Will the BBC now apologize for its ‘misleading’ reports about the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts account?

The BBC is coming under increasing pressure for its coverage of the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts account.

After receiving an apology from the chief executive of bank owner NatWest, the former Ukip boss turned the screw on the group and spent the day highlighting the journalist who reported that he hadn’t reached the bank’s financial threshold and demanding the BBC to apologize .

Mr Farage received an apology from former BBC journalist Jon Sopel after the journalist previously mocked the politician behind the channel’s reports, saying he needed to “feel a bit like Charlie”.

Mr Sopel said it would “teach” him “to trust my old employer’s reporting”.

Internal documents have revealed that the real reason Mr Farage was fired from the bank was that his views “did not align with its purpose and values”.

The BBC is coming under increasing pressure for its coverage of the closure of Nigel Farage’s Coutts account

But the BBC has been accused of sticking to the “financial threshold” line, of unquestioningly portraying the Coutts’ “spin” and of “happily dismissing Nigel Farage’s claims”.

Senior Tory Peter Bone said: “The BBC reported.” [Coutts’] spinning around merrily without investigating what actually happened. They were happy to dismiss Nigel Farage’s claims without examining them.’

Mr Farage, 59, has already asked for an apology and correction of the original BBC story. He has also announced that he will file a complaint.

While the broadcaster declined to officially comment on the matter, yesterday it changed the headline of its original online story to “clarify that the details of the closure of Nigel Farage’s bank account come from one source”.

The headline now reads: “Nigel Farage’s bank account has been closed for falling below the asset limit, a source tells the BBC.”

This original story was reported by its business editor, Simon Jack. It was later reported that NatWest boss Dame Alison Rose was sitting next to Mr Jack at a charity dinner at London’s Langham Hotel the night before his story was published on July 4.

A model depicting the reasons Mr Farage was ‘banned’ from his Bank Coutts

Yesterday Mr Farage posted a message to Mr Jack, 52, on Twitter. It said: “Dear Simon, every other journalist who accepted Coutts’ opinion on July 4th regarding the closure of my accounts has now changed their story.”

You didn’t. Was your dinner with Dame Alison Rose, the NatWest boss, on the evening of July 3rd when you were given the assignment? Do you now accept that the reason for the closure was not lack of funds?

A source at the BBC said any complaint from Mr Farage would be dealt with under normal procedures, noting the company would continue to report on the story and reflect the current situation.