Independent media rallies around the Canary as debanking scandal continues

On Tuesday 30 June, we reported that the Canary has been debanked by Lloyds. This has left us with little money and considerable stress. And while we’re still in the thick of it, the dread has been eased by the outpouring of support from our friends and allies in the independent media.

Solidarity from the independents with the Canary

We reported on 30 June that:

Lloyds has not explained why it has taken this action. Despite multiple communications from us, the bank has not been forthcoming with its reasoning.

The Canary is now in a financially precarious situation. We do not know when our money that Lloyds is holding will be returned. Moreover, we do not know how it will affect our ability to get another bank account in the future.

Among the independent news organisations to show support was Double Down News (DDN):

Lloyds debanks The Canary with no explanation and are currently withholding their funds.

This sets a very dangerous precedent and attack on Independent media.

Journalism is NOT a crime https://t.co/NsmusSqcPp

— Double Down News (@DoubleDownNews) June 30, 2026

Like us, DDN began in the 2010s, and we’ve done what we can to boost their excellent work exposing Zionist war criminals and the secretive British state.

DDN have worked with our own Joe Glenton, which is also true of Declassified UK:

@TheCanaryUK says — “Lloyds has not explained why it has taken this action. Despite multiple communications from us, the bank has not been forthcoming with its reasoning”. https://t.co/mUbyjuh60F

— Declassified UK (@declassifiedUK) June 30, 2026

Working across video and print, no outlet has done more than Declassified UK to expose the shady actions of the British military industrial complex.

Scotland’s premier newspaper the National covered our debanking, with journalist Lucy Jackson reporting:

A damning indictment on how independent media is treated in the UK 🗞️

🟨@TheCanaryUK has been de-banked by Lloyds w/ no explanation
🟨 The bank holds a 'substantial amount' of money and no word on when it will be returned
🟨 Staff currently can't be paidhttps://t.co/PtBWZGDMW7

— Lucy Jackson (@LucyAJackson_) June 30, 2026

Jackson actually managed to get a response from Lloyds, if you can call this a response:

We do not comment on individual customer accounts

It seems that Lloyds don’t comment full stop.

“No right”

Another outlet which rose around the same time as us is Novara Media, with contributing editor Ash Sarkar saying:

This worrying development takes place in a wider context of debanking for political reasons, against both the right & the left.

Banks have no right to interfere with legitimate journalistic activity. Lloyds must either disclose their rationale, or reinstate the account… https://t.co/pYEZJAwO5V

— Ash Sarkar (@AyoCaesar) June 30, 2026

We’ve covered many of Sarkar’s media appearances over the years, and we appreciate the show of solidarity. Novara have done excellent work on banks freezing accounts belonging to Palestinians. And as we said on 30 June:

We do know that multiple other politically engaged people have suffered similar actions by other banks in recent times. It is not lost on us that powerful banks are able to restrict the financial activity of anti-Zionist and pro-Palestine organisations and individuals. Whilst we do not currently know the reasons behind our debanking, we cannot afford to be naive about this.

Kernow Damo published a video on the situation titled “Independent Media Just Got A Chilling Banking Warning”:

Damo provides extensive coverage of the pernicious influence that America and Israel have on UK politics.

Our American friends at MintPress News wrote:

Lloyd’s Has Debanked Independent British Media Outlet The Canary

The outlet reports that their funds are currently being withheld & that despite multiple attempts to contact the bank, they are unable to retrieve their money, putting them in a financially precarious position that… pic.twitter.com/2kDVrxUo4Y

— MintPress News (@MintPressNews) June 30, 2026

MintPress have been on the independent scene even longer than us, exposing “the architects of the US war machine”.

Palestine Deep Dive (PDD) said:

Lloyds has debanked The Canary without explanation and is withholding its funds.

If a bank can cut off an independent media outlet with no transparency, every journalist and every citizen should be paying attention.

This is a dangerous precedent for press freedom in Britain. https://t.co/Cek0HMtbJf

— Palestine Deep Dive (@PDeepDive) June 30, 2026

PDD is both independent and Palestinian-led, ensuring people don’t just hear about the Palestinians; they also hear from them.

Solidarity from journalists

Paul Holden, author of The Fraud, wrote:

This is utterly, utterly, outrageous. Lloyds is blocking The Canary from accessing its bank accounts. They are refusing to explain why.

This will undermine free speech and independent accountability journalism. @LloydsBank must explain themselves NOW! Retweet @LloydsBank and… https://t.co/tsVcJkGDYj

— The Fraud (@StarmertheFraud) June 30, 2026

We serialised the first chapter of The Fraud, which is a startling account of how the conniving Labour right used every trick in the book to inflict Keir Starmer on Britain – the most unpopular PM we’ve ever had.

