Kay Burley grilled Nigel Farage on Sky News
Nigel Farage has clashed with Kay Burley over how much money he has following the resignation of NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose.
The former Brexit Party leader was grilled by the Sky News presenter amid the ongoing controversy over Coutts bank’s decision to close his account with them.
At one point he even asked Burley how much money she had as she repeatedly quizzed him about his own financial status.
Farage had alleged the decision was “political” after he obtained an internal document that said it was partly because his views were not “aligned” with the bank’s.
The 40-page dossier refers to the ex-MEP as “xenophobic and racist” and a former “fascist”.
That called into question a report by BBC business editor Simon Jack, twho had claimed that Farage lost his account because he lacked the funds needed to hold it.
Rose last night admitted she had been the source of Jack’s story and in the early hours of this morning it was confirmed that she had resigned.
Farage – who is now calling for more heads to roll after the bank initially stood by their chief executive – told Sky News he had been turned down for an account with 10 other banks in the wake of the row.
“The problem here is that there is a culture that has overtaken the banking industry, where they’ve gone way beyond being banks,” he said.
“They’ve now taken a whole series of political stances and it would appear they want to be moral arbiters.”
But presenter Burley asked him: “The suggestion was that you didn’t have enough money in Coutts and that’s why they were closing you down. Do you have enough money in Coutts?”
Farage replied: “At the time the decision was taken to exit me – which was taken on November 17, 2022 – at that moment in time they said the account is commercially viable.”
Burley went on: “Do you have enough money to have an account at Coutts?”
A clearly-annoyed Farage said: “I repeat the account is commercially viable.”
Burley then asked: “Do you though?”
Farage responded: “The account is commercially viable – that’s what matters.”
The presenter then said: “OK, that means you’ve got at least a million pounds there and £3 million of savings.”
But Farage replied: “Let me assure you that I have been contacted by scores of Coutts customers who’ve never had anything like the amounts of money that Dame Alison Rose has been suggesting.”
Burley hit back: “I’m not asking about them, Nigel, I’m asking about you, whether you’ve got enough.”
Farage replied: “I’m not going to answer your question about my financial status unless you tell me what yours is.”
Burley said: “I don’t have enough money to have an account at Coutts, no.”
A smiling Farage then replied: “Oh come on, all those years at Sky News, I’m sure you do.”
Treasury minister Andrew Griffith will today meet with the heads of 19 banks to discuss with them how widespread the problem is.
Welcoming Rose’s resignation, he tweeted: “It is right that the NatWest CEO has resigned. This would never have happened if NatWest had not taken it upon itself to withdraw a bank account due to someone’s lawful political views. That was and is always unacceptable.
“I hope the whole financial sector learns from this incident. Its role is to serve customers well and fairly – not to tell them how or what to think.”
