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Prestigious private bank Coutts has apologised to Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage for closing his account over views that do not “align” with its values, amid an escalating row about free speech in the UK. bulletin news
In an embarrassing climbdown for the 331-year-old bank, the chief executive of the group that owns it, NatWest, said it was not policy to “exit a customer on the basis of legally held political and personal views”.
“Freedom of expression and access to banking are fundamental to our society,” Alison Rose said in a statement on Thursday evening.
The banking chief added that she had written to Farage to apologise for “deeply inappropriate comments” made about him in internal documents.
The Eurosceptic politician and now television presenter campaigned for decades for Britain’s withdrawal from the European Union and was a key figure in the 2016 Brexit referendum.
The bank’s apology came after Farage, who previously led the right-wing UK Independence Party (UKIP), obtained a 40-page report regarding the closure of his account from the high-net-worth bank.
The report, according to Farage, repeatedly mentioned Brexit and evoked his support for former US president Donald Trump.
The politician did not “align with the bank’s purpose and values” and was “seen as xenophobic and racist”, he quoted it as saying.
In a column for the Daily Telegraph on Wednesday, Farage described the document as a “Stasi-style surveillance report”, which reads “like a pre-trial brief drawn up by the prosecution in a case against a career criminal”.
The decision by Coutts has drawn criticism from senior members of the ruling Conservative party.
“It wouldn’t be right if financial services were being denied to anyone exercising their right to lawful free speech,” British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said in parliament.
The UK government’s finance ministry on Thursday said banking firms will in future be forced to explain and delay any decision to close an account under new rules.
“Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy, and it must be respected by all institutions,” said junior finance minister Andrew Griffith.
The issue has come to the fore after reports of forced account closures.
A Church of England vicar earlier this month revealed that Yorkshire Building Society closed his account after he expressed opposition via online feedback to the institution in which he complained it was actively promoting transgender ideology.
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