The boss of NatWest has admitted that she was the source for a controversial BBC story about Nigel Farage’s bank account – but she will keep her job at the top of the organisation.
Dame Alison Rose apologised to the former Ukip leader and her colleagues, saying she had “made a serious error of judgement” in discussing his affairs. But the apology was not enough for Mr Farage, who demanded that she and other bosses “should all go”.
In her statement, Dame Alison said she did not “reveal any personal financial information” about Mr Farage. But “believing it was public knowledge”, she said, she had confirmed that he was a customer of Coutts, which is part of the NatWest Group, and had been offered a NatWest bank account.
“Alongside this, I repeated what Mr Farage had already stated, that the bank saw this as a commercial decision,” she said, adding: “In doing so, I recognise that I left [the BBC journalist Simon] Jack with the impression that the decision to close Mr Farage’s accounts was solely a commercial one.”
In response to a general question about eligibility criteria for accounts, she said the guidance was available online.
Dame Alison will stay in her position after the chair of the board said it retained full confidence in her as CEO. However, Howard Davies added that recent events “will be taken into account in decisions on remuneration” in respect of her £5.25m pay packet. An independent review of the account closure arrangements at Coutts will also be carried out.
But Mr Farage demanded tougher action. In a statement on Twitter, he said Dame Alison’s admission that she was the source of the story revealed that she had broken client confidentiality, making her “unfit to be CEO of NatWest Group”.
He continued: “Meanwhile, Coutts CEO Peter Flavel must take the ultimate responsibility for de-banking me based on my political views. Sir Howard Davies is responsible for overall governance. He has clearly failed in this task, least of all by endorsing their conduct. In my view – they should all go.”
His call was echoed by former Tory cabinet minister David Davis who said Dame Alison “has little choice but to resign”.
He said: “She should have known better than anybody. So there’s no doubt in my mind. Similarly, I think the position of the chief executive is looking pretty tenuous.”
Other Tories joined Mr Davis, with MP for Rother Valley Alexander Stafford tweeting: “This breaks all moral, ethical and banking codes. If she [Dame Alison] has a shred of decency she would do the honourable thing and resign.”
While Saqib Bhatti, the Conservative Party’s vice-chairman for business, said: “It’s shocking to hear that Dame Alison Rose has admitted being the source of the leak of Mr Farage’s bank details. While it’s not for politicians to determine what the company should do, her position would appear to now be untenable.”
Commenting on the statement from the NatWest board, Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the Financial Conduct Authority, said the regulator will decide if any further action is necessary once a review of the circumstances has been carried out. Possible sanctions in comparable situations include preventing people from being directors of financial services companies.
Alison Rose has apologised for divulging details about Nigel Farage holding an account with Coutts— (PA/Getty)
It is the second apology that Mr Farage has received from the bank in as many weeks, after the arch-Brexiteer said his bank account had been unfairly shut down because the bank did not agree with his political views.
He has also received an apology from the BBC over its inaccurate story, which suggested that the closure of his account was not due to his political beliefs but because he lacked the necessary funds to hold an account with the bank.
Dame Alison had already written to Mr Farage about “deeply inappropriate comments” Coutts employees had made about him in a dossier, which she insisted did “not reflect the view of the bank”.
In her statement, Dame Alison insisted that the decision to close the account was made by Coutts and that she had been informed in April “that this was for commercial reasons” – a factor that will increase pressure on Coutts boss Peter Flavel.
The Independent reported last week that insiders had said that Dame Alison was kept in the dark about what was going on, and that Mr Flavel had not done enough to keep her fully updated.
In the dossier, the bank is reported to have cited Mr Farage’s retweet of a joke by comedian Ricky Gervais about trans women, as well as his friendship with tennis player Novak Djokovic, who has objections to Covid vaccinations, to support concerns that he is “xenophobic and racist”.
It also repeated previous press reports, stemming from an old schoolfriend, that a teenage Mr Farage sang “Gas ’em all, gas ’em all” about Jewish people, as well as the claims of one of his former teachers, also reported in the press, that Mr Farage had “once marched through a Sussex village singing Hitler Youth songs”. Mr Farage has denied both allegations.
