Nigel Farage hints he will sack hated Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey

Nigel Farage has given a strong hint that he would sack Andrew Bailey as governor of the Bank of England if he becomes Prime Minister. It came as he also slammed the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as "utterly useless", vowing to reset it along with the Bank of England to kick start Britain's fledgling economy.

Asked about the future of Mr Bailey, who has been widely criticised for his handling of interest rates both during and since the pandemic, Mr Farage said: "He's had a good run. We might find someone new." While Mr Bailey's term as governor is set to end in 2028, Mr Farage said he believes the government will call a snap general election before this, allowing him to come in and dispatch the central bank's chief prematurely. He said: "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."

He doubled down on recent criticism of the FCA, branding it "useless". Mr Farage recently told a crypto conference in London that the FCA is dampening investment and allowing Britain to fall behind the modern currency.

"They are utterly useless. We need a radical rethink of what they are, what they're for, who they serve, what their purpose is," he added.

While Mr Farage and many voters may wish to see Mr Bailey removed as the man in charge of Britain's monetary policy, a Reform government may have to change the law to allow this.

Currently the position is overseen by the Court of the Bank, which may only remove a governor with the consent of the Chancellor if they are deemed "unable or unfit to discharge his functions as a member", or if they are declared bankrupt.

Mr Farage and his deputy Richard Tice met with Mr Bailey at Threadneedle Street in September, where the pair urged him to welcome cryptocurrency and change its approach to quantitative easing.

After the meeting the pair described their discussion on crypto as "encouraging", though added that the Bank is still "moving a little too slowly".

Mr Farage added: "I think they're adopting an overly cautious approach. What he did say was, in that world, that they are looking at it.

"He said 'our minds are not closed on this issue'."

Mr Tice is pushing to change the current policy on quantitative easing, by stopping interest payments on central bank deposits.

He claims this would save the taxpayer "tens of billions" of pounds.