Dame Alison Rose. Written by Julian Simmonds for The Telegraph.
The former prime minister has urged ministers to investigate leaks of how a false story emerged that the account was closed because Mr Farage had too little money.
Mr Johnson said he did not know if Dame Alison Rose had told the story to Simon Jack, the BBC's business editor, but said Coutts made a “terrible mistake” in trying to humiliate Mr Farage , “mysteriously and arbitrarily” shutting down his account.
He warned that if the bank was willing to break its 331-year-old rules by betraying a client's privacy, millions of other account holders at other banks could be affected.
Dame Alison apologized to Mr Farage on Thursday amid the scandal over the closure of the former Ukip leader's bank accounts.
As pressure mounted on the chief executive, one minister said: “I think he [NatWest] has questions to answer about the Simon Jack story. Being a banker is 101 points if you don't divulge your clients' sensitive data.”
The BBC initially reported that the account was closed because Mr Farage did not have enough money, but The Telegraph later reported that the decision was due to the bank's feeling that his views were not “aligned” with his values.
Readers on Nigel Farage Coutts' Bank Account Shutdown
In an article for the MailPlus website, Mr. Johnson urged City Minister Andrew Griffith “to establish all the facts about how the false impression of Farage's financial position was created for the media.”
He wrote: “I'm afraid that if Dame Alison was to blame, then she really needs to go. And Farage – if he wants it – must immediately restore all his accounts.
“It's not just about one person's bank account. It's about freedom under the law for everyone in this country. It's about the freedom to think and say what you believe, as long as you don't break the law without fear of overt or covert persecution. This freedom has made our country great. He is under threat. It's time to fight.”
Earlier this week, The Telegraph reported that Dame Alison and Jack sat next to each other at a charity event the night before Jack's BBC coverage.
Mr Johnson said he was unable to “listen in” to the conversation between the couple as he was not at the event.
“I can't say for sure what they were talking about the story of the hour – Nigel Farage's claim that he was mysteriously and arbitrarily excluded from Coutts' bank customer base,” he said.
“I didn’t hear Simon Jack ask Alison Rose the question that, quite frankly, was his job that evening: namely, is it true that Farage was boycotted for political reasons, as the former MEP seemed to assume. I didn't hear what Mrs Alison said. But you know what, I have a pretty good idea.
“Actually, I'd bet the entire contents of my personal bank account that they discussed this matter; and I'll bet my house that it's no coincidence that the next day Simon Jack published a BBC article arguing that Coutts' decision to hit Farage had nothing to do with politics.”
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