Dame Alison Rose, the CEO of NatWest, has resigned this morning, following yesterday’s admission that she was behind the leak to the BBC about Nigel Farage being de-banked because he didn’t meet Coutts’s financial thresholds. The Mail has more.
NatWest is engulfed in a full-blown crisis today after its chief executive was forced to quit over briefing the BBC about Nigel Farage’s ‘de-banking’.
Dame Alison Rose initially tried to cling on to her £5 million-a-year post despite dramatically admitting she was behind the leaking of a customer’s financial details.
But she finally fell on her sword in the early hours of the morning following an extraordinary intervention from the PM and Chancellor, who made clear their “significant concerns”. The taxpayer still has a big stake in NatWest following the Credit Crunch.
The furore was threatening to spread this morning, with Mr Farage hailing the departure as a “start” – but adding “the whole Board needs to go” after backing her abortive attempt to stay in post.
“She’s gone, and that’s a start, but I have to say that (Coutts chief executive) Peter Flavel… (NatWest chair) Howard Davies… it was the board that sanctioned this culture that talks about diversity and inclusion, and actually is very divisive,” he said.
“In my case, as you can clearly see, pretty poisonous stuff. I think any board member that endorsed that statement last night, where they said ‘yes, she breached confidentiality, but she can stay in her post’… frankly, I think the whole board needs to go.”
Senior Tories lined up behind their long-term political foe in the battle against ‘woke’ banking culture. Former Cabinet minister David Jones said: “Only yesterday they were declaring full confidence in her. How can they expect customers, shareholders and the taxpayer to retain confidence in them?”
A No 10 source said Rishi Sunak was concerned about the unfolding situation. The source said: “Alison Rose has done the right thing in resigning.
“Everyone would expect people in public life – whether that’s in a business leadership role or otherwise – to act responsibly and with integrity.”
Shares in NatWest fell by 3% in early trading this morning, while other banks were also hit – with Lloyds down 3% despite a surge in half-year profits.
City minister Andrew Griffith – who was due to hold a summit with banking chiefs including Dame Alison this morning –wrote on Twitter: “It is right that the NatWest CEO has resigned.
“This would never have happened if NatWest had not taken it upon itself to withdraw a bank account due to someone’s lawful political views. That was and is always unacceptable.
“I hope the whole financial sector learns from this incident. Its role is to serve customers well and fairly – not to tell them how or what to think.”
Worth reading in full.
The BBC, Times, Telegraph and Guardian also have the story.
Now the Chairman of the Board, Sir Howard Davies, and the CEO of Coutts, Peter Flavel, have to go.
Well done Nigel – you’ve played a blinder. The chief executives of high street banks will be sending out company-wide memos this morning telling their employees not to de-bank anyone.
Watch me talking to Nigel about this sinister new form of cancel culture here.
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ESG—————A communist coup. You all come onboard with the wokery or you will be banished from polite society.
“Resigns!” I like that, now the rest of the bent board will be forming cliques to scapegoat the weakest members to save their own necks!
I fully expect the left to claim this is right wing cancel culture and draw a false equivalency between people who lose their jobs for expressing “inappropriate” opinions and this lady who drove the political persecution of Farage.
Her statement last night made her position untenable, that the board did not recognise that means they are similarly unfit for their positions.
And the Board, with their statement of support, have ignored the excellent advice of Dennis Healey, a Chancellor of the Exchequer a while back: “when you find yourself in a hole, stop digging”. They’re so blind they all need to resign asap.
It couldn’t happen to a nicer crowd. I was a longstanding customer in the mid 90s when I spoke with my ‘Relationship Manager’ in the St. Mary Axe branch about my upcoming divorce. I wanted to secure my money in my joint account from my rapacious, soon to be ex-wife. He, a 20 something inexperienced individual, had the gall to try and tell me what I couldn’t do with my money! Shame he wasn’t in the building when the IRA ‘refurbished’ it.
Yay!!! I suppose that means she won’t be answering my letter…
Apologies to Nigel, but in many ways I’m glad this happened to him. He’s probably one of the few people, along with Toby, prepared to kick up an almighty fuss and bring to light the extent to which debanking is happening.
There’s a lot a similarities with a China style social credit system, but at least for now the government isn’t totally in step with it. Goodness knows what a Labour government would do, especially if they’re propped up by the SNP or Lib Dems.
Unfortunately there is fly in the ointment.. if CBDC’s (Central Bank Digital Currency) become a reality, all these banks will be wiped away anyway, and then we will truly be under the ‘collective’ dictatorship on everything we do, say, or buy.. just a thought!
That’s why it’s supremely important to keep cash and start developing parallel communities, etc.
Exactly right..
I see my little 77th ticker is on my tail this evening.. haha
George, it’s a badge of pride.
Spot on.
And why it’s supremely important to ensure that these banks cannot ‘judge’ people regarding wrongthink, but treat each one fairly and dispassionately. Let the debate of ideas happen in the open, in the ‘market square’, not behind banking (or other) closed doors.
government pretend they are against this but just turn a blind eye. Either people’s opinions are protected or they are not. Has the regulator said anything ?
She’ll either be the head of the National Trust or the new CEO of John Lewis within six months.
