Grant Shapps reveals he and his entire family have been hit by the de-banking scandal
ENERGY Secretary Grant Shapps has revealed he and his entire family have been victims of the woke de-banking scandal.
The senior minister said his wife and children have all been blocked from getting accounts at major banks because he is a ‘politically exposed person’.
One bank demanded he hand over a staggering 18 years of payslips before they would let him become a customer.
Tearing into the controversy, he said woke boardrooms should stick to the day job and stop trying to police peoples views.
He fumed: “They’ve gone too far with this.
“They should get on with the job of being good at banking and not trying to second guess society. There are laws, there are politicians, there are courts.”
His explosive comments pile yet more pressure on the financial sector which is reeling from the de-banking scandal.
NatWest boss Alison Rose and Coutts boss Peter Flavel were both forced to quit in disgrace after Nigel Farage had his account shut because of his political views.
Speaking to The Sun on Sunday at his constituency home in Hatfield, Herts, Mr Shapps revealed the scandal goes far deeper than people think.
His wife Belinda and their teenage sons have all been caught up in it, he said.
He said: “Every single member of my family – my wife, my brother and my sister. All different banks.
“It is difficulty in getting an account.
“My 19 year-old son, he’s just been sent an enormous letter, an enormous list of things that HSBC wants him to provide, which is as long as your arm and completely unreasonable…
“HSBC – the bank he has been with since he was a little kid – had asked him for a list as long as his arm about you know, what’s the source of your wealth and what’s this, what’s that.”
“My oldest son is 22 and he was outright refused an account by one of the Challenger banks.
“The boss told him that it was because they have been told that they mustn’t allow open bank accounts for politically exposed people.
“It is mad.”
He added: “When I applied for accounts – I was asked for 18 years of a P60s recently.
“I said how am I meant to get 18 years of payslips? It was since I had started being an MP.”
The father-of-three said it is common for MPs and senior civil servants – known as permanent secretaries – to be turned down by banks because of a barmy computer says no approach.
He said: “It is not just politicians. It’s anyone in public service. So former permanent secretaries of mine tell me that they have difficulty getting banking.
“Anyone who decides to devote their life to public service is essentially at risk of being penalised by banks.”
Woke culture in boardrooms has gone “completely crazy” and they need a large dollop of “common sense”, he said.
“They have no business engaging in someone’s political beliefs or social beliefs”, he warned.
“They have no business in preventing people who devoted their lives to public service and their families from being banked.”
He added: “By the way, every politician I’ve ever spoken to, really absolutely everyone, has experienced it.”
Mr Shapps, 54, also hit out at Coutts for referring to him in their ‘dodgy dossier’ for de-banking former Ukip leader Mr Farage.
The 40-page document included an article in which Mr Farage described Mr Shapps as a “globalist”.
The article had claimed the description is an antisemitic trope aimed at Mr Shapps – who is Jewish.
But hitting back, Mr Shapps said he thought the cli it ws antisemitic was “a load of tosh” and he was left fuming at its conclusion.
Treasury minister Andrew Griffith has ordered banks to get their house in order and is tightening the law to force them to be more transparent with customers.
Meanwhile, the controversy has put Mr Farage once again at the centre of politics.
The former UKIP leader is launching a “very large database” of people and businesses who have been debanked.
Reform UK – the party which Mr Farage helped found – has used the scandal to urge supporters to rally to the party.
They are hoping to bottle the row to help put rocket boosters under their general election campaign next year.
Some Tory MPs are worried that by going so hard on the de-banking scandal, the government risks accidentally boosting Reform UK by giving them another crusade to capitalise on.
One former minister said: “We are building Nigel up again – we have been here before.
“It took Ukip 20 years to get to where they ended up. Some of my colleagues are running far too scared of Reform.”
Back at his home just outside north London, Mr Shapps is concentrating his political fire on another political enemy – Labour.
The Energy Secretary says Sir Keir Starmer’s Net Zero plans will mean higher bills, fewer jobs and less security.
He accuses Labour of “adopting the policies” of eco mob Just Stop Oil by vowing to ban new oil and gas drilling licences in the North Sea.
While he says their pledge to make the entire electricity system carbon free by 2030 is unachievable.
This will lead to “extreme highs in energy prices” that could lead to “blackouts”, he warns.
Turning his fire on Sadiq Khan over the ULEZ charge for drivers of older cars, he accuses the Labour London Mayor of “absolutely hammering the motorist”.
“He is almost doing it in a vindictive manner”, Mr Shapps added.
Attacking the eco rabble who chuck orange paint on buildings and cause carnage with their slow walks, he added: “The Just Stop Oil tactic seeks to alienate ordinary hard working people by making their lives a misery.
“The fact that his Majesty’s Official Opposition seems to be backing up their policies by adopting them…. is absolutely outrageous.”
Downing Street will spend the summer trying to hammer Labour on key dividing lines – like eco policies and the migrant crisis.
But while Mr Shapps twists the knife into his opponents on green issues, he sticks by the government’s 2050 Net Zero pledge.
And he defended the government’s plan to ban the sale of new, non-hybrid diesel and petrol cars by 2030.
Referring to the £4BN investment Tata is putting into a UK electric car battery – announced earlier this week, he said:
“I personally spent nine months landing that deal. I was able to do so because our policy on this is super clear.
“One of the things they’ll say is the clarity of our policy has helped to help to land that sort of scale of investment.”