Lloyds Bank has severed ties with The Canary, a far-left news outlet in the United Kingdom, raising concerns about the publication’s financial position and freedom of speech.
| PULSE POINTS |
❓ WHAT HAPPENED: A far-left outlet in the United Kingdom that argued that “cancel culture is a myth“ has been debanked. 📰 DETAIL: On Tuesday, The Canary, a far-left news website in the United Kingdom, which described “cancel culture” as “a myth,” announced that it had been debanked. According to The Canary, Lloyds Bank decided to withhold a significant amount of its funds and has not provided any explanation for its actions, despite nearly a decade-long banking relationship and repeated inquiries from the publication. This situation has reportedly left the outlet unable to pay its staff and uncertain about its financial future. Debanking is when a bank or financial institution suddenly closes a customer’s account, terminating their relationship. Debanking leaves individuals and businesses unable to access funds, receive income, or pay bills without time to prepare. “We do know that multiple other politically engaged people have suffered similar actions by other banks in recent times,” wrote The Canary in an article responding to its debanking. 💬 KEY QUOTE: “As much as people on the right whine about how they’re somehow being ‘persecuted’ or ‘silenced’ by ‘political correctness’, it [cancel culture] is simply not in any respect a threat to freedom of speech. The concept of freedom of speech is about preventing the government from interfering in what can be published and put into the public sphere… it’s high time that we call out the purveyors of the empty ‘cancel culture’ narrative for the dishonest and self-interested hypocrites that they are,” argued The Canary back in 2020. 🎯 IMPACT: The debanking of The Canary has sparked backlash across traditional political lines, raising concerns about censorship. The Free Speech Union, a non-partisan public interest organization focused on free speech and related civil liberties, has offered its assistance to the publication. The fate of the publication’s finances remains uncertain. While not defending the decision to debank The Canary, several commentators have identified the irony of the publication’s dismissive attitude towards politically-motivated censorship in the past and its current predicament. 👀 FLASHBACK: In June 2023, Nigel Farage, leader of the Reform UK party, was debanked by the NatWest Group, which closed his Coutts accounts because of his political views, triggering a debanking scandal. The row forced chief executive Dame Alison Rose to resign after she improperly disclosed information to a journalist. Nearly two years later, NatWest apologized, and the dispute was settled on confidential terms. |
Don’t think they have mate. https://t.co/LPxaUVIsSp pic.twitter.com/qbe44IVYIK
— Nick Dixon (@NickDixon) June 30, 2026
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