‘Captured by crypto’: Fears grow over Farage’s threat to Bank of England independence – and the economy

A founding member of the Bank of England's interest-rate-setting committee has told the Nerve he would have "little or no confidence" in a governor of the Bank appointed by Reform UK, a party bankrolled by cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne.

Analysis by the Nerve reveals that – if Andy Burnham were to attempt to capitalise on the “Burnham bounce” and call, but lose, the early election some Labour figures are pressing for – an opportunity would open up for a victorious Reform government led by Nigel Farage to appoint a successor to current governor Andrew Bailey and make sweeping changes to the ranks of Bank policymakers. The party’s Treasury spokesperson, Robert Jenrick, detailed just such a strategy at Reform’s conference this week.

Willem Buiter, who served on the first monetary policy committee (MPC) when the Bank was granted independence by chancellor Gordon Brown in 1997, told the Nerve a Reform election victory could result in "large-scale donations from a major shareholder in a large financial institution potentially corrupting the appointment of a new governor". He adds that financial markets would "react quite violently" if legislation limiting the Bank's independence looked likely to pass.