Nigel Farage?

[lovesheart]

Slowly listening more to news and politics.. I'm out the loop atm

Was watching about Nigel Farage and the NatWest bank story. It said NatWest were worried he was racist and xenophobic.

Is he? Hope it's ok to ask, just haven't heard any of his speeches or views yet, I've seen him on some discussions and none of that has been indicated in the snippets I've seen.

Do you think he is? Is he still UKIP leader? Will he ever be in any other party? You may see a few obvious dumb questions pop up now and again whilst I get my head around how it works 😅

Couple of long threads on the feminism board about this.

NF hasn't been leader of UKIP since 2016. He says (personally I take anything he says with a large cellar of salt) he's no longer a politician but a 'campaigner'. I just heard him on R4's Today prog if you're interested, talking about the current bank thing. Started prob about 8.10?
I find myself strangely reluctant to discuss his views. I think really when it comes down to it he's just an odious little Englander, a small minded individual who achieved far more 'success' than his ideas deserved (I'm talking about Brexit). He has no compassionate vision.

Politically he's really irrelevant now. But the bank thing is a bit of a gift to him because it means he's getting attention again, and he loves attention.

There's another long thread about him, again re the bank issue, here.

“Prejudiced and nasty” Nigel Farage… | Mumsnet

Thank you 😊 I'll have a look, that makes sense. I was confused by all the contradicting headlines. So wasn't sure what or who he was exactly now.

@lovesheart ah, I see where you're coming from (I think). He's nobody! But his bank closed his bank account and apparently lied about why they had done it, and it has come out that it was because of his political views, which is obviously crossing a line. Therefore this is the gift to him because he can bang on endlessly about how immorally the bank has behaved, and call himself a 'campaigner'.

I'm curious, what is it that's awakening your interest now OP if you've been 'out of the loop'? No judgement, just curiosity! Is it just generally feeling you should know more than you do or has something specific sparked it?

Well I always stayed out of politics, when I was at school it was never taught either. With COL, the economy ect political topics seep into day to day conversations and the news. So I was trying to learn what my views are. People get very heated about opinions which is fine, but I don't like talking about subjects I don't understand. Also if I have a thought and it turns out I'm talking complete gibberish about a topic I don't understand at all it's embarrassing 😂 so I just wanted to understand the world I live in a bit better and be a bit more knowledgeable. Rather then getting angry at the government blaming everyone else under the sun whilst having no true idea if it's right or wrong or basically talking out my butt. 😂

The bank closed his account as he didn't make their strict criteria. Most people in the country don't qualify for a Coutts account. If he wasn't problematic to their reputation they might have kept him but it's an exclusive provider. He was offered an account by NatWest which he rejected. It would have been a non-story had it not been for the leaks from the bank which are awful (and unacceptable for anyone).

I don't like him but I think he's got a point here. Where do you draw the line when it comes to people's opinions and how much you control them socially and financially. It's not really democratic.

Interestingly, he's just said on the news that he has been rejected by 10 other banks. I really find it hard to believe that they're all rejecting him because of his political views. May have more to do with ties to Russian money🤔

There's nothing democratic about Coutts. There never was.

They closed his account because they didn't want to be associated with the twat. Banks shouldn't decide who gets an account based on politics (unless those politics are criminal or use criminals acts to influence them) and reforms are probably needed. But, by heck, he's milking this for all it's bloody worth and more.

My personal POV is that Coutt's biggest crime is giving him a bloody excuse to get back on the telly with a Daily Mail sad face on. How dare they inflict him back on us all like this.

"he's no longer a politician but a 'campaigner'"
Politicians have to get stuff done, and are accountable to the public. He has tried and failed to do this over a number of years.

He is an excellent campaigner though

Can't he just get a basic post office account?

When you don’t meet the qualifying criteria is a pretty good line. Possibly a better question might be why some people who don’t meet the criteria are allowed to keep theirs because of who they are.

I think among all the slightly unnecessary apologies people are making to Farage because he selectively quoted a 40page document, people have missed why he had his account closed and are still focusing on his political beliefs being the sole reason. It’s a bit more complicated than that. The reporting is a total mess.

He can get an account with Nat West if he wants. He doesn’t, for reasons I’m not sure I understand, but don’t seem to have anything to do with Coutts treatment of him.

He has drawn attention to the fact that he is far from the only person to whom this has happened. Whatever anyone thinks of him, we should all be concerned when a person's account is frozen because of their personal beliefs.
There are a number of threads already discussing this at great length.

He's showboating. 10 other banks have rejected him. What does that tell you?

I am interested in the other people who have also had their accounts closed due to their personal and political beliefs. I can't stand the man, but I am glad there is going to be further investigation into the actions of banks wrt the personal beliefs of their account holders. HSBC got away with colluding with drug dealers and money launderers for years and were heavily fined for it. I sympathise with the employees who were terrified of the threats to their families, but the fact remains that none of those accounts were closed.

First Direct and Natwest closing bank accounts for political reasons inc being gender critical | Mumsnet

I, like thousands of other brits, had my bank accounts closed because of brexit. Didn't see him all over the news complaining about that. Campaigner my arse, he's a self serving dickhead.

MrTiddles, what happened? I hadn't heard of that. I am furious about Brexit, but I hadn't heard of bank accounts being closed as a result of it?

I object to his views, xenophobic at best, but think he should have a bank account.

Banks in a way have behaved towards some people because of laws requiring them in a way to do some work the police should be doing, same as some of the obligations on employers.

Banks like medical records should be entirely confidential. Who has been effected is irrelevant. They broke data protection laws .

The CEO has resigned having admitted that she discussed confidential information with a BBC journalist over dinner. That should concern all of us.

There isn’t about any bank or company save insofar as their shareholders are concerned. But in a democracy people should have certain rights; the right to express political opinions freely are surely among them, and all legal persons, banks included, are expected to act in such a way as not to infringe such rights.
That is the basis for the accusation that coutts has acted undemocratically and there does seem to be a factual basis for it.

I'm Asian and don't think anyone should have their account closed because of political beliefs, even if they are racist.
It's crossing a line. Once that's crossed and acceptable, who knows where they could move the line and close peoples accounts for any views.

It's extremely concerning that banks now have a clause in their terms of service that they have the right to monitor your social media engagement, and numerous campaigning and feminist groups have had their accounts closed. If they can do it to someone high profile, they can do it to you and me. With the decline in cash transactions, how would you cope if your employer could no longer pay your salary into your account, and you couldn't then pay your rent or mortgage? It's social control and I don't want banks to be able to be the arbiters of what are acceptable beliefs.