Nigel Farage seeks influence over Bank of England in same vein as Trump and US Federal Reserve
Nigel Farage has suggested he would replace the governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, if he were to become prime minister.“He’s had a good run, we might find someone new,” Farage said in an interview with Bloomberg’s The Mishal Husain show.“He’s a nice enough bloke,” the Reform leader added.However, Farage is unlikely to have a say in Bailey’s leadership, given the governor’s single eight-year term is due to end in March 2028 and the prime minister, Keir Starmer, is only required to hold a general election sometime before 15 August 2029.Farage has been calling for politicians to have greater influence on the central bank, which was made independent in 1997 by the then chancellor, Gordon Brown.
His comments on Bailey’s position are the latest sign that Farage could seek to follow in the footsteps of his friend Donald Trump’s relationship with the US Federal Reserve.Trump has sought to increase his administration’s influence over the US central bank, which like the Bank of England makes its interest rate decisions independently.The US president has demanded interest rate cuts and launched stinging attacks on the Fed’s chair, Jerome Powell – calling him a “moron” on social media – and threatening to remove him.Farage’s latest comments come just weeks after he and Reform UK MP Richard Tice held a meeting with Bailey at the Bank’s Threadneedle Street headquarters.Farage had been calling for the central bank to halt bond sales and cut the interest rate it pays to UK banks, after an exchange of letters, in which the governor agreed to a meeting.
Tice, Reform’s deputy leader, has previously said the Treasury should be allowed to appoint “one or two” government representatives to sit on the Bank’s rate-setting monetary policy committee (MPC).The Reform UK leader, who previously worked as a commodities trader, has worked more recently as a brand ambassador for a gold company, and has discussed his goal of making London a global “powerhouse” for cryptocurrencies.Farage, who has previously called Bailey a “dinosaur” for his views on digital currencies, said he was encouraged by the governor’s change of heart about stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency that is supposed to have a stable value, such as US$1 (£0.75) per token.“The Bank of England, the British government, the regulator – whatever shape that takes – they’ve all got to understand the world is changing, has changed, very, very rapidly,” Farage said.
After Bailey’s meeting with Farage and Tice, a Bank of England spokesperson said the governor had “a productive meeting” with them,The best public interest journalism relies on first-hand accounts from people in the know,If you have something to share on this subject, you can contact us confidentially using the following methods,Secure Messaging in the Guardian appThe Guardian app has a tool to send tips about stories,Messages are end to end encrypted and concealed within the routine activity that every Guardian mobile app performs.
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Australia lose by nine wickets to India in third men’s one-day international – as it happened
That, in anyone’s language, is a belting. India’s spinners controlled the tempo of Australia’s innings, with Kuldeep joining Axar and Washington. All took wickets, all went for fewer than five an over in the process. That was after a good start from Siraj, then it was Harshit Rana who stamped his influence on the middle of the innings, knocking off Carey, Connolly, and Owen.India took some time to get started, with Rohit careful against Starc and Hazlewood, but Gill was the only wicket to fall, out to the latter
Hawk Mountain can scale Doncaster heights for O’Brien in Futurity Trophy
Aidan O’Brien’s prospects of beating his own record for Group One wins in a calendar year diminished last weekend when he missed out in all five of the top-level events on Champions Day at Ascot, but he appears to have an iron grip on the Futurity Trophy at Doncaster on Saturday, the final Group One of the British Flat season.O’Brien fields three of the six runners – Benvenuto Cellini, Hawk Mountain and Action – and they fill the first three spots in the early betting, with Benvenuto Cellini, the mount of Christophe Soumillon, heading the market at around 5-4.The favourite was an emphatic five-length winner at Leopardstown last time and is the long-range 12-1 market leader for next year’s Derby, but he has yet to race on anything slower than good-to-soft going.Hawk Mountain, though, was a comfortable winner on soft in the Group Two Beresford Stakes at the Curragh last month, posting a useful time in the process.Ronan Whelan, his jockey there, keeps the ride on Saturday and with the ground at Doncaster now heavy after recent rain, Hawk Mountain (2
Tarling and Charlton grab GB’s first golds at Track World Championships
Great Britain secured their first gold medals at the Track World Championships in Chile as Josh Charlton claimed his first world title with victory in the individual pursuit and Josh Tarling stormed to victory the men’s points race.Tarling gave a points race masterclass to land gold before Charlton picked up his first rainbow jersey in the individual pursuit – Britain’s first gold in the men’s event since Bradley Wiggins in 2008. Joe Truman claimed bronze in the men’s kilo.Tarling picked up maximum points in the third sprint of the points race before launching a bold solo move to gain a lap. From there the 21-year-old, who won a stage for Ineos Grenadiers at the Giro d’Italia this year, regularly collected points in the sprints, finishing second in the final dash to seal the title by eight points over the American Peter Moore
Everybody hates Russ: how the NFL’s nicest guy became its most resented | Andrew Lawrence
Russell Wilson built his career on faith, charm and polish. Now the NFL’s perennial nice guy has become proof that sincerity can backfire in professional footballThey say you can’t win football games with too many choir boys. One choir boy might be too many in the case of Russell Wilson, the NFL’s would-be Mr Congeniality. From the off the New York Giants quarterback has gone to lengths to distinguish himself as the game’s most likable star, the kind of player kids look up to and opponents look out for. And all it seems to do is breed resentment
Wallabies dig deep to get revenge on Eddie Jones in gritty win over Japan
Australia tempted the onryō, resting 13 stars and appointing the most inexperienced captain in 64 years. But the high-risk move paid off, as the Wallabies exorcised the demons of the Eddie Jones era and got their spring tour off to a winning start, defeating their former coach’s Japan side 19-15 victory in a rainswept Tokyo.The narrow win snaps a three-game losing streak, preserves Australia’s perfect record over Japan intact and primes the Wallabies for a return next week to Twickenham, the home of rugby, where their frontline XV will try to reprise the last-gasp heroics that secured a famous 42-37 win over England in November.Up against the world No 13, Australia had plenty to lose after a torrid home season. And yet, fearing fatigue over a tough five week, five Test tour, coach Joe Schmidt had given his younger stars the stage
Australia hold off brave Japan in Tokyo Test – as it happened
There’s plenty more international rugby in these quarters over the next month or so, starting with the Wallabies visiting Twickenham next weekend. We will of course be covering that right here.Thank you for joining me this afternoon. It was a bit of a slog in the Tokyo rain, but sometimes that’s what Test rugby looks like. I’ll catch you back here soon
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