I knew that I would be writing a piece about the media response to Jeremy Corbyn’s “performance” at the remembrance service since the day he was elected as leader. I use the word “performance” because as recent events have demonstrated, that is exactly what the remembrance service is all about nowadays. Never mind falling silent to remember the sacrifice made by our brave servicemen and women, this annual event has become a source of exploitation, for “gotcha” headlines and political pantomime. To be quite honest, it is absolutely sickening.
I have been struggling to collect my thought on the Sun’s frontpage splash that I first witnessed last night. It is important to remember a few factual points before assessing what it means. It has been rubbished as a lie by camera recordings and eyewitness accounts from both members of the media – some previously hostile to the Labour leader – and veterans themselves. The image it attempts to portray of Jeremy is then also rubbished by two facts. First, he did not attend the VIP state dinner with the Prime Minister, and instead he boycotted it and stayed to welcome veterans from the parade and to personally thank them. Second, he later took part in his local constituency service, as he has done every year, and honoured the fallen gracefully with a poem written by a soldier explaining the futility of war.
Content from our partners
