The Bank of England has told the BBC it is reflecting the wishes of the public by substituting Sir Winston Churchill and Jane Austen with British wildlife on its next series of banknotes.
Political leaders have lined up to berate the Bank for the decision. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it was "a silly thing to do". Reform's Nigel Farage called it "absolutely crackers".
But the Bank said this was primarily an anti-counterfeiting move, which is why Churchill, like other historical characters, would eventually have to be replaced on banknotes.
Now the RSPCA has stepped into the debate, making the case for pigeons, rats and gulls to be represented on the currency's new designs.
On Wednesday, the Bank of England said that, following public consultation, native British wildlife would be depicted on its next set of £5, £10, £20 and £50 notes.
They will replace images of historical characters who, starting with William Shakespeare, have appeared on the reverse side of its banknotes since 1970.
On notes circulating currently, in ascending order of value, are former Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill, author Jane Austen, artist JMW Turner and mathematician and wartime codebreaker Alan Turing.
But it was the removal of wartime leader Churchill that particularly irked politicians.
"They propose we replace people like him with a picture of a beaver," said Farage, although, in fact, no specific animals have yet been chosen.
A shortlist of animals will be chosen before further public consultation
Badenoch said: "removing Churchill from banknotes is erasing our history.
"Changing the pictures to put wild animals on them is a silly thing to do. I absolutely do not support it."
And Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "I can't think of a worse time to do this with a war waging in Europe."
One poll suggests he may be at odds with his party's voters. A YouGov poll of more than 5,000 people last July suggested 34% of Lib Dems wanted nature on notes, compared with 19% wanting notable British historical figures.
It was close among Conservative and Reform supporters. Some 30% of Tories and Reform voters wanted historical figures, compared with 26% for the Conservatives and 25% for Reform favouring nature.
