Or they could have handled it so very much more professionally and low key. Whoever wrote the internal review document about Farage should be sacked along with their line manager. No professional business would put in a written document the inflammatory sentences that was used to describe the reputational risk they saw in Farage. That was worse than careless, that was idiotic. And for the NatWest CEO to decide to “leak” the reason as being purely financial was very unprofessional in any business, let alone a bank. No quality review checks, no PR & communications plan, no preparation. Hopeless.
1 Like
NF and Gina Miller are agreeing about something.
1 Like
There would have been no discussion of the ins and outs of all this had it not been for the fact it has been so very public. Many would have remained unaware had it not been for NF’s case.
4 Likes
And yet.
Back 8 or so years ago there was a series of debanking decisions, mainly by HSBC, to remove banking services from a number of UK based organisations and individuals. This was reported at the time - but ignored because all the organisations and individuals were Muslims. It might have been reported more but some news outlets decided to suppress this story. In fact, the Telegraph lost one of its principle columnists over this issue. Peter Osborne wrote a piece on this scandal (a proper scandal as one organisation was a charity whose bank account closure prevented it dispersing aid for some time) but the Telegraph refused to publish his article. He resigned as a result. Osborne tried to raise this scandal with senior government ministers but no-one cared.
So, sorry, but Farage’s pretend victimhood is not the start of anything.
1 Like
Same thing happened about 5 years ago, too - the target that time was legal immigrants from the continents of Africa and Asia.
People who had lived and worked here for decades were sent letters informing them their bank accounts would be closed down.
It happened around the same time that Theresa May was having the “hostile environment” drive against illegal immigrants. The Government had instructed the Banks to de-bank any illegal immigrants but they were also de-banking many established legal immigrants too.
I remember The Guardian used to keep reporting this issue but I can’t recall Farage getting up on his soapbox about this injustice.
Thanks Lincs and Boot for you input, however, I think Farage had other irons in the fire at the time, and he wasn’t reporting on a news channel. He has mentioned recently, when asked by many people if he will be returning to politics, he always answers that he can do much more good for the people where he is now, and bringing this situation to the public’s attention just proves that.
Farage and especially GB News represents the people of the UK, but unfortunately some of the people who consider themselves middle or upper class (not all) don’t like it up em’…Well hard cheese, I think Farage and GB News are doing a sterling job and they certainly speak for me and just about everyone I know.
Bravo GB News and Nigel… 
4 Likes
Here’s a link to a Report from 2018 about Nat West closing people’s accounts in a discriminatory way, without giving them a reason -
Yes, hopefully with Farage’s help we can put a stop to all those shenanigans boot.
3 Likes
Yes, debanking should have resulted in an outcry at the time and had something done about it …but it didn’t. Just as well NF has given it prominence now (for whatever reason) and there has been an awareness and outcry about it. Better late than never.
2 Likes
But he seems to have made a difference where others have failed.
8 Likes
Ditto, his success is clear always one step ahead of the rest, his position at GB news attracting those who can see the advantages.
Tories Lee Anderson, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Esther McVey and Philip Davies.
4 Likes
In 5 years time, this will all be forgotten by many and there will be another bank scandal everyone is making a fuss about - just like everyone seems to have forgotten the last de-banking scandal and the fuss that was raised in 2018 - if you think it wasn’t successful, you must have forgotten that the fuss made was big enough and successful enough to cause the government to do a U-Turn and shelve plans to force the banks to do even more de-banking - maybe it was played down in some sections of the media but I can remember it.
And it was the Citizens Advice Bureau who successfully campaigned for the right for everyone to be able to open a basic bank account, even if they were turned down for other banking facilities. They carried on campaigning until the Government and the banks listened and reached a voluntary agreement for the right to basic bank accounts.
My point was less about Farage and more about the right wing press who have stoked this pretend outrage. As I mentioned in a previous post, the columnist Peter Osborne resigned from the Telegraph because they refused to print an article he wrote about UK Muslims being de-banked. Here are the recent Telegraph front page headlines:
19 July - bank axed Farage as he doesn’t align with our values
20 July - bank boss under pressure over Farage scandal
21 July - bank boss finally apologies to Farage
But back a few years ago they wouldn’t even print an article deep inside the paper. Because presumably it did not align with their values? The papers are shaping your views by what they do not print as much as by what they do print.
Farage is not going to change anything apart from how people perceive him - he wants to be viewed as fighting for the people. Convenient he gets such support in presenting this very false image of him. Imagine the headlines if it was, say, Keir Starmer who had received notice that his Coutts account was to be closed. It would be “Shock, leftie leader has posh bank account” rather than the gushing sympathy Farage got.
1 Like
Can’t believe NF’s old enemy Gina Miller (the anti Brexit campaigner) are now both on the same side because she has been debanked too.
Who would ever have imagined that!
4 Likes
Hi
If it had have been one of us who had complained the Bank would just have ignored up.
2 Likes
Not quite true - it was not Miller’s personal bank account that received notice of closure but the account of the political party’s she set up. Her bank stated that they do not want to provide banking services to political parties.
Hi
All Banks provide accounts to Political Parties.
2 Likes
Wait till they ban you for using cash and not your card.
3 Likes
I would have stood by Keir the same as I will stand by Farage. This is an attack on our rights to free speech and who we support. We should all be supporting this issue regardless who fronts it.
As Lincs has pointed out it wasn’t given the publicity, for whatever reason, so I personally wasn’t aware of that particular issue, and nobody I know did either. Perhaps because you worked at a bank, you are, and were, sympathetic to the banks problems.
5 Likes