Nigel Farage: The BBC apologizes to Farage for the account closure story

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By Katie Razal and Emma Saunders, culture and media editor and culture correspondent

Updated 46 minutes ago

Image source, Getty Images

The BBC has apologized to Nigel Farage for its inaccurate reporting on why his Coutts Bank account was closed.

On July 4, the BBC reported that Farage no longer met Coates’ financial requirements, citing a source familiar with the matter.

Later, the former UKIP leader obtained Coutts’ report which indicated that his political views were also taken into consideration.

Mr Farage said he had accepted the apologies “with honour”, but said questions for Coates remained.

He thanked BBC News chief executive Deborah Torness – who wrote to him – and business editor Simon Jack – who tweeted – for their apologies.

Farage said: “It’s not very often for the BBC to apologize. But for the BBC to apologize, I’m very happy.”

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, Mr Farage said he had to post a lot of material in order to clear up misinformation in the wake of the 4th of July story.

“I had to do everything I could to do a lot of damage to the character to get the story off,” said Mr Farage.

“There is no fault or blame on the BBC. This is now directly down to the NatWest Banking Group.” [owners of Coutts].

“Someone in that group decided it was appropriate, legal and ethical to leak details of my personal financial situation.

“This is, I believe, wrong on every level – and that is where the spotlight needs to be and will be.”

Mr Jacques continued: “However, the information turned out to be incomplete and inaccurate. I would therefore like to apologize to Mr Farage.”

Farrag later said: “Jack says, in his tweet, that his information came from a reliable, senior source. I would suggest he may have been a very senior source.”

When Coates decided to close Mr Farage’s account, he said he did not give him a reason.

Mr. Farage then obtained a document examining his suitability as Coutts’ client.

The 40-page document provided to Mr Farage contained minutes from a meeting in November last year to review his account.

The document cited concerns that he was “xenophobic and racist”, and also raised concerns about the reputational risks of Mr Farage’s presence as a client.

It said having Mr Farage as a client was inconsistent with Coutts’ position as an “inclusive organization” given his “publicly stated views”.

Farrag said the BBC fell into the trap of “fraud” and was “canceled” because of his political views.

NatWest group chairwoman Alison Rose on Thursday apologized to Farage for what she called the “extremely inappropriate” comments made in the document.

It also said it was commissioning a full review of Coutts’ operations on closing bank accounts.

Mr Farage has called for Ms Alison to be cross-examined by MPs.

Speaking on GB News on Monday evening, Mr Farage said he has now submitted a substantive access request (a request for a copy of information held about you) with NatWest and has raised his case with the Information Commissioner’s Office.

He also revealed the content of a letter sent to him by the BBC’s Deborah Torness on Monday, in which she apologized, saying: “I can understand why you feel that this story contributed to an excessive and offensive amount of publicity.”

The Treasury has called a meeting with bank chiefs about closing the accounts, in the wake of the row between Mr Farage and NatWest.

The BBC hopes its apology draws a line under the story.

Implications is an insight into a core tenet of journalism – the sources of stories. Journalists must be able to trust their sources, and it is standard journalistic practice to remain anonymous.

In this case, that trust collapsed.

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