On remembering the start of the first world war? Firstly, why not remember when it **** ended? Secondly, where the hell did they get 50 million from and why not channel it back into health, education or the economy?

Or does the Etonian ‘Call me Dave’ think that we should be proud to die a ‘glorious death’ for England and the upper classes? Next up, cold war Moscow red square military parades located in Henley-Upon-Thames complete with Pimms and the Queen. Swap the rowing boats for dingies full of SBS troopers. Nothing like a good show to distract the masses from the faltering economy.

Or use it for the convalescence of current troops, politicians should never be allowed near the piggy bank.

No idea what your’e on about but it doesn’t cost 50 million to remember something!

50 million over the four years 2014-2018.

Basically he now has to do anything his rabid, right wing backbenchers, urged on by the retired Generals in their constituencies, tell him to do. Or they sling him out for Bozza

Either that or he’s planning a rematch to reduce the youth unemployment rate

Basically he now has to do anything his rabid, right wing backbenchers, urged on by the retired Generals in their constituencies, tell him to do. Or they sling him out for Bozza

Its been done to appease old tory voting ****.

Don’t want to actually fix the economy and invest in our future (the young) do we?

One thing I have never put much thought towards was who was fighting who and why in the first world war?

In fact the only thing even remotely related to WW1 we learned at school was having a “scene” in the corner of the classroom with some WW1 kit and a sign which read “Arras Hole.”

Don’t care, do you think Cameron’s plans will show how utterly futile dying for your country is? How Europe’s elites sent millions of normal people to their deaths for the glory of which ever King or country? The depressing fact that at the end of the day it was all about property and we were just as guilty of kicking it off as Germany was?

No, instead it’s going to be a load of nationalistic crap and all we’re going to hear from the Tory press is how bad our youth are today compared to the youngsters who blindly walked into streams of hot lead.

Don’t want to actually fix the economy and invest in our future (the young) do we?

The young, bloody hell no, have you actually met any of them. 😯

Its a good point bwaarp. I suppose for many communities and families it marked the beginning of the end for many. I’m thinking that many marched off never to return in 1914. Entire communities decimated and a lost generation.

Its pretty much impossible to conceive the volumes of people involved for us in our cosy 21st century lives. Or the horrors they saw and endured before they died.

As ever though the common man paid the price for the machinations of those elected to represent us. Some things never change eh?

We should mark the beginning of the great war. And its end. But not with any misty eyed sentiment about tommy dying for king and country. We should mark it with anger and defiance against our leaders who sent millions of normal decent men to their graves and deprived their family and friends of the most important thing in their lives.

why not channel it back into health, education or the economy?

I’d imagine that a significant chunk of it will be chanelled towards education, i.e. it’ll be supporting stuff going on in schools.

It was a massively significant world event, the consequences of which are still being felt today (not least in the clusterf**k that is the middle east). Given that this:

One thing I have never put much thought towards was who was fighting who and why in the first world war?

is probably a fairly common outlook, is it not worth spending some money on educating folks on what went on and why it still matters?

Herman the german must be really upset us spending so much cash on a huge junket for so few, and rubbing their faces in the thought they lost twice.

There are monuments in virtually every town and village throughout the UK honouring those who died, as well as numerous films and documentaries which are a fitting tribute or ‘memory’.

£50M is a huge amount of money for a very expensive history lesson (or yet another distraction/tub thumping exercise for the more cynical) which could and should be spent elsewhere IMO

What next – £25m commemorating Waterloo?

Only £50M?

Peanuts!

Securing an oil supply for the US in Afghanistan is costing us £20 BILLION!

True, we do get to teach one of the oldest civilisations on earth lots of neat stuff from one of the newest. McDonalds, Coke, TV Repeats…what’s not to like?

The ‘Lympics were how much? 🙄

Meanwhile my mother, who is in her 80’s, is on a waiting list for Occupational Health to come out and look at her bathroom. She is not allowed a carer until this has been done.

The Occupational Health waiting list is 5 months and prior to that had been on the Adult Services waiting list for several months.

Are they hoping that people will die cos it’s cheaper than helping them?

I despair so much of this country. 😐

why not channel it back into health, education or the economy?

Well…. it is education. And the money isn’t being burnt so it’ll presumably find its way into some sort of economy

Why are we spending 50 million quid

I guess it is so little because we are so skint – shame really.

+1 (I hope)

Here’s hoping it’s not spent on £50m Chinese-made Union Jacks.

50 million over the four years 2014-2018.

50 million divided by 4 years divided by 52 weeks divided by 62,262,000 = ……

Its going to cost me 0.34p per week. My great uncle was in the trenches at 14 years of age, cost him a bit more than that.

I’m organising a demo, who wants to join me? You can bring your bikes.

I just did some remembering right now. Who do i send the invoice to?

I’m organising a demo, who wants to join me? You can bring your bikes.

Don’t do that, you need permission, or insurance or something. Just tell everyone where you’ll be riding and see if anyone spontaneously joins in, then it’s just a bike ride, innit?

Seeing as everyone involved is dead, I would rather it was spent on our new wounded.
PS i would rather it be spent bringing all the troops home and giving them the money.

I’ve just e-mailed the Prime Minister’s office.

https://email.number10.gov.uk/

50 million just isn’t very much money, in the grand scheme of things. How much have we pissed away in Iraq? How much does it cost for our nuclear “deterrant”? I’d sooner we spend money on educating kids and remembering the tragedies of the past than on killing kids and repeating them.

If we don’t remember
The dead will rise again,
To kick out ****ing heads in
For not remembering

50 million or not, if you’ve never visited some of the ‘Flanders fields’ sites you should. It’s hugely sobering in a way that is difficult to understand by just reading. One of them, sanctuary wood museum I think, has some 3d war photos that give an impression that really brings it home even though the museum is a scabby wee place ran by Jabba the hut.

And remember also that like it or not, one of the driving forces behind European integration is to avoid that sort of thing happening again. It may not be the thing most in the mind when we here the words ‘European union’ now though

Either that or he’s planning a rematch to reduce the youth unemployment rate

Cracking idea, use the unemployable and neds as cannon fodder should get the benefit bill and birth rate on council estates down a fair bit

This poses an interesting dilemma for me because I’m a history teacher, I’ve taken trips to the WWI and WWII battlefields and to preserved concentration camps. IMO there is nothing more sobering, and emotional that happens as a direct result of education and I think everyone in this country, and all coutries, should do this as a matter of course.
However, I also agree that with a limited pot, there are probably other competing claims for this money.
As ever, glad I’m not the one making the decisions!

News just said that a proportion will be used to take kids to the battlefields – both my 2 lads have been and it really hit home, esp as 2 of their great grandfathers were in the thick of it. If that’s where the greater proportion is spent then I am a little less hostile to the idea.

When you’ve been there it is almost impossible to imagine that is was only a hundred years ago, just on the edge of some people’s memories. Life and conditions then wereunimaginable. If that can still influence what the next generation think and where they want to go then money well spent compared to some other things (how much high speed rail line to you get for a million these days – about 10metres?)

A re-run of blackadder goes forth should cover it I reckon.

Firstly, why not remember when it **** ended?

Uh we do. Every year for the last oh roughly 100 yrs…You been under a rock or something?!

Don’t care, do you think Cameron’s plans will show how utterly futile dying for your country is? How Europe’s elites sent millions of normal people to their deaths for the glory of which ever King or country? The depressing fact that at the end of the day it was all about property and we were just as guilty of kicking it off as Germany was?

No, instead it’s going to be a load of nationalistic crap and all we’re going to hear from the Tory press is how bad our youth are today compared to the youngsters who blindly