19 Sep Nigel Farage slams regulator’s debanking report as ‘a complete and utter farce’
NIGEL Farage has described a report by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) into the debanking scandal as “a joke” and “a complete and utter farce”.
The GB News presenter was commenting on the report’s finding that there is no proof that banks are closing accounts based primarily on people’s political views.
Mr Farage said: “What a complete and utter farce. What a joke.
“The FCA are told by the Government, ‘you’ve got to look into this’. So the FCA go to the banks and say, ‘have you de-banked anybody?’ The banks say, ‘oh, no, we wouldn’t do that’ and the FCA, say, ‘oh, that’s just great, isn’t it?’
“It’s a nonsense. I can give you a list as long as your arm of people who are high profile, either up at the front or in terms of funding or organising the referendum campaign of 2016, who have been debanked. It is perfectly clear that politics played a role.
“My own situation is obvious, a 14-page report in which it says they’re going to close my account when my mortgage runs off, not for economic reasons, but because my views do not align with those of the bank.”
In a discussion with Pip Tomson and Martin Daubney, he continued: “What about Royston Smith, the Conservative Member of Parliament whose account has been suspended over the course of the last year?
“This is a farce and frankly it shows me something. The people at the top of the FCA are deeply political themselves. Think of Sheldon Mills, the executive director of Stonewall, he of endless political campaigns on gender and much else.
“When you ask a group of biased people to examine bias, don’t be surprised when they don’t find anything.
“Of the broader issues around debanking, and the fact that people should have a right to a bank account, they say they’ll report back in the next few months. But how can I have any confidence in the people running this organisation if this is their initial conclusion?”
He said: “The problem here, and this goes right throughout our financial services industry, is the fish rots from the head down.
“It’s the FCA that have been pushing on to the banks and insurance companies and many others this extraordinary diversity and inclusion agenda.
“I think the people running the FCA are not fit for purpose. I think the Government needs to act. Let’s get our financial markets regulator made up of people who have actually worked in financial markets. Wouldn’t that be a change?
“And let’s get politics completely out of it. The organisation is run by the wrong people. It is part of the problem and not the solution.”
He added: “It really matters who controls Britain’s biggest industry and it’s been filled up that board with political appointees rather than experts in financial services. So yes, we need a change in personnel. Absolutely.”
