After making these points, I suggest that Olaudah Equiano would make a more meritorious choice. Each of these assertions has been documented by historians ( Knight, 2012 Raico, 1999) and are widely noted in online sources ( Biswas, 2010 Hari, 2010).
I noted that as well as advocating brutal violence in Greece and Afghanistan, Churchill called for the forcible sterilisation of 100,000 Britons, and sloganised ‘Keep Britain White’. I also note that he hoped for a civil war in India, was in favour of chemical weapon use, and ‘oversaw the use of concentration camps, mutilation, rape and castration’ ( Joseph-Salisbury, 2016, n.p.). In the article I draw attention to the fundamental role that Churchill played in the Indian genocide, or Bengal Famine, of 1943. Whilst certainly more provocative than the one I had proposed, I cannot say the title does not reflect the article’s content, or my views. Commissioned by The Independent, I wrote an online article criticising this choice: ‘We can do better than the racist, repugnant, chemical weapon-supporting Churchill on our £5 notes’, the article was titled ( Joseph-Salisbury, 2016). As an apparent celebration of Britishness, the polymer notes depicted the twice Prime Minister Winston Churchill. On the 13 September 2016 a new five-pound note entered circulation.
