A new £50 banknote featuring Alan Turing is set to enter circulation in the UK tomorrow on what would have been the codebreaker’s 109th birthday.
The striking design for the banknote – which is the final UK banknote to switch to polymer – was unveiled by the Bank of England back in March to a warm reception from the public, and features a photo of Turing taken in 1951.
It also features his signatures and several odes to things he achieved in his lifetime.
Turing’s birth date written in binary code is also included on the design, as well as mathematical formulae from a paper he wrote in 1936, and a quote he gave to the press in 1949.
“This is only a foretaste of what is to come, and only the shadow of what is going to be.” the quote reads.
Speaking on the importance of the new £50 ahead of its introduction into circulation tomorrow, Jeremy Fleming – Director of Britain’s intelligence agency GCHQ – said: “Alan Turing’s appearance on the £50 note is a landmark moment in our history.
“Not only is it a celebration of his scientific genius which helped to shorten the war and influence the technology we still use today, it also confirms his status as one of the most iconic LGBT+ figures in the world.
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“Turing was embraced for his brilliance and persecuted for being gay.
“His legacy is a reminder of the value of embracing all aspects of diversity, but also the work we still need to do to become truly inclusive.”
Alan Turing was born on 23 April 1912, and went on to establish a legacy that saw him become widely regarded as a father of modern technology – having helped to develop the Manchester computers and whose lauded codebreaking work at Bletchley Park during WWII helped to turn the tide in favour of the Allies.
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In 1952, Turing was found guilty of indecency over his relationship with another man he met on Oxford Road and was required to undergo treatment to reduce his libido.
Turing then took his own life in 1954.
The £50 note is set to enter circulation in the UK tomorrow on Alan Turing’s birthday / Credit: Bank of England
A memorial to Turing was unveiled in Sackville Park in Manchester city centre in 2001, and the school of mathematics building at the University of Manchester also bears his name as a fitting tribute to his legacy.
The “Alan Turing law” is now an informal term for 2017 legislation that retroactively pardoned men cautioned or convicted for homosexual acts.
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A major new cybersecurity exhibition – Top Secret: From ciphers to cybersecurity – is currently welcoming visitors at Manchester’s Science and Industry Museum, featuring over a century’s worth of secret communications and intelligence and containing over 100 objects from GCHQ and the Science Museum Group.
The exhibition also includes, for the first time, objects related to Alan Turing and his team’s work intercepting German comms at Bletchley Park.
Running right through to 31 August, you can find more information about the exhibition here.
Featured Image – Bank of England
UK News
Ruben Amorim reportedly paying for staff members flights ahead of the Europa League final
Danny Jones
Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim is reportedly covering the cost of flights for several staff members and families around the club ahead of this month’s Europa League final.
Taking place on Wednesday, 21 May, Man United take on Spurs in UEFA’s second-string continental competition, giving the Red Devils a chance at lifting the trophy for the second time and, more importantly, getting into the Champions League next year.
Not only is this European final in a United manager’s maiden season a feat only previously achieved by Jose Mourinho, who also won it in his inaugural campaign at the club, but it also happens to be the first of Amorim’s career full stop.
With that in mind, the Portuguese head coach is hoping to rope in as much positivity and support as possible, so despite cost-cutting measures around the club over the last 18 months, Amorim is reaching into his own pocket to pay for staff and some of the family members to be at the final.
Ruben Amorim has paid for 30 of his Man United backroom staff to take their families to next week's Europa League final in Bilbao, Spain, after being told by the club that his coaches, physios and support team would have to pay for their own tickets, sources have told ESPN. pic.twitter.com/rC2GkGsvZb
Now this is the kind of leadership supporters like to see.
According to ESPN sports writer Mark Ogden, at least 30 members of his backroom staff have seen their travel to the final paid for after the club said they would not be covering the increasingly inflated prices, with flights to Bilbao unsurprisingly skyrocketing.
The Athletic‘s Mark Critchley has gone on to detail that “coaches, physios and support staff would instead be able to purchase up to two tickets”, while only two complimentary family tickets have been granted per player.
If you’re wondering why fans continue to make his name echo around the Theatre of Dreams in spite of poor performances, gestures like this should tell you why.
The 40-year-old’s debut Premier League season might be one to forget, with his team set to record United’s worst-ever finish, but a final at the first time of asking, even with a squad that’s visibly struggling to adjust to yet another period of overhaul, is still an achievement – especially a European one.
In addition to admitting that he’s been left “embarrassed” by the league form, he says one of his biggest fears is that everyone around Old Trafford is “losing the feeling of being a massive club”, both inside and out. Obviously, he’s hoping that potentially winning another European title will help fix that.
United played out a forgettable 2-0 loss to West Ham this past weekend in what should have felt like a bit of a free hit, but ultimately resulted in starting centre-back Leny Yoro picking up another injury and key players exerting a lot more energy than many would have hoped.
Most fans were expecting to see the likes of Bruno Fernandes, Harry Maguire, Amad Diallo and so on rested to keep that balance between sharpness and recovery, but many first-choice players played far more minutes than was arguably necessary.
Whether or not this is all in line with his thinking, we’ll have to wait and see when the Reds rock up to the Basque Country a week from now
Announced on Tuesday, 13 May, ITV confirmed that work on the first-ever Coronation Street and Emmerdale collaboration is now underway.
The flagship serial franchises both have huge nationwide followings in their own right, attracting more than 8 million viewers every week.
Moreover, with both Manc’s much-loved Corrie and its Yorkshire counterpart having faced financial struggles in recent months, this announcement couldn’t have come at a better time.
Writing in an official joint press release, the two shows revealed they will “join forces in an unprecedented, one-off special episode to launch the broadcaster’s new power hour of soap, which begins on ITV1 and STV in January 2026.”
The ‘power hour’ is part of the channel’s plans to readjust its approach to its regular programming laid out earlier this year, with this serving as an eye-catching way to promote the new schedule.
Put it this way, provided they keep the crossovers up North and avoid you know where, this is the kind of thing we can get behind…
Corrie characters reacting to the mere thought of heading to London 🤝 Manc parents whenever one of their kids mentions leaving 0161. 😂
The statement goes on to read: “The distinctive worlds of Emmerdale and Coronation Street will merge for one night only in a ‘mash-up’ of our two favourite communities.”
ITV believe they have come up with an “ingenious way of linking the two universes” before having them return to Greater Manchester and the Dales, respectively.
The episode will be a self-contained one-off special, but one that sees them canonically grounded in the same entertainment world forever and, you never know, if the idea is a hit then it could be the first of many to come.
As if that wasn’t enough, to make the prospect even more interesting, the producers are inviting members of the audience to choose which two characters they would like to meet and interact with in the scene – keep your eyes peeled on their social media for more information.
Coming in January 2026 (specific release date yet to be confirmed), this is not one you want to miss.
We’re also glad to see the pair of long-standing soaps and institutions of British telly have got off to a strong start this year, raking in 124 million streams on ITVX with each episode now available on the streaming platform ahead of each night’s episode.
You can expect a big viewer spike when this one goes out, that’s for sure.
Emily Sergeant -
22nd June 2021 
