Debanking campaigner, Brexit pioneer and UK reform leader Nigel has announced that his party now has a bank account, a modern basic thing that has so far proven impossible in a British financial sector steeped in cancel culture.
Nigel Farage, who led the campaign against woke banking after he was personally deprived of his bank account without notice in 2023 and was unable to find another bank willing to hold his money, has announced that Reform UK has now managed to open its own bank account.
Bloomberg News notes a new account has been opened with the major bank Lloyds, and the fact that this institution has taken on reform shows the extent to which the British establishment has accepted the fact that Farage and Reform UK have been brought out of the cold into the mainstream.
Until now, Reform UK has relied on niche fund management to manage its funds, the company said.
While opening a bank account may seem like a minor event, debanking has become a major problem in the UK, with banking houses using government monetary rules as an excuse to close thousands of accounts on the slightest pretext. In addition to the impact on political figures and organizations, defense companies have been deprived of bank accounts due to ESG, and even small businesses have been targeted for simply handling cash.
Mr Farage welcomed the development, saying: “This is an important moment for Reform UK. It shows how far we have come as a party and we look forward to a fruitful and positive partnership with Lloyds.”
Farage's 2023 banking by Coutts, the asset management arm of the then partly state-owned Natwest group, became a major scandal and ultimately led to several senior Natwest executives, including its chief executive, resigning in disgrace. Although the bank initially insisted that closing Farage's accounts was an innocent decision, leaks from within the bank revealed that it was a politically motivated decision to withdraw financial services from a politically undesirable institution.
Memos from Natwest's internal messaging system obtained by Mr Farage showed that Natwest bankers gloated and boasted each other over their success in bankrupting the Brexit leader. The reports claimed Farage was “vile”, “horrible” and a Russian asset.
One staffer wrote: “Have you all seen Nigel Farage's Twitter? No one will bank him now. Are we really running it alone? [Farage] from the country?
Mr Farage said at the time: “The establishment is trying to force me to leave the UK by closing my bank accounts… If they can do the same to me, they can do the same to you.” After it was revealed that bank boss Dame Alison Rose had personally leaked Farage's personal information from the bank in an attempt to smear him and had secretly briefed journalists, her position became untenable and she was forced to resign.
