Poppy sellers 'banned from Marks and Spencer'
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Independent Minds
Poppy sellers were banned from collecting outside a Marks and Spencer store because the Poppy Appeal was not one of the store's designated charities, they claimed today.
The sellers have been using the busy stretch of pavement in Swindon for the past 12 years, and usually raise around £5,000.
But after writing to the store in October for permission to hold their usual collection they were told they were not one of Marks and Spencer's listed charities.
They have taken up a less-busy spot outside a nearby supermarket but say they could have lost up to 10% of their income from the two-week collection.
Alan Baker, Swindon branch poppy organiser, told the Swindon Advertiser: "People are coming up to me and saying 'why aren't you outside the M&S?'
"I am so disappointed in the whole situation, considering the present climate.
"People are dying in Afghanistan and M&S won't support us while we are doing our best to raise money."
A spokesman for Marks and Spencer said: "We are a big supporter of the Poppy Appeal and poppy collectors are more than welcome in our Swindon store.
"We apologise for the misunderstanding and encourage them to get back in touch with the store management team."
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Comments
Poppies for real wars - yes.
Poppies for illegal invasions - its not right, its like encouraging the murders of civilians overseas.
I will not wear a red poppy this year or ever again until Blair is held responsible for his decision.
I would like to wear a black poppy representing the wasted lives our boys in uniform who served in unjust wars and who lost their lives through the morally reprehensible exPM Blair.
Why do we need to wear red poppies anyway to support a charity? Shouldn't the government be giving enough support to ex-servicemen to negate the need for this charity? First the government wastes taxpayers money on a phoney war; then expects us in a private capacity to cough more up to support ex-service personel through a charity.
Don't get me wrong. I support our armed services. I just wish the government did.
M&S is in the right.
Refusing to wear one, or to contribute to the appeal, because one disagrees with the war currently being fought is a political statement and has no place in the discussion regarding support for the men and women who serve in the armed forces.
It also overlooks those service personnel that fought in previous wars who are still suffering, World War 2, Korea, Malaya and many other places.
Are you denying them help because you disagree with the decision of a recent Prime Minister and his successor?
Whatever we think of the Iraq war, why is the government not taking care of those injured in PREVIOUS wars?
Why can they fund illegal wars but not fund proper care for those brave enough to serve in the just ones?
I will NOT support this charity. If we can afford to support single mothers and fund quangos through taxation, why can't the government take care of those who served in the forces?
Supporting this charity aids and abets the government.
Did you know The American Red Cross received Millions in charity donations for aid towards victims of the the Asian Tsunami a few years ago. They actually gave a fraction of the donations to the crisis, then gave what was left (Millions) to the US government, towards the so called fight on war on terror.
Are we going to stay mugs forever?
I agree with corporeal_v001 comments, plus not glorifying wars, the only legal wars, are in defence of your own country,defence of human rights and against oppression in other countries. We do not have to go to war, to save countries from their own natural resources, and help them out, in the use of them.
Its muppets like you with a low grey cell count that go around killing innocent civilians in illegal invasions for like the like of Bush and Blair - why? Because you cannot tell the difference between right and wrong.
Educate yourself and start thinking, dont become a sheep.
Why are you offensive, where do you get off talking to people as you do, I have been watching your blogs for some time, and unfortunately there are far too many others like you tapping away at their keyboards, anonymously.
As pointed out by sportingmac, it merely undermines whatever thoughtful point you, and others are trying to make. Have a bit more respect for posters you happen to disagree with, and they might have more respect for you and your views.
I suppose that makes me a muppit too, or a mug...
As humans with freewill, I really find it very difficult to understand the soldiers (ie generals and admirals) willingness to go along with the politicians without any kind of challenge or critical feedback. I know that the modern armed forces are just nothing more than "tools" to be used (leave the moral-module from your brain at home when you join).
The German army following the Nazi party line. They said, "we were soldiers, we just followed orders". Is that the right approach? Looking back on that dark chapter in world history, why did the German army just close their eyes and obey their leaders blindly? We are in a similar situation with these invasions.
God gave us brains and freewill. Think, dont just accept everything without question. I know its the Army's mission to turn the soldiers into compliant killing machines - with no thought processes involved and no questions, with no - why?, how?, when?. This approach has its drawbacks.
You cant just become a tool and go around killing and torturing civilians just because you have a uniform on (this is especially true for the trigger happy cowboys in the US army and some of the asbo thugs in our army).
The "just-a-tool" system is flawed and doesnt cater for correction for situations where the clandestine ambitions of other external forces in conjunction with our poodle leader can use our army as pawns.
