GB News host Nigel Farage has been recognised for his campaign against de-banking, winning ‘Campaign of the Year’ at the Pagefield Press Awards.
Nigel, currently in the Australian jungle, was awarded the prize for the revelations over his own experiences by Coutts, a division of NatWest which led to the resignation of its CEO Dame Alison Rose.
Nigel was informed his account would be closed after staff decided his views did not “align” with the bank’s own values “as an inclusive organisation”.
After denying this was the case, a subject access request by Nigel to NatWest, of which the taxpayer is the majority shareholder, revealed staff to have trawled his social media accounts for statements about which they disagreed.
WATCH: The huge scandal that led to Nigel’s award
Nigel has used his platform on GB News to highlight the cases of debanking, asking “Is it reasonable that law abiding citizens can be debanked and become non-people” and calling for people to have a right to a bank account.
Following his announcement, Dame Alison admitted to telling a BBC reporter confidential information about Nigel’s financial arrangements – a situation which led to her resigning.
Since the news broke, debanking complaints have surged, with an increasing number of appeals being upheld by the regulator amid greater public scrutiny.
The situation is now being investigated by the Treasury Select Committee in the wake of the scandal.
The committee has been warned that high street lenders have been shutting the accounts of small and medium sized businesses without reason.
The Financial Ombudsman opened 1,613 new cases relating to bank closures in the six months to the end of September, an average of 268 each month.
This compares to 2,708 cases across the whole of 2022-23 – or just over 225 a month.
Mr Farage has repeatedly vowed to continue his campaign to support the many victims he feats exist across the UK and who have experienced similar treatment.
A source close to the GB News presenter said: “Nigel would be delighted and would be toasting this award if he wasn’t on the other side of the world.”
Nigel is currently in Australia where he is participating in the ITV series I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here!
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
