Lloyds Bank denies mortgage to mother of jailed Palestine Action activist over ‘adverse media’

Lloyds Bank has refused a mortgage application from the mother of a jailed Palestine Action activist because of “adverse media” surrounding her daughter’s case, an investigation by Novara Media has revealed. It is the second time the bank has acted against the family, having earlier closed the activist’s own account without explanation while she was held on remand.

Emma Kamio, a small business owner and mother of three from south Wales, applied to Lloyds in April 2026 to remortgage her commercial properties. In early June, a Lloyds business development manager told her broker: “We’ve now assessed the deal and consulted with our credit sanction team. Unfortunately, due to the adverse media it’s not something they’re comfortable supporting at this time.” The rejection came before her daughter was sentenced.

The daughter of Emma Kamio, Leona “Ellie” Kamio, is one of the so-called Filton 4, convicted over a 2024 direct action at an Elbit Systems factory in Filton, Gloucestershire, in which quadcopter drones destined for Israel’s military were damaged. In June, a court confirmed the group would be sentenced under terrorism legislation – the first time direct-action protesters have been sentenced as terrorists in British legal history, according to Amnesty International. They are now appealing their sentences.

While Ellie was on remand, and therefore not yet convicted of any offence, Lloyds wrote to her in February 2025 informing her that “following a recent review of your account, we are writing to let you know that, unfortunately, we’re unable to maintain a banking relationship with you.” No further reason was given, and the letter was sent to an address she no longer lived at.

“They debanked my daughter Ellie with no reason at all, and while she was on remand and therefore innocent until proven guilty,” Emma Kamio said. “History is just around the corner. I believe Lloyds will be on the wrong side of it.”

Of the mortgage refusal, which Emma Kamio said cost her the properties she had hoped to remortgage, she added: “The result of Lloyds’ decision has meant me losing the properties, but thankfully my drive for justice is more important to me than money.”

READ: UN condemns Trump administration’s designation of Palestine action as terrorist group

Anas Mustapha, head of public advocacy at CAGE International, called Lloyds’ decision with regards to Emma “collective punishment”. The human rights group supporting the family, said Emma Kamio “has nothing to appeal against – just a bank’s discriminatory risk assessment, applied because her daughter took action to stop the supply chain of deadly weapons used in a genocide.” 

Mustapha added: “CAGE called for a public inquiry into this practice years ago, when we saw it happening to Muslim community organisations and our own clients again and again: opaque, unaccountable decisions with no right of appeal.”

A Lloyds spokesperson told Novara Media: “We do not close customer accounts or make lending decisions based on political or personal beliefs. Our decisions are based on relevant laws, regulation, account conditions or lending requirements.” The bank is said to have declined to comment on the specifics of either case.

Both decisions predate banking rules that now require lenders to give at least 90 days’ notice and a clear, written explanation before closing an account, protections introduced after a wave of debanking controversies affecting customers across the political spectrum.

Kamio’s case is one of a growing number involving pro-Palestine campaigners losing access to banking services since Palestine Action was proscribed as a terrorist organisation in July 2025.

In Greater Manchester, Yorkshire Building Society closed a joint savings account held by John Nicholson, 70, and Norma Turner, the treasurer and chair respectively of Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine, giving three days’ notice and no explanation, the Guardian reported. 

“We’ve never been in financial difficulties, never in debt, never had any criminal record,” Nicholson said about the debanking decision. “This is just inexplicable – and obviously it’s to do with Palestine.” Yorkshire Building Society said it does not close accounts “based on different opinions or beliefs” and that closures happen only in “very rare circumstances”.

Days after Palestine Action’s proscription, Virgin Money froze Greater Manchester Friends of Palestine’s own account, which the group says was linked to a police investigation into the banned organisation despite GMFP having no connection to it. 

The Scottish Palestine Solidarity Campaign’s account with Unity Trust Bank was frozen around the same time, after the bank flagged a donation link to Palestine Action on its website, Arab News reported.

READ: Blocked, delayed, shut down: How UK banks are failing Muslim charities