Latest / Mark and Pete / British Banknotes go Wild and Woke

Transcript

British Banknotes go Wild and Woke · Mark and Pete

• 0:03
  British banknotes go wild and woke.
• 0:07
  Welcome to Mark and Pete, where we talk today about replacing
• 0:11
  people with nature and animals and all things nice.
• 0:14
  Yes, this is Mark and Pete, 2 blokes with half an opinion.
• 0:19
  Now here's our first thought. New Grizzly notes.
• 0:25
  All things bright and beautiful, all currency notes, great and
• 0:31
  small, all things wild and wonderful.
• 0:35
  The Lord God invested in them all.
• 0:38
  Each little wallet that opens, each little note that sings.
• 0:44
  He made the printed colours. He made tiny past strings.
• 0:51
  All things bright and beautiful, all currency notes great and
• 0:56
  small, all things wild and wonderful.
• 1:01
  The Lord God spent them all. Well, as.
• 1:07
  We can tell indeed. Yes, you can probably gather
• 1:11
  that we're in a sort of a saintly mode.
• 1:13
  Why is that? We've changed our tunes.
• 1:16
  Has British banknotes really now started to take on a new colour?
• 1:21
  Well, some people might say that this is a rather sinister move.
• 1:26
  Yes, British wildlife will now replace historical figures on
• 1:30
  the next series of the Bank of England notes.
• 1:32
  Why? Well, many people have said that
• 1:35
  it's possibly contentious having historical figures.
• 1:39
  Mr. Pete, I would say that maybe this is probably a bad move, but
• 1:44
  putting little animals on them, is that something that now
• 1:48
  really could be slightly offensive for those who do not
• 1:52
  want animals depicting their nation on a 5/10/20 and £50
• 1:56
  note. Yes, there is that and there's
• 1:59
  the which people have been replaced by which animal?
• 2:04
  That some political commentators.
• 2:06
  Nigel Farage, a leader of the Reform UK party, he was talking
• 2:11
  in response to this about Winston Churchill being replaced
• 2:15
  by a Beaver. I was paraphrasing him, which
• 2:18
  that's quite amusing. Ed Davy, the Liberal Democrat
• 2:21
  leader, he suggested Winston Churchill be replaced by a
• 2:25
  badger. I thought Beaver was funnier,
• 2:28
  but the point being made is that why have an animal instead of a
• 2:36
  figure from British history who is much admired.
• 2:40
  And the reason why is of of course we would say because the
• 2:45
  people can are more controversial in themselves.
• 2:48
  But I'm just pointing out that which person you replaced by
• 2:52
  said animal could in itself offend people.
• 2:55
  I I don't think they're going to be able to escape offending
• 2:58
  people. Well, I think that my view is
• 3:01
  this, that I don't have a problem per SE with animals.
• 3:06
  I think depicting them can look very colourful.
• 3:08
  The irony is, is that some people say for the key driver
• 3:12
  behind this is it actually some ways it can actually increase,
• 3:18
  you know, the idea of sort of security.
• 3:20
  I mean, the idea that that some of the colours, some of the
• 3:23
  typography, even some of the line work could make it a little
• 3:27
  bit more enriched to make it harder to to do any counterfeit.
• 3:30
  But coming back to the big picture, which is, yes, removing
• 3:33
  historical figures, well, we should surely be proud of our
• 3:38
  historical figures, shouldn't we?
• 3:39
  I mean, OK, you mentioned Winston Churchill, you know,
• 3:42
  Shakespeare, for example, other people from science and
• 3:46
  technology who've really helped this country to sort of get to
• 3:50
  where it is today or where it was maybe.
• 3:53
  But the fact of the matter is, is that, you know, we should
• 3:56
  sort of glorify their achievements rather than try and
• 3:59
  hide them. Now, maybe this is just a
• 4:01
  reflection of the way the world is.
• 4:03
  You know, let's be honest, Mr. Pete, the Bank of England has
• 4:06
