Poppies can be worn side by side

I usually enjoy Blaise Tapp’s columns, but I must take issue with his stance in the Observer of November 2.

As he says, besides being a poignant and emotional time, Remembrance Sunday can also produce emotive and controversial responses.

So I was disappointed to see him falling into the easy trap of assuming that those speaking out in support of peace are somehow dishonouring those who died fighting for Britain in the two World Wars.

He somewhat patronisingly dismisses the views of those promoting peace as “distracting nonsense... the folly of youth”.

It is not only possible, but it makes perfect sense to respect and honour the memory of the fallen, while at the same time sincerely supporting the cause of future peace.

As Michael Morpurgo (author of War Horse) eloquently writes in the Radio Times (November 2-9): “...I wear a white poppy alongside my red one, because I know they fought and many died for my peace, our peace. And I wear both side-by-side because I believe the nature of remembering is changing, and will change as the decades pass since those two World Wars.”