Wasn’t there a carry on a few years back when some car-showroom millionaire (Reg Vardy? Arnold Clark? One of those guys, anyhow) decided to fund a state school that “taught both sides of the debate”? I was in the US at the time, but I’m sure I read something about that.
The Pope accepts evolution, too. So that’s another significant chunk of Brit population who, if they suddenly decided to get an attack of Churchness (is too a word!) would have no problem with Mr. Darwin on religious grounds.
Good point - and well made. I suppose what I was aiming for was that Darwin is on the tenner because of his significance as a figure in history and science, rather than just through simple reverence for him or something like that.
This is my favourite Sterling bank note, issued by Northern Bank in NI.
Although this is a close second:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/158/333401919_c1dd9463ba.jpg?v=0
Yup - Sir Peter Vardy, it’s Emmanuel College, although the foundation also has other schools in the UK. Their own site (at a cursory glance) doesn’t make the ‘both sides’ approach too clear, from what I can see, but this is the one that’s always brought up as the example.
If anybody’s interested, this site shows all the current Scottish Banknotes.
Click on one of the bank logos at the bottom…
After you choose a banknote, click on ‘front’ or ‘back’ for more details.
Ah, another example of that class of things that, though pink, are invisible! 
They’ve shown themselves to be inept at running a school in other ways as well. Their flagship city academy in Middlesbrough recently spent two years in special measures - Ofsted reports.
In some ways, I find this whole episode to be evidence of a public without sympathy for creationism or creationists, because the only way they’re managing to get people to listen to them is by subterfuge.
If someone wants to start another thread on the subject of creationism in the UK I’m the government official who deals with the issue of creationism being taught in the context of science. I also used to work the Academies policy area and am very familiar with the Vardy schools controversy too.
Happy to give the straight dope on the issue if people would like it rather than hijack this thread further. 
I’d actually like to hear all about that - do you think it would be best suited to a MPSIMS thread, or GD?
It’s not just invisible, it’s got a light touch as well. It is constantly reaching into my wallet and removing fivers that I swear were there this morning.
Si
Hello mate!
Where the hell have you been?
I thought that you’d died or become a Frenchman or something.
Good to have you back!
But back to the plot,a poster says that a MORI poll for a T.V. programme revealed that quite a large (Though a minority)proportion of those polledin the U.K.believed in Creationism.
Well I have serious doubts on this,not the poll or the results but the way the poll was put into effect.
Ask the right people and ask the right questions and you’ll get the right results.
Apart from Jehovahs Witnesses and Mormons(And maybe Muslims) I cant honestly imagine any run of the mill Brit believing in Creationism.
I have in fact never met one myself,though this of course could be because of my seriously limited number of friends and aquaintances brought on by my my natural shyness and low self esteem.
The majority religious belief in the U.K. is of the apathy sect(And I’m not knocking that)where if we have a kid,get married or die then some of us MIGHT call on the services of the Church but its by no means incredibly common(except for the dying bit,a little bit of spiritual insurance never does any harm)
Can I add that I’ve actually looked round a Creationist travelling exhibition(I was passing,it was free and I’m nosy)but all that I can remember about it was some fossilised dinosaur eggs,the point of which nowadays totally escapes me.
The funny thing is, while there have been plenty of famous Brits depicted on bank notes, there have been hardly any on the non-heads side of coins. The only identifiable people I can think of are Winston Churchill, on the 1965 commemorative crown, and Isambard Kingdom Brunel an some £2 coins.
It seems to me that “believing in creationism” might not be understood by pooled British in the way it would be understood by pooled Americans. I would suspect that Britons stating they “believe in creationism” likely meant that they thought the universe was created by god, not that they didn’t believe in evolution.
No, believe me, even if the majority of people in the UK believe that God had something to do with the creation of the universe (unclear from my own experience), they still believe in evolution. I’ve only met one person who professed not to believe in it and he was a bible thumper of the most anachronistic kind.
Quite true. Also they’d perhaps tend to say they agree rather than disagree with a statement such as ‘the account of the creation of the Earth given in the bible is broadly true’. Yet ask them to actually tell you what that account describes, and they will sometimes have difficulty remembering…
That’s certainly true in Germany. There is a sizeable segment of the population that has half-assed and ill-defined vaguely deist beliefs. If you just ask them “Did God create the world?” many of them might say yes but that doesn’t really mean that they take a meaningful stance against evolution or any other aspect of a scientific world view.
Actual creationists certainly exist but they are about as recognized and respected as hollow-earthers and UFO-abductees. Generally mainstream churches or polititians won’t touch them with a ten foot pole.
The only time that I can think of was a few years ago when it became known that a conservative state Prime Minister planned to attend an event where one of the speakers was an intelligent Design proponent and he caught a lot of flak because of that. The result was the speaker’s invitation was withdrawn, the politition denounced creationism and denied any connection to George Bush (!)
When will the Benny Hill notes be issued?
Benny who?