Well done to the British political and media class. Remembrance is now completely meaningless. It exists only as a day for the politicians to competitively post about soldiers. Oh and for weird right-wing accounts to use the day to make really tawdry points. And, of course, snipe at anyone who steps slightly outside the acceptable mode of Remembrancing. Like, I don’t know, calling for a more peaceful world?

Remembrance day

Clearly, the sheers levels of censoriousness that existed around Remembrance 10 years ago have diminished. And we’ll get to why that is later.

But that change doesn’t mean people aren’t still being silly on social media. For example, here is Jen K who went to the length of having two flags on her bio but was more interested in whether the PM tripped over than respecting the dead:

I’m going to guess nobody because that’s a really weird thing to think watching a remembrance parade https://t.co/63ZoSECPpF

— Emma (@scousepie) November 9, 2025

Weird. What’s also weird is that those few politicians who didn’t just post about how horny the army makes them feel got trolled.

Green councillor Mothin Ali – perfectly reasonably – urged people to remember all victims of war and work toward a more peaceful world. How fucking dare he, frankly:

On remembrance Sunday I had the duty to lay the wreath on behalf of the @LeedsGreenParty

When we remember the sacrifices made in the past we must also remember the current conflicts such a Palestine and Sudan and the continous loss of life throughout the world and seek to build… pic.twitter.com/lRL0RLSS03

— Mothin Ali (@MothinAli) November 9, 2025

The replies were, as one might expect, a bit of a sewer. Zarah Sultana took a similar approach and got many similar responses. You can look if you dare:

This morning I laid a wreath at Coventry’s War Memorial Park, remembering all who lost their lives in war.

As war rages in Ukraine, conflict devastates Sudan and Palestinians in Gaza endure unimaginable horror, we must honour their memory by renewing our commitment to peace,… pic.twitter.com/2lVT7LAt0e

— Zarah Sultana MP (@zarahsultana) November 9, 2025

Weirdly, former veterans minister and all-round posh chappy Johnny Mercer seems to have mellowed. He said you could wear one or not, but basically don’t make it your whole personality. Which is odd for a man whose whole personality is based on having been in the army.

He also seems to have grown a mullet:

‘Wear a poppy or don’t wear a poppy. It’s up to you.’

Former Veterans Minister @JohnnyMercerUK argues that having the choice to wear a poppy is what people ‘actually fought and died for’. @lewis_goodall pic.twitter.com/Np1nDqh3D0

— LBC (@LBC) November 9, 2025

Fair play to you, Johnny. On mustering a coherent thought, that is, not the hair.

White AND red poppy for Zach

And Green leader Zach Polanksi was grilled by Trevor Phillips about why he was wearing a white poppy. As usual he handled it straightforwardly.

Trevor Philips, “What is the implication of the white poppy?”

Zack Polanski, “The white poppy began after WWI, mainly from women’s groups, who talked about peace and antifascism”

"So on the same day we remember the fallen, it’s also about looking to the future and saying, we… pic.twitter.com/6fsBT2nrwP

— Farrukh (@implausibleblog) November 9, 2025

However the Green politician did get trolled by strange wee internet man Ben Harris. Harris slammed Polanski for wearing a white poppy. But seems to have overlooked that he was also wearing a red one. Okay, mate:

Of course he’s wearing a white poppy. The absolute state of him. https://t.co/i6WmB6uLBm

— Ben Harris (@btharris93) November 8, 2025

It should also be noted that this year, like every year around this time, the head of the military went on TV to push for more defence funding. Not disrespectful at all:

All in all, 2025 was a pretty lowkey Remembrance. Anyone who recalls the atmosphere in the middle of the last decade will note how much less febrile the occasion has been lately.

There are at least two reasons it was so censorious back then. One was the WW1 centenary from 2014-2018 brought all kinds of strange imperial nostalgia out of the woodwork. Another was that the UK had spent the previous decade fighting and losing two deeply unpopular wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The poppy, Remembrance, ‘the troops’ and so on were used by the government, military and media to limit debate on what this was all really about: the UK’s violent, destructive and discredited foreign policy.

That foreign policy is endorsed by Britain’s status quo parties without any discernible difference. One of the reasons figures like Sultana and Polanski get so much flak is because they dare to step outside that ruling class consensus when it comes to war.

Featured image via Unsplash/Ian Taylor

By Joe Glenton

From Canary via this RSS feed