Then there is the support from the public. I know there is a lot of patriotism which blinds people to support causes which they would not otherwise support, if they could stop and think about the rights and wrongs.
Its the national patriotism which allows some evil leaders to manipulate the voters like sheep. Obviously, some are waking up to the reality of these invasions now.
We know that mankind is one family (now proven by DNA lineage). If the war is required and legal then go kill the enemy. But otherwise, we need to play fair and have patriotism to humanity not nationality. I know that the Americans suffer much more from this tightly bound view of humanity segregated by national boundaries than we do.
I suppose, 500 years ago, we could have had an identical discussion about regional patriotism in conflicts like the War of the Roses. But today, the scope of people's thinking has widened from regional to national. Now residents of Lancashire and Yorkshire cannot understand that regional patriotism, the blind support and the killings.
As to your observation regarding my responses, I respond according to the commentators tone, but I welcome sportingmac's and your feedback. I will consider it (but cannot promise to reform ;)
Have you ever noticed that if you telephone a large organisation & get the answer you don't want, all you do is phone again, the phone is answered by someone else & you more than likely get the answer you wanted in the first place.
I do not know how this "misunderstanding" happened, but chances are someone said, "oh that's not on my list" & they did not think.
A phone call to someone higher up would have got the answer that was wanted & the headline of this article would not have ever made it into print as the collectors would be in their normal place.
Another example of 'poppy fascism'. Collectors do no have any 'right' to clutter up the doorways of business premises and if asked to move, they should do so. We will presumably have an anti M & S campaign now in the Daily Mail.
German is a very beautiful language, the language of Goethe, Schiller, Schubert, Beethoven....but all you know about Germany is Hitler.
Ah well, sportingmac, tominlondon can't be right all the time
So I'm not going to have anyone telling me about our glorious dead and I am most certainly not going to display a poppy commemorating all the other service people who are still being sent off to die in stupid pointless wars in Afghanistan etc. accompanied by empty rhetoric about how brave they are.
So poppies can piss off.
Support the Stop the War Coalition http://www.stopwar.org.uk/
George Orwell said the same thing is his book The Road to Wigan Peir - he had asked if the returning young 'survivors' were sad to lose so many friends - most replied that they were angry at the 'old men' who put them in harms way because they were too addled in their thinking to see any other solution.
Nothing seems to have changed does it?
This year there seems to be a move afoot to usurp it as a gesture of support for our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan, sad as Our losses are they are tiny compared withs those of real wars.
The poppy is not a political symbol, it as something to help us all remember those who died, or were injured, protecting our way of life in our wonderful country.
The Poppy Appeal
Each year the nation expresses its unequivocal support for The Royal British Legion's charity work through the Poppy Appeal. The 2009 Poppy Appeal is emphasising the need to help the Afghan generation of the Armed Forces and their families – today and for the rest of their lives.
For their sake, wear a poppy - and please help our fundraising by making a donation or volunteering your time.
There was so much blood spilt fighting to protect the invasion of German troops attempting to takeover Great Britain. A terrible time in history and an event which so many brave and frightened men gave up their lives for or were wounded for ... and just to PROTECT US - this makes me humble!
They died leaving behind wives and children to cope alone because of their sacrifice.
So many men died or were maimed and injured - the appeal is for those brave men who laid down their lives to make sure we live as we do and not under tyranny.
Folks should remember this fact before talking about current 'Politically invoked problems' elsewhere in the East ........... without the sacrifice of those brave men at Dunkirk then the 'current problems' would not even exist.
Catastrophically, we would have been under the control of a Nazi regime - and much more importantly ......... there would be no freedom and NO Poppy Appeal!
Thankfully, the Red poppy still grows in the fields and is a memory of those brave men that saved us from an horrific future.
I also feel that ALL soldiers that sacrifice their life for their county is truly heartbreaking and we should unite and move to have a 'WHITE LILY APPEAL' in memory of their sacrifices too - they truly deserve it. xxx
Maggie
You are on the street, not on their premises.
Having said that, my local M & S won't have Poppy Boxes in store, but they do allow me to leave one in their staff canteen.
This year they held a penny bazaar on 11th November and asked for three ex-servicemen to be there from 1.00pm until 9.00pm to collect donations from their customers (apparently this was a nationwide thing) and their Head Office are sending a large cheque directly through to Poppy Appeal.
They raised £1270.00 at our store and they gave each of the three servicemen a voucher, worth quite a few quid, thanking them for their help.
M & S did something for our Poppy Appeal and they were grateful to us, we were grateful to them!