No tracking. No cookies
Subscriptions
Subscriptions
Support our mission to provide fearless stories about and outside the media system
Packed with exclusive investigations, analysis, and features
A group campaigning and raising money for the Palestinians say they have had their bank account frozen by Virgin Money with over £10,000 in funds trapped – much of which was destined as aid to Gaza.
Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine says the bank, which is now owned by Nationwide, has provided “absolutely no explanation” for the freeze, despite 40 years of banking without problems and is refusing to answer any questions about the decision.
The freeze occurred in the days after a separate organisation, the direct action group Palestine Action, was banned as a ‘terrorist’ organisation by the Labour Government.
On 10th July 2025, treasurer John Nicholson discovered their internet banking access had been completely blocked. A ban on Palestine Action came into effect on 4th July.
Unlike bank account closures which require two months’ notice to customers, GM Friends of Palestine says the freeze gives them no access to funds and no way to make representations.
Don’t miss a story
The group say the bank has refused to provide any reason for the freeze, with staff allegedly stating “I can tell you nothing” and hanging up on enquiries, with no process for appeal or further discussion.
In a letter to Nationwide, treasurer John Nicholson wrote: “I pointed out that it was not that they ‘could’ not tell me anything – it was that they did not want to do so. They put the phone down on me…
“It is our opinion that the bank is now complicit in the genocide…Holding onto our money, seemingly indefinitely (there is no determination of the time they will do so) amounts to permanently depriving us of what is ours. That is theft.”
He added: “We can all see a state increasingly frightened of even the mildest criticism and they appear to be attempting to close down all protests, through all means at their disposal.”
Nicholson told Byline Times: “We know absolutely nothing. Now, what do you want me to guess? That this is about an organisation who we’re not allowed to name was banned ridiculously, shamelessly, pitifully, by the useless Home Secretary. And guess what? Palestine-related accounts around the country are being threatened…
“This isn’t my money: this is hundreds of individual donors and supporters who are putting small amounts of money into our bank, which we are then using, in our own small way, to help non-Governmental organisations on the ground in Gaza and the West Bank.”
The Palestine campaigner added: “We’ve been effectively ‘de-banked’.” Reform’s Nigel Farage made front pages for weeks when he lost access to his elite Coutts account in 2023. The Conservative Government then brought in rule changes for banks to make it harder to close customer accounts. The rules come into force in April next year.
Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine has been using donations to support Palestinian NGOs, including the Middle East Children’s Alliance, Palestinian doctors, and the Palestinian Amputee Football Association which provides sports facilities to disabled Palestinians.
Bungs from Billionaires: Do Labour’s Political Funding Reforms Really Pass the ‘Musk Test’?
Josiah Mortimer investigates whether the Government’s new reforms will stop the likes of billionaire X owner Elon Musk from funnelling millions of dollars into British politics
Over the past 18 months, GM Friends of Palestine says it has distributed approximately £30,000 worth of aid to Palestinian groups in Gaza and the West Bank.
The frozen funds represent small donations from hundreds of individual supporters. Treasurer John Nicholson claims it is part of a wider pattern affecting Palestine-related accounts across the country.
Nicholson argues the bank’s actions amount to “complicity with genocide” by preventing aid from reaching Palestinians, comparing it to Israel blocking UN trucks entering Gaza.
GM Friends of Palestine has written to its supporters, saying: “We have organised over 100 demonstrations through the city centres of Salford and Manchester in the last year and a half, we have publicised boycott actions and supported the closures of Israeli arms firms and their linked companies, and we have raised money for people in both Gaza and the West Bank…We want to continue to be able to do so…
“The bank won’t even agree to pass what is in the account back to us, and close the account. They just say now that they will “be in touch” “when things change”. What “things”? A ceasefire maybe? Or freedom and justice for Palestine? People need our support now. Campaigning needs carrying out, now more than ever.”
The group is seeking alternative banking options in the meantime and volunteers are collecting cash in buckets in the city.
A spokesperson for Virgin Money said: “While we are unable to comment on individual customer accounts there are a variety of reasons why we may decide, or be required, to suspend or close an account in order to comply with applicable laws and regulations.”
How UK newspapers covered the Farage de-banking 27th July 2023, via Politico:
UK newspaper front pages 26th July 2023, via Politico:
holding farage to account #reformUNCOVERED
While most the rest of the media seems to happy to give the handful of Reform MPs undue prominence, Byline Times is committed to tracking the activities of Nigel Farage’s party when actually in power.
Contribute to our #ReformUncovered crowdfunderWith thanks to our readers as ever for story tips. Do you live in a Reform-run council area? Get in touch in confidence on josiah@bylinetimes.com
Subscribers Get More from JOSIAH
Josiah Mortimer also writes the On the Ground column, exclusive to the print edition of Byline Times.
So for more from him…
