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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

NO to a state funeral for Captain Sir Tom Moore AIBU?

422 replies

Muncher75 · 03/02/2021 18:37

Just that really. I’ve just been sent an email from change.org asking me to sign a petition to push for a state funeral for him.
Now don’t get me wrong he was a remarkable man and an inspiration... but a state funeral? That will cost us, the taxpayer money we definitely cannot afford in the currant climate. Also I’m sure he’d rather the money go where it’s needed.

OP posts:

mpsw · 03/02/2021 21:08

Fourth plinth will continue to have temporary sculptures in formation.

It's oblong for an equestrian stature, and one day it will have HMQ, ideally in her prime and riding Burma (as she did for so many Trooping the Colour). But not until after her death

Separately, I love the idea of a tree for every person who died in the pandemic

hansgrueber · 03/02/2021 21:09

@mpsw

Prince Phillip doesn't qualify for a state funeral - he's not head of state.

Possibly a royal ceremonial one (like the Queen Mother) but I expect it would be something less ostentatious, maybe at Windsor, but with full military honours

Even if he or even the Queen died would there be a state funeral? Imagine the outcry from those who have had a hole in the corner funeral to comply with the rules. I would imagine that BP would be very aware of this and there is an emergency plan in a cupboard somwhere. A private funeral and at a later date some kind of Service of Thankgiving.

RubyViolet · 03/02/2021 21:09

@Bluebell246

He seemed a lovely man who did a wonderful thing and gave a lot of people something positive to focus on at a very difficult time. It is very sad that he has died. But he should be subject to exactly the same rules and laws as everyone else. My mother's funeral was last week. We were allowed no more than 20 people. And we were not allowed to be with her in hospital at any time. The only thing that makes it even remotely bearable is thinking that it applies to everyone and it is being done for the public good. But it doesn't apply to everyone does it?. I find talk of a state funeral deeply upsetting. FGS think about the families of all the other people killed by this virus.

Sorry for your loss Bluebell.

oakleaffy · 03/02/2021 21:09

@CherryRoulade

He was a very elderly man used as Tory propaganda to bring positivity to a dire situation. He doesn’t warrant anything approaching a state event. If there is a statue it should be to all who have died.

This!

Captain Tom was 100.
He clearly has a well off family.
His daughter is very media savvy.

Tom caught a moment in time.
I wonder if he caught Covid from being ''Marketed''? and exposed to people he otherwise might not have been... Sincerely hope not.

Jellykat · 03/02/2021 21:10

I too got that petition email and no i didn't add my name.

Although i know he raised a lot of money and is representative of that generation, there are so many people who do so much, yet go unrecognised, i don't agree with a state funeral at all.

JohnMiddleNameRedactedSwanson · 03/02/2021 21:10

I’m so sorry for your loss @Bluebell246

Dalamalama · 03/02/2021 21:11

He was a truly lovely gentleman who lived a good long life, but for pities sake he walked up and down his garden.

The world's gone mad!

SchadenfreudePersonified · 03/02/2021 21:13

@Twistered

Great man as he was but I agree with you. And I think his family have said he wouldn't have wanted a big fuss

I thought the same when they were talking about a "clap for Sir Tom". He woof a generation who just got on with things and didn't make a fuss. I think he would have felt embarrassed.

His family are grieving and we should respect their wishes in this matter. They know he was hugely respected and admired, and I'm sure this will be part of his eulogy - and if the family are comfortable with it, it may be that the service is broadcast - but a state funeral isn't appropriate.

The government will be loving all of this though - it takes the focus off their corruption and incompetence.

oakleaffy · 03/02/2021 21:13

@mpsw

Fourth plinth will continue to have temporary sculptures in formation.

It's oblong for an equestrian stature, and one day it will have HMQ, ideally in her prime and riding Burma (as she did for so many Trooping the Colour). But not until after her death

Separately, I love the idea of a tree for every person who died in the pandemic

People who died...

To include the ' Covid collateral damage' patients?

Eg, those whose vital treatments were delayed so they died because all hands were on deck for Covid patients, and hang everyone else?

FIL died as a direct result of this.

He died in Hospital alone, with just a Nurse by his side.

He was so worried beforehand, thinking he'd been ''Forgotten''.

