Nigel Farage skewered on live TV as expert explains why Coutts closed his account

GB News presenter learned a lesson from financial commentator Frances Coppola when the duo appeared on BBC2's Newsnight

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BBC Newsnight: Frances Coppola explains why Coutts closed Nigel Farage's account

Nigel Farage was asked on live television why Coutts Bank really closed his account.

The former UKIP leader complained that he was dropped as a client because bosses disagreed with his views. He went after Coutts and released 40 pages of documents he says support his claim that he was kicked out because of his political views.

An internal report called him a "scammer" and said some people saw him as "xenophobic and racist". The closure of Mr Farage's accounts sparked outrage among senior Tory MPs, who pressured Coutts and its owner NatWest. Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said "this is wrong" and that "no one should be prevented from using basic services for their political views".

The Treasury is expected to announce next week its intention to extend the notice period given to customers to close their accounts from one month to three months

Politician-turned-host Mr Farage revealed weeks ago that the prestigious private bank had closed its accounts without explanation. This week, he obtained a 40-page dossier from Coutts, using a subject access request, for information about the decision.

The pair appeared on Newsnight (

Picture:

@mikoh123/Twitter)

According to the MailOnline, to whom he gave the documents, the bank cited his retweet of a Ricky Gervais joke about trans women and his friendship with unvaccinated tennis player Novak Djokovic to flag concerns that Mr Farage is 'xenophobic and racist'. The BBC, citing "people familiar with Coutts' decision", had previously suggested the Brexit campaigner had fallen below the financial threshold needed to hold an account with Coutts. It requires customers to have at least £1m invested or borrowed, including a mortgage, or at least £3m in savings.

But, sitting across from self-proclaimed man of the people Mr Farage in BBC2's Newsnight studio, financial expert Frances Coppola said: "The report makes it clear that the reason they closed his account was because Nigel paid off his mortgage and the house was released as collateral, which made him fall below the criteria for opening an account with this bank, which, it should be remembered, is a specialist provider of private banking services to the very wealthy. ."

She added, "It's clear from the report that t...