A public spending watchdog has stated that around £50 billion worth of banknotes in UK circulation are currently unaccounted for.
What does this mean though?
Well, in simple terms, this means that there’s a heck of a lot of money out there and no one actually knows where it is.
It could be in the pockets of a pair of jeans not warn in a while, at the bottom of a handbag, stashed down the side of the sofa, or even placed into overseas holdings, but it for sure isn’t being spent in shops or kept in savings accounts.
The National Audit Office (NAO) – the watchdog that made the claim – said that little is known about the massive amount of cash and there’s even suggestions that it might be being held for use in the “shadow economy”, which includes, but is not completely limited to, money that comes from illegal endeavours.
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At present, there is little reliable information to quantify how much is likely to be held where.
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Five public bodies – the Treasury, the Bank of England, the Royal Mint, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Payments Systems Regulator (PSR) – play a role in administering or overseeing the cash system.
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The NAO said that a “fragmented” approach is being taken by these bodies and a co-ordinated effort is needed.
Gareth Davies – the head of the NAO – explained to The Metro that: “As society progresses towards the wide use of digital payments, the use of cash in transactions is dwindling.
“It may become harder for people to access cash when they need it and those without the means to pay digitally will struggle if cash is not accepted.”
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He continued: “HM Treasury now works more closely with the public bodies in the cash system to achieve the Government’s goal of safeguarding access to cash, however the approach is fragmented, and it is not clear that the action being taken will keep up with the pace of change.”
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It comes after it was announced last week that the Royal Mint has no plans to produce new 2p or £2 coins for at least 10 years, with the NAO saying it could take at least a decade for current stocks of the coins to run out.
Coin production shrank by 65% in the last decade to 383 million UK coins a year in 2019-20, from around 1.1 billion in 2010-11.
The NAO also said that it is likely the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has potentially accelerated the decline.
Industry data suggests market demand for notes and coins from cash centres plunged by 71% between early March and mid-April, however cash use appears to have been recovering more recently as businesses have re-opened.
The NAO said older people and those on low incomes are particularly likely to rely on cash.
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The cheapest Christmas Markets in the world for mulled wine have been revealed
Daisy Jackson
The most affordable Christmas Markets for drinking mulled wine have been revealed – and Manchester is nowhere in sight.
With Christmas markets across Europe preparing to welcome millions of visitors, festive fans looking to enjoy a warming cup of glühwein without breaking the bank might want to take note of the latest findings.
Festive experts at Christmas Tree World have analysed mulled wine prices at Christmas markets around the world to discover where visitors can enjoy the seasonal favourite for less.
Topping the rankings is Brussels’ Winter Wonders, where mulled wine is available for as little as £2.14 – about a third of the price of a mulled wine at the Manchester Christmas Markets.
Cologne Cathedral Christmas Markets and Strasbourg’s Christkindelsmärik share second place, with starting prices of just £2.56.
Other European favourites also feature prominently in the rankings. Budapest’s Christmas Market at the Basilica takes fourth place, with mulled wine costing £3.19, while Prague’s Old Town Square Christmas Market comes in sixth at £3.55.
Germany makes another strong appearance, with Dresden’s Striezelmarkt and Nuremberg’s Christkindlesmarkt (which handily just launched new direct flights from Manchester) both offering mulled wine for £3.85.
Meanwhile, Vienna’s Christmas World rounds off the European entries in ninth place, with prices starting at £4.28.
For those planning a festive adventure further afield, Tokyo’s Christmas Market also makes the top five, with mulled wine costing £3.22.
However, not every destination offers such a bargain. Across the Atlantic, New York City’s Winter Village takes the title of the most expensive market in the study, with mulled wine costing a rather less festive £11.74. Chicago’s Christkindlmarket isn’t far behind, charging £8.80.
Manchester Christmas Markets start on Friday 6 November – we’ll see how our prices stack up then.
Sir Ian McKellen pays emotional tribute to long-time friend and fellow northern actor Sir Patrick Stewart
Emily Sergeant
Sir Ian McKellen has paid an emotional tribute to his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Patrick Stewart, following his death.
Sir Patrick Stewart – who was born and bred in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, and is best-known for his theatre work alongside an illustrious 60-year screen career, taking on prominent roles in franchises such as Star Trek and X-Men – sadly passed away at the age of 86, with his death being announced publicly yesterday evening (29 October).
And now, his long-time friend and fellow northern actor, Sir Ian McKellen, has paid tribute.
Sir Patrick and Sir Ian shared the stage together countless times over their decades-long careers, but also famously starred alongside each other in the X-Men franchise, and subsequent Marvel movies, as Charles Xavier/Professor X and Magneto.
The tribute, shared across Sir Ian’s social media platforms, reads: “Before everything else, Patrick was defined by being born and bred in Yorkshire, the proud county in the north of England which he loved to the end. You could hear it in his accented voice and in the stern honesty with which he told you what he thought and felt. Yorkshiremen have no truck with half-truths or avoidance of big issues. He wore his heart on his sleeve, which made him a man to rely on, to admire and in my case, love.
“We first met as ambitious young actors with the Royal Shakespeare Company half a century ago but we weren’t in the same productions.
“My first strong memory was a few years later, meeting him in the street in central London when he told me about an offer to take over a leading part in ‘Star Trek’. “But Patrick think of your stage career in the UK. Do you really want to risk getting lost in Hollywood for years and years?”
“Well, he took the risk and thank goodness for us all that he did, for not just his devoted Trekkies, but film and theatre audiences who marvelled at his using international celebrity to star in a string of cinema successes (‘X-Men’ of course) and in great classical plays by Shakespeare, Ibsen, Arthur Miller, Peter Shaffer, Pinter and Beckett at Stratford-upon-Avon, in London’s West End and on Broadway.
“America was his adopted home, where he met his adored Sunny who has cared for him through sickness and health, through thick and thin.
“But he never forsook his origins: and the proudest achievement of the most respected and beloved actor of his generation on either side of the Atlantic, was his appointment as Chancellor of Huddersfield University in Yorkshire.”
Emily Sergeant -
21st September 2020 
