Relatives and associates of Nigel Farage have been refused bank accounts after being designated as politically exposed persons, or PEPs, the former Ukip leader has disclosed.
Mr Farage said someone close to him had been the subject of a “very nasty” account closure in the past fortnight and that others had been told they could not open accounts.
He said Coutts’s decision to close his personal and business accounts had left him “screwed” because he has been turned down as a customer by 10 other banks after having to tick a box saying he has been refused an account elsewhere.
Mr Farage has also dismissed as “a fable” claims by Coutts’s parent company NatWest that he was offered personal and business accounts with NatWest after being “exited” by the private bank.
After being told his accounts were being closed and convinced the decision was politically motivated, Mr Farage submitted subject access requests to Coutts and two companies which send them press cuttings and other information on customers, Lexis Nexus and Refinitiv.
As a result of their responses, Mr Farage discovered that a number of family members and associates, thought to be more than 10, were designated by the bank as PEPs, some of whom have now found it difficult to obtain banking facilities.
Mr Farage has always been protective of his family and private life and did not want to give details of who had been targeted.
But he told The Telegraph: “We have had several refusals to open accounts and a very nasty closure a couple of weeks ago.”
He said that as a result of being blacklisted by UK banks he would now have to open an account with an online bank licenced to accept payments and make payments, but he would still be unable to access the full range of banking services.
He said: “I can’t borrow money or have overdraft facilities. It’s very inconvenient. You are screwed if this happens to you.”
He said claims by NatWest that he had been offered accounts by them were untrue.
“It was only when I went public with this story about Coutts closing my account two weeks ago that someone called me 10 minutes before my show on GB News to say I could have a current account,” he said.
“She told me they hadn’t found a solution for the business account, which is far more important to me than the personal account.
“I have still not been offered a business account and they have never made any offer in writing.”
Mr Farage obtained a 40-page dossier from Coutts, using a subject access request, to gain information about the decision to shut his account.
The bank cited his retweet of a Ricky Gervais joke about trans women and his friendship with tennis player Novak Djokovic, who is opposed to Covid vaccinations, to flag concerns that Mr Farage is “xenophobic and racist”.
It also took issue with his defence of former US president Donald Trump’s behaviour and Mr Farage’s comments criticising the UK Government’s policy of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
The former Ukip leader told the PA news agency that his experience has left him fearing the UK is moving towards a “Chinese-style social credit system” where only those with “acceptable views” can participate in society.
“I am effectively de-banked. How do I pay my gas bill? What have I done wrong? I haven’t broken the law,” he said.