I have two grandparents that fought in World War II and at least one great-grandfather that fought in WWI. I'm told that they, and their comrades, fought and died in those wars because they were opposed to fascism.
So why am I obliged to wear a poppy? Who are the Royal British Legion and their fascist supporters who insist that I wear their poppy?
Why am I viewed as some kind of screwball for pointing out that the history of the "British" Army is lined with the millions of corpses of British colonialism from Ireland and Scotland (nearly a century ago) to modern day Afghanistan and Iraq?
Why should I wear the bloodstained poppy and support their poppy appeal when the money from their collection tins goes to line the pockets of the Bloody Sunday murderers?
Help for Heroes indeed!
Why should I accept that my children will be brainwashed at school into accepting their "Poppy Day" myth?
Their meaning of "hero" seems to be very different to mine and that difference seems to increase every year.
The jingoism that has accompanied the debate this week between FIFA and the English FA sums it up. In short, the poppy is a symbol of the collective acts of the British Army that would "shame all the devils in hell".
If you have to wear a poppy wear a white one.
After all, if Margaret Thatcher has expressed her "deep distaste" for the white poppy it must be the right thing to do!
