• Login
  • Register
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In
The Daily Sceptic
No Result
View All Result

Nigel Farage’s Coutts Account Closed as Bank Felt He Did Not “Align With Their Values”

by Will Jones
18 July 2023 6:47 PM

Nigel Farage’s bank accounts were closed down after Coutts, a company 39%-owned by the taxpayer, decided his views “do not align with our values”, documents obtained by the former UKIP leader show. The Telegraph has the story.

A reputational risk committee ‘exited’ him after considering a dossier detailing Mr. Farage’s comments about Brexit, his friendship with Donald Trump and his views on LGBT rights among many reasons he was not “compatible with Coutts”.

The background briefing paper even made reference to Mr. Farage’s friendship with Novak Djokovic, the former Wimbledon champion, as evidence that he was not as “inclusive” as the bank.

Earlier this month, the BBC and the Financial Times reported claims that the reason Mr. Farage’s accounts were closed was that they fell below the financial threshold required by the bank. The BBC quoted sources “familiar with” the Coutts decision.

Yet in the 40 pages of documents released to Mr. Farage after he made a subject access request to Coutts, the bank repeatedly says he “meets the EC [economic contribution] criteria for commercial retention”.

Writing in the Telegraph, Mr Farage accuses the private bank of “lying” about the real reason he was cut off, saying the documents show that the decision was politically-driven.

He describes the file as a “Stasi-style surveillance report” and notes that the word Brexit appears in the report 86 times – which, he says, “perhaps tells us all we need to know”.

“Between 2014 and 2016, when I first banked with Coutts, no problems ever arose. After Brexit became a reality, everything changed,” he writes.

Minutes of a meeting of Coutts’ Wealth Reputational Risk Committee held on November 17th 2022 state: “The Committee did not think continuing to bank NF was compatible with Coutts given his publicly-stated views that were at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation. This was not a political decision but one centred around inclusivity and purpose.”

Mr. Farage has said Coutts told him he was not being treated as a Politically Exposed Person (PEP) – a legal term for customers who are deemed risky for political reasons – but the dossier specifically states that he is one.

Mr. Farage writes: “Whoever at Coutts thought it clever to feed friendly media outlets outright lies about me sorely misjudged the situation.”

The document contains 39 mentions of Donald Trump, and Mr. Farage said: “The fact that I support Donald Trump is part of this charge sheet.”

It says he is seen as “xenophobic and racist”, repeats claims that he was a fascist in his schooldays, and says he said things in the past that are “distasteful and appear increasingly out of touch with wider society”.

Mr. Farage writes that the dossier “reads rather like a pre-trial brief drawn up by the prosecution in a case against a career criminal. Monthly press checks were made on me. My social media accounts were monitored. Anything considered ‘problematic’ was recorded. I was being watched”.

He is not the only Right-wing figure to have been denied banking facilities. Tory peers have disclosed that their children have been told they cannot have an account after banks made reference to their parentage, and dozens of other people have had accounts closed without explanation.

Mr. Farage writes: “This story is not just about me. You could be next. … if this situation is left unchecked, we will sleepwalk towards a China-style social credit system in which only those with the ‘correct’ views are allowed to fully participate in society.”

The Coutts committee decided to put him on a “glide path” to being ejected, with his personal and business accounts to be closed when his mortgage deal ended this year.

Mr. Farage now says he cannot get an account with any other bank, having been turned down by 10 banks since Coutts withdrew its services. 

Members of his family have also been refused accounts by other banks, and one family member was told his or her account was being closed.

Coutts, whose customers include members of the Royal family, is part of NatWest Group plc, which is 39% owned by the taxpayer following the Government bailout of the company in 2008.

Farage tweeted a video about the revelations, saying “I now have evidence Coutts lied to me”.

I now have evidence Coutts LIED to me.. 
 
In an explosive 40 page memo, “Brexit” is mentioned 86 times, “Russia” 144 & “PEP” 10. 
 
Support for Trump + views on immigration, net zero & the vaccine are listed as reasons to exit me.
 
They say my account is commercially viable! pic.twitter.com/QjPCuUetu3

— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 18, 2023

Worth reading in full.

