Regular readers may remember how this website was suddenly defunded by payment processor PayPal in 2022. This was far from an isolated incident. From the “debanking” of the truckers protesting against the Canadian Government, to individuals like Nigel Farage and the Daily Sceptic’s own Toby Young, who also found his personal PayPal account shut down, to campaign groups like UsForThem and the Free Speech Union, to name only a few examples, financial control or exclusion for political reasons is an increasingly worrying issue to many. The Conservatives promised but (we recently discovered) neglected actually to change the law to prevent debanking for political reasons.
On the other hand, we may have had a lucky escape with the Data Bill also failing to make it through Parliament before the election. This would have enabled the state, without any suspicion required, to spy on the bank accounts of many millions of people via the banks. The bogeyman this time was benefit fraud, but you can expect it would soon creep into other areas.
In an increasingly cashless society and with the Government pushing ahead with a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), offering the state total surveillance possibilities combined with the potential for “programming” money to be used only in certain ways, the issue of financial surveillance and control is only going to become more urgent. And all this even without Tony Blair again popping up to float mandatory Digital ID cards as the cure-all, this time for immigration. You don’t have to think very hard to see the potential of a mandatory, centralised digital ID system run by the state to be the precursor to a Chinese-style “social credit” system. Indeed, we had a primitive version of such a system during Covid in the shape of vaccine passports, which controlled our access to parts of society based on our willingness – or not – to follow the state’s “recommendations”. You can throw in pay-per-mile road user charging (which can only mean information gathered about your every movement), a dollop of psychological “nudge” theory and technocratic management by algorithm while you’re at it. It doesn’t take a genius to see the dangers of this emerging panopticon combined with Blair’s “one Government ID to rule them all”.
These topics are going to be discussed at an upcoming event in Leeds organised by the Together Association, the campaign group initially formed in opposition to vaccine passports in 2021 which has since campaigned on numerous issues around free expression and against mobility restrictions. Speakers will be asking how we can ensure a future free from financial control. They include:
- Dr. David McGrogan – well known to Daily Sceptic readers and Associate Professor of Law at Northumbria Law School, David writes on topics including human rights law, the cashless society, debanking and more.
- Timandra Harkness, radio presenter, lapsed comedian, author of Big Data: Does Size Matter? and her latest book Technology Is Not The Problem.
- Reverend Richard Fothergill – “debanked” last year by Yorkshire Building Society after 17 years, after replying to a request for feedback with a polite email objecting to the building society’s promotion of transgender ideology. He received a reply telling him that his views were “not tolerable” and that his account would be closed.
- Austin Williams – Director, Future Cities Project, honorary research fellow, XJTLU, Suzhou, China and author of China’s Urban Revolution. Austin will be sharing insights about China’s social credit system on myth vs. reality.
Chaired by Together co-founder Alan Miller, questions are likely to include:
- Is it any business of a bank what our views are? Conversely, if a business wishes only to support customers with certain views, should it be free to do so?
- Can any financial institution truly be said to be “private” or “independent” from the state, given the powerful regulatory regimes that are part and parcel of how they operate?
- Some would argue we can see ahead to our own future dystopia in the shape of China’s “social credit” system,” but how much does the reality of this match Western perception?
- Is the optimistic view of Bitcoin or cryptocurrency enthusiasts that we can choose a future of money that is completely separated from the state and censor-proof a realistic alternative?
- What can we do practically to ensure our future is free from financial control?
The event takes place at 7pm on Tuesday July 16th in Leeds and Daily Sceptic readers can get 25% off tickets by using coupon code SCEPTIC at checkout – the link to get tickets is here.
Rob Tyson is involved with the Together Association.
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