Taking Churchill off the banknote isn’t ‘erasing history’ – but it is a matter of identity

By David Lewis Thomas, PhD Candidate in Political Theory, University of Sussex

News of the intended removal of Winston Churchill’s image from the five pound note by the Bank of England has outraged some commentators and politicians. Reform UK’s Nigel Farage called it “the definition of woke”. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the plans to replace historical figures with wildlife would be “erasing our history”.

As an anti-counterfeit measure, the Bank of England is replacing the historical figures on the next series of banknotes with wildlife. The wildlife to appear will be chosen after a public consultation.

Technically, of course, removing

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