Debanking row erupts as Nigel Farage orders Emily Maitlis to retract baseless claim
Nigel Farage asked Emily Maitlis to 'please retract your mistruth'
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Nigel Farage has hit back at Emily Maitlis for claiming that the closure of his Coutts bank account was due to political reasons.
Maitlis’ comments refer to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s investigation into debanking, which concluded last month that there was no evidence of Britons being debanked due to political reasons but admitted it didn't look at Nigel Farage's allegations against Coutts.
Farage reacted online to the Newsagents’ host remarks, saying: “Let’s look at the facts. I was ‘exited’ by Coutts because I did not 'align with the values of the bank'. The FCA investigation last month did not look at my case. Please retract your mistruth.”
Maitlis shared a photo on social media of Chancellor Jeremey Hunt speaking at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.
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She quoted him as saying “No one should have their bank account closed because they’re not politically correct”.
The Chancellor pledged to clamp down on debanking after Farage’s Coutts account was terminated.
Maitlis criticised Hunt for “ignoring the findings of the report by financial authorities who reported last month this was NOT the reason behind the Farage Coutts closure”.
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One social media user slammed Maitlis for her “shockingly bad journalism,” adding: “The financial authorities literally didn't look at the Farage case. 30 seconds on Google told me that.”
The results of the investigation were published last month and Farage was dismayed at the findings.
Speaking to GB News, Farage said: “What a complete and utter farce! What a joke! The FCA are told by the government that they’ve got to look into it. So the FCA go to the banks and say 'Have you debanked anyone?'
“The banks say 'Oh no we wouldn’t do that' and the FCA say 'oh that’s just great'. It's nonsense!”
He slammed the FCA for being a political organisation and called for an overhaul of the organisation.
“I think the people running the FCA are not fit for purpose. Let’s get a financial market regulator made up of people who have actually worked in financial markets – wouldn’t that be a change.”
In July, Farage presented a 40-page dossier which revealed that his account at Coutts had been closed as a result of his political views
GB NewsThe Treasury released a statement on the FCA report: “Free speech is a fundamental human right. No ifs, no buts - everyone must be able to express their lawful opinions without fear of losing the vital access to a bank account.
“We have already acted to force banks to explain and delay any decision to close an account to protect freedom of expression – meaning customers will have a 90 day notice period and a clear explanation for any account closure. That will be backed up in legislation this year.
“We note the initial report of the FCA. Clearly there is more to be done to validate the submissions by banks and to ensure that the FCA have thoroughly followed up de-banked customer perspectives.”
In July, Farage presented a 40-page dossier which revealed that his account at Coutts had been closed mainly as a result of his political views, which were said to conflict with the bank’s values.