The Nat West Bank has been making news for the wrong reasons especially given it’s almost 40% owned by the British taxpayer, having been bailed out by the government in 2008.
It also owns the posh bank Coutt’s who are reputed to only accept customers with at least £1million. It’s emerged that not only do they need a million but must share the bank’s values. Nigel Farage had his account closed because he didn’t fit according to a dossier they compiled on him. He took to the airwaves to expose their behaviour leading to the resignation of Chief Exec Alison Rose, after she admitted gossiping about him to a BBC reporter. Her departure was closely followed by Coutt’s Chief Exec, Peter Flavel.
The resignations were forced by the Prime Minister and his Chancellor after many Tory MPs expressed outage. I think the bank was out of order but doubt we’d have seen the same kerfuffle if it had been a trade union leader rather than the ex boss of UKIP.
Ms Rose is set to get a £2million pay off and Mr Flavel’s won’t be far behind. That should take care of this year’s bank profits, money derived from charges imposed on businesses and individuals who are the same taxpayers who paid to keep it afloat.
If only the PM was as sensitive to the woes of the common people. He could have intervened to stop the slew of branch closures, 142 Nat West banks closed this year leaving whole communities without a local branch. He might have opposed banks forcing small businesses into bankruptcy post Covid, almost 13,000 have gone since the beginning of this year. He could also have done something about the ‘unbanked’, a small number in this country but often those on the lowest incomes who pay an extra £485 per year for things like gas electricity and loans because of not having an account.
I doubt Mr Farage will keep too many of us awake. It sounds like a fuss about a political, media celeb who was less well thought of at his snooty bank than he expected.
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