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Nigel Farage Controversy Results in Hundreds of NatWest Private Data Requests

 

Numerous requests for copies of personal data have been made to NatWest Bank under the provisions of data protection regulations. 

It unfolded after an argument between the group and Nigel Farage, a pro-Brexit advocate. According to the former UKIP leader, his account at Coutts, a private bank owned by NatWest, was closed down as a result of his political beliefs. 

It's not apparent if the inquiries were from present or past clients. Mr. Farage received no explanation as to why Coutts decided to cancel his account. 

Subsequently, Mr. Farage asked the bank for a copy of the information they had on him. This is referred to as a subject access request under data protection law. 

He was given a document that had minutes from a meeting in November of the previous year where his suitability as a client was discussed.

It claimed that given his "publicly stated views," keeping Mr. Farage as a customer was inconsistent with Coutts's "position as an inclusive organisation." 

Mr. Farage's retweet of a transphobic joke by Ricky Gervais and his relationship with tennis player Novak Djokovic, who is against the Covid vaccine, the document further reads. 

It also cited various instances, such as his likening of Black Lives Matter demonstrators to the Taliban and his description of the RNLI as a "taxi-service" for unauthorised immigrants, to raise red flags. 

Coutts was also concerned about the reputational danger of having Mr Farage as a customer. Natwest CEO Dame Alison Rose has since apologised for the "deeply inappropriate" remarks. 

On Thursday, Mr Farage claimed that thousands of other people's accounts had been terminated by NatWest, and invited them to file their own subject access requests. 

According to the BBC, the bank has seen an uptick in such requests. The figures are likely to be in the hundreds rather than thousands. It is unknown how many persons who made the requests had their accounts closed.