Nigel Farage in his village near Westerham, Kent, following the resignation of Dame Alison Rose as CEO of NatWest. Photo: Gareth Fuller/Pennsylvania.
Nigel Farage ruled out a return to the political front ahead of the next general election amid a “debanking” controversy sparked by the closure of his Coutts account.
Mr Farage said he wanted to see cultural and legal changes so that people do not lose access to financial services because of their political opinions.
He said that the practice of “debanking” should be “stopped in the bud” and that he intended to act as a “protector of and a fighter” for people who, like him, were targeted.
However, he said that this problem would not prompt him to return to politics.
Asked if he was going to return to frontline politics, Farage responded on BBC Radio 4's Today program: “No, I am now a champion and champion of the men and women who have been closed by banks and I want cultural change in banks and I want legal change, and I don't want cash to be banished from the system and we be pushed towards central bank digital currencies. .”
Asked again if he could return to politics before the next general election, likely next year, Mr Farage replied: “No, I'm not going to do that.”
Dame Alison Rose is gone. Others must follow.
I hope this serves as a warning to the banking sector.
We need both cultural and legal changes in a system that has unfairly imprisoned many thousands of innocent people.
I will do my best to be their voice.
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) July 26, 2023
Mr Farage made these comments after the row over the closure of his Coutts bank account escalated into the resignation of Dame Alison Rose, boss of NatWest.
In a statement released early Wednesday morning, Sir Howard Davies, Chairman The NatWest Group has confirmed that Dame Alison is retiring.
This comes after she admitted she made a “serious error of judgment” when discussing Mr. Farage's relationship with NatWest's private bank Coutts Group, with BBC journalist.
Sir Howard initially said board members had decided the chief executive had “full confidence”, but her position became even more uncertain after the chancellor and Downing Street were reported to be “gravely concerned” about her behaviour.
Copy Nigel Farage's banking scandalMr Farage hailed Dame Alison's departure as a “start” but said further changes were needed as he called for a broader NatWest board reshuffle.
The former leader of the Brexit Party expressed hope that Dame Alison's resignation would be a “turning point” for the banking industry and lead to an end to “debanking”.
Mr Farage said financial institutions should “stop judging people according to their legitimate political views” and go back to just “being a bank.”
He told the BBC: “The scary thing is this: I'm far from alone. Many other people have stated that they were not allowed in because of what they stand for and believe in.
“And now the banks are working on monitoring the social networks of each of us, and this must be stopped. This needs to be stopped.”
Mr Farage previously told Sky News that 10 other banks had denied him an account.
In an interview Sky's Kay Burley former Brexit campaigner Nigel Farage said 10 other banks turned him down after closing his account with NatWest-owned private banking business Coutts.https://t.co/3TRSkRI8r0 pic.twitter.com/Q1DfIENR4h
&mdash ; Sky News (@SkyNews) July 26, 2023
When asked where he keeps his money after closing his account with Coutts, Mr Farage replied: “At the moment I still have money in Coutts and closing, final closing, it has been extended once, final closing should happen pretty soon. What I will do after that, I don't know yet.”
When asked how many other banks refused to open an account for him, he replied, “Ten. I won't name them all. Right now I'm in a big battle with NatWest and Coutts, I don't want to fight the whole industry.”
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