Two reasons I personally did not respond to this earlier.
Firstly I was fast asleep in bed when you originally posted.
Secondly, I wanted to think very carefully about how I wanted to respond.
The Royal British Legion's charity work is largely funded through the Poppy Appeal.
Originally intended to recall the end of world war I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 (with the German signing of the Armistice) and to Remember, Respect and honour all those who lost their lives and did not have a choice.
Those who do, or do not, wear a poppy have their own reasons and understandings.
As for me I wear a poppy for my own reasons.
I do not wear a poppy either as a fashion accessory, or a political statement or symbol.
I can understand Jon Snow’s position.
Nobody should be obligated to wear a poppy
Don't forget he has always taken this view and every year he is attacked for it.
How many people wearing a poppy really understand why?
How many people selling the poppy really understand why?
Jeremy Paxman wrote a very interesting and poignant article:-
"Wear a poppy ... for the lions killed in war, not the donkeys who send them there"In this article he writes:-
Many of us may profoundly disagree with the ambitions and distrust the motivations
of the politicians who send soldiers, sailors and air crew to do jobs they could
not do themselves.
What we're taking part in is an act of respect, not for warfare but for the poor sods
whose task it was to carry guns and who did not return to grow old, as the rest of us grow old.
So, let us silence the offensive claim that by honouring the dead we condone war.
I shall wear a poppy not because I believe the gun is the best way of settling disputes, still less because I admire the pretence, ambition, folly, vanity or desperation of the politicians who make the fateful decisions.
I shall wear a poppy because an act of remembrance once a year is the very least
that those of us who have not been asked to risk our lives can offer those who did
not have our choice.
