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Nigel Farage’s bank account being closed has now led to a BBC apology and NatWest’s boss resigning. 

How did we get here – and why was the account really closed?

Here’s how the controversy unfolded.

Nigel Farage’s account is closed

At the end of June, Mr Farage said a bank – later confirmed as Coutts – had decided to stop doing business with him.

He said a letter from the bank contained no explanation and he had then been told over the phone it was a “commercial decision”.

In the six-minute video posted on Twitter, he said losing his bank account was the equivalent of being a “non person” and that the decision may “fundamentally affect [his] future career and whether [he] can even go on staying living here in this country”.

“The establishment are trying to force me out of the UK by closing my bank accounts,” the caption read.

In a second Twitter video, he said he had been rejected from having bank accounts by nine different companies.

He said NatWest, the owner of Coutts, offered him an account after his announcement last week, but it was not suitable because it was a personal and not a business account.

MR Farage claimed banks did not want him as a customer due to him being a “politically exposed person“, or PEP.

A PEP is someone who holds or has held public office and therefore may be more susceptible to bribery or corruption.

BBC claims Farage didn’t have enough money

On 4 July, a BBC report claimed the bank did not want his custom because he did not have enough money in his accounts.

The prestigious private bank requires clients to have at least £1m in investments or borrowing – including a mortgage – or £3m in savings.

The BBC reported that Mr Farage’s political opinions were not a factor in the decision.

But it turned out this wasn’t the case.

Nigel Farage Pic: AP
Image:
Pic: AP

Coutts’ dossier on Farage

After Coutts first told him they were cutting ties, Mr Farage submitted a subject access request to them.

He then received a 40-page document detailing all of the evidence Coutts accumulated about him to feed back to its Wealth Reputational Risk Committee.

It revealed staff at the bank spent months compiling evidence on the “significant reputational risks of being associated with him”.

The main risks were:

  • Reputational – as Mr Farage is “high profile” and “actively courts controversy”
  • Financial crime – due to “alleged Russia connections”

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Farage: ‘I was shocked with the vitriol’

The document – reported on 18 July – suggested the move was taken partly because his views did not align with the firm’s “values”, including his position on LGBTQ+ rights and friendship with former US president Donald Trump.

Ultimately it concluded the Mr Farage’s views were “at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation”.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak commented on the issue, tweeting: “This is wrong. No one should be barred from using basic services for their political views. Free speech is the cornerstone of our democracy.”

Read more:
Minister summons bank bosses after Farage account closure
Nigel Farage on ‘vitriol’ in Coutts’ dossier

The BBC apologises

On 24 July, the BBC issued an apology to Mr Farage over the story “which turned out not to be accurate”.

In a statement, the broadcaster said: “We acknowledge that the information we reported – that Coutts’ decision on Mr Farage’s account did not involve considerations about his political views – turned out not to be accurate and have apologised to Mr Farage.”

NatWest boss resigns

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NatWest boss resigns over Farage row

NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose resigned on 26 July after admitting to being the source of an inaccurate story about Mr Farage’s bank account.

The resignation was expected in the wake of briefings by Downing Street that she had lost the confidence of the prime minister and chancellor.

It came after she apologised to Mr Farage for the “deeply inappropriate comments” made about him in documents prepared for the company’s wealth committee.

She said the remarks “did not reflect the view of the bank”, which has now offered him “alternative banking arrangements”.

10 banks turned down Farage after Coutts closure

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Farage: ’10 banks turned me down’

Speaking to Sky News after Dame Alison’s resignation, Mr Farage said 10 banks had turned him down after Coutts decided to close his account.

The former Brexit Party leader would not name the banks, but said: “I don’t want to take on the whole industry.”

“You can’t exist in the world without a bank account,” he said. “You effectively become a non-person.”

What could happen next?

Banks face a Treasury clampdown in the wake of the row over Mr Farage’s account.

Lenders will be forced to give customers three months’ notice of account closures and to provide a full explanation of the reasons under reforms expected to be unveiled soon, Sky News understands.

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Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government dies aged 94

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Norman Tebbit: Former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher's government dies aged 94

Norman Tebbit, the former Tory minister who served in Margaret Thatcher’s government, has died at the age of 94.

Lord Tebbit died “peacefully at home” late on Monday night, his son William confirmed.

