A request for the UK standards watchdog to examine Nigel Farage’s reported interactions with the Bank of England has turned the UK’s digital-pound fight into an access fight: who gets to shape public payment infrastructure while donations from a major crypto-linked backer face fresh scrutiny.

A July 2 Guardian report said Labour MP Phil Brickell asked the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards to investigate Farage’s reported interactions with the Bank. The request followed the Guardian’s earlier reporting that Farage told a crypto event he had challenged Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey over the central bank’s digital-pound work.

No finding of wrongdoing has been published yet. The commissioner’s current investigations page…