Toby Young writes: “Not a political decision” – That‘s a very revealing comment and one you hear often from enforcers of woke dogma. Their ‘values’ and ‘purpose’ aren’t ‘political’. Oh no. They’re self-evidently morally correct and anyone who doesn’t share them is completely beyond the pale. I don’t think this is a deliberate sleight of hand. Rather, the way in which the woke mind virus spreads within an institution is that the infected aren’t aware they’re infected; they think they’re well and everyone who doesn’t agree with them is infected. It’s an ideology that is believed by its adherents to be non-ideological, thereby enabling them to enforce it without thinking they’re doing anything ‘political’ and without feeling any corresponding need to defend their actions.

Stop Press: Read about Dame Alison Rose, the first female executive of NatWest, who is responsible for steering the banking group towards saving the planet and embracing equity, diversity and inclusion.

Tags: BanksBrexitDebankingNigel FarageSocial Credit System

Donate

We depend on your donations to keep this site going. Please give what you can.

Donate Today

Comment on this Article

You’ll need to set up an account to comment if you don’t already have one. We ask for a minimum donation of £5 if you'd like to make a comment or post in our Forums.

Sign Up
Previous Post

More Than 28,000 Convicted of Covid Rule Breaches as Prosecutions Continue

Next Post

Nick Dixon and Toby Young Talk About the Hatefulness of Stop Funding Hate, the Conservative Councillor Suspended for Objecting to Pride and the Left-Liberal Hypocrisy on Show in the Huw Edwards Scandal

Subscribe
Login
Notify of
Please log in to comment

To join in with the discussion please make a donation to The Daily Sceptic.

Profanity and abuse will be removed and may lead to a permanent ban.

40 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NEWSLETTER

View today’s newsletter

To receive our latest news in the form of a daily email, enter your details here:

DONATE

PODCAST

In Episode 35 of the Sceptic: Andrew Doyle on Labour’s Grooming Gang Shame, Andrew Orlowski on the India-UK Trade Deal and Canada’s Ignored Covid Vaccine Injuries

by Richard Eldred
9 May 2025
5

LISTED ARTICLES

  • Most Read
  • Most Commented
  • Editor’s Picks

Is Britain on the Brink of Civil War?

12 May 2025
by Joe Baron

Disney Re-Releases Snow White – and it Bombs Even Worse Than the First Time

12 May 2025
by Will Jones

News Round-Up

13 May 2025
by Richard Eldred

The Met Office is Unable to Name the Sites Providing ‘Estimated’ Temperature Data For its 103 Non-Existent Stations

12 May 2025
by Chris Morrison

NatWest Customer Offended by Pride Flags Told to Bank Online

12 May 2025
by Will Jones

BBC Presenter Gary Lineker Posts Anti-Israel Video Featuring Rat Emoji – a Known Antisemitic Slur

26

Did Keir Starmer Just Say He Will ‘Take Back Control’?

26

A Closer Look at ARIA: Britain’s Secretive £800 Million Sun-Dimming Quango

23

Is Britain on the Brink of Civil War?

32

Female Rugby Player Left With Major Injury After Horror Tackle From Transgender Opponent Asks: “How Was This Allowed to Happen?”

15

The NHS No Longer Recognises the Reality of Biological Sex

13 May 2025
by Caroline Ffiske

A Closer Look at ARIA: Britain’s Secretive £800 Million Sun-Dimming Quango

13 May 2025
by Tilak Doshi

Did Keir Starmer Just Say He Will ‘Take Back Control’?

13 May 2025
by James Alexander

Why Are Popes so Soft on Migration?

12 May 2025
by Dr Roger Watson

Is Britain on the Brink of Civil War?

12 May 2025
by Joe Baron

POSTS BY DATE

July 2023
M T W T F S S
 12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930
31  
« Jun   Aug »

SOCIAL LINKS

Free Speech Union
  • Home
  • About us
  • Donate
  • Privacy Policy

Facebook

  • X

Instagram

RSS

Subscribe to our newsletter

© Skeptics Ltd.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Articles
  • About
  • Archive
    • ARCHIVE
    • NEWS ROUND-UPS
  • Podcasts
  • Newsletter
  • Premium
  • Donate
  • Log In

© Skeptics Ltd.

wpDiscuz
You are going to send email to

Move Comment