Letter to Newham Recorder

Dear Editor

East Ham Tory Chair, Neil Pearce,  is entitled to criticise our West Ham MP, Lyn Brown, for what he apparently believes to be her “politicising” of Remembrance Sunday (letters 1 Dec).  But does he really have to use such personal language?  He describes her comments as  being “disgusting”  and “really sickening” and then makes a series of partisan political points himself? 

Let us remember that Lyn was suggesting very gently in her column that those who choose to wear the poppy in a very political way - in China of all places (The Prime Minster David Cameron during his recent visit) should at very least pay the war widows what they deserve - because war widows and the rest of us are going to suffer for the cuts they are imposing on benefits and public services. She was adding her voice to a campaign to protect the vulnerable, those who have already lost so much, and get the Government to pull back from their policy of below inflation increases for war widows and others in receipt of pensions. Mr Pearce would be better engaged in assisting in that campaign.

Can I suggest that if in the future he or anyone thinks that Lyn has got something wrong that they write to her first pointing out their concerns.  If they are not satisfied with her response then by all means they could bring it to the attention of a wider audience without hopefully making Remembrance Sunday itself a focus for petty political abuse and a failed exercise of point scoring

Your faithfully

John Gray

West Ham Labour Party Agent

(published 15 December 2010)

West Ham Church of All Saints Remembrance Sunday Service

This morning I attended the Remembrance Service in the 12th Century Church of All Saints in my ward, West Ham.

The Deputy Lieutenant of Newham, Colonel Mike Dudding, our Mayor Sir Robin Wales and West Ham MP Lyn Brown was present.  As well as veterans, parishioners, residents, 7 Rifles Territorial Army, Sea Cadets, Army Cadets, Councillors and Senior Council officers.

The Church is over a 1,000 years old and is the one of the oldest (or arguably the oldest) building in Newham and lies in in the heart of West Ham Ward.  It is extremely impressive and I would encourage everyone to visit it.  

The service was taken by the vicar, The Revd Stennett Kirby.  He made a particular point of arguing that since in the Christian, Jewish and Muslim tradition, widows and orphans should be honoured, so therefore the spouses and children of servicemen and women who have been killed in recent Wars should not suffer from the Cuts that the Coalition government is proposing  (No comment but check out this BBC link here).

Even though I am a lifelong atheist, as usual, I found the service and the ceremony profoundly moving. 

After the last post and the two minutes silence, Mr Alf Gittings, a member of the Royal Navel Association read out

" They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
  Age shall not weary them, nor the years contemn.
  At the going down of the sun and in the morning
  We will remember them".

To which we all replied "We will remember them"

I did wonder during the service whether Beckton gas worker, Will Thorne, the founder of the GMB trade union and former West Ham Councillor, Mayor and MP, had ever attended a similar service in this very same Church?  I assume he did. During the First World War he had joined the West Ham Volunteer Force with the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. His eldest son also joined the army and was killed in action at Ypres in 1917.

There were at least three other remembrance events in Newham today.  Check out my previous post about the 2007 West Ham All Saints service here and Thursday's East Ham Cenotaph ceremony here.