Yet another concession to a minority

[fallen-archie]

The new twenty pound note is to be made using palm oil instead of tallow in order to appease vegans! Does anyone understand the damage to our environment caused by palm oil plantations? Next thing will be using an image of India Willoughby on the note in order to appease transgender lobby groups! This place is going mad!

[tara*teller]

That is a sad turn of events.

Palm oil causes complete and utter devastation to the areas where it is grown and if anything we should be cutting use not upping it!

It's a disgrace it really is.

When the orangutans finally have nowhere left to live we'll look back and ask why and it will be too late.

[sylviextra]

It's not just vegans.There are many other groups who object to tallow being used -there are millions of Hindus, Sikhs, Jains, vegetarians and vegans in the UK .I won't use the new £5 and ask for coins or use a card instead.This is not just another concession to a minority, people have the right to know what contains the fat of slaughtered animals.People should not be forced to go against their beliefs religious or ethical.

[jd.linklater]

As I understand it the Bank of England is currently considering using palm oil which sounds like no firm decision has been made. Maybe if enough people object on environmental grounds they will have a rethink, perhaps a petition is called for. I agree we should be cutting back on the use of palm oil not increasing it and not just for the sake of Orang Utans but the thousands of other species we have been wiping out over the years because of deforestation. We've wiped out many species even before they have been discovered.

This is a crazy situation that has to stop. All the objectors to the use of tallow whether they be Vegans, Hindus, Sikhs or whatever are merely exercising ther own lifestyle choices, if we have to appease the lifestyle choices of everyone on the planet life would be impossible. 

[Anonymous]

Yep, tell that to the orangutans.

[jd.linklater]

I thought there might be one already. It's not specific to bank notes but relevant to the use of palm oil in general. 

https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/171036

[tara*teller]

@sylviextra Your argument does not hold up.

I'm being forced to go against my ethical beliefs in that I don't want to use anything with palm oil, there's no difference in my choice and anyone elses.

You wont have to touch the fat of the slaughtered animals that the production of palm oil produces but it's there.

[cwtchcwtch]

@tara*teller I totally agree with you re palm oil - another thing I do my utmost to avoid. Totally sustainable palm oil production is a long way off and at present the damage from the palm oil industry is severely impacting animals, the environment and people.Appalling.

[cwtchcwtch]

@ tara*teller There is also pressure being put on the Bank of England to only source RSPO certified sustainable palm oil for the new £20 note, the research into that is still being conducted. So it is up to anyone who cares about the effects of the palm oil industry to keep up that pressure on the Bank to ONLY use RSPO certified sustainable palm oil.At least we have advanced warning this time, there was none re the tallow.

[right-then-petal]

Palm oil in many countries is used as a simple frying oil, but many other markets make use of both palm and palm kernel oil:

• Consumer retail food and snack manufacturers.
• Personal care and cosmetics (mainly palm kernel oil)
• Biofuel and energy.
• Animal feed (palm kernel expeller)
• Pharmaceutical.
• Industrial.

look around the room your in it,s in everything

[cwtchcwtch]

Yes I know - look for labels which say from sustainable sources.

[fallen-archie]

I agree it does need to be from sustainable sources, however it's use is now so widespread it is doing serious damage to what remains of the natural habitat for many of our rarest birds and animals, this is a wake up call and one we should all heed.

[jd.linklater]

Attaching a 'Sustainable' label to something means nothing. There is no way of producing palm oil without deforestation, so to say it will come from a sustainable source is meaningless.

Vegans are so concerned about animal welfare that they won't handle money that contains trace elements of fat from animals that we routinely slaughter for food, yet see no problem with palm oil which destroys both animals and their habitats during its production. Irony is lost on some people.

Use bits of dead animal or slaughter Orangutans?

No contest in my book.

[al**bear]

OOK !

[right-then-petal]

[jd.linklater]

Excellent video Al. Deliberately emotive but tells the whole story better than we could.

Thanks for posting.

[temperate_porcine]

We should all burn our twenty quid notes in protest.

[fallen-archie]

Indeed, a sobering video thanks for sharing Al.

[lambsy_uk]

Don't burn them, that too would impact the environment, send them to me instead!

[j_uk643]

As I understand it, no decision has yet been made, and tenders for production have been placed on hold.
The OP is therefore misleading, not only on that but also to imply the eventual specific choice is a direct result of other pressure groups lobbying, and that as a so-called 'minority',that must somehow be wrong. Most pressure groups are a minority,
does their validity or otherwise depend on whether one personally agrees with their aims or not?
The person who started the petition over the use of animal fats in note production, also voiced his concern over the use of palm oil too
I have no idea what the transgender reference is supposed to indicate, or the 'yet another' ref either.

The £5 and soon to be new £10 both use tallow and will continue in circulation.
The choice on additives to the new £20 note due out in 2020, is yet to be made
There are several possible choices that could be made, palm oil being one, and currently the cheapest of the options.
In terms of scale, the estimates given for total planned note production, require the estimated palm oil output for one year of 6 hectares of cultivation
Indonesia and Malaysia had about 12 million hectares under cultivation as at 2013
The use of animal products shows a similar low amount in terms of animal usage.

I don't see it as an either-or situation

Without wishing to detract from the merits of either viewpoint, that video is essentially untrue.I'm sure some at least will tend to take it literally and may feel disappointed if they learn it's essentially a fake.