White poppy sales break all records
Record breaking sales of white poppies in 2018
Sales of white poppies in 2018 are the highest they have ever been since their launch in 1933 – despite a barrage of criticism in the media.
According to the Peace Pledge Union (PPU), the organisation that supplies and distributes white poppies, there have been roughly 120,000 sales so far, a rise of almost 20,000 on last year’s 101,000. The previous record was 110,000 sold in 2015.
The rise comes despite a stream of abuse against white poppy wearers on social media and from public figures including Conservative MP Johnny Mercer and broadcaster Piers Morgan.
Sophie Morrison, of the PPU, said: ‘In the centenary of the end of world war one, revulsion at the wastefulness of war is leading many people to remember the victims of war by working for peace.’
She added: ‘If everyone who wears a white poppy takes action against militarism and war… that would be a fitting memorial to the millions of civilians and combatants whose lives have been wasted in war.’
