Sir Winston Churchill to feature on new banknote


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BBC - Sir Winston Churchill will feature on the new design of a banknote which will enter circulation in 2016, the Bank of England has announced.

The wartime leader's image is planned to feature on the reverse of the new ?5 note, together with one of his most celebrated quotations.

Churchill was chosen owing to his place as "a hero of the entire free world", said Bank governor Sir Mervyn King.

The current face of the ?5 note is social reformer Elizabeth Fry.

'Truly great leader'

A wide range of historical characters appears on the reverse of Bank of England banknotes, with Elizabeth Fry the only woman among the current crop.

The Bank of England governor has the final say about who appears on a banknote, although the public can make suggestions. The latest addition has been announced by Sir Mervyn at Churchill's former home of Chartwell, in Westerham, Kent.

"Our banknotes acknowledge the life and work of great Britons. Sir Winston Churchill was a truly great British leader, orator and writer," Sir Mervyn said.

"Above that, he remains a hero of the entire free world. His energy, courage, eloquence, wit and public service are an inspiration to us all."

Current plans, which the Bank said might be reviewed, are for Churchill to appear on the new ?5 note to be issued in 2016.

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Nice, hopefully they'll change the construction to something stronger than paper, I Aus has ones made of some type of plastic to stop them ripping, and ?5's take a lot of abuse.

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I think they should put Baroness Thatcher on one of them. JUST to annoy all the idiots that hate her. :p

What about all the people who aren't idiots but still hate her?

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I find it a bit surprising that they decided to put Churchill on the ?5 note. Seeing as he's one of the best prime ministers we've ever had (and that's coming from someone deeply anti-Conservative), you'd think they'd put him on the ?20 note.

I imagine this will lead towards other PMs being put on the banknotes, and in turn, some fierce debates. Churchill's almost universally loved, so no issue there, but that can't really be said for any other PM in modern history, except maybe Churchill's successor (and then predecessor), Clement Attlee.

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I think they should put Baroness Thatcher on one of them. JUST to annoy all the idiots that hate her. :p

I'm sure they will but not for a generation or two. Afterall, she was the first female prime minister and the longest serving prime minister of the 20th century.

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I think they should put Baroness Thatcher on one of them. JUST to annoy all the idiots that hate her. :p

Put it on the highest value bill, just to rub it in.

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Put it on the highest value bill, just to rub it in.

That'd be fine for most people who hate Thatcher, as most places don't accept the ?50 note! :laugh:

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I find it a bit surprising that they decided to put Churchill on the ?5 note. Seeing as he's one of the best prime ministers we've ever had (and that's coming from someone deeply anti-Conservative), you'd think they'd put him on the ?20 note.

I imagine this will lead towards other PMs being put on the banknotes, and in turn, some fierce debates. Churchill's almost universally loved, so no issue there, but that can't really be said for any other PM in modern history, except maybe Churchill's successor (and then predecessor), Clement Attlee.

Churchill was conservative but equally he spoke out about how employers should treat their employees well and give them a fair reward for an honest days work.

? It is a national evil that any class of Her Majesty?s subjects should receive less than a living wage in return for their utmost exertions? where you have what we call sweated trades, you have no organisation, no parity of bargaining, the good employer is undercut by the bad and the bad by the worst; the worker, whose whole livelihood depends upon the industry, is undersold by the worker who only takes up the trade as a second string? where these conditions prevail you have not a condition of progress, but a condition of progressive degeneration. " - Winston Churchill MP
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Churchill was conservative but equally he spoke out about how employers should treat their employees well and give them a fair reward for an honest days work.

It's rare to have a leader like that in any time.

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