Churchill off the Fiver

[Amabo]

Why are the “patriots” such massive snowflakes?

Churchill is being removed from the fiver and replaced why images from nature. It’s a NATIONAL DISGRACE apparently.

Yet they don’t seem that bothered about Jane Austen, Alan Turing and J.M.W Turner being removed and replaced by nature too.

Why are their toys out of the pram over EVERYTHING.

Or is nature woke too now?

For the record, I think a nice squirrel, hedgehog or fox would be quite nice.

I don't care whose picture is on the money. I don't have a fiver long enough to worry about it

Here in Scotland we already have wildlife on some of our bank notes

I think doing similar on English notes is a great idea. I'm certainly all for giving Churchill the heave ho.

Squirrels, hedgehogs and foxes sound great OP. I would find a hare or a rabbit quite appealing.

If it upsets Reform voters, then even better.

I think having animals or birds perhaps will help people appreciate them more.

Can you swap me 2 Squirrels for a fox?

A National disgrace..really how could you be arsed getting worked up about what's on a fiver.
If it upsets a few Billy Britain's then good.

Are you sure they don't mind about the others?

Yes I'd much rather Reform voters actually used a different currency altogether

Looking forward to Stoaty McStoatface

It's a bizarre phenomenon. In Liverpool Churchill (gun boats on the Mersey) or the Royals wasn't popular, which is why we never sang the National Anthem. Now there's been a complete turn around. It's perplexing to us older ones.

Kite for Wales, pine marten for Scotland.

Maybe share the real facts. The images were due for a change and wildlife was the theme chosen. www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4geyyg9en6o

Churchill’s granddaughter Emma Soames was on News Night last night. She was completely charming and said the family are not at all bothered by the change.

Although she was impeccably polite, I sensed that she may not be unhappy about the idea of upsetting Reform :)

I wasn’t surprised Farage and Badenoch got all “patriotic” about it.

I was surprised Ed Davey made a video against it though. “Churchill deserves better than to be replaced by a badger” (Farage said he was being replaced by a beaver - the real story here is which animal is it???)

Hate the state but happy to claim off it

Who made the money that meant we could have a welfare state? Did the present Royal family?
When Liverpool was put in a decline, did the Queen stand up and say 'I'm not having a city of mine destroyed'? Did the Royals push for the Hillsborough truth? Who makes up our army? Where did the ships go in and out of, was it the royals working the docks? Who made the decision to destroy industry, close the mines and get rid of the greatest Merchant Navy in the World?
Interestingly I was having this conversation this morning. It was bloody cruel to build houses with a coal fire in every room, then take away the ability to afford coal. The ability to be financially independent has been taken away, not asked to be taken away. When Churchill stationed gun boats in the Mersey it was to stop the workers from asking for a living wage. Three years later those same men he threatened. gave their lives and limbs for this country. Fuck all has been handed to us.

I love Scottish bank notes, they are so pretty.
I'm really happy English bank notes are changing I find them really boring.

Nigel Farage's video is pathetic.

After years of completely avoiding the question though, at least we now actually have a working definition of "woke".

There you go folks. Don't go depicting animals on anything, lest you be accused of going "woke". I guess all those Neolithic cave artists must have just been a bunch of hard-left, mass-immigration loving, blue-haired they/thems who probably eschewed traditional dairy in favour of "oat milk" as well. 😡

I think a lot of this is about how the decision is framed. I understand images on bank notes are changed every 10 years to prevent fraud. Churchill has been on it since 2026, so it’s naturally time for another choice.

But the change has been seized on by Reform as being related to some sort of shame / erasure of Britain’s history, which gets people frothing. Churchill was not a perfect person, but he played a significant role in our history and can be credited with getting us through WWII.

I think the government / BoE could do a better job of heading off right wing frothing by thinking about comms around these decisions. Our government class does have a responsibility to promote social cohesion at a time we all know society is become increasingly polarised. So it seems irresponsible not to have clearly communicated why Churchill is being removed I.e.: his time in circulation is up

Agree with all this. They were meant to be changed anyway, but comms poor.

It really doesn’t matter and anyone frothing over this must have a charmed life if this is what they are angry about.

Maybe after we've had animals, we could have famous landmarks or landscapes

Stonehenge, Arthur's Seat, Giant's Causeway, Yr Wyddfa etc

Takes away any politics from it

They have always changed them from time to time anyway. I remember Charles Dickens being on one of them - it was the £10 I think. And Robert Stephenson was on the £5 at one point.

They do like to get upset though, these Reform types.

I did always think we should have Alan Turing on a note that people actually had in their pocket more often, rather than the £50, but apart from that I’ve never really had strong views.

Nature is fine. Historical people of note are fine too. As would be buildings or inventions (rather than inventors) or whatever.

For a political party who fight against "snowflakes", they are very easily offended about very basic things.

Should say since 2016

I’d rather swap it entirely for euros. Hard rejoin.