• Disrupting Power Since 2015
  • Donate
  • Login
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
  • Login
  • Register
Canary
MEDIA THAT DISRUPTS
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
MANAGE SUBSCRIPTION
SUPPORT
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion
No Result
View All Result
Canary
No Result
View All Result

A Tory MP delivers a tirade against white poppies and immediately gets owned

Emily Apple by Emily Apple
13 November 2018
in UK
Reading Time: 3 mins read
163 9
A A
0
Home UK
320
SHARES
2.5k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Conservative MP Johnny Mercer has hit the headlines recently after going rogue and describing the Conservative Party as a “shit show”. Which, in fairness, it is.

But he’s now taken to Twitter to launch an ignorant tirade against white poppies. Luckily, social media users quickly corrected his ill-informed nonsense.

Mercer, who is a former army captain, tweeted:

White poppies are attention seeking rubbish. Ignore the wearers of them. If you don’t want to wear a poppy don’t bother; they fought and died so you could choose. But don’t deliberately try and hijack it’s symbolism for your own ends. Well done @BrianWoodMC https://t.co/HRK3wW3qY5

— Rt Hon Johnny Mercer (@JohnnyMercerUK) October 22, 2018

Where to start…

Social media users owned every aspect of Mercer’s tweet. Some took him to task over his “attention seeking” comments:

My mum & dad were pacifists.
He offered to drive ambulances but was turned down. He spent WW2 recruiting people for secret underground factories & firewatching at a hospital.
She was a nurse & cared for people with limbs blown off, hideous burns etc.
You are an attention seeker.

— ⚫️ Thérèse  (@TiggerTherese) October 22, 2018

https://twitter.com/mollyluna11/status/1054487115034251265

Twitter user @mollyluna11 continued in a powerful thread to Mercer:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Others addressed other aspects of his comment:

1. Far more people wear red poppies as a ‘virtue signal’ than ever get to wear white poppies, so please don’t belittle the ‘whites’

2. Wearing both a red poppy and a white poppy says you respect and admire the sacrifices of our military but you are hoping there’s a better way

— Chris. W. Drew (@chriswdrew) October 23, 2018

Hijacking symbolism

Twitters users also criticised Mercer’s comments about ‘hijacking’ symbolism. Many highlighted that the white poppy movement began in 1933 when the Co-operative Women’s Guild sent a clear message of “no more war”:

They were first worn in 1933 by the Women’s Co-operative Guild to symbolise a message of “no more war”. Do you think those women, whose lives were so devastated by WW1, were mere attention seekers? #whitepoppy

— Bernadette Meaden (@BernaMeaden) October 23, 2018

And as others pointed it out, it’s not white poppy wearers who are hijacking the issue, but arms companies:

The white poppy was introduced nearly a hundred years ago (by a group that included veterans) due to fear the red poppy was being hijacked away from 'never again' to glorifying war. When arm's companies now promote poppies, I'd say their fears were right. https://t.co/hSQYO9qKE7

— Erin Ekins (she/her) (@QueerlyAutistic) October 23, 2018

Another Twitter user gave a clear example of this:

https://twitter.com/EssexBuccaneer/status/1054510459494301696

Other social media users also informed Mercer that all wars have hijacked the message of “never again” that the red poppy was supposed to convey:

It's already been hijacked, Johnny. The original text on the poppies said "Never Again". Every war fought since 1918 has been an insult to the memory of those who died in the belief they were fighting the war to end all wars.

— Spelling Mistakes Cost Lives (@darren_cullen) October 23, 2018

Freedom

Many people also noted that the tone of Mercer’s tweet was contrary to the very notion of why lives were lost:

https://twitter.com/AlistairRae/status/1054655183261757441

Others accused him of “bigotry”:

https://twitter.com/meowcarriemeow/status/1054532210013954048

Even people who support the red poppy weren’t happy with Mercer’s tweet:

I wear a red poppy with pride every year, but you are talking absolute nonsense here. As you rightly say, people fought for our freedom so we could be free and choose – and that includes choosing to wear the white poppy, which is an important symbol of remembrance for many.

— John Watts (@wattsgoingon) October 22, 2018

How about people wear what the hell they like without you pontificating about what colour it should be. It’s called freedom of choice. My poppy happens to be red but I’m not going to tell anyone else they must wear one.

— Men of Worth Project (QAVS) (@menofworth) October 23, 2018

Others told Mercer exactly why they wear white poppies:

We wear white poppies in memory of all the victims of war, of all countries, soldiers and civilians. The best way to remember the dead is to ensure that there are no more deaths by working for peace.

