Unwanted change: Brexit 50p further embitters UK as Remainers pledge to vandalize and SHUN commemorative coin

It was meant to be a token of ‘peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations,’ but the UK government’s Brexit 50p has become another symbol of the disunity in Britain, as Remainers pledge to boycott the commemorative coin.

Around three million of the coins will enter banks, Post Offices and shops when the UK finally leaves the European Union on Friday 31 January, and a further seven million will enter circulation later this year. 

The official launch of the new piece of change, which bears the words ‘peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations,’ sparked a hysterical reaction from prominent Remainers on Sunday, with many pledging that they would refuse to handle the coin. 

Others promised to hoard each one they come across, in a peculiar bid to remove them from circulation, while tweets urging people to deface the coins were also widely shared.  

Tony Blair’s former spokesman Alastair Campbell made the daft claim that he will ask shop-workers for alternative arrangements if he is ever handed one. 

“I for one shall be asking shopkeepers for ‘two 20p pieces and a 10’ if they offer me a 50p coin pretending that Brexit is about ‘peace, prosperity and friendship with all nations’ given it puts all three at risk,” he said. 

Meanwhile, Brexiteers haven’t been afraid to rub their opponents faces in it. Radio host Julia Hartley-Brewer said that she “can’t wait to pay for everything” with the freshly minted currency.

Launching the coin on Sunday Sajid Javid, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “Leaving the European Union is a turning point in our history and this coin marks the beginning of this new chapter.”

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