> Farage <i>says</i> he was effectively "de-banked" for his political views and that he is "far from alone"<p>Contrary to the BBC's portrayal, this is not an unsupported opinion coming from Farage - he is citing what the bank itself wrote in their internal discussions on this matter, that he obtained through a subject access request.<p>In their apology for getting the story wrong, the BBC writes: "On 4 July, the BBC reported Mr Farage no longer met the financial requirements for Coutts, citing a source familiar with the matter. The former UKIP leader later obtained a Coutts report which indicated his political views were <i>also</i> considered." - <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66288464" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66288464</a><p>This is misleading past the point of deceit. The BBC tries to give the impression that financial requirements were the primary reason for the account closure, and his politics were just an at-best secondary "also". But the Coutts report explicitly said that he “meets the EC [economic contribution] criteria for commercial retention”, so his politics were the primary and <i>only</i> reason - <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/18/nigel-farage-coutts-bank-account-closed-align-with-values/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/18/nigel-farage-cou...</a><p>If you can ignore Farage's hyperbole (I wouldn't describe collecting information posted willingly to public social media as "Stasi-style" surveillance), he lists the reasons Coutts used to close his account, which include friendship with Novak Djokovic, and re-Tweeting an allegedly transphobic joke by Ricky Gervais ("old fashioned women. You know, the ones with wombs."): <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/18/nigel-farage-coutts-uk-bank-accounts/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2023/07/18/nigel-farage-cou...</a><p>Most of this information is absent in the BBC's reporting, which uses only vague, anodyne phrases like "political views" and "politically exposed person", avoids specifics, but does find time to cite Labour MP accusations that it is hypocritical how quickly the government reacted to banks trying to financially deplatform the enemy political faction, when the government hasn't yet rid itself of corruption.
Background for non-UK readers:<p>Nigel Farage - the main mover behind Brexit - had his account closed due to his political opinions (he is also a renta-gob anti-woke columnist).<p>The bank tried to cover that up, and the Chair leaked his account details while talking to a journalist.<p>The Chair has now resigned and Farage is after more blood.<p>Don't be in any doubt though - the Beeb etc are trying to sell this story as being about the leak; but its about cancel culture and the rising mainstream awareness of it - Farage is a big name in the UK, and the attempt to shut his finances down for having the wrong opinions has hugely backfired here.