Farage: NatWest did not make an 'honest mistake'
Nigel Farage says NatWest did not make "an honest mistake" when they closed his bank account. His comments come after an independent review found the bank's former chief executive infringed on his data protection rights. The broadcaster and former UKIP leader says he wants "every man and woman" to "have a right to a bank account". Report by Brooksl. Like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/itn and follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/itn
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 In terms of Dame Alison Rose, the thing is a complete and utter whitewash.
00:03 They say that it was an honest mistake. Well, it wasn't, because whatever she said at that dinner the night before over a glass of wine,
00:09 she was given the opportunity by the BBC business correspondent to retract the next morning.
00:14 She chose not to do so.
00:16 So to call it an honest mistake, frankly, calls into question the whole independence of this so-called review.
00:23 It just looks like the cosy corporate world to me.
00:25 I'm also pretty upset that they conclude that it was predominantly a financial decision to close the account.
00:32 Well, I can tell you that back in the summer, I got the 38 pages back from Coots.
00:37 That was my subject access request, in which they make it clear more than once that my accounts were commercially viable,
00:45 but I was to be closed out because of reputational risk, because my views did not align with that of the bank.
00:51 So on Alison Rose, it is a whitewash.
00:54 When it comes to the procedural side of things, while the report does have some interesting things to say,
00:59 it says that Nat West have made some pretty serious errors.
01:03 The one that really I was gobsmacked by was that the letter that was sent to me, closing my accounts without any explanation,
01:11 they used a headed paper. They used the format they used for those who they suspect of financial crime.
01:19 And that tells you all you need to know about the political culture that Dame Alison built up within Nat West Bank.
01:26 And it's funny, these people who talk about diversity and inclusion.
01:30 Well, diversity is wonderful, unless you disagree with them.
01:33 If you have diversity of thought, well, you can see how they behave.
01:37 And frankly, the disgusting comments, even inciting violence against me that have been made by Nat West employees,
01:43 suggest to me that the whole organisation is suffering from maladministration,
01:48 and I suspect that's why the share price is now languishing where it is.
01:52 Well, whether it was lawful, it wasn't ethical.
01:56 And I was given no reasons, which I personally found pretty objectionable after 43 years of banking with that group.
02:05 But what they did when they tried to give me reasons for closing the account,
02:10 is they put in place a whole series of lies.
02:14 And that isn't lawful.
02:16 And do you know something? If you actually look at a lot of financial market regulation,
02:20 you're not allowed to close accounts on the basis of prejudice.
02:24 Well, I wonder if my account had been closed because I was black, I wonder what the reaction then would be.
02:28 There's no, you know, 86 times in that first subject access request, Brexit was mentioned.
02:34 Russia was mentioned 144 times.
02:37 Senior Nat West staff saying he's being paid by the Kremlin.
02:42 I mean, all of this, all of this was prejudicial.
02:45 And I will now we've got to this stage, be having a very serious chat with lawyers.
02:51 Well, look, I mean, I, you know, I didn't go public just for me.
02:53 I went public because I realized this was happening to so many people in our country.
02:58 A million bank accounts closed over the course of the last few years.
03:02 And in most cases, these are people who aren't able to speak on the public stage.
03:07 So I went public, admitted I'd been debanked, which I tell you what, it's actually quite an embarrassing thing to do.
03:13 But I now want to be their champion.
03:15 So I'm not going to stop here.
03:17 I'm not going to stop here.
03:18 The Financial Conduct Authority, the regulator need to do their job.
03:23 The Information Commissioner's Office need to do their job and government and business need to change the law.
03:29 And ultimately, what I want to get to is that every man and woman in this country has a right to a bank account.
03:37 And I say that because in the 21st century, you cannot live, exist or survive without a bank account.
03:44 It's as essential as oil, water, electricity.
03:48 And that's what I want to get to in the end.
03:49 So look, you know, this is not the last you've heard from me on this very important subject.