Nigel Farage launches fresh attack over Coutts bank closure

Nigel Farage has launched a caller onslaught implicit Coutts bank's determination to adjacent his account.

The BBC had previously reported Mr Farage had fallen beneath the fiscal threshold needed for an account, citing a root acquainted with the move.

Speaking connected Radio 4 connected Wednesday, Mr Farage said the BBC had fallen for "spin" and restated that helium been "cancelled" for his governmental views.

Coutts said decisions to adjacent an relationship "are not taken lightly".

In the Commons connected Wednesday, responding to the enactment implicit Mr Farage's account, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said it "wouldn't beryllium right" for fiscal services to beryllium denied to those expressing lawful escaped code and said the authorities would beryllium "toughening the rules astir relationship closures" pursuing a consultation.

The BBC has been told this is expected to see giving customers much announcement of planned relationship closures, and the rationale down them, and truthful much quality to entreaty decisions.

Former person of the UK Independence Party Mr Farage spoke to BBC Radio 4's World astatine One aft helium obtained a study connected Tuesday which had reviewed his suitability arsenic a client, which has been published successful the Mail.

He told the programme that study had mentioned Brexit and his alleged links to Russia.

"Apparently, I'm a hazard to them. I person virtually nary links of immoderate benignant to Russia whatsoever. This is political. There is nary different mode of looking astatine it," helium said.

The papers besides gave examples of Mr Farage's views, including his retweet of a Ricky Gervais gag astir trans women and his relationship with tennis subordinate Novak Djokovic, who is opposed to Covid vaccinations, to emblem concerns that Mr Farage is "xenophobic and racist".

He said: "Let's beryllium wide what this 40-page papers shows, it shows that connected November 17th 2022, [Coutts'] reputational hazard committee met and said, I did not I did not align with their values, that someway I wasn't portion of their diverseness and inclusion agenda. "

In crook helium said for those reasons that determination should beryllium a "path to closing my account."

The papers - which the BBC has not seen a transcript of - makes disclosures including:

Mr Farage said the study stated "very clearly" that helium had met the bank's commercialized criteria. The bank, owned by Natwest, says customers indispensable get oregon put £1m oregon person £3m successful savings.

"For them to effort subsequently to unreal that it's for commercialized reasons conscionable is not true."

Coutts said connected Wednesday it recognised "the important interest" successful the Farage case.

"We cannot remark connected the item fixed our lawsuit confidentiality obligations. However, it is not Coutts' argumentation to adjacent lawsuit accounts solely connected the ground of legally held governmental and idiosyncratic views. Decisions to adjacent an relationship are not taken lightly and impact a fig of factors including commercialized viability, reputational considerations, and ineligible and regulatory requirements.

"We recognise the captious value of entree to banking. When it became wide that our lawsuit was incapable to unafraid banking facilities elsewhere, and arsenic helium has confirmed publicly, helium was offered alternate banking facilities with NatWest. That connection stands," it added.

Earlier connected Wednesday, the BBC was told dropping nether the wealthiness threshold could punctual the slope to behaviour a wider reappraisal of the customer's profile, including reputational and ineligible risk.

At Prime Minister's Questions connected Wednesday Former Brexit caput David Davis accused the slope of lying astir the "commercial viability" of Mr Farage's relationship successful anonymous briefings to the BBC.

Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the erstwhile concern secretary, besides called for an enquiry into what happened.

Meanwhile, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said elsewhere that this "exposes the sinister quality of overmuch of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion industry".

The BBC is not liable for the contented of outer sites.

A HM Treasury spokesperson said: "It would beryllium of superior interest if fiscal services were being denied to anyone exercising their close to lawful escaped speech.

"We volition soon acceptable retired plans to ace down connected this signifier by toughening the rules astir relationship closures, protecting state of expression.

"In the meantime, radical tin kick to the Financial Ombudsman Service which has the powerfulness to nonstop a slope to reopen an account."

Coutts said: "We recognize the nationalist interest that the processes for ending a lawsuit relationship, and however that is communicated, are not sufficiently transparent."

The slope added that it welcomed the Treasury plans to prioritise the reappraisal of the regulatory rules relating to politically exposed persons.

The authorities since January has been taking grounds connected however backstage companies' close to commercialized independency is balanced with individuals' rights to state of expression.

Government insiders person told the BBC the government's presumption is that the equilibrium has "tipped" excessively acold successful companies' favour.