I might call myself a sad political geek, but I never expected to be turned down for a bank account because of it....
This Coffee House article reveals some very interesting behaviour by Royal Bank of Scotland who have started asking new account applicants for their political affiliations.
While advocates of our liberties (rightly), and others who want to say "Labour-ridden conspiracy!" (wrongly) jump up and down it is still probably just a cock-up.
But let's examine that cock-up.
Someone in RBS designed that questionnaire
Someone decided they had to comply with the FSA guidelines on fraud
Someone decided to interpret the section on "politically exposed persons" (which is supposed to mean those who are members of a internationally-recognised corrupt government) as being a question about whether someone is a member of the Labour/Tory/Lib Dem/whatever party
Someone has a very low opinion of political parties
Someone's bosses, and whatever checks and balances are in place, also allowed that to happen
What we are seeing here is the continuation of the Meme that those who make a decision to participate in our political system are in some-way dodgy or corrupt or simply suspect - even if you've never delivered a leaflet in your life, but have simply joined a political party.
SH
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