{"id":334095,"date":"2017-11-08T15:12:32","date_gmt":"2017-11-08T14:12:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/bbc-banned-guests-from-wearing-poppy-commemorating-war-dead-rt-uk-news\/"},"modified":"2017-11-08T15:12:32","modified_gmt":"2017-11-08T14:12:32","slug":"bbc-banned-guests-from-wearing-poppy-commemorating-war-dead-rt-uk-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/newswire\/bbc-banned-guests-from-wearing-poppy-commemorating-war-dead-rt-uk-news\/","title":{"rendered":"BBC \u2018banned\u2019 guests from wearing poppy commemorating war dead \u2014 RT UK News"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div>\n<p><time class=\"date date_article-header\">Published time: 8 Nov, 2017 12:48 <\/time><\/p>\n<p>        The BBC is facing a backlash after guests on a long-running show were allegedly asked to remove poppies before going on air. The red paper flower is worn in November to mark Armistice Day, a national remembrance for those killed in conflict since WWI.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article__text text  js-mediator-article\">\n<p>Daily Mail sketch writer Quentin Letts claims he was told he should remove his poppy before appearing on the comedy quiz show \u2018Have I Got News For You\u2019. Guests were allegedly told they would be banned from appearing on the show if they insisted on keeping the badges.<\/p>\n<div class=\"arcticle__read-more read-more\">\n<p>Read more<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"read-more__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rt.com\/sport\/408209-english-fa-poppy-permission-fifa\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"read-more__cover\" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2017.10\/thumbnail\/59f70c6efc7e93962d8b4567.jpg\" alt=\"\u00a9 Global Look Press\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p><em>\u201cI have had messages from some viewers who were cross that I did not wear a poppy for the show,\u201d<\/em> Letts told MailOnline.<\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cI felt I should explain myself. I am afraid I was a bit wet and in the short moments before going on, yielded to the request.\u201d Letts said he lost his nerve ahead of the comedy panel show. \u201cI should have held my ground but wimped out for an easy life.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Letts appeared last Friday, alongside comedians Jo Brand and Paul Merton, and Private Eye magazine editor Ian Hislop.<\/p>\n<p>The claim has provoked outcry. The Royal British Legion said it opposed <em>\u201cthose who attempt to coerce or criticize people\u201d<\/em> for wearing the poppy, and defended the right to choose whether or not to wear it.<\/p>\n<p>Tory MP Alec Shelbrooke said <em>\u201cIt is outrageous. What on earth is a publicly-funded body doing dishonouring our war dead?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"900\" height=\"506\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/UCyhefdZxGI\" frameborder=\"0\" gesture=\"media\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cThat is hypocritical of the BBC. To think they host the Albert Hall poppy remembrance service. Perhaps it should go to ITV?\u201d<\/em> Judith Hughes tweeted.<\/p>\n<div class=\"arcticle__read-more read-more\">\n<p>Read more<\/p>\n<p>    <a class=\"read-more__link\" href=\"http:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/364541-tory-poppy-cash-conviction\/\" target=\"_blank\"><br \/>\n                    <img decoding=\"async\" class=\"read-more__cover\" src=\"https:\/\/cdni.rt.com\/files\/2016.10\/thumbnail\/58132648c461884d108b4571.jpg\" alt=\"\u00a9 hobvias sudoneighm\"\/><br \/>\n    <\/a>\n<\/div>\n<p>A BBC spokesman told MailOnline poppies are only worn by the \u2018Have I Got News For You\u2019 host and panelists on the week of Remembrance Sunday itself.<\/p>\n<p>However, it is not the first time the BBC has been hit with poppy controversy. In 2016, \u2018The One Show\u2019 came under fire for pinning a poppy on the \u2018Cookie Monster\u2019. The broadcaster was slammed for having <em>\u201ctrivialised\u201d<\/em> the deaths of millions.<\/p>\n<p>Conservative MP Philip Davies urged BBC Director-General Lord Hall to launch an investigation, telling the Sun: <em>\u201cWe need an explanation how this happened. It is hugely disrespectful to all those people who made great sacrifices so that people are free to poke fun at other people like they are on \u2018Have I Got News for You\u2019.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Britons wear the poppy as a symbol to commemorate the armistice signed on November 11, 1918, officially ending the bloody conflict in which an estimated 18 million people died.<\/p>\n<p>Canadian doctor Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae wrote a poem which famously began: <em>\u201cIn Flanders fields the poppies blow\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Via <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rt.com\/uk\/409208-bbc-poppy-ban-letts\/?utm_source=rss&#038;utm_medium=rss&#038;utm_campaign=RSS\">RT<\/a>. This piece was reprinted by <a href=\"http:\/\/rinf.com\">RINF Alternative News<\/a> with permission or license.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Published time: 8 Nov, 2017 12:48 The BBC is facing a backlash after guests on a long-running show were allegedly asked to remove poppies before going on air. The red paper flower is worn in November to mark Armistice Day, a national remembrance for those killed in conflict since WWI. Daily Mail sketch writer Quentin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":334096,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[519],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-334095","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-newswire"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=334095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/334095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/334096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=334095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=334095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=334095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}