IT is “unacceptable” that ten banks have refused to provide Nigel Farage with banking facilities, according to Government minister Chris Philp.
Commenting on the resignation of NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose, he said that City minister Andrew Griffith has called in banks for talks today on the de-banking scandal.
He told GB News: “It’s unacceptable that Mr Farage has been refused banking facilities by ten different banks. As I said, we believe in free speech and we believe in political freedom and that means people, regardless of their political views, should be able to access banking services, including Mr Farage.
“Of course, there’s a whole load of rules about money laundering, which is separate – we don’t want to offer banking services to people who have stolen money or have purloined it in other countries. That’s a different issue. This is about political freedom.
“And that’s why the city minister is meeting banks today to forcefully reiterate the point.”
In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Ellie Costello, he said: “It’s not just Mr Farage, many MPs actually and their families can find it difficult to get banking and financial services because banks have been overzealously interpreting the so called PEP rules, Politically Exposed Persons, which is designed to prevent, originally, politicians from foreign countries that may have obtained their money dishonestly from getting banking services in the UK
“But they are are overzealously applying it to MPs. If you talk to almost any MP, they’ll have a story about how either themselves or their spouse or their children or something, have had issues with financial services.”
He added: “It’s quite a widespread issue and that’s why as I say the city minister is raising it forcefully with banks today.”
