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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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:
ShesMadeATwatOfMePam · 04/02/2021 07:47

He should have the same funeral as everyone else has to have that has died during lockdown

This. He raised a lot of money because he sparked the public's interest and was a beacon of hope during lockdown one to some people. But it doesn't mean he should be treated differently to all those other people who didn't do the one in a billion thing to get noticed that he did.

redpencil77 · 04/02/2021 07:51

@MaxiPaddy

The reason he shouldn't have a state funeral is because they are reserved for reigning monarchs (hence the 'state' part - head of state), and us plebs who accomplish extraordinary things, as has been said many times already.

Winston Churchill was the last, and while he had his (many) faults, and no offense to Tom Moore, but I can hardly compare the man who arguably helped save the world from Hitler with a man who did some laps in his garden.

They simply don't compare, and the hero worship is ridiculous. He did nothing more than millions do everyday (even less, in fact, if you look at all the people putting their lives on the line atm). The fact that he got lucky and his stunt took off because of his daughter's connections does not make him more worthy than any one else.

Don't confuse this with me delighting in his death, btw. He served his country well, and helped to raise a lot of money to try and help a lot of people. I'm sure he was a good man, and I hope he didn't suffer.

It's a tragedy he died in such an awful way. But no more of a tragedy than the over 2 million others who died in the same.

(Awaiting my deletion post...Wine)

No, Thatcher, 2013, and before that, Saint Di
redpencil77 · 04/02/2021 07:51

@ShesMadeATwatOfMePam

He should have the same funeral as everyone else has to have that has died during lockdown

This. He raised a lot of money because he sparked the public's interest and was a beacon of hope during lockdown one to some people. But it doesn't mean he should be treated differently to all those other people who didn't do the one in a billion thing to get noticed that he did.

Actually I agree with you here
redpencil77 · 04/02/2021 07:54

Meant to add, because he represents so many people, nameless, with uncoubtable deeds in the pandemic, who have made equal contributions. As Sir Terry Pratchett said, in "Johnny and the Dead", "Sometimes just being there [in WW1] is all you can do."

RichPetunia · 04/02/2021 07:55

I’m fed up with whole thing. A minute’s silence in parliament to remember Captain Tom and all others who have died from Covid. My dad died of suspected Covid last year and if he wasn’t worth a minute’s silence then, it’s now an insult to be tagged on to justify Captain Tom’s. I’m pretty pissed off to be honest. My dad died alone last year because we weren’t allowed to be with him, wasn’t tested for Covid because people in nursing homes weren’t getting tested and had a much reduced funeral. My dad was as worthy as the next man. We need to stop this over the top hysteria, it’s embarrassing and hurtful to those of us who have already said goodbye to loved ones.

MaxiPaddy · 04/02/2021 08:01

Nope, none of them were state funerals. The last was Churchill. Per wiki (I know, I know) :

"Sir Winston Churchill died on 24 January 1965, aged 90. His was the first state funeral for a non-royal family member since Lord Carson in 1935, and as of 2020 it remains the most recent state funeral in the United Kingdom. The official funeral lasted for four days."

lollipoprainbow · 04/02/2021 08:14

Winston Churchill was the last, and while he had his (many) faults, and no offense to Tom Moore, but I can hardly compare the man who arguably helped save the world from Hitler with a man who did some laps in his garden.*

Brilliant comment !!

lollipoprainbow · 04/02/2021 08:24

@XenoBitch pics please !!!

Thewiseoneincognito · 04/02/2021 08:25

Only those with their own agenda are pushing for any of this, literally trying to ride the swell on a wave of public opinion. Carol V and Amanda H. I’m surprised Kerry Katina hasn’t thrown her hat in too.

JohnMiddleNameRedactedSwanson · 04/02/2021 08:27

@redpencil77 Diana, the Queen Mother, and Thatcher all had ceremonial funerals. The last state funeral was Churchill. The next one will be the Queen.

YanTanTethera123 · 04/02/2021 08:30

@RichPetunia

I’m fed up with whole thing. A minute’s silence in parliament to remember Captain Tom and all others who have died from Covid. My dad died of suspected Covid last year and if he wasn’t worth a minute’s silence then, it’s now an insult to be tagged on to justify Captain Tom’s. I’m pretty pissed off to be honest. My dad died alone last year because we weren’t allowed to be with him, wasn’t tested for Covid because people in nursing homes weren’t getting tested and had a much reduced funeral. My dad was as worthy as the next man. We need to stop this over the top hysteria, it’s embarrassing and hurtful to those of us who have already said goodbye to loved ones.
Me too. And as for staff at Paddington forming a guard of honour and clapping the train coming into the station...... Barmy. Bl.... barmy.
Cam77 · 04/02/2021 08:38

“No, Thatcher, 2013, and before that, Saint Di“

Thatchers funeral was a massive “fuck you” from the establishment to many millions of Britain’s who despised everything she should for politically. State honoring of a political leader who followed the right lines. It was like something straight out of N.Korea.

Cam77 · 04/02/2021 08:43

Churchill was an extremely nasty racist. His comments about Indian people would make any Britain First member blush. And before you say, “everyone was racist back then”. Er, no they weren’t. Certainly not like him. And there is little doubt his utter contempt for Indian people played some part in one of the most terrible famines of the last century. Yes, he played a vital part in defeating the Nazis, but so did millions of others. Many literally giving their lives. No hero in my book.

