It had become a little quiet around Nigel Farage recently, but that’s over now. On Tuesday, the arch-Brexiteer even made it onto the front page of the Daily Mail, something that should not be underestimated in Great Britain. The tabloid is still the country’s largest-circulation newspaper, and its lead stories have a huge impact on Westminster’s political debate. And it’s all about Farage. To be more precise: around his bank account.
A few days ago, Farage published a video on Twitter in which he seemed visibly desperate. His bank, with which he has been a customer since 1980, has terminated all of his accounts, he said in the clip. When he asked the reason for the termination, it was only said: “commercial reasons”, i.e. “for business reasons”. But, according to Farage, he doesn’t believe a word of the bank.
The Brexiteer, who once drove the Tories before him with his UK Independence Party (Ukip), has already identified the culprits: the remainers in the City of London, i.e. those bankers who would have preferred to stay in the EU. The financial institutions did not want Brexit to happen – and would therefore never forgive him for what he did.
So basically, Farage is doing what he does best: He’s constructing a conspiracy against himself. And at the forefront of this conspiracy is what he calls “the establishment of the London bubble.” But that doesn’t change Farage’s problem: According to his own statements, he can’t find a bank that wants him as a customer. Farage himself speaks of nine cancellations (as of Tuesday evening).
According to BBC and Financial Times things look a little different. Accordingly, Farage had an account with the private bank Coutts. If you want to be a customer there, you must have at least one million pounds invested with the bank – or at least three million pounds in savings. Farage is said to have fallen below these hurdles. The logical consequence: dismissal. In return, he is said to have been offered a normal bank account by Bank NatWest, which belongs to the same financial group as Coutts.
So, once again, has Farage not told the whole truth? Opposite of Financial Times he said, “You seem to know more than I do.”
Some wouldn’t mind if Farage did Brexit for himself
Well, Farage wouldn’t be Farage if he didn’t also blame the EU for his situation. A few years ago, they introduced an instrument called PEP, which was adopted into British law after Brexit, he says. PEP stands for politically exposed person, i.e. people who are politically exposed. People who fall into this category face stricter checks when doing banking, for example to prevent politicians from receiving payments from countries that have been sanctioned, for example. In the case of Farage, there is speculation that he may have received money from Russia. Farage denies this. He says he did not receive a penny from Russia.
From Farage’s point of view, PEP poses a completely different threat. He claims that his previous bank may not have liked some of his political demands, which in turn may have led to his account being terminated. In Westminster, several MPs immediately took to the barricades, insisting that banks should remain politically neutral. Even the finance minister felt compelled to look into the matter.
The question remains what Farage is doing now, because you can’t really survive in everyday life without a bank account. Or as the Brexiteer says: “One ceases to exist”. Facing these prospects, Farage even questioned whether Britain was still the country he wanted to live in. In any case, a user on Twitter already had advice for him: “Habibi, come to Dubai”.
Even if some in Great Britain would certainly not mind if Farage were to complete Brexit for himself, he is likely to stay with the kingdom for a long time. Farage eventually has a TV show on GB News that is taped in London. Thanks to this, he also has a platform on which he can continue to initiate campaigns. And be it only on their own behalf.
