‘Pathway’ opens to possible deal
New £20 note featuring painter revealed
THE design of the new £20 banknote featuring JMW Turner has been unveiled – and will celebrate the artist and his legacy “in all their radiant, colourful, evocative glory”, according to Bank of England Governor Mark Carney.
The new polymer note, which contains sophisticated security features, will be issued for the first time on February 20, 2020, as the notes leave cash centres and enter general circulation.
Mr Carney said: “As the new Turner £20 testifies, money can be a work of art in everyone’s pocket.”
The new note depicts Turner’s celebrated painting BORIS JOHNSON and Irish premier Leo Varadkar have said they can “see a pathway” to a possible Brexit deal.
Following more than two hours of talks at a country manor on the Wirral, the two leaders said they believed a deal was “in everybody’s interests”.
In a joint statement, they said they would now “reflect further” on their discussions while their officials would continue to “engage intensively”.
“Both continue to believe a deal is in everybody’s interest. They agreed that they could see a pathway to a possible deal,” the statement said.
“They agreed to reflect further on their discussions and that officials would continue to engage intensively on them.”
The meeting at the 19th-century Thornton Manor was seen as a last chance for Mr Johnson to save his hopes of getting agreement on a Brexit deal ahead of next week’s crucial EU summit.
In their statement, the two leaders said their discussions had concentrated on the “challenges” of future customs arrangements and “consent” in Mr Johnson’s Brexit blueprint. The Irish and other EU governthe Fighting Temeraire – a tribute to the ship HMS Temeraire which played a role in Nelson’s victory at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805.
It was voted the nation’s favourite painting in a 2005 poll run by BBC Radio 4.
Turner’s signature from his will, the document with which he bequeathed many of his ments have objected to proposals to take Northern Ireland out of the EU customs union — along with the rest of the UK — meaning the return of customs checks on the island of Ireland.
They have also voiced strong concern about proposals in the plan for the new arrangements to require the consent of the Stormont Assembly, effectively handing a veto to the DUP.
The statement said Mr Varadkar will now consult with Brussels while Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay will meet the EU’s chief negotiator Michel Barnier.
The cautiously upbeat statement comes at the end of a week marked by acrimonious exchanges between London, Dublin paintings to the nation, also appears on the new banknote.
The existing £20 note is the most common of the Bank’s notes in circulation, and also the most forged, making up around 88% of detected banknote forgeries in the first half of this year according to Bank of England statistics. and Brussels in which the negotiations appeared close to collapse.
Briefings by anonymous No 10 sources accused Mr Varadkar of backtracking on previous commitments to try to find a deal and of refusing to negotiate. Time remains tight, however, if there is to be an agreement in place for EU leaders to sign off at their summit on October 17 and 18 which would enable Mr Johnson to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 with a deal.
If there is no agreement, Mr Johnson will face demands from opposition parties to comply with the so-called Benn Act which would require him to go back to Brussels and request a further Brexit delay.
The Prime Minister has said that while he will abide by the law, he is determined to leave on October 31 come what may.
Government sources have said ministers are preparing to hold an emergency Saturday sitting of Parliament on October 19.
Many MPs believe that if he cannot get a deal, Mr Johnson will use the occasion to lambast them for thwarting an agreement, laying the ground for a “people versus Parliament” general election, possibly as early as next month.