Storm over Snow's poppy shunning
Poppies have become the symbol of remembrance
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Friday, 10, Nov 2006 11:52
Jon Snow's refusal to wear a poppy in the run-up to Remembrance Day has caused a storm among viewers.
The Channel 4 newsreader, who has made his name for having forthright views and putting forward strong opinions, says that he actively shuns wearing the poppy because he does not like making any "kind of statement" while on air.
Writing on his internet blog, the 59-year-old hit out at what he called an "unpleasant breed of poppy fascism" which attempts to force people to wear the symbol of remembrance for those who died while serving in war.
But readers of his blog have been mixed in their response, with one stating that Mr Snow's conviction "smacks of student politicking" while another said they agreed with his stance because it opposed the "shallow and hypocritical statement of the wearer's ethical brownie points".
In the blog, Mr Snow begins with a comment from one Channel 4 viewer who said they were "disgusted" that he chose not to wear the poppy.
Defending his position, Mr Snow said: "I am begged to wear an Aids Ribbon, a breast cancer ribbon, a Marie Curie flower... You name it, from the Red Cross to the RNIB, they send me stuff to wear to raise awareness, and I don't. And in those terms, and those terms alone, I do not and will not wear a poppy."
The newsreader and author said he wears the poppy "in my private life, but I am not going to wear it or any other symbol on air".
He insisted: "I respect our armed forces, the sacrifice and the loss, and like others I remember them on Remembrance Sunday.
"That's the way it is. I won't be wearing a black tie for anyone's death - I don't for my own relatives, so why on earth would I for anyone else's?"