One of Mrs Thatcher’s most loyal cabinet ministers, he was a leading political voice throughout the turbulent 1980s.

He held the posts of employment secretary, trade secretary, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Conservative party chairman before resigning as an MP in 1992 after his wife was left disabled by the Provisional IRA’s bombing of the Grand Hotel in Brighton.

He considered standing for the Conservative leadership after Mrs Thatcher’s resignation in 1990, but was committed to taking care of his wife.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and party chairman Norman Tebbit.
Pic: PA
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Margaret Thatcher and Norman Tebbit in 1987 after her election victory. Pic: PA

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch called him an “icon” in British politics and was “one of the leading exponents of the philosophy we now know as Thatcherism”.

“But to many of us it was the stoicism and courage he showed in the face of terrorism, which inspired us as he rebuilt his political career after suffering terrible injuries in the Brighton bomb, and cared selflessly for his wife Margaret, who was gravely disabled in the bombing,” she wrote on X.

“He never buckled under pressure and he never compromised. Our nation has lost one of its very best today and I speak for all the Conservative family and beyond in recognising Lord Tebbit’s enormous intellect and profound sense of duty to his country.

“May he rest in peace.”

Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton.
Pic: PA
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Lord Tebbit and his wife Margaret stand outside the Grand Hotel in Brighton. Pic: PA

Tory grandee David Davis told Sky News Lord Tebbit was a “great working class Tory, always ready to challenge establishment conventional wisdom for the bogus nonsense it often was”.

“He was one of Thatcher’s bravest and strongest lieutenants, and a great friend,” Sir David said.

“He had to deal with the agony that the IRA visited on him and his wife, and he did so with characteristic unflinching courage. He was a great man.”

Reform leader Nigel Farage said Lord Tebbit “gave me a lot of help in my early days as an MEP”.

He was “a great man. RIP,” he added.

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher with Employment Secretary Norman Tebbit.
Pic: PA
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Lord Tebbit as employment secretary in 1983 with Mrs Thatcher. Pic: PA

Born to working-class parents in north London, he was made a life peer in 1992, where he sat until he retired in 2022.

Lord Tebbit was trade secretary when he was injured in the Provisional IRA’s bombing in Brighton during the Conservative Party conference in 1984.

Five people died in the attack and Lord Tebbit’s wife, Margaret, was left paralysed from the neck down. She died in 2020 at the age of 86.

Before entering politics, his first job, aged 16, was at the Financial Times where he had his first experience of trade unions and vowed to “break the power of the closed shop”.

He then trained as a pilot with the RAF – at one point narrowly escaping from the burning cockpit of a Meteor 8 jet – before becoming the MP for Epping in 1970 then for Chingford in 1974.

Norman Tebbit during the debate on the second reading of the European Communities (Amendment) Bill, in the House of Lords.
Pic: PA
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Lord Tebbit during an EU debate in the House of Lords in 1997. Pic: PA

As a cabinet minister, he was responsible for legislation that weakened the powers of the trade unions and the closed shop, making him the political embodiment of the Thatcherite ideology that was in full swing.

His tough approach was put to the test when riots erupted in Brixton, south London, against the backdrop of high rates of unemployment and mistrust between the black community and the police.

He was frequently misquoted as having told the unemployed to “get on your bike”, and was often referred to as “Onyerbike” for some time afterwards.

What he actually said was he grew up in the ’30s with an unemployed father who did not riot, “he got on his bike and looked for work, and he kept looking till he found it”.

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‘Oui’ or ‘non’ for Starmer’s migration deal?

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'Oui' or 'non' for Starmer's migration deal?

👉Listen to Politics at Sam and Anne’s on your podcast app👈       

The first European state visit since Brexit starts today as President Emmanuel Macron arrives at Windsor Castle.

On this episode, Sky News’ Sam Coates and Politico’s Anne McElvoy look at what’s on the agenda beyond the pomp and ceremony. Will the government get its “one in, one out” migration deal over the line?

Plus, which one of our presenters needs to make a confession about the 2008 French state visit?

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Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

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Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

Coinbase crypto lobby urges Congress to back major crypto bill

US House lawmakers have been urged by 65 crypto organizations to pass the CLARITY Act, which would hand most policing of crypto to the CFTC.

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