Is this fair? British public opinion supports the troops but not necessarily the wars. However the Guardian makes a story out of the branding that goes with the Poppy Appeal like everything else these days. I still get can’t get the infernal pin in right…
The Poppy Appeal is once again subverting Armistice Day. A day that should be about peace and remembrance is turned into a month-long drum roll of support for current wars. This year’s campaign has been launched with showbiz hype. The true horror and futility of war is forgotten and ignored.
The public are being urged to wear a poppy in support of “our Heroes”. There is nothing heroic about being blown up in a vehicle. There is nothing heroic about being shot in an ambush and there is nothing heroic about fighting in an unnecessary conflict.
Remembrance should be marked with the sentiment “Never Again”.
Ben Griffin
Ben Hayden
(Northern Ireland, Macedonia, Afghanistan, Iraq)Terry Wood
(Northern Ireland, Falklands)Ken Lukowiak
(Northern Ireland, Falklands)Neil Polley
(Falklands)Steve Pratt
(Dhofar, Northern Ireland)(Northern Ireland, Macedonia, Afghanistan, Iraq)
Former BBC journalist and manager in Belfast, Manchester and London, Editor Spolight; Political Editor BBC NI; Current Affairs Commissioning editor BBC Radio 4; Editor Political and Parliamentary Programmes, BBC Westminster; former London Editor Belfast Telegraph. Hon Senior Research Fellow, The Constitution Unit, Univ Coll. London