Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg says the BBC’s belated apology to Nigel Farage over their reporting on his bank account situation came “a few days late”.
It comes after the BBC’s business editor Simon Jack made the apology over a story published by the corporation which suggested Farage had his account shut for “falling below” Coutts’ wealth limit.
It was later revealed in dossiers acquired by the GB News presenter that Coutts, owned by NatWest Group, had shut the former Brexit Party leader’s account as his public statements did “not align” with their values.
Rees-Mogg said the BBC should have given an apology when it first emerged that they had been “served a pup” by a “source” at NatWest.
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“They should have corrected it immediately,” he said.
“But this is characteristic of the torpor with which the BBC operates. It does it all by halves, it gets there in the end but slowly and lumberingly, because it’s a vast bureaucracy.”
On Monday, Jack tweeted: “The information on which we based our reporting on Nigel Farage and his bank accounts came from a trusted and senior source.
“However, the information turned out to be incomplete and inaccurate. Therefore I would like to apologise to Mr Farage.”
In a statement, the broadcaster said: “We have since changed the headline and the copy on the original online article about his bank account being shut for falling below the wealth limit to reflect that the claim came from a source and added an update to recognise the story had changed.
“We acknowledge that the information we reported – that Coutts’ decision on Mr Farage’s account did not involve considerations about his political views – turned out not to be accurate and have apologised to Mr Farage.”
The closure of Farage’s accounts has sparked outrage from senior Tory MPs who are continuing to pile pressure on Coutts and NatWest.
NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose apologised to the former Brexit Party leader about “deeply inappropriate” comments made about him in official papers.
Coutts cited Farage’s previous Twitter activity which included a retweet of a Ricky Gervais joke about trans women.
New measures include making banks explain why they are shutting an account, which was not previously required.
The notice period for a forced account closure will be extended from 30 days to 90 days.
The Government said the extension should give customers more time to challenge a decision through the Financial Ombudsman Service or find a replacement bank.
from GB News https://ift.tt/Ug1z34f
