IT’S RPD time again throughout the land, I’m afraid. Time for the annual Red Poppy Display by our public figures. Politicians in shoals do it, telly stars in comedy roles do it, no doubt internet trolls do it. So, let’s all do it – in hospitals, offices, schools, buses and trains. Providing, of course, we’ve exercised our brains.
My father, born 1895 and a Great War survivor, spent the rest of his life not buying the "heroic sacrifice" story, and not buying a propaganda poppy to relieve what he saw as a Government responsibility. Now his aged son has seen remembrance metamorphose into something that’s hard to find a name for.
Rule Britannia and Land of Hope and Glory do indeed look backwards, but for me they’re nostalgia fortissimo, not Remembrance with capital R. At next Sunday’s Cenotaph ceremony organised by the UK department of Culture, Media & Sport, the Queen will not be laying a wreath, as we’ve heard, but up to 10,000 designated veterans of various wars and conflicts will take part in the Royal British Legion march-past.
From a long, list of those on parade, a few really did give me something to think about – for instance, the British
Nuclear Test Association, the National Service Alliance, the Coronation Intake at Sandhurst, Help for Heroes, and
the Royal Yachtsmen Association.
Jack Newbigging,
13 Heatherstane Bank, Irvine.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here