‘We’re not being asked!' Activists demand a voice as they rage against cashless society

The activists, who are part of the global movement A Stand in the Park, assemble outside McDonald’s at Sittingbourne Retail Park in Kent.

The group have been encouraging people to join them each Sunday between 10am and 11am.

A Stand in the Park campaigns against measures which infringe on freedom, including vaccine passports and hospital waiting times.

However, a recent demonstration focused on fears of a move to a cashless society and the Bank of England’s preliminary enquiries into introducing a digital currency.

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Retired police officer Tom Lee, 58, attended the protest in late June.

He told KentLive: "The reason we demonstrated in Sittingbourne was because the population is not being asked whether they want to go cashless.

"Obviously it's something which is being mentioned globally, but rushing ahead regardless with a currency where those above could control where we spend our money, how it's spent and what it's spent on, has some potentially awful problems and that's something our group fears.

"There's an assumption this is going to happen, and I feel there aren't enough questions being asked as to whether people want this.

“If it does, there will be no alternative when you want to buy something.”

The protest in Kent comes as more than 20 councils across England unveil plans to remove pay and display machines.

The authorities are instead asking people to pay using an online app.

Eight London councils have already removed all of their machines, including Bromley and Enfield.

A large number of people remain reliant on cash and would struggle if notes became increasingly sparse.

Tory MP Anne-Marie Morris recently put pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to mandate the acceptance of cash payments in public-serving establishments.

Around 5.4 million adults still rely on cash in the UK.

UK Finance revealed cash accounted for 15 per cent of payments in 2021.

An estimated 73 per cent of consumers also claimed to use cash in January 2022, LINK’s research has shown.

Nationwide even suggested cash is making a post-Covid comeback, with a 19 per cent increase in withdrawals from the building society’s ATMs last year compared to 2021.

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