BRITISH BANKNOTES, BEAVERS AND BACKLASH

Four former Tory chancellors have joined a backlash at the Bank of England for ditching Winston Churchill from banknotes in favour of images of wildlife.

George Osborne, Rishi Sunak, Jeremy Hunt and Nadhim Zahawi all hit out at the decision by Threadneedle Street to shake up the designs on paper money.

The Bank's move marks a shift after more than 50 years of showcasing people from Britain's history on notes, including Churchill, Alan Turing and Jane Austen.

It said the change to wildlife imagery creates an opportunity to celebrate another important aspect of the nation.

The Bank also said to make it more difficult for the notes to be counterfeited while making security features more distinguishable.

But Threadneedle Street has been accused of 'erasing Britain's history' with its actions.

In his own criticism of the move, Mr Osborne - who was chancellor between 2010 and 2016 - told The Sun on Sunday: 'Banknotes may become a thing of history themselves.

'So it seems strange, this late in the day, to be giving up on the tradition of celebrating the people who made our amazing country what it is.'

'We all love a roe deer or a red robin, but I think I'd rather see the great novelist Emily Brontë out on the Yorkshire moors, or Barbara Hepworth in her studio in St Ives, on our new bank notes,' Mr Osborne added.

'The Bank is independent and can make its own decisions but why not try to learn a little while we spend?'

Mr Sunak, who was in charge of the Treasury between 2020 and 2022, said: 'Our banknotes should celebrate our history.

'They should remind us of the geniuses, the pioneers, the leaders who helped make Britain great.'

The Bank's move follows a public consultation on new designs for banknotes in which the UK wildlife theme received the highest proportion of nominations, at 60 per cent.

Architecture and landmarks was a close second at 56 per cent, followed by notable historical figures (38 per cent), arts, culture and sport (30 per cent), innovation (23 per cent) and noteworthy milestones (19 per cent).

More than 44,000 responses were received, including from online surveys, emails and designs submitted by schools and the public.

A second consultation will be run this summer to gather views on the specific wildlife they would like to feature, which can include plants, landscapes and animals.

It will be several years before the banknotes are issued and they will continue to show a portrait of the monarch.

Winston Churchill was instrumental in the saving of Great Britain — and, for that matter, of the wider world. Is there some statute of limitations on the celebration of such figures of which I was previously unaware? Great nations have great heroes. One could perhaps understand if the Bank of England had chosen to rotate those heroes on a schedule, but to remove all of them — and to replace them with animals! — is something else entirely. By the time that this process is complete, no Great Briton from any field of endeavor will be featured. Currently, British banknotes depict Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, JMW Turner, and Alan Turing. Previously, British banknotes have depicted James Watt, Charles Darwin, Elizabeth Fry, Edward Elgar, Isaac Newton, Charles Dickens, Adam Smith, Michael Faraday, George Stephenson, Christopher Wren, Florence Nightingale, and William Shakespeare. Henceforth, British banknotes will depict badgers, foxes, and robins.

Ask a foreigner to tell you what is unique about Britain, and fewer than one in ten thousand will say, "Oh, yeah Britain. Isn't that the place with the rich and varied wildlife?" No. They'll mention Churchill and Shakespeare and the Beatles and Isaac Newton and Florence Nightingale. Every country has animals. Not every country has Churchill or Shakespeare or the Beatles or Isaac Newton or Florence Nightingale. By choosing to depict animals instead of those people, the Bank of England has decided to be less British, not more.

Which, of course, is the point. Animals aren't "controversial." People are... Animals are abstractions; people are not. People — real, discrete, identifiable people, with names and achievements and sins — are invariably imperfect. People have attributes that are unpleasant or embarrassing or awkwardly rooted in their eras. People require defending from the cultural vandals who like to elevate their flaws over their virtues. That defense takes patience, grace, and courage.

Evidently, the Bank of England no longer has that courage.

To read the complete article, see:
(https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/britains-decision-to-remove-churchill-from-its-banknotes-suggests-that-its-all-but-given-up/)