbitrary closure of bank accounts belonging to Muslim individuals and Muslim organizations.

In the letter, the MCB highlights the recurring issue of banks withdrawing services from British Muslims over the past decade without adequate transparency and recourse for those affected.

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The MCB said "We urge for an impartial review that not only addresses the mechanisms behind bank account closures, but also examines why British Muslims are disproportionately affected by this issue."

The letter goes on to say that successive governments have ignored the issue of banks withdrawing services from British Muslims and that the practice had persisted without adequate transparency and recourse for those affected.

The intervention by the MCB comes after figures from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) named Muslims as the only faith group likely to be unbanked in Britain.

The criticism comes against the backdrop of the controversy which erupted after a prestigious British bank closed the account of right wing politician Nigel Farage.

He is the former leader of the UK Independence Party, a right wing political party that campaigned to take Britain out of the European Union.

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Farage's bank account was shut down by Coutts, a subsidiary of the NatWest group, over his political views.

The NatWest group has apologized for the account closure.

Following the incidents the government announced plans to force banks to explain account closures Farage had put in a request to the bank to see documents relating to the decision to close his account.

What I said right at the start of this that it wasn't right for people to be deprived of basic services, like banking, because of their views.

Now, ultimately, this isn't about any one individual, it's about values.

Do you believe in free speech and not to be discriminated against because of your legally held views?

British Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak

Critics say the apology and explanation offered to Farage highlights the double standards toward Muslims in the UK.

While Farage received a 40 page report regarding the closure of his account, many Muslim charities say they have not received the same explanation.

Muslim charities have been facing bank closures for over two decades and are often over policed by banks and their policies.

My conclusion is, there can really only be one answer.

It was Muslims, British Muslims, for the most part, who were having their bank accounts removed.

And of course British Muslims don't count.

Whereas when 'Nigel Farage' has his bank account removed, that's 'headlines' in the mainstream media and cue a wave of sycophantic, sob story columnists, coming into action to say 'Poor Nigel'.

Peter Oborne, Investigative Journalist

• Islamic Center of England closed down by order of charity regulator.

In recent weeks, Muslim faith based charities and pro Palestine Solidarity groups have highlighted that they have been subjected to bank closures for years as a result of their political views without a major backlash from politicians or the mass media.

HSBC closed the bank account of the Finsbury Park Mosque and other banks refused to take on the mosque as a customer despite no law having been broken.

Islamic Relief, one of the largest and most long standing Muslim charities, was also debanked by HSBC.

In 2015 the Palestine Solidarity Campaign had its bank account with a cooperative bank closed; the Palestine Solidarity campaign is the UK's most prominent pro Palestinian organization.

I have people who wept describing the humiliation of it and the consequences for their own families. I've spoken to people whose charity has been wiped out, the Palestinian Solidarity Campaign.

The Finsbury Park mosque, a very respectable organization in Islington, in North London, the mainstream media totally ignored the story.

I have often pressed journalist friends of mine in the media, please run something about it.

Peter Oborne, Investigative Journalist

Reports now say the political turbulence plaguing the UK Conservative Party over the last two years has slowed its internal efforts to tackle Islamophobia.

The study, led by Swaran Singh, a former equality and human rights commissioner, has found evidence of discrimination and anti Muslim views at local, institutional, and, individual, levels.

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