Today’s front pages show the right-leaning part of our free and fearless press taking this con-man, congenital liar and bigot seriously, to the extent of taking him on trust. What happened, though, should be given at the outset: Coutts had decided that their arrangement with Farage would be brought to an end. This would happen when his outstanding mortgage was paid off.
Why is this a factor? Well, the property thus mortgaged was a security which meant the Farage account met the Coutts criteria - a million notes in the current account, or three million in loans and securities. The mortgage was paid off, the remaining current account had less than a million in it, so he no longer met the criteria for banking with Coutts. Case closed, game over.
But because Mr Thirsty had difficulty getting an account with any other banking group, NatWest - which owns Coutts - offered him an account. So he at no time was threatened with becoming an “Unperson”. It was a commercial decision. There was no incursion on his right to free speech. Nobody behaved improperly - except Nige and his pals kicking off about it.
This did not stop those out there on the right: Ian Fraser observed, “Torygraph goes big on Nigel Farage’s dispute with Coutts & Co, whose customer financial criteria (clients are required to maintain at least £1m in investments/borrowing or £3m in savings) he no longer met, devoting seven pages to it”. Cost of living crisis? Inflation? NHS? Nah, Nige is more important!
The Murdoch Times leads with “Banks told to respect free speech … They could lose licences for barring customers as Farage threatens to take Coutts to court”. No bank will lose its licence, and Farage won’t take Coutts to court, which the press knows already. He’s just full of shit. That isn’t stopping the Mail going totally gaga and telling readers there will be action (there won’t).
“After outcry over Farage and Coutts, Chancellor promises action within days … NEW LAW TO CURB BANKS THAT SHUT DOWN YOUR ACCOUNT”. The only “outcry” is from Farage’s media cheerleaders; there will be no action from Jeremy Hunt (the former Culture Secretary). No law will be passed.
Yet Suella Braverman went totally Tonto over this non-event: “The Coutts scandal exposes the sinister nature of much of the Diversity, Equity & Inclusion industry. Apparently anyone who wants to control our borders & stop the boats can be branded ‘xenophobic’ & have their bank account closed in the name of ‘inclusivity’ Natwest & other corporates who have naively adopted this politically biased dogma need a major rethink”.
She’s going to review her department’s policies! Big deal. There is no scandal, just a load of bloviating right-wingers trying to make capital out of a commercial decision by a fringe bank. But it does deflect attention from her latest failing - two asylum seeker barges refused docking in Edinburgh and Merseyside - which meant more taxpayer funds being wasted.
The bandwagon jumping is off the scale, with the Tel whining “Top executive who handled the former UKIP leader’s account is an avowed Remainer”. ARE YOU, OR HAVE YOU EVER BEEN, A REMAINER? The Senator from Wisconsin has been resurrected and demands answers! This is paranoid.
Nigel Farage is a congenital liar and con man: he has also claimed he will go after the BBC, but this too is hot air. He will take no action, consult no lawyers. His name still generates bemusement and ridicule in Portugal after he lied about the country’s 2015 Assembly Elections. But he has damaged and impoverished the UK like no other - apart, yes, from Murdoch.
This is the promotion of an irrelevance (Farage) by a morally bankrupt press. Which shows why the UK is in its current state. I’ll just leave that one there.
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6 comments:
The same people getting angry about this as those who defend a bakery’s decision not to bake a gay cake.
I have a solution to the "barges problem":
Moor the floating concentration camps and prison hulks in the river at Mistake-on-Thames, directly opposite the centre of corruption in Parliament. That way they can be constantly "monitored" by the racist tory
Corporate broadcast and press media giving this the kind of "detailed analysis" they have never given to offshore money dens for criminals, looters and thieves of national wealth. People like Dodgy Dave and Spivvy Sunak.
Same old corruption by the same old lying propaganda clerks.
Amazing that the same people who support gay people being excluded are up in arms about Farage.
Perhaps it's because they believe it's OK to discriminate against gays or refugees or poor people, but not the weqlyhy elitist top dogs like Farage. Freedom only for the rich.
Farage loves to be seen as ''A man of the people", doesn't he? Forever seen in a pub somewhere with a pint of ale in hand and a joker-esque grin on his face. Just one of the lads!
He also loves to rail against 'The elite' a lot as well. Always claiming ''They're out to get you''.
And yet, this is a man who is more than happy to bank with the elite. And when told his elite status has dipped somewhat, he takes offence in being offered a perfectly serviceable account elsewhere. But oh no. This new account of the sort used by those he claims to be on the side of is clearly not good enough for Farage in the way he claims a photo-op pint of bitter would be!
Farage supporters, you've been had, big time!
The Tories: tEh MaRkEt WiLl DeCiEd!
The Market: [decides]
The Tories: NO! No, not like that!
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