The BBC has issued an apology to Nigel Farage for its inaccurate report regarding the closure of his account at Coutts bank. On 4 July, the BBC reported that Mr. Farage no longer met the

financial requirements for Coutts, attributing the information to a source familiar with the matter. Later, Mr. Farage obtained a Coutts report indicating that his political views were also taken into consideration.

Following the apologies from BBC CEO Deborah Turness and business editor Simon Jack, Mr. Farage expressed his satisfaction, noting that BBC apologies are not common. He highlighted that Mr. Jack had mentioned the information came from a "trusted and senior source," suggesting the source might have been very senior.

Mr. Jack, in his apology on Twitter, acknowledged that the information he reported was "incomplete and inaccurate" and offered an apology to Mr. Farage. On 21 July, the BBC updated its original article to correct the inaccuracies and apologized to Mr. Farage.

When Coutts, a bank owned by NatWest, decided to close Mr. Farage's account, they did not provide a reason. Mr. Farage asserted that the BBC had fallen for "spin" and he had been "cancelled" due to his political views.

Afterwards, Mr. Farage obtained a 40-page document assessing his suitability as a Coutts customer. The document raised concerns about his views, describing him as "xenophobic and racist," and flagged potential reputational risks for the bank. It mentioned his retweet of a Ricky Gervais joke about trans women and his association with tennis player Novak Djokovic, who opposes Covid vaccinations. It cited other examples, including his comparison of Black Lives Matter protesters to the Taliban and his characterization of the RNLI as a "taxi-service" for illegal immigrants. The document concluded that having Mr. Farage as a customer did not align with Coutts' stance as an inclusive organization based on his publicly stated views.

Dame Alison Rose, the CEO of NatWest Group, apologized to Mr. Farage for what she deemed "deeply inappropriate" comments in the document. She announced a full review of Coutts' processes concerning bank account closures. Mr. Farage has called for Dame Alison to be questioned by MPs.

The Treasury has organized a meeting with bank executives to address account closures following the dispute between Mr. Farage and NatWest.

The BBC hopes that its apology will resolve the matter. This incident sheds light on a crucial aspect of journalism: sourcing stories. Reporters rely on trust in their sources, and it is common practice not to disclose the identity of the sources. In this instance, that trust was broken. Photo by Chmee2, Wikimedia commons.