Covid jobsworths nearly defeated Capt Tom tribute

IT HAS been a defining image of the year, but the moment a guard of honour flanked national hero Captain – soon to be Sir – Tom Moore’s 100th lap of his Bedfordshire garden was nearly sabotaged by the health-and-safety police.

Emails released by the Ministry of Defence reveal that numbskull officials feared the heartwarming images of soldiers lining his route might be criticised because of the possibility of social- distancing rules being broken. The issue became so hot that it was dealt with by the second most important figure in the British Army, Lieutenant General Chris Tickell, Deputy Chief of the General Staff.

He announced he was ‘happy… as long as we follow all Government/ Publi c Health England guidance’, and concluded that ‘ honouring a veteran who has raised £6 million for charities in this crisis qualifies as essential’.

Captain Tom actually went on to raise £32.8 million. An eager Government press officer responded: ‘This might be one of “the” stories of the year… We can’t see anyone criticising us for this.’

Even the Army’s head of military strategic planning, Brigadier Zac Stenning, was dragged in, writing: ‘ We have been tracking Tom Moore. What an amazing hero.’

The commander of the 1st Battalion The Yorkshire Regiment, whose name was redacted in the emails, said his team was ready to form the guard. But the crack military planners forgot some key details. ‘The two critical bits of information that we are missing are a) his address and b) when you want us there,’ the officer added.