London: The Bank of England has triggered a debate with an announcement that historical figures, such as former prime minister Winston Churchill and writer Jane Austen, will be replaced by British wildlife on the next series of UK banknotes.
The nature theme received the highest proportion of nominations in last year’s consultation, the Bank of England revealed earlier this week.
It is set to run a second consultation later this year to gather the British public’s views on the specific wildlife they would like featured on the new series. “The key driver for introducing a new banknote series is always to increase counterfeit resilience, but it also provides an opportunity to celebrate different aspects of the UK,” said Victoria Cleland, Chief Cashier at the Bank of England.
“Nature is a great choice from a banknote authentication perspective and means we can showcase the UK’s rich and varied wildlife on the next series of banknotes. I look forward to hearing about the public’s favourite wildlife during our forthcoming summer consultation,” she said.
However, political leaders from across party lines reacted sharply over this shift of imagery. While Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch branded the move as “erasing our history”, Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said he “can’t think of a worse time to do this, with a war waging in Europe.”
“I’m a huge fan of Winston Churchill. I think that he is very much believed to be this country’s greatest wartime prime minister,” said Badenoch, of her predecessor as Tory leader.
“Changing the pictures to put wild animals on them is a silly thing to do. I absolutely do not support it,” she said.