Asa Winstanley of the Electronic Intifada said:

Yet more openly politicised banking in the UK. This is unlikely to get wall to wall corporate media coverage, unlike when Farage lost his Coutts account. https://t.co/mB3VhdouMQ

— Asa Winstanley (@AsaWinstanley) June 30, 2026

Winstanley is a fierce critic of Israel, and much like the Canary, he was facing down the Zionists long before there was a mass movement to back him up.

Peter Jukes of of Byline Times said:

What on earth @LloydsBank? No doubt @afneil and @Nigel_Farage will be protesting against this infringement on free speech https://t.co/sMNx4vJX4a

— Peter Jukes (@peterjukes) June 30, 2026

Byline Times has been a considerable success story, and the Bylines Network pushes for a more diverse and powerful independent media ecosystem.

Former Canary contributor and Turn Left Media creator Curtis Daly said:

The same way it was wrong that Farage was de-banked – cutting people or organisations from funds shows how much power the banks have over us.

Utterly disgraceful! https://t.co/N40mF855sX

— Curtis Daly (@CurtisDaly_) June 30, 2026

Daly has tirelessly fought to get left-wing opinions out there, and he isn’t afraid of going into the lion’s den to make his case.

The Farage scandal

Carole Cadwalladr of the recently-formed the Nerve had this to say:

Luckily free speech & debanking champion @Nigel_Farage will be right on this. https://t.co/wa1QuMGDeo

— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) June 30, 2026

Cadwalladr has no love for Farage, and has recently exposed his links to a Russian interference campaign; not to mention his links to crypto billionaire Christopher Harborne.

On the topic of Farage, we should note something. We didn’t revel in Farage’s debanking situation, as some on the right (and left) are currently insinuating. We’re also not new to reporting on the threat of debanking – a threat which affects organisations and individuals of all political stripes. If you think it’s solely an issue that affects right-wingers, you’ve not been paying attention.

Tony Greenstein is one of the UK's best known Jewish anti-Zionist activists – and he's just revealed he's been de-banked

By @skwawkbox https://t.co/o3cYUx8ANG

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) June 5, 2026

Scott Ritter is a prominent critic of US and Western imperialism, and has just announced his bank has taken his money

By @skwawkbox https://t.co/vhs766rQgj

— Canary (@TheCanaryUK) January 16, 2026

Others criticised the Farage situation too, as Novara’s Steven Methven said:

A truly dark development. When Farage was debanked, Novara criticised that political interference. Would be great if the free speech warriors of the right could do the same now. We don’t have to agree, but we do all have to protect speech from interference by vested interests https://t.co/sLQvWsgdTA

— Steven Methven (@StevenJMethven) June 30, 2026

Canary debanking: a “disgrace”

Richard Sanders said:

The Canary has been debanked by Lloyds.

This is a disgrace. https://t.co/6WG6vZ5JhN

— Richard Sanders (@PulaRJS) June 30, 2026

Reporting for DDN, Sanders is most famous for exposing the lies that Israel told about the October 7th attack – lies it used to justify the genocide in Gaza.

Owen Jones said:

This is really disturbing.@LloydsBank have debanked @TheCanaryUK – with no explanation.

This is a frightening precedent – where banks can pull the plug on media outlets without even saying why. https://t.co/JgvySGKoMe

— Owen Jones (@owenjonesjourno) July 1, 2026

Jones has written for establishment outlets who don’t have to worry about this sort of thing, but he’s also a member of the newly-formed Zeteo UK – an outlet which will have to consider who they bank with.

Canary contributor Megan Miley said:

As someone who has written for this fantastic outlet in the past I urge you to donate. Independent media is so incredibly important at a time where billionaires control the narrative ! My thoughts go out to everyone #thecanary #Lloyds bank@TheCanaryUK @wordsbyHG . @TheCanaryUK https://t.co/aetzwObSAr

— Megan (@MeganRo73185925) June 30, 2026

Miley has done great work covering the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP); the sort of work that is left to independent journalists, because the establishment media have internalised the idea that sick and disabled people are undeserving layabouts.

Greg Hadfield said:

I’ll try again tomorrow:

0345 300 0000

— Greg Hadfield (@GregHadfield) June 30, 2026

As we reported, Hadfield was put on trial for his work exposing the Labour pervert Ivor Caplin. Hadfield never backed down and eventually secured an acquittal, and we’re heartened to see him fighting for us now.

Thank you

There are many more who’ve shown their support, including Jonathan Cook, Jewish Voice for Liberation, Adam Ramsay, Ant Loewenstein, Greens4Palestine, David Rovics, Bella Caledonia, Stella Tsantekidou of Labour List, and Tom London. There are no doubt many more; these are just the ones we saw between writing this piece and worrying about what happens next.

You’ll notice the people who haven’t spoken out, of course, and that’s the journalists and politicians who make up the British establishment. Honestly, they’re smart to stay quiet, because this latest speed bump isn’t going to stop us exposing them – even if they do offer us backhanded solidarity.

They can make us poor, but they can’t make us wrong.

If you want to support our efforts, you can do so here.

Featured image via the Canary