Jon Snow and those poppies

Is sporting a red poppy in the run-up to remembrance day really something that compromises the impartiality/objectivity of a journalist?

That seems to be what Jon Snow is saying.

Interestingly the BBC's Controller Editorial Policy got himself into a right tangle on Radio 4's PM this evening when asked to defend what appears to be a long-standing and, importantly, unquestioned policy of allowing (encouraging even?) newsreaders and reporters to wear poppies - a more or less unique privilege allowed to this charity.

World War One has now passed out of living memory, it won't be long before the 2nd World War follows it into the history books. How long can it be before the whole paraphanalia of official remembrance on November 11th each year follows?

It will be a while yet I suspect. But as the parades of veterans diminish, the question has to be asked.

The trick is going to be to find a new way to honour the sacrifices made by members of the armed forces in smaller and less universally popular causes.