Carney furious at Leave campaign attempt to silence BoE

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney has launched a stinging attack on one of the senior members of the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union after being accused of playing politics by commenting on the referendum.

Carney was responding to a letter from Tory MP Bernard Jenkin, a director of the Vote Leave group and chair of parliament's Public Administration committee in which he warned him about making public comments in the run up to the June 23 poll.

"You are prohibited from making any public comment, or doing anything which could be construed as taking part in the referendum debate," Jenkin, a member of the Conservative Party's right wing, wrote, stating that Carney had already made his views known on the referendum.

"The concern is that you, as Governor of the Bank of England, or others who serve the Bank, may have occasion to make further public comment on matters arising from the question on the ballot paper for the referendum.

Carney replied with a furious letter of his own, slamming what he called the “numerous and substantial misconceptions” in Jenkin's allegations.

The very public row came as the Bank left interest rates unchanged and warned if the UK voted to leave the EU next week it posed a great risk to not only the domestic economy but also to world financial stability.

“First, I have not 'already made [my] views known about the question in the forthcoming referendum'. Nor do I intend to share my private opinion other than via the anonymity of ballot box when I join millions of others to cast my vote,” Carney wrote.

“All of the public comments that I, and other Bank officials, have made regarding issues related to the Referendum have been limited to factors that affect the Bank's statutory responsibilities and have been entirely consistent with our remits.”

“Second, your letter demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of central bank independence as enshrined in statute.”

Carney said he the Bank had a “duty” to assess the implications of Britain's EU membership to achieve its objectives and report evidence-based judgments to Parliament and the public.

“ Indeed that responsibility to provide a high level of transparency is enshrined in our remits,” he added.

Carney added that the BoE was not bound by rules that prevent publicly funded bodies from commenting on national votes, known as “purdah” but had agreed to abide by them voluntarily.

“In the future, I would be grateful if you would do me and my fellow independent committee members the courtesy of consulting the public record before writing letters such as that which I received on Monday. “