UK has become a political 'monoculture' says 'former homosexual' who had his bank account cancelled by Barclays

Mike Davidson, the head of Core Issues Trust, was speaking after concluding a legal battle with Barclays Bank over its decision to axe his account without explanation.

He settled the case for £21,500 this week, although Barclays has not admitted to any wrongdoing, nor has it re-instated his account.

His charity seeks to assist people in trying to leave behind homosexual desires, and has been widely pilloried over this for years.

After activists mounted a campaign against it in 2020, Barclays ended its dealings with the charity, though it had broken no law.

It had been argued that the bank had “caved in” to activist pressure and had wrongly deprived it of services, thereby discriminating against its boss – an allegation the bank denied.

In the wake of the case ending, Mr Davidson said yesterday that his charity has even had its e-mail provider withdraw its services, and suspects it is for the same reasons.

"From my point of view what we have in the UK at the moment is a kind of monoculture,” he said.

“If you venture out of that, this is the result. We’ve lost this ideological diversity. Now it seems that one viewpoint is judge, jury, executioner.”​

All this comes against the backdrop of demands for the government to outlaw “conversion therapy”, which is generally understood to mean attempts to change someone from gay to straight.

However, there is no clear definition of “conversion therapy”, and things like shock therapy and other physical “treatments” are already illegal.

Activists have also been insisting that any effort to alter someone’s self-declared transgender identity must also be made into a criminal offence.

– ‘THIS MUST NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN –

Core Issues Trust says it exists to “support those leaving LGBT identities, behaviours, attractions and life choices” but it rejects the label “conversion therapy”.

Its director Mr Davidson (who calls himself an ex-homosexual) had earlier said: “This case must serve as a warning to the government of what is coming if it proceeds with publishing and enforcing its ‘conversion therapy’ ban.

“From the outset, it was more important to Barclays to appease their Stonewall sponsors than to protect the basic freedom in this country of having a bank account without being discriminated against because of your beliefs.

“Barclays set itself up to enforce a political or religious viewpoint as an arbiter of public morality, and unilaterally ended the accounts before any ‘conversion therapy’ legislation was in sight.

"The whole experience was frightening and deeply concerning to myself, my family and colleagues.

"This must never happen again to another individual, church or Christian ministry. The government must act now to protect Christian ministries from such brazen discrimination.”

The bank was contacted by the News Letter about the issue.

It responded: “Barclays has today agreed a commercial settlement with Core Issues Trust following our decision to cease acting as their Bankers in 2020.

“This is a commercial settlement, predicated on our assessment of the costs of defending this claim to conclusion against the cost of settling the matter today.

“There has been no admission of liability by Barclays and there has been no decision by the Court calling into question Barclays’ actions including Barclays' decision to exit its relationship with Core Issues Trust and IFTCC [The International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice, a similar outfit which also had its Barclays account closed].

“Barclays remains an advocate for the equality and dignity of all members of society, including the LGBT+ community, and our stance in this matter affirms this position.

"We will continue to build understanding of diverse experiences and perspectives, and create a more inclusive environment in the communities in which we operate.”

Barclays has been one of countless financial institutions to have partnered with Stonewall, a major UK charity which used to focus on gay acceptance, but now largely campaigns on transgender issues.

– ‘YOU DO NOT NEED TO UNDERSTAND THIS’ –

Barclays has sought to closely identify itself with LGBTQQIA+ activists in recent years.

Its axing of the accounts came after LGBT activist and investor Mike Buonaiuto wrote on Twitter in 2020 that the bank, as the main sponsor of London’s pride festivities, is “currently enabling UK gay conversion therapy organisation Core [Issues Trust] with a bank account,” calling the charity “vile”.

Like most other mainstream high street banks, Barclays has changed its logo during “pride month” (June) to reflect the colours of the "progress pride flag".

This flag expands on the established gay pride rainbow flag by adding chevrons of white, baby blue, and pale pink – the colours of the transgender movement.

It also includes black and brown stripes too, added since the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, as well as a purple ring on a yellow background representing intersex (formerly known as hermaphrodite) people.

In addition one of Barclays’ senior managers has recorded a video telling its customers to “wise up” over the issue, adding that they don’t need to understand the claims of self-identified transgender people, but just accept them.

The video is from Sionice-Lousie Phillips, whose LinkedIn profile carries the titles "Vice President Global Diversity Equity and Inclusion Business Partner, Plus Pillar Lead for Barclays LGBT+ Network, Mentor, Speaker".

"Where people go wrong is they think they need to understand it," says Phillips.

"You don't need to understand it.

"But to be a better ally there are three things you need to do: you need to wise up, stand up, and show up…

"Wising up is about educating yourself and not expecting the LGBT+ community to educate you…

"By helping yourself and educating yourself, you are helping others."

Other banks to have changed their logos recently to include the colours of the transgender movement are Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, and Santander.

• Transgenderism in Northern Ireland: Campaigner warns against 'indoctrination' of children after report criticises schools for defending pupils' right to hold different views

• Transgenderism: News Letter deep dive into school survey data shows percentage of Northern Irish 10 and 11-year-olds saying they are neither male nor female

• Transgender campaigner Peter Tatchell says 'we should not be having these discussions' when asked on BBC Northern Ireland if men have wombs and get pregnant