VinylDetective · 04/02/2021 08:44

@Cam77

“No, Thatcher, 2013, and before that, Saint Di“

Thatchers funeral was a massive “fuck you” from the establishment to many millions of Britain’s who despised everything she should for politically. State honoring of a political leader who followed the right lines. It was like something straight out of N.Korea.

It really wasn’t anything like North Korea. I hated Thatcher as much as anyone but she was revered by many. Loathsome as her policies were, they changed British society and its political landscape irrevocably and her place in history is firmly cemented. She didn’t follow any lines, she drew new ones.
makingmammaries · 04/02/2021 09:01

The whole Captain Tom cult is frankly bizarre when seen from abroad. He was clearly a decent and patriotic man and did a very fine thing. I’m not sure if that is enough for a knighthood, let alone a state funeral, though I will continue to think well of Captain Tom.
Oh, and the organized clapping for any reason is pretty awful.

NeedWineNow · 04/02/2021 09:02

@Esquire3

I think they should make a new medal in his honour given out by the queen for when charity work is being awarded
I think that is a good idea. Something quietly significant.
Mittens030869 · 04/02/2021 09:03

I actually don't understand where you're all getting the idea there's any chance of a state funeral for Captain Tom. It simply isn't going to happen. The BBC has moved on from him; there wasn't even a mention of him in the BBC News headlines just now.

Cam77 · 04/02/2021 09:05

i hated Thatcher as much as anyone but she was revered by many.

that literally - and I do mean literally - makes no sense. My exact point is that she was a politician equally loathed and hated by millions. But the establishment/elite loved her, hence the televised state funeral. Essentially the country’s elite trying to mind control the populace that she was a great leader worthy of adulation despite being hated and opposed by half the country through her political career.

Longleggedlovely · 04/02/2021 09:05

@RichPetunia

I’m fed up with whole thing. A minute’s silence in parliament to remember Captain Tom and all others who have died from Covid. My dad died of suspected Covid last year and if he wasn’t worth a minute’s silence then, it’s now an insult to be tagged on to justify Captain Tom’s. I’m pretty pissed off to be honest. My dad died alone last year because we weren’t allowed to be with him, wasn’t tested for Covid because people in nursing homes weren’t getting tested and had a much reduced funeral. My dad was as worthy as the next man. We need to stop this over the top hysteria, it’s embarrassing and hurtful to those of us who have already said goodbye to loved ones.
This! Having just said goodbye in a very small funeral to a very close relative that we have been prevented from seeing for nearly a year. I have been robbed of time with my relative and she was robbed of the send off she so deserved. All this talk of fanfare for Captain Tom is insulting to the people who have lost their lives this year and the relatives that are grieving for them.
Cam77 · 04/02/2021 09:06

Sorry, that should be equally loved and loathed not loathed and hated. My own bias affecting my typing.

Pimlicojo · 04/02/2021 09:13

I was listening to the radio yesterday when his grandson (son of the other daughter, not the one he lived with) phoned in. He spoke with great warmth about his grandad and said that he wouldn't want any fuss. I think these people with petitions and grand ideas about memorials are losing sight of the man that he was, and that he was first and foremost a modest family man.

VinylDetective · 04/02/2021 09:16

@Cam77

i hated Thatcher as much as anyone but she was revered by many.

that literally - and I do mean literally - makes no sense. My exact point is that she was a politician equally loathed and hated by millions. But the establishment/elite loved her, hence the televised state funeral. Essentially the country’s elite trying to mind control the populace that she was a great leader worthy of adulation despite being hated and opposed by half the country through her political career.

She didn’t have a state funeral. She was a great leader. I detested her and her policies but even I can see that. You don’t have to agree with her politics to see the enormous impact she had during her premiership with echoes still reverberating. But then you deny that Churchill was a great leader so ...
OrangeSlices998 · 04/02/2021 09:30

@Cam77

i hated Thatcher as much as anyone but she was revered by many.

that literally - and I do mean literally - makes no sense. My exact point is that she was a politician equally loathed and hated by millions. But the establishment/elite loved her, hence the televised state funeral. Essentially the country’s elite trying to mind control the populace that she was a great leader worthy of adulation despite being hated and opposed by half the country through her political career.

She didn’t have a state funeral. The last non royal to have one was Winston Churchill.
TrickyD · 04/02/2021 09:38

Yep, a little research will show that the family were very instrumental in the PR and marketing, as that is their business!! Even the grandson was described last year as the “social media and IT director” or some such title, at the grand age of 15, and was supposedly tweeting famous people to push the campaign. It definitely wasn’t a spontaneous story that the papers happened to pick up.

I don’t have a problem with this.The daughter’s PR company, called Maytrix, does include the 15 year old on its ‘who we are’ page.

What I find strange is that Tom’s other two grandchildren, Tom and Max Teixeira, rarely get a mention in the ‘Happy Family’ scenario, though one son was interviewed on LBC about his Dad. If they were more visible, we might get fewer of the ‘White Nationalism’ comments.