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Doug Maw, the vegan who started a petition through Change.org challenging the use of animal parts in the new polymer bank notes is taking his battle to the courts. The petition got 140,000 signatures and caused lots of debate. He has started a Crowdfunder to open legal proceedings: https://tinyurl.com/y6ueu9h5.
Photo: Getty
In 2016, The Bank of England launched its first polymer banknotes which it said were more durable and harder to fake, but it was soon discovered that these notes contained tallow derived from animal fat, which is problematic for vegans and religious groups who avoid using or consuming products containing animal ingredients. Some Hindu temples and vegetarian cafes even refused to accept the new five pound note to take a stance against this decision.
However, despite thousands of complaints from vegans and religious groups, the Bank of England have announced that the plastic bank notes will continue to be made with traces of animal fat as they deemed the alternatives to be an environmental risk.
One person who isn’t taking the decision lying down is Doug Maw, who is taking the Bank of England to court over their decision.
Said Doug, “The Bank’s decision to produce all future notes in the same way is an insult not just to vegans, vegetarians, Hindus, Sikhs and Jains, it is an insult to anyone who believes either that animals are not here for us to use or anyone who believes that people should not be discriminated against due to their ethical or religious views.
“I have handed them a petition, had meetings with them, persuaded them to open a consultation (88% of their respondents were against this continued use), held peaceful demonstrations outside the Bank, and encouraged a campaign to write on and cut the new notes. They have decided to ignore everything and all the advice they were given on a straw man argument about cost. They claim changing would cost them £1.65 million a year over 10 years). This from a Bank that has printed £78 billion over the last year to artificially hold interest rates and consequently devalue the pound!
“I am confident that the Bank’s decision is going to cost them much more in the long run as they are in breach of articles 9 & 14 of the European Convention of Human
Rights. I have had significant interest from barristers interested in taking up my case and I have meetings with my preferred choice over the coming weeks. She has an impressive record in cases against governments and multinational corporations.
“I won’t let this go & the Bank should consider their position very carefully instead of continuing to waste money printing illegal money that will have to be withdrawn. I encourage people to support my campaign and ensure that legal steps can be taken to the highest level in order to prove to the Bank that they cannot ignore the beliefs of millions of their users, forcing them to handle items that conflict with their beliefs.”
www.crowdfunder.co.uk/bloodmoney-get-animals-out-of-our-money
