Business of the House

Danny Kruger Excerpts

Thursday 22nd September 2022 Commons Chamber

[Penny Mordaunt]

Many hon. Members put questions to the Business Secretary earlier today. I will raise that specific issue with him, and business will be announced in the usual way.

[Danny Kruger (Devizes) (Con)]

Does my right hon. Friend share my deep concern about the decision of PayPal, the online payments company, to cancel the accounts of certain organisations, including UsForThem, which campaigned against the covid lockdowns and—perhaps most ironically—the Free Speech Union, which appears to have been targeted because of its views on sex and gender? As we move towards a cashless economy, those companies form part of the essential infrastructure of ordinary life. Will the Government take steps to ensure that such companies cannot discriminate against individuals or organisations on the basis of perfectly legal political views?

[Penny Mordaunt]

My hon. Friend may have more information than I do about why PayPal has cancelled those accounts and removed that facility from the organisations he mentioned. From what I understand, the Free Speech Union and other organisations are still in the dark about exactly why they have had those services removed, despite making great efforts to find out. That is a common theme in the casework of many Members of the House, whether that is cancelling contracts or trying to get an error resolved with firms, and it is difficult for people to speak directly to someone to try to get a situation resolved, or to reorganise how they will make those payments. That is a good topic for debate, and I encourage hon. Members who are concerned about customer services in some of these organisations to bring the issue forward and ask for a debate in the usual way.