Battle lines drawn in poppy debate

Nov 8 2009 Sunday Sun

IT’S Remembrance Sunday and as people remember those who fought and died for their country a new battle has been fought in the run up to the event . . . about the wearing of the red Poppy. For many it’s part and parcel of the ceremony, for others its significance is that of a propaganda exercise which validates war. MIKE KELLY reports . . .

YOU can’t properly respect the war dead if you’re not wearing a red poppy.

That seems to be the received wisdom in the run up to Remembrance Sunday in some quarters.

It has infiltrated the newspapers recently with rows about the wearing - or not - of the red poppy. Bizarrely even the dancers in Strictly Come Dancing have become embroiled.

When it was noted last week that competitors weren’t wearing them feathers were ruffled, particularly as the X Factor competitiors were.

BBC bosses felt compelled to explain: “It could be dangerous to pin the poppies on to them (the dancers) while they are flying around at high speed because they could fly off.”

Jan Melichar of the Peace Pledge Union said: “It’s become a bit ridiculous. There is a lot of peer pressure about people appearing in public wearing one although I’m waiting to see somebody in a swimsuit wearing a poppy.”

At the root of the argument is exactly what the red poppy stands for. The first Poppy Day was held in 1921 to raise cash for servicemen and their families after the First World War. Also used as a vehicle for mourning lost loved ones, when families moved on, according to peace campaigners, it was taken over by Army bosses in the 1930s who used it to glorify death in battle and validate wars.

It has also come to represent a political significance. In Northern Ireland it is mainly warn by protestants as a token of loyalty to the British state.

As a counterbalance to this the white poppy was launched in 1933, now sold by Jan’s Peace Pledge Union. The idea was not to insult servicemen, but as a way of acknowledging their sacrifice but maintaining there was a better way to resolve conflicts other than through war.

Jan said: “There is an ideology operating here with the red poppy, that’s what we find, and one of the reasons why since the 1930s we’ve been wearing the white poppy. It’s a symbol and symbols mean lots of different things to different people. For example a swastika is a symbol of luck to some people but to others it is something completely different.”

This point was encapsulated in a row in 2006 when Channel 4 news anchorman Jon Snow was criticised for not wearing a red poppy during broadcasts. Snow said he respected the armed forces and wore a poppy off-air but did not believe in wearing symbols on air and denounced “poppy fascism”.

Veteran broadcaster John Humphrys chipped in saying the poppy was a sign of respect and Mr Snow had “missed the point, entirely”. However, the Royal British Legion said wearing a poppy was a voluntary gesture and Snow was entitled to his opinion.