RICHARD LITTLEJOHN: What next? Mrs Tiggy-Winkle instead of the King on our cash?

The Bank of England has blown £85,000 of our money on a politically motivated plan to remove historical figures including Sir Winston Churchill from our banknotes.It was spent on hiring a tame ‘research’ company to hold ‘focus groups’ designed to reinforce a decision which had already been made – to replace Great Britons including Churchill, Jane Austen and Alan Turing with, wait for it, wildlife.Having got the answer they wanted, they staged another bogus ‘consultation’ to discover what kind of birds and animals people would like to see on their notes.Participants were not given the option of voting for our greatest PM, military heroes, or computer pioneers such as Turing, who is credited with shortening the Second World War by cracking the Enigma code. No room either for literary and theatrical giants such as Austen, Dickens and Shakespeare or painters such as J M W Turner and Constable.A secret Bank of England committee, marinaded in woke and DEI and acting under orders from ambitious careerists above, decided that all these towering figures from the past were ‘elitist and divisive’ and should be confined to the dustbin of history.The governor Andrew Bailey even claimed disingenuously that the change was necessary on ‘security’ grounds to prevent counterfeiting – as if it’s easier to forge a picture of Churchill than a frog. Out go Dead White Males (and females), and in come, er, the Atlantic puffin, barn owl, buff-tailed bumblebee and European hedgehog. Had to be European, not British, didn’t it? No doubt part of Labour’s ‘reset’ to drag us back into the EU.It makes sense. Euro notes feature no one who embodies that Continent’s rich and turbulent history. Not even Michelangelo, Da Vinci or Beethoven. Instead they are littered with bland, invented images of windows, doorways and bridges in the name of ‘European unity’ – a concept as unreal and dishonest as the EU itself. How long before the King’s head is removed from our currency and any remaining folding featuring his mother, Elizabeth II, is incinerated on a giant bonfire in Hyde Park?After all, if Churchill can be replaced by Mrs Tiggy-Winkle, anything’s possible. 'When ‘the people’ give the ‘wrong’ answer, they’re simply ignored,' writes Richard Littlejohn. 'London’s two-bob chancer of a mayor Genghis Khan decided to ‘consult’ residents of the outer boroughs on his plans to extend the ULEZ low-emissions zone beyond the North and South Circular Roads'Can you imagine the US Treasury removing Abraham Lincoln’s image from the five dollar bill and replacing him with Donald Duck? It would make the Invasion of the Capitol on January 6, 2021, look like a Teddy Bears’ Picnic.(Although, to be fair, I shouldn’t be surprised if Abe isn’t replaced by Donald J Trump before he leaves the White House in 2029. The Donald has slapped his name on everything else from Palm Beach International Airport to the Kennedy Center.)In the US, any such change to the currency would have to be decided by Congress. Here, decisions are taken by secret committees and unaccountable quangos and then reinforced by bogus public consultations, which always deliver the answer the politicians want.When ‘the people’ give the ‘wrong’ answer, they’re simply ignored. London’s two-bob chancer of a mayor Genghis Khan decided to ‘consult’ residents of the outer boroughs on his plans to extend the ULEZ low-emissions zone beyond the North and South Circular Roads. Despite two-thirds voting against, he contemptuously dismissed their rejection and went ahead anyway. The erasure of historical figures from public display to make everything from banknotes to exhibitions more ‘relevant and inclusive’ is unhinged.In the case of the Imperial War Museum, the public never got the opportunity to have their say. The museum has been systematically removing relics from the First and Second World Wars because ‘young people aren’t interested’ in old wars – even those for national survival.It has already cleared out tanks, planes and a Polaris missile and scrapped Lord Ashcroft’s magnificent, unique collection of Victoria Crosses.At this rate, it can only be a matter of time before they give over the main exhibition hall to a celebration of the Hamas ‘resistance’ on October 7 and evidence of Israel’s ‘genocide’ in Gaza – about the only conflict young people seem to be interested in these days.The museum’s curators are no better than the statue-toppling Black Lives Matter mob in the 2020 Summer of Stupidity.These revisionists are in the ascendant, determined to erase all trace of our glorious – and admittedly sometimes inglorious – imperial history.Their pernicious influence is everywhere, from public institutions, schools and universities and now the supposedly ‘independent’ Bank of England.To be honest, though, I don’t know why they’re bothering with the bank notes. By the time Councillor Burnham and his cultural vandals have finished we’ll all be using the euro.Makes you proud to be British.British drivers – Born To Be RiledHotel California and Born To Run have been named the UK’s favourite driving songs. The Eagles and Springsteen may work on wide-open freeways in the US, but here: Not so much.My faves include Bob Seger’s Roll Me Away and Arlo Guthrie’s City Of New Orleans, even though that’s about a legendary train journey.But only on roads like California’s Pacific Coast Highway, or counting the cars on the New Jersey Turnpike.Back home, 40-odd years ago, when you could still get around London, I’d have gone for Driving In My Car by Madness, especially when trying to negotiate Muswell Hill in a 602cc Citroen Dyane.But today, what with LTNs, blanket 20mph limits, cycle lanes, ULEZ, Gatsos, humps, potholes and other assorted technological breakdowns, there’s only one contender, from Chris Rea...The Road To Hell. Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor has won his High Court battle over his high-profile arrest and heavy-handed raids on his two homesAir Miles Andy – the outcast formerly known as Prince – has won his High Court battle over his high-profile arrest and heavy-handed raids on his two homes.A judge ruled that the search warrants were unlawful. So no surprise there. I hold no brief for Andrew and make no comment on his guilt or innocence as he has yet to be charged with any offence.As Peter Hitchens wrote in the Mail yesterday – and some of us have been writing about for years – sections of the police are out of control. They think they are the law, not subject to it. This column has frequently drawn attention to the blatant abuse of police powers, especially when it comes to celebrities and other public figures, from the Nonces In High Places investigation – which falsely targeted war hero Lord Bramall and former home secretary Leon Brittan – to showbiz personalities including Jimmy Tarbuck and Jim Davidson.They’ve adopted the US-style ‘perp walk’ and mount high-profile dawn raids and clumsy Gestapo-style house searches to establish an impression of guilt, even where no firm evidence exists.Yet it’s not just TV presenters, disc jockeys and Tory politicians who have suffered. Only this week, four coppers turned up to arrest a boy of 15 in Wolverhampton who had posted some harmless, hurty words about a pompous, thin-skinned councillor.Elsewhere, two Plods have been dismissed after they attacked a dementia-suffering, 92-year-old amputee with a taser, pepper spray and baton as he sat in his wheelchair in a Sussex care home.In Gosport, police ordered an entire community of 80,000 into lockdown so they could provide an over-the-top escort to a fleet of luxury coaches carrying hundreds of illegal boat migrants to their cushy new lives courtesy of the British taxpayer. Yet in London, militant Islamonazi-supporters were allowed to menace the offices of the British Board of Jewish Deputies over Israel.Yes, thousands of decent officers perform decently and bravely every day. But when it comes to rogue cops, including some senior officers and gung-ho PCs, no one is safe – from 15-year-old boys to 92-year-old amputees. And even an exiled member of the Royal Family, who has yet to be charged with any offence. Mind how you go.