Barclays Bank Pays Out Settlement For Deplatforming Christian Group

Barclays Bank has agreed to make a payment of £21,500 ($27,176) as compensation to the Core Issues Trust, a Christian ministry situated in Northern Ireland, following the bank’s sudden closure of the ministry’s account in July 2020. The bank’s move came amidst allegations that it had succumbed to pressure from online LGBT activists, who accused the trust of engaging in conversion therapy. The start of the incident occurred in mid-2020 when a Twitter user highlighted the accounts associated with the Core Issues Trust and the International Federation for Therapeutic and Counselling Choice. The tweet triggered a barrage of over 300 phone calls and messages, lasting for days, directed at the ministry. Among them was a disconcerting text to Dr. Mike Davidson, the ministry’s chief executive, which contained despicable wishes towards his staff members’ families, The Times reported. Dr. Davidson, who had been a lifelong customer of Barclays and had opened accounts for the Core Issues Trust and the counseling federation in 2011 and 2017 respectively, received a letter from Barclays on July 13, 2020, notifying him of the termination of his account. Alleging that this action amounted to illegal discrimination, Dr. Davidson enlisted the support of the Christian Legal Centre to initiate a lawsuit against Barclays. The legal representatives argued that the cessation of banking services for both the trust and the federation unjustly compromised Dr. Davidson’s professional and public endeavors based on his religious convictions and political viewpoints. This legal tussle captured public attention, and a petition urging Barclays…Barclays Bank Pays Out Settlement For Deplatforming Christian Group