If Brexit wasn’t already contentious enough, chancellor Philip Hammond just played a budget-blinder in dividing the country even more. Because it’s been reported that he’s signed off on a commemorative 50p piece to celebrate leaving the EU. Cue Twitter to sum up the nation’s thoughts.
Budget Brexit bumbling
In a thinly-veiled attempt to sell the Tories’ Brexit shambles as a success story, Hammond will now be plastering the omnishambles on coinage for all eternity:
*Absolutely no self-awareness of how this will get him ridiculed*https://t.co/lBTmyPpZUh
— Marie-Ann Detests Tories 🇺🇦 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 (@MarieAnnUK) October 29, 2018
As the Mirror reported:
The coin would be available from March 29 – the day the UK leaves the EU – and carry the words ‘Friendship With All Nations’.
If the coin is anything to go by, the government has obviously made amends with Russia and North Korea. Or Brexit friendship won’t be extending to them. So, maybe there should be a disclaimer on the coin stating this. Along with a line about ‘possible friendship with Saudi Arabia, depending on whom its executed this week’.
But Twitter reactions were a mixed bag.
Social media says
Some were taking it all very seriously:
https://twitter.com/RyanMoate/status/1056820486812958720
Others were a bit more wry:
The UK government is to unvail a special brexit 50p coin. It will be worth 3 actual pence and engraved with famous brexit sayings like 'Fuck you remoaners' and 'stop saying we got tricked by a bus'
— TechnicallyRon (On all the platforms) (@TechnicallyRon) October 29, 2018
Alternative designs were ‘floated’:
https://twitter.com/jonoread/status/1056828371991179264
This may be a better option:
My pitch for what should be written on the back of the Brexit 50p pic.twitter.com/I6aiSdAhdA
— TechnicallyRon (On all the platforms) (@TechnicallyRon) October 29, 2018
But others thought it was positive:
https://twitter.com/darrengrimes_/status/1056674636942004227
Will this 50p be the most sought-after coin ever minted? Who knows. But with some predicting an economic apocalypse after Brexit – 50p may well be worth diddly-squat in a year’s time, anyway:
https://twitter.com/davidschneider/status/1056816204789243904
Get Involved!
– Read more from The Canary on the Autumn Budget.
– Join us so we can keep holding the powerful to account.
Featured image via Deeply Unhelpful Brexit Hating Britgirl – Twitter
