Nigel Farage to host daily LBC radio show

Nigel Farage has said that hosting a new daily radio show "makes no difference" to his job as an MEP.

The former Ukip leader will present the hour-long phone-in on LBC from January 9.

Farage said the political debate show would be "full of opinions, callers and reaction, as well as my nightly final thought on the events of the day".

"If 2016 was exciting, then this year could be tumultuous with President Trump, Article 50, elections all over Europe and maybe a eurozone crash," he added.

In response to criticism from the Liberal Democrats, who have questioned whether he should keep his European Parliament salary, Farage said:

"This makes no difference to my job as an MEP. You can tell the Liberal Democrats I'm going to cut my political working week down to 40 hours from 100.

"And we will be broadcasting the show from Brussels next Tuesday."

Farage's comments came after a Lib Dem spokesman expressed doubts over the role.

"Shouldn't he be, you know, turning up to his office in the European Parliament? If not, maybe he could donate his MEP salary to the NHS?" the spokesman said.

In the wake of the Brexit vote and stepping down as leader of Ukip, Farage has been seeking a challenge.

He was tipped by US President-elect Donald Trump as a potential UK ambassador to Washington. But Downing Street swiftly rejected the suggestion.

On Tuesday, Farage said he would "rather fancy" taking Sir Ivan Rogers' job as UK permanent representative to the EU - a post now filled by Sir Tim Barrow.

The MEP has previous radio experience of hosting phone-ins and standing in for other presenters on LBC, and has been hosting a late-night show on the station this week.