Barclays have sparked a fresh debanking row by closing the account of a firm supplying tanks for Ukraine.
Tanks A Lot, a firm based in Northamptonshire, found themselves without a bank account after Barclays opted to shut it down.
Speaking exclusively to GB News, company owner Nick Mead says he believes the company wanted to sever ties with his group as their relations with the war-stricken country are considered “high risk”.
“We’ve been with Barclays for 45 years, we’ve never been overdrawn”, he told GB News reporter Will Hollis.
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“I think that might be the problem. I’m what you call low-profit, but possibly high risk in their opinion.
“I don’t think I am high risk because every vehicle here has been checked by the Department for Business and Trade.”
Tanks A Lot’s accounts had been checked and export licenses had been dished out to the people used by the company to deliver the vehicles to Ukraine by the Government.
Barclays took issue with their dealings, however, and “detanked” the firm, potentially weakening Zelensky’s defence efforts against Russia in the process.
Mead went on to criticise the decision, dubbing it “draconian” during his interview with GB News.
He added that the country has a “reputation” for money laundering, and this could have possibly been a factor in Barclays’ decision to close his account.
Barclays Bank in Sheffield, South YorkhirePA“I think they should give some kind of dispensation because a potential bit of money laundering is a lot less important than Ukrainian lives”, he told Will Hollis.
It comes amid a debanking row surrounding GB News host Nigel Farage, who lost his Coutts account as a result of his political beliefs.
Questioned over the similarities when comparing his case to Farage’s, Mead issued a call for answers on the matter.
“I want to know why”, he said. “If they have lied to me about why they have cancelled my account, like they lied to Nigel, it’s not just business, it’s lives.”
GB News host Nigel Farage weighed in on the matter, branding the affair “bizarre”, and pointing out how the UK’s official foreign policy is to support Ukraine.
The Farage scandal culminated in the resignations of NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose and Coutts boss Peter Flavel.
NatWest also said it is undergoing an independent review into how Farage’s case was handled and the steps leading up to the decision to close his Coutts accounts.
The GB News presenter revealed that Coutts offered to reinstate his personal and business accounts last month, but “the fight goes on” over the matter.
A Barclays spokesperson said: “Whilst we cannot comment on individual accounts, we comply with our legal and regulatory obligations. We would only withdraw banking services from an individual or business in exceptional circumstances.”