22 Jul Dame Alison Rose ‘should be fired’ if she discussed Nigel Farage’s private information with BBC journalist, according to a civil liberties campaigner
The Chief Executive of the Freedom Association Andrew Allison told GB News the decision by banks to close accounts based on its customer’s political opinions was “the most egregious form of cancel culture.”
Speaking to Martin Daubney, Mr Allison, who campaigns against the erosion of civil liberties, said he thought it looked as though private information about Nigel Farage’s financial details had been given to a BBC journalist at a private dinner.
The Chief Executive Officer of NatWest, Dame Alison Rose, has written to Mr Farage offering him an apology after he revealed a 40-page document he claimed showed that the 325-year-old bank ‘exited’ him because he was regarded as “xenophobic and racist”.
“You can’t go around anywhere these days without having a bank account and access to card payments. Many places don’t accept cash, which is why I support GB News’s campaign to protect cash,” said Mr Allison.
“But as Nigel (Farage) says, you effectively become a non-person if you are denied access to a bank account, and I think he’s absolutely right.”
Mr Allison told GB News’s Martin Daubney that free speech does not extend to the Chief Executive of banks talking to BBC reporters about private financial information over dinner.
“That kind of information is private and confidential,” he said. “And if that is proved to be correct – and it really does look as if that is correct – then she should simply be fired.”
“If banks are going to discriminate against people because of their political views, because those people don’t have views that have the same values for that particular bank, then that is completely unacceptable, and that really is cancel culture.
“And I think that those banks that do behave in that way should lose their banking licence after a warning or two. I think that’s the only way to go forward.
“Indeed, it appears that that’s what government ministers, Andrew Griffith in particular, one of the Treasury ministers who has been leading on this.”
Economic Secretary to the Treasury Mr Griffith has said he believes “Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of our democracy and it must be respected by all institutions.”
“Banks occupy a privileged place in our society and it’s right that we fairly balance the rights of banks to act in their commercial interest with the right for everyone to express themselves freely,” he said.
Mr Farage, a GB News presenter since the channel launched, has said he wants to “know what was said at a dinner” between Ms Rose and a BBC journalist who broke the story that Coutts claimed they had ‘debanked’ Mr Farage because he had insufficient funds.
The Brexit campaigner has not ruled out legal action, saying he is “considering all options of what I do next, including legal action against NatWest.”