— Terry Phillips (@Terry1296) October 22, 2018

Rank hypocrisy

On Remembrance Sunday, Theresa May will lay a wreath of red poppies at the Cenotaph. Conservative MPs will posture with their red poppies prominent on their lapels. These are the same MPs who support the UK arming Saudi Arabia despite its ongoing war and indiscriminate bombing of civilians in Yemen. These are the MPs who supported a rise of two-thirds in arms sales to the regime in 2017 and continue this support despite the UN warning that Yemen is now facing the “world’s worst famine in 100 years”.

This is rank hypocrisy. This is the real virtue signalling and the real hijacking of saying “never again” to war. It is politicians and arms companies that have distorted the message of remembrance, not those who choose to wear of symbol of peace.

Get Involved!

– Find out about Peace Pledge Union’s work and order white poppies to share with your community.

Featured image via Wikimedia/Asmithca and YouTube screengrab

 

Share128Tweet80
Previous Post

The Sunday Times has really outdone itself with the ‘racist bile’ it just published

Next Post

The New Statesman decided to comment on the Spycops scandal. It really shouldn’t have bothered.

Next Post

The New Statesman decided to comment on the Spycops scandal. It really shouldn't have bothered.

Theresa May superimposed over the UK and EU flags

Theresa May's arrogance triggers such a fundamental Brexit disaster, the UK media is covering for her

I was only calling the sick child’s PARENT a 'pathetic cretin', insists former Tory MP

FSA rebels chant with Turkish Army soldiers in Afrin

'Moderate' Turkish-backed militias seek to 'bury' left-wingers in Syria

A fracking protest sign and Theresa May

A Tory MP is holding a crucial debate on fracking. No, really.

The Independent Alliance just brilliantly exposed the corporate media's pro-genocide bias
Trending

The Independent Alliance just brilliantly exposed the corporate media’s pro-genocide bias

by Ed Sykes
13 May 2025
Tesla Takedown rallies planned at company's UK advertising events
News

Campaigners are set to celebrate Tesla’s nosediving car sales – by hijacking its own events

by The Canary
13 May 2025
Tony Blair climate denial
News

Activists have just dragged Tony Blair over his rampant climate denialism

by The Canary
13 May 2025
A petition calling for the end to the badger cull just passed 100,000 signatures so will be heading for parliamentary debate
News

The badger cull is set for a parliamentary debate – all thanks to a viral petition

by The Canary
13 May 2025
Israel kills journalist Hassan Eslaih in Gaza hospital strike
Analysis

Israel kills journalist in Gaza hospital bombing, and its media debates whether that’s OK

by Ed Sykes
13 May 2025
  • Contact
  • About & FAQ
  • Get our Daily News Email
  • Privacy Policy
  • Cookie Policy

The Canary
PO Box 71199
LONDON
SE20 9EX

Canary Media Ltd – registered in England. Company registration number 09788095.

For guest posting, contact [email protected]

For other enquiries, contact: [email protected]

The Canary is owned and run by independent journalists and volunteers, NOT offshore billionaires.

You can write for us, or support us by making a regular or one-off donation.

© Canary Media Ltd 2024, all rights reserved | Website by Monster | Hosted by Krystal | Privacy Settings

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password? Sign Up

Create New Account!

Fill the forms below to register

All fields are required. Log In

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • News
    • UK
    • Global
    • Analysis
    • Trending
  • Editorial
  • Features
    • Features
    • Environment
    • Lifestyle
    • Health
    • Money
    • Science
    • Business
    • Tech
    • Travel
    • Sport & Gaming
  • Media
    • Video
    • Cartoons
  • Opinion

© 2023 Canary - Worker's co-op.

Before you go, have you seen...?

The Independent Alliance just brilliantly exposed the corporate media's pro-genocide bias
Trending
Ed Sykes

The Independent Alliance just brilliantly exposed the corporate media’s pro-genocide bias

Tesla Takedown rallies planned at company's UK advertising events
News
The Canary

Campaigners are set to celebrate Tesla’s nosediving car sales – by hijacking its own events

Tony Blair climate denial
News
The Canary

Activists have just dragged Tony Blair over his rampant climate denialism

A petition calling for the end to the badger cull just passed 100,000 signatures so will be heading for parliamentary debate
News
The Canary

The badger cull is set for a parliamentary debate – all thanks to a viral petition

ADVERTISEMENT
Tech
Nathan Spears

How Digital Addictions Are Formed in the Shadow of Large Platforms

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Recovery in the Sun: How the Canary Islands are Becoming a Wellness Tourism Hub

Lifestyle
Nathan Spears

Why More People Are Seeking Legal Advice When Separating