A third of the young could shun poppy ‘as it glorifies war’
‘Those who made sacrifices’
A THIRD of young people will refuse to wear a poppy this year or have doubts about doing so, researchers said yesterday.
While four out of five people will join in remembering the war dead, allegiance to the tradition appears to be lessening among the young.
More than one in five of 18 to 24-yearolds say they will not wear a poppy and a further one in ten are unsure if they will. A majority of the young people who reject the poppy say they think wearing one glorifies war, or they object to the current actions of British armed forces.
Around half also believe they are rebelling against being forced to wear one.
The reaction against the poppy among a generation of students and people in their first years at work appears a fresh reflection of the wave of youthful support for Jeremy Corbyn at the election and afterwards.
It also mirrors the increasing influence of radicalism and the safe space movement in universities.
The survey, carried out by market research company Consumer Intelligence, found that, overall, four-fifths of the population will wear either a paper poppy or a metal badge.
Only 11 per cent say they will not wear one, and a further 9 per cent are unsure.
Support for the white poppy promoted by pacifists is tiny, the poll suggested, with only one in ten of those who reject the red poppy prepared to wear the politically-charged alternative.
Nearly three-quarters of those who will not wear a poppy had reservations on the grounds that they believed people were being compelled to have one.
There was evidence that groups and individuals hostile to the remembrance tradition are singling out some of those who wear poppies for abuse.
One in 12 people who wear poppies said they had experienced hostility because of it, or had seen someone else targeted. Some parents – around one in 20 – would not want their children to wear a poppy in case they were picked on. Notably, the numbers who had seen or experienced abuse rose to more than one in five, 21 per cent, among the under-24s.
The evidence of falling support for the poppy among the young provoked concern among senior Conservatives.
Former defence minister Sir Gerald Howarth said: ‘ The poppy commemorates those who made sacrifices so that those who hold dissenting views have the right to express them.
‘As for the idea that the poppy glorifies war or current military operations, Parliament has always been strongly behind the idea that whatever the arguments about military action, all members support the Armed Forces. Only a few politicians, unfortunately including Mr Corbyn and one or two others, think differently.’
Former SAS Territorial officer Sir Julian Brazier – also a former defence minister – said: ‘It is good that such a high proportion of people will be wearing a poppy. But it is important that we pass on the value of gratitude to those who made sacrifices to the next generation.
‘I am glad that so few people think the poppy glorifies war.’
Support for remembrance in the population as a whole remains high, a finding that runs contrary to the assumption held by many Whitehall officials and influential figures a few years ago that observance would fade as the last survivors of the two world wars died.
Three quarters of people say the two-minute silence at 11am on November 11 – the moment that marks the end of the First World War 99 years ago – will be observed in their office, workplace or college.
Seven out of ten of those who will be at home or working on their own said they will observe the silence. Some 29 per cent of people believe that wearing a poppy should be compulsory.
A spokesman for the Royal British Legion, which runs the poppy appeal, said the decision to wear a poppy must be a personal one, adding: ‘If the poppy became compulsory it would lose its meaning and significance. We are thankful for every poppy worn and we ask that those who wear a poppy have that choice respected.’
The survey was carried out by Consumer Intelligence among 1,066 people last month.