Ellie Abraham
Jul 20, 2023
content.jwplatform.com
Nigel Farage was left screaming the word “woke” on live TV after his bank account drama was explained to him in simple terms on Newsnight.
The story began when the bank account of controversial right-wing political figure Farage was closed by Coutts.
A report made in November 2022 by Coutts’ reputational risk committee cited Farage’s views and behaviour, including retweeting transphobic jokes and befriending tennis star Novak Djokovic who is known to be anti-vaccine, and concluded there were concerns that Farage is “xenophobic and racist”.
It also concluded that Farage had a mortgage with the bank that was due to expire in July 2023, and from then it would not seek to renew with him and would be “winding down the connection on that basis”.
During a fraught appearance on Newsnight alongside fellow guest, the economist, Frances Coppola, Farage got heated, baselessly claiming that banks were “woke” and “Remainer”.
Coppola explained: “The report makes it clear that the reason they closed his account was that Nigel paid off his mortgage and the house was released as a security, and that brought him below the criteria for an account at that bank, which we should remember, is a specialist provider of private baking services to very rich people.”
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She continued: “It’s clear from the report that they made the decision some time ago not to renew the relationship when the mortgage came to an end.”
Farage, who was clearly left angered, hit back claiming that the bank said he “is a financially viable account” but that it didn’t agree with his views.
In another bizarre part of the interview, Farage began to gesture while talking about banks, saying: “They’re all woke. They’re all ‘Remainer’. They’re all globalists.”
People were full of praise for Coppla’s calm delivery in the face of Farage's tirade.
One person wrote: “@Frances_Coppola - so well handled in the face of his angry little man routine.”
Another said: “When you have to shout ‘WOKE’ and ‘REMAINER’ at someone calmly and logically explaining something, you must know you've lost the argument, surely?”
According to the BBC, the bank's report said allowing Farage to bank with Coutts was “at odds with our position as an inclusive organisation”.
It also predicted that “perceive a decision to exit him as unfair” and believed “he would almost certainly use his public platform to communicate his dissatisfaction”.
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