The ‘Bank of Wokeness’ Will Ditch Historical Figures

The Bank of England has been accused of ‘wrongheaded wokery’ after announcing it could drop historical figures from banknotes to reflect modern diversity.

It has launched a consultation seeking suggestions from the public that could mean the end of using pictures of important characters – Sir Winston Churchill, Jane Austen, artist JMW Turner and code-breaker Alan Turing presently appear.

The Bank suggests that modern issues such as gender, ethnicity and disability could be taken into account when planning the designs, with chief cashier Victoria Cleland saying: ‘It may be that we can get that real diversity through a different theme than historic figures.’

But the plans to change the traditional appearance of banknotes – which began in 1970 with William Shakespeare – drew a quick backlash.

Former business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: ‘The Bank of Wokeness wants to ignore our history and heroes to model itself on the unutterable banality of euro notes. It shows a lack of confidence in the nation and a supine kowtowing to the gods of political correctness.’

Kevin Hollinrake, a former business minister, said: ‘This is wrongheaded wokery. We should be proud of our history, not sideline it. 

‘Replacing historical figures with abstract themes risks erasing the rich, complex story of how our country has evolved. Diversity is incredibly important, but we should achieve it by widening the range of historic figures we honour, not by abandoning them altogether.’

The month-long consultation, the Bank said, will give the public ‘the opportunity to express their views on what theme they would like us to feature on the next series of our banknotes’.

The Bank has not said when the new set of notes will be issued, but it identified six ‘potential themes’, although people who are still alive – other than the monarch – would be excluded.

The Angel of the North, windfarms, and the DNA double helix are shown in a mock-up series of drawings that were released concurrently with the consultation launch.

The final decision will be for the governor, to rule out mischievous ideas such as ‘Boaty McBoatface’ which was selected by the public as the name of a new UK polar research ship, which ultimately became the Sir David Attenborough.

Ms Cleland said ideas for the designs needed to be ‘representative of the UK’ but also ‘not to be divisive’ or ‘upset people’.

Campaigners had complained of a lack of women on notes before the Jane Austen’s addition in 2017.

I’m sick to the back teeth of hearing about diversity and inclusion. Of course, there should be some diversity and inclusion, but not to the point it becomes ridiculous, especially in the history of mankind. You cannot eradicate the history of mankind because if you start doing that, you may as well say that wars did not exist and that Jews did not die in concentration camps, which we know that they did. When we start eliminating history, then we may as well eliminate mankind – or is this the whole concept?

What it boils down to is that the UK is being ethnically cleansed.

Government needs to remember that during World War I and World War II, people fought for the UK, so they need to remember that is why they are here today. Our British heroes and heroines made a sacrifice for this country, if they had not, people in government would not be sitting in their gilded castles drinking wine and smoking cigars. They should be thankful, not traitors to their country.

Churchill himself said, “A country that forgets its past, has no future.”