BBC veteran calls for journalist behind Nigel Farage bank story to apologise

Nigel Farage accuses Coutts of lying over bank closure A former BBC newsreader has called on one of the corporation’s journalists to apologise to Nigel Farage over a story about his bank account being shut. Nicholas Owen made the comment about a report by the BBC’s business editor Simon Jack that the ex-Ukip and Brexit Party leader had been cut off by Coutts because he did not meet the wealth threshold. But it has since emerged that Mr Farage’s account was closed because his views did not “align” with the prestigious private bank, which is owned by NatWest. The BBC journalist sat next to NatWest chief executive Dame Alison Rose the night before the article was published earlier this month. Mr Owen told GB News: ‘Simon Jack is a jolly good journalist, jolly good at his job, and he sits next to a banker who gives him a line on the Nigel Farage story, well, of course, he’s going to go with that, it’s a jolly good source. Nicholas Owen called on the BBC’s business editor Simon Jack to apologise “But if that source turns out to be wrong, the facts are simply the other way round as Nigel himself has now discovered in great detail, then for goodness’ sake, just put your hands up. Simon, come on lad, just say ‘Sorry, got that wrong’.” Mr Farage has written to the head of the Beeb demanding a formal apology over its reporting on the closure of his Coutts bank account. In his letter to director-general Tim Davie, he said he had faced “humiliating” publicity due to the corporation’s article. It cited a source as saying the move to close his account was a “commercial” decision rather than political reasons as he was claiming. The BBC has since published an update to the original story by business editor Simon Jack, admitting it “turned out not to be accurate”. Nigel Farage has demanded an apology from the BBC Trending SUBSCRIBE Invalid email We use your sign-up to provide content in ways you’ve consented to and to improve our understanding of you. This may include adverts from us and 3rd parties based on our understanding. You can unsubscribe at any time. More info But Mr Farage is demanding that the corporation goes further and issues a formal apology. In a letter to Mr Davie, he said: “Over the last few days, I have been put through a considerable and humiliating amount of publicity as a result of inaccurate BBC reporting.” He said the BBC’s article was widely accepted as fact which prompted “many to say that my previous comments about being de-banked for political reasons were pure fantasy”. Mr Farage said to counter the reporting he was forced to publish the subject access request he submitted to Coutts. He added that the bombshell 40-page document “contained highly unpleasant and defamatory material about me’ causing ‘further reputational damage in order to defend myself”.