The Bank of England has selected a European hedgehog, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and Atlantic puffin for its next series of banknotes, ending the use of historical figures including Winston Churchill on the current designs. The decision has drawn criticism from politicians who say removing Britain's wartime prime minister risks diminishing the country's history.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch previously described the move as 'erasing our history,' while Reform UK's Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick called it a 'joke.' The Bank has defended the redesign as a way to make future notes more distinctive and introduce new security features to deter counterfeiting.
