Rubbish Check
Daily Mail Money · 31 July 2026
source“’You need strong banks’: NatWest boss opposes windfall tax as profits soar 29%”
R3/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
12345678910
In short
Rubbish Talk rates Daily Mail's claim that NatWest "profits soar 29%" while its boss opposes a windfall tax a 3/10, because the 29% figure is the second-quarter jump, while the bank's actual half-year pre-tax profit rose a smaller 20%.
The Verdict
Lightly altered. The quote and the profit rise are both real and accurately reported, but the headline reaches for the bigger of two available growth figures (29% quarterly vs 20% half-year) and trims the CEO's own conditional framing of his quote, shaving the story slightly toward drama without inverting the underlying facts.
What actually happened
NatWest reported second-quarter profits up 29% to £2.3billion, part of a half-year pre-tax profit of £4.3billion, up 20% year-on-year and ahead of analyst forecasts of £4billion. CEO Paul Thwaite used the results to argue against a windfall tax on banks, saying that strong economies require strong banks, while the results also beat estimates at rivals Lloyds and Barclays over the same reporting period.
Key facts
- Second-quarter profit: up 29% to £2.3billion, the figure used in the headline.
- Half-year (H1 2026) pre-tax profit: £4.3billion, up 20% from £3.6billion, beating analyst estimates of £4billion.
- Net interest income: up 12.6% to £6.9billion; total income up 11% to £8.7billion.
- Dividend raised 26% to 12p per share, with a £955million shareholder payout.
- Full quote: Thwaite said "if you want strong economies, you need strong banks," the headline drops the conditional "if you want strong economies" clause.
- Comparators cited in the same article: Lloyds' Q2 profit hit £2.3billion (above forecasts of £2.1billion); Barclays' Q2 profit rose 30% to £3.3billion.
What to watch for
Watch whether follow-up coverage keeps citing the flashier quarterly percentage rather than the half-year figure once full-year results land, and whether the windfall-tax debate (TUC and Labour's Left already pushing for one) resurfaces the "record profits vs tax fairness" framing regardless of which growth number is used.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
Related
