GEORGE Osborne and Rishi Sunak have hit out at the Bank of England for axing Sir Winston Churchill from bank notes.
The next series of printed dosh will feature pictures of wildlife rather than great historical Brits.
Four ex Chancellors told The Sun on Sunday that woke bank bosses should rethink the disastrous plan.
Mr Osborne – Tory Chancellor under David Cameron – said: “Banknotes may become a thing of history themselves – so it seems strange, this late in the day, to be giving up on the tradition of celebrating the people who made our amazing country what it is.
“We all love a roe deer or a red robin, but I think I’d rather see the great novelist Emily Brontë out on the Yorkshire moors, or Barbara Hepworth in her studio in St Ives, on our new bank notes.
“The Bank is independent and can make its own decisions but why not try to learn a little while we spend?”
Mr Sunak – who was Chancellor under Boris Johnson before becoming PM – said: “Our bank notes should celebrate our history.
“They should remind us of the geniuses, the pioneers, the leaders who helped make Britain great.”
Jeremy Hunt also piled in, saying: ‘One of the biggest privileges of a Chancellor is to be Master of the Royal Mint.
“But a role steeped in history should show some respect for it.
“We had more than half a century of peace thanks to our greatest ever Prime Minister.
“Now, more than ever, we should be celebrating him.’
Ex Tory Chancellor turned Reform UK backer Nadhim Zahawi said: “Replacing Historical figures with images of wildlife is ridiculous.
“What does the Bank of England propose? Replacing Winston Churchill with a squirrel?
“This is self loathing from the wokerati.”
The Bank of England said it is pushing ahead with the plan despite the backlash.
Announcing the move, Victoria Cleland, chief cashier at the Bank of England, said: “Nature is a great choice from a banknote authentication perspective and means we can showcase the UK’s rich and varied wildlife on the next series of banknotes.”