And he too was a Veteran.

RIP all who died ...Collateral damage patients too.

Figgygal · 03/02/2021 21:14

For gods sake
Lovely bloke and all but he would have completed the laps had he raised £100 or the millions
Other people have also done remarkable fundraising too he just was the one picked up by the media

nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut · 03/02/2021 21:15

From what we know of him, he would much rather the money go where its needed.

Bluebell246 · 03/02/2021 21:18

Thank you. JohnMiddleNameRedactedSwanson and RubyViolet.

saraclara · 03/02/2021 21:19

@nothingcanhurtmewithmyeyesshut

From what we know of him, he would much rather the money go where its needed.

Exactly. No taxpayers' money should be spent on memorialising him, unless it's money given to the NHS. I'm sure he'd far rather that the money a statue would cost (never mind state funeral money) was spent on actually helping people.

HibernatingTill2030 · 03/02/2021 21:20

oakleaffy, so sorry for the loss of your FIL.
I just posted in another thread that I find it a bit crass... the PMs tweets, the clapping, all of it.
Hundreds of thousands of people grieving their loved ones.
I've nothing against the Captain and he raised an extraordinary amount of money for a good cause; but all the focus on one person out of hundreds of thousands is a bit much.

BackforGood · 03/02/2021 21:21

@Puzzledandpissedoff

Oops!

and then . I suspect he would, indeed have had a chuckle

Bluebell246 · 03/02/2021 21:22

Absolutely agree Oakleaffy. And condolences on the loss of your father.

Hotzenplotz · 03/02/2021 21:22

I'm sorry, @oakleaffy.

mumwon · 03/02/2021 21:24

he was a good man & he managed to catch peoples imagination about kindness & hope
But
My ddad like many all fought in the war & like most what they did & what it cost them will never be known. Mostly, because many of them didn't want to remember & never spoke about it, many were damaged physically, emotionally & spiritually. He was the same generation. Please don't think this is resentment or any such thing.
lets not forget that many servicemen since than have gone through a lot & quietly got on with their lives, sadly some have not lived happy lives.
I would like to see a new art work remembering all of the people who went through coronavirus, with him within it, but medical people volunteers, post people, scientists, transport workers etc, all included & that would be worthwhile being in London. perhaps a carved wall or a large painting within a major church & a few faces of those who died,

norwegianwoodpecker · 03/02/2021 21:24

Hardly gonna happen now. Procession and military bands? Mourners lining the streets? Impossible. Hilarious

OrangutanLibrarianGivesAnOok · 03/02/2021 21:26

Why do so many people here think David Attenborough should have a state funeral?

Mittens030869 · 03/02/2021 21:26

I haven't heard anyone suggesting there will be a state funeral on the BBC News. So far there's only been a national display of clapping (a big naff and I didn't bother with it, especially as it was staged by Boris). Why all this angst complaining that there might be a state funeral? Hardly going to happen in this time of Covid restrictions anyway.

GlitterInMySoul · 03/02/2021 21:27

@Daydreamsinglorioustechnicolor

I think people need to leave it to his family. At the end of the day he was a normal family man. Yes, inspirational and someone to be admired and missed. But let's not invade the family's privacy and make it all about us.

This

evouk · 03/02/2021 21:28

@DareIask

This is turning in to a circus that will just detract from the effort he made.

Leave it to the family now.

I expected nothing less!

I can already see it coming.. a weekly clap for him too then his family will have to publicly ask everybody to stop just like NHS workers did

As a country we really do know how to jump on the band wagon and do things to death

NorbertMeubles · 03/02/2021 21:29

What is wrong with these people that want him to have a state funeral? It is insulting to the 100,000+ families who have lost a loved one this year. These people who want this are just beyond strange.

Mybobowler · 03/02/2021 21:29

Did I miss something with the whole Captain Tom thing? He seems a very sweet, kind and much loved man and I am of course very sad for his loved ones. But he went viral, isn't that basically all there is to it? People undertake remarkable (and not so remarkable) physical challenges for charity all the time and barely scrape together a few hundred pounds. Peoplw aren't really saying he should have a state funeral? Or a statue? This is all, frankly, a bit weird imo.

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