Penny Lane may have name changed due to slavery link

The road sign for Penny Lane in Liverpool, immortalised by The Beatles 1967 classic song, has been subject to vandalism amid the Black Lives Matter movement.

The sign allegedly links back to the 18th-century slave trader James Penny. Protestors have taken to blacking out the word Penny and replacing it with the word “racist.”

The city’s metro mayor, Steve Rotherham, revealed to Sky News that the slavery link is under investigation. If the link has merit, “If it is as a direct consequence of that road being called Penny Lane because of James Penny, then that needs to be investigated,” he said. “Something needs to happen and I would say that sign and that road may well be in danger of being renamed.”

Currently, there isn’t enough concrete evidence to prove that this is the case. The International Slavery Museum of Liverpool has expressed apprehension that the street was named after James Penny.

“We are actively carrying out research on this particular question and will re-evaluate our display and change if required,” a spokeswoman for the museum revealed.

Tour guide Jackie Spencer told the BBC “We’ve researched it, and it has nothing to do with slavery. James Penny was a slave trader, but he had nothing to do with the Penny Lane area.”

In other news, Paul McCartney is set to celebrate his 78th birthday on Thursday, June 18th. The legendary rocker has shared a birthday wish with fans, asking them to give up meat consumption.

“All I’ve ever wanted for my birthday is peace on Earth—including for the animals,” McCartney shared, linking to a PETA documentary that he took part in a decade ago. “That’s why this year I’m urging fans to watch a video I hosted for PETA titled ‘Glass Walls’. We called it that because if slaughterhouses had glass walls, who would want to eat meat?”