  the right to change this. So this isn't necessarily
• 4:09
  something that, you know, is, is is necessarily mandatory.
• 4:13
  So do you feel that they're just pandering to whims of today?
• 4:18
  I think, well, I think they were, were caught in this
• 4:20
  position because we started putting pictures of people on
• 4:23
  the banknotes more, much as you already did on coins.
• 4:26
  I think it was back in the 70's the queen first started to
• 4:29
  feature on a bank note. But then since then, as you're
• 4:31
  pointing out, they have historical figures.
• 4:35
  Isaac Newton featured, of course, you know, representing
• 4:39
  science, Winston Churchill, I guess leadership and literature.
• 4:43
  Jane Austen was on I think. And so you've got a few figures
• 4:47
  that tell a story of science literature, leadership of the
• 4:52
  nation. Doesn't quite work the same way
• 4:56
  with animals, but there's that. There's not really any reason
• 5:00
  not to. You could, in fact, go very
• 5:04
  patriotic with it, couldn't you? You could have a lion or you
• 5:07
  could have a British bulldog. So you, you could go, you could
• 5:12
  go the very British route and celebrate the nation or
• 5:15
  celebrate particular animals, which I, I suppose would make
• 5:18
  the point. But I, I think you pointed out
• 5:20
  in your intro that it's going to be put to the people.
• 5:23
  There's going to be some sort of vote.
• 5:25
  There will be a vote and people will have the choice.
• 5:28
  Now, of course not. Some people might like the idea
• 5:30
  of a dog, a cat, a mouse and a whatever.
• 5:33
  I have a slightly different view.
• 5:34
  Why can't we have, say, for example, a Teletubby or a
• 5:39
  Womble? I mean, for me that that brings
• 5:43
  the British humour to the surface.
• 5:45
  I mean, look, at the end of the day, I don't really mind what's
• 5:49
  on there because at the end, you know, you would, you know, you
• 5:51
  use the currency for what it is. But to me, I think you get a
• 5:55
  sense of pride when you see something that might make you
• 5:58
  smile. And I can't think of anything
• 6:01
  better than having something there that, yeah, sort of
• 6:03
  glorifies the creativity of this nation.
• 6:06
  So what What say you about maybe more creative depiction?
• 6:10
  I. I like the creative angle.
• 6:12
  What I'm against is getting people to vote on it.
• 6:14
  If you remember that vote that was going on the.
• 6:17
  Expedition voting on Boatface. Voting on Boatface.
• 6:21
  Yes, I fear that if we go that route, we're going to have that
• 6:26
  sort of that sort of response, maybe have a squirrel displaying
• 6:31
  his nuts, that sort of thing on your, on your bank note.
• 6:35
  And a squirrel does not build a nation, let's put it like that.
• 6:39
  So we don't, we don't really want to go that route.
• 6:42
  I, I think I'm all all for doing this and making changes, having
• 6:45
  different things on the notes. I actually think it's a great
• 6:48
  idea. I, I don't know that going this,
• 6:51
  the supposed safe route of, of wildlife is necessarily the
• 6:56
  right thing, but it doesn't have to stay forever.
• 6:58
  We can try something else with the next round of printing.
• 7:01
  So I, I think it's, it's not a completely a bad story.
• 7:06
  It's just disappointing that the reason appears to be a slightly
• 7:10
  woke fear of offending people. Yes, but overall it's a good
• 7:15
  idea. Let's have a bit.
• 7:17
  Let's have a let's ring. The changes of our banknotes
• 7:20
  make them look more interesting because, after all, they go
• 7:24
  quickly enough. Yes, well, you know, here's
• 7:27
  another thought. Why don't we just simply change
• 7:29
  the currency denomination? I mean, why do we have a £5.50
• 7:32
  note? I mean, you know, I must admit
• 7:35
  that with the inflation, things are rising rather a lot.
• 7:39
  And on that note, what do you think, listeners?