Farage blasts ‘out of touch’ NatWest chair claims it is ‘not difficult’ to get on the property ladder
Nigel Farage has blasted the ‘out of touch’ Natwest chair who said that it ‘isn’t difficult’ to get on the property ladder in an interview with the BBC.
NatWest chairman Sir Howard Davies was speaking on BBC 4’s Today radio program after being asked by the show’s presenter Amol Rajan about Britain’s housing market.
Mr Rajan asked: “When do you think it’s going to be easier for people to get on the property ladder in this country?”
Sir Howard replied: “Well, I don’t think it’s that difficult at the moment.”
Mr Rajan said: “To buy a house in this country, are we living in the same country or are you reporting from overseas?”
He responded: “You have to save and that is the way it always used to be.”
GBNews host Nigel Farage speaking exclusively said: “I mean talk to anybody under the age of 40 living in London or anywhere near London or Manchester or any of our big cities, and they are generation rent.
“The only way they can get onto the property ladder is if their parents give them, if they’re fortunate enough, their inheritance early.
“It is all but impossible for young people to get on the property ladder. And what that’s done, it’s destroyed the culture of thrift, Howard says save.
“I’ve spoken to young people who said there’s no point saving because we’re never going to save enough to even get the deposit that is now required.”
Farage has also slammed the NatWest boss after he defended the legal review into Dame Alison Rose.
Sir Howard discussed the fallout of the debunking saga where Nigel Farage revealed Coutts was planning to close his account for what he believed to be because of ‘his political views’.
The bank’s former chief executive Dame Alison Rose resigned after she admitted she had spoken to a journalist about Mr Farage’s relationship with Coutts.
Sir Howard said: “I continue to say that the judgment that we made at the time was a reasonable one. At the time what we also said was that we wanted an independent legal review, which we commissioned, to be able to satisfy ourselves what was said and what was not, because it was not remotely clear at the time.”
Farage said: “Had you been a teller working on a Natwest branch, and you were to have disclosed any information about any customer, you would have been out of the door.
“You would have been very lucky to get your month’s money and yet, Sir Howard, one of the great establishment failures of our times, decides not only should she not be sacked, but she should be able to keep her huge package.
“We own 38 per cent of this bank. The share price is on the floor. We’ve lost tens of billions as a country backing Alison Rose. Howard should have gone. This is a disgrace at every level.”