Or NATO..
Jesus! I’m a JL pensioner the current “Chairman” is bad enough what with “pride” signs all over the bloody place. That’s the trouble with having a woke civil servant in charge. Be quite good if we had a retailer who actually knew something about shop keeping. God help us all.
Ditto the NT.
Howard Davies…name rings a bell……couldn’t be……..could it?
‘Sir Howard John Davies (born 12 February 1951) is a British economist and author, … He was the first chairman of the Financial Services Authority…..regulating the whole of the UK financial services industry…..’
‘For both American and European economists, the main culprit of the (2008 banking) crisis was financial regulation and supervision.’
https://www.promarket.org/2017/10/17/blame-2008-financial-crisis/
Failing upwards
These so-called liberal financial institutions are a bunch of whig bankers.
Obviously this Rose woman is now due a few years in prison as would be the lot of any ordinary bank employee for leaking customer information. After a completely fair trial of course. And it goes without saying that the Boards of Natwest and Coutts must also resign for in offering their support, “full confidence,” to this Rose woman they have confirmed that they are wholly unfit to remain employed in the banking sector.
Howard Davies and Peter Flavell must now follow Rose in to Court to hear how long they must serve. After completely open and fair trials.
Send, ’em down.
Arise Sir Nigel.
(He is playing an absolute blinder).
Unfortunately, I think that’s rather going to be a case of I really don’t want to do these unpleasant press conference anymore, hence, I’m now retiring into privacy (with my millions).
Not forgetting the BBC reporter of course, or his editor for allowing the piece to be published..
Good. Other exemplary representatives of the Anything is ok provided it harms the enemy!
culture will hopefully follow. The people who invented the atomic bomb for the sole purpose of efficient torching of Japanese cities are unfortunately dead. But there are plenty of others who still not-so-secretly worship their accomplishments.
The atomic bomb comment is way off. The Americans invented the atomic bomb in a race to beat the Nazis to it. Lucky for us the Americans won. The Americans dropped the bomb on Japan in an effort to shock Japan into a quick surrender rather than invade the Japanese mainland, a venture that would have cost tens of millions of civilian lives in a country with a “no surrender” Bushido code.
The atomic bomb comment is way off. The Americans invented the atomic bomb in a race to beat the Nazis to it.
The Germans never put any real effort into the mass murder of civilians by aerial firebombing during this time as this was singularly useless for actual warfare and they had plenty of other problems to deal with. Apart from that, I’m aware of the If we openly demonstrate what kind of dishonourable, insane and completely out of control killers we are, they will certainly … ! cover story. It doesn’t really change anything. Intentional mass killing of civilians is murder. Even when there’s a war going on. This has been the civilized consensus since the 30 years war.
Aerial firebombing wasn’t necessary. They had ‘showers’ and Xyklon B, admittedly for a select portion of their population
There is an interesting and very thoughtful interview with Oppenheimer from 1965 about this. His view seems to be the same. It was an awful thing to do,but invading Japan would have been worse.
The free advertising for the Free Speech Union has been absolutely marvellous. Well done that Nat West board.
I wonder what’s due next? The WEFfers will surely be in a bit of a flap over this as it hi-lights were they are headed with the social credit system. Might a climate catastrophe be on the cards? A plane crash perhaps? A mysterious explosion?
The saying “each action has an equal and opposite reaction” has been redefined as “each [left/woke] action will have a far greater reaction”.
With one hand Sunak calls for Rose to stand down (Tory poll rating dead in the ditch and only 18 months to GE) and with the other he will surreptitiously be working to impose a credit rating system on the people of the UK to keep the WEF off his back.
Let’s not forget the BBC’s original breathless “reporting” on this. They were clearly delighted to be going after Farage. Higher ups at BBC News need to go too.
This needs to be built on into a full scale attack on ESG and stakeholder capitalism. NatWest is one of many banks. All the corporations are in on this ideology at the behest of Larry Fink and Klaus Schwab.
And crucially, Nigel Farage still can’t get a replacement bank account or the restoration of his bank account at Coutt’s!
Maybe this is just the start. A defamation claim could follow, loss of reputation/consequential damages, perhaps…
A few days Nigel warned the Banksters “you don’t pick a fight with the toughest guy in the pub.”
I wonder if they’re starting to understand that now?
Yesterday, on his GB News show he had as guests a Conservative MP who has been de-banked, Alexandra Tolstoy who has been de-banked and Kwasi Kwarteng.
He is building a politically neutral campaign against the Banks which will be launched pdq.
The FCA, ICO and the Government are going to be forced to act.
The viscerating of Nick Robinson on R4 by Nigel Farage yesterday beat all of this. You can’t barrage the Farage
This is a great win for our side, but I won’t be happy until NF and GB News gets on the case of all the other thousands of people who have been de-banked or (as is the case right now) Britain First who can’t get insurance for their vans.
Great stuff Nigel you’ve got ‘em on the run. NF said he was a bit of a Marmite character. Well I absolutely love Marmite!
And NatWest must now, as 39% public owned bank, state what her severance package was, and indeed, somehow justify why she should even have one. After all, if it had been a minion, it would have been a straight firing.