Two parody notes take aim at new UK leaders, policies

Bath for Europe, an anti-Brexit group in that southwest English city, has issued a pair of parody bank notes in its campaign for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union. The notes depict United Kingdom leaders Jacob Rees-Mogg and Boris Johnson

Original images courtesy of Bath for Europe.

No one knows if Great Britain will survive Brexit, but at least some in England have a sense of humor about what may be an impending disaster. Bath for Europe, an anti-Brexit group in that southwest English city, has issued a pair of parody bank notes in its campaign for the United Kingdom to remain in the European Union. More than 5,000 have already been printed and handed out at rallies.

Dick Daniel, one of the group’s founders, said the purpose of the notes was to play on the promises made by Brexit’s proponents, the distortions and lies of the Brexit campaign, and “to make something very visual.”

The pieces feature of pair of figures widely reviled by some in the United Kingdom. A putative £10 note has the face of recently named Prime Minister Boris Johnson and reads, “I promise not to pay the NHS (National Health Service) the sum of £350m pounds.” 

The second note, denominated £50 guineas, features the leader of the House of Commons and Lord President of the Council, Jacob Rees-Mogg, born in 1969. Rees-Mogg, shown wearing a top hat, is hugely controversial for his upper-class pretensions and reactionary opinions. He is dubbed in the media the “Honorable Member for the 18th century.” His satirical bill reads, “I promise to pay myself more than you,” and its fake Latin motto has a translation best left to the imagination.

The British Museum has added the pair to its collection. Curator of modern money, Tom Hockenhull, told The Guardian, “We collect things because they represent economic, social and political history, and so we want these in the collection.” He added, “There’s a long tradition of making parody bank notes for the purposes of spreading a political message or advertising a particular viewpoint, and these fit into that genre.”

The satirical notes can be downloaded and printed here.

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