Nigel Farage gets an apology from the Head of Banking in Coutts Row

The Head of Banking, Dame Alison Rose, has apologized to Nigel Farage for the “extremely inappropriate” comments she made about him in a document about his suitability as a client of Coutts.

The head of NatWest Group said in a letter to Farage that the comments did not reflect the bank’s view.

The former leader of UKIP said his Coutts account had been closed because the bank did not agree with his political views.

Mr Farage said Ms Alison should now be questioned by MPs on the issue.

Ms Allison’s apology came after the government announced new plans to force banks to explain account closures.

She said that as well as apologizing to Mr Farage, she was “commissioning a full review of Coates’ operations” over closing bank accounts. Coutts, a private bank, is owned by the NatWest Group.

In her letter to Mr Farage, she said she believed “strongly that freedom of speech and access to banking services are central to our society and it is never our policy to walk away from a customer on the basis of political and personal opinions held by law”.

The 40-page document, Published by the Daily Mailincluding the minutes of a meeting held in November last year to review his suitability as a client.

It stated that Mr Farage’s continued presence as a client was inconsistent with Coutts’ “position as an umbrella organisation” given his “stated views”.

It mentioned Mr Farage’s retweet of a Ricky Gervais joke about trans women and his friendship with tennis player Novak Djokovic, who opposes Covid vaccinations.

He gave many examples, including his comparison of Black Lives Matter protesters to the Taliban, and his description of the RNLI as a “taxi service” for illegal immigrants, citing concerns that he was “xenophobic and racist”.

Ms Allison on Thursday also reiterated her offer to Mr Farage of alternative banking arrangements with NatWest and said she wanted to ensure they provided “a better and more transparent experience for all of our customers going forward”.

After her apology, Mr Farage is asked if he thinks she should resign now.

“I think what needs to happen is the Treasury select committee needs to reconvene and come out of recess and let’s give it a chance to tell us the truth,” he told reporters.

Mr Farage also said The Telegraph had reported how BBC Business Editor Simon Jack sat next to Ms Alison at dinner on 3 July, and the next day Jack called him and told him that “the reason my bank account was closed was because there weren’t enough funds in the account”.

He said, “I want to know, did Alison Rose breach my client’s privacy? Did I breach GDPR rules?”

Farage’s apology came after the Treasury announced plans to place UK banks under stricter rules on closing customer accounts.

Banks will have to explain why they are closing accounts and will have to give a 90-day notice period before an account is closed, to give people more time to appeal against the decision.

The new rules are likely to be implemented after the summer, the BBC understands.

The changes will not revoke the Bank’s right to close the accounts of persons deemed to be a political or reputational risk.

Instead, the Treasury said, it would enhance transparency for clients.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Andrew Griffiths said: “Banks occupy a privileged place in society and it is right that we fairly balance the rights of banks to act in their commercial interest with the right of everyone to express themselves freely.”

Ms. Allison said she welcomed the plans and would implement the recommendations.

The Treasury Department began looking into the matter in January after PayPal temporarily suspended several accounts last year.

Rishi Sunak on Wednesday warned that “it would not be right if financial services were denied to anyone exercising their right to legitimate freedom of expression”.