British bank terminates Farage account because he isn’t woke enough
The BBC report:
The boss of NatWest has admitted a “serious error” in talking about Nigel Farage’s relationship with its private banking arm Coutts.
Dame Alison Rose said she was wrong to respond to questions from the BBC about Mr Farage’s account being closed.
Chancellor Jeremy Hunt has “significant concerns” about the conduct of Dame Alison, BBC News has been told.
She has faced calls to resign from Mr Farage and several Tory MPs including former cabinet minister David Davis.
The ex-UKIP leader had demanded NatWest explain how his financial information was made public as the row over his bank account closure escalated.
NatWest said it still had full confidence in Dame Alison at the helm.
Dame Alison’s apology comes after the BBC apologised on Monday for its inaccurate report earlier this month which said Mr Farage’s account was closed because he no longer met the wealth threshold for Coutts, citing a source familiar with the matter.
Mr Farage later secured a Coutts report which indicated his political views were also considered.
The banking group has been under mounting pressure to explain how information about Mr Farage’s account closure had been disclosed.
In her first admission that she had been involved, Dame Alison said in conversations with BBC business editor Simon Jack “she had confirmed that Mr Farage was a Coutts customer and he had been offered a NatWest bank account”.
This is both scary and scandalous.
Farage was leader of the pro-Brexit UKIP. His bank decided to dump him as a customer because they didn’t like his political views on several issues.
Access to banking services is pretty essential in society. The thought that banks can refuse to allow you to bank with them, because they don’t agree with your politics is horrifying. Allowing you to have a bank account is not endorsing you. It is allowing you to bank.
Farage is controversial, but within the mainstream. Numerous polls have shown around 20% to 25% of Brits approve of him – a higher percentage than approved of Jeremy Corbyn.
Imagine the outrage if banks dumped Jeremy Cornyn as a customer because they don;’t like his views on the Middle East?
Not only did the bank close his account for political reasons, they lied to the BBC and briefed them off the record that it was nothing to do with politics, but he simply wasn’t wealthy enough anymore.
So they made a political decision, they lied about it, and then they leaked his personal banking information to the BBC to discredit his claims. We only know this because the bank’s internal notes were leaked.
Think about where this could end up. How would you feel if your electricity supplier decided they would no longer supply you electricity because they dislike your political views?
hopefully Dame Alison will be looking for a new job soon.