'No-one should be debanked!' Jeremy Hunt takes action after Farage scandal at Coutts
Jeremy Hunt has announced action to stop political debanking
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Jeremy Hunt has announced tough new action to prevent banks cancelling the accounts of people they disagree with in his key note speech at the Conservative Party Conference.
The Chancellor made the pledge after Nigel Farage had his Coutts bank account closed earlier this year.
A bombshell 17,801-word report obtained by the GB News presenter revealed the account was closed as he “did not align with their [Coutts'] values”.
Addressing the party faithful in Manchester this afternoon, Hunt said: "Nobody should have their bank account closed because somebody else decides they're not politically correct.
"We'll tighten the law to stop people being debanked for the wrong political views."
Poking fun at the Tories' political rivals as he stressed the importance of those of all political persuasions being able to bank, he added: "The Lib Dems are wrong for wanting to overturn a democratic Brexit vote but they still need a cashpoint to withdraw their euros.
Jeremy Hunt made the announcement at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester
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"The SNP are wrong to ignore a democratic vote for the Union, but they still need a bank account to pay for their motor homes.
"And even Keir Starmer - who is wrong on just about everything - needs his trade union cash, so he too can have a bank account, just not the keys to Downing Street."
Jeremy Hunt received rapturous applause from Conservative members in the room after making the announcement.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was also in the front row of the audience to hear the speech.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak was among those in the hall for the Chancellor's speech
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As well as taking action on debanking, the Chancellor also used his address to announce plans for welfare reform.
"We need a more productive state, not a bigger state," he said.
“If we increase public sector productivity growth by just half a per cent, we can stabilise public spending as a proportion of GDP.
“Increase it by more and we can bring the tax burden down. Half a per cent – now for those of us with private-sector backgrounds, that doesn’t seem too much, does it?
“In the public sector, I’m telling you it’s harder. But we are up for the challenge.”
He said a minister has been challenged to “restart the process of public service reform”, adding: “The Treasury too needs to change its focus from short-term cost control to long-term cost reduction.
“And we are going to start with the civil service.”
He went on to say: "I’m freezing the expansion of the civil service and putting in place a plan to reduce its numbers to pre-pandemic levels. This will save £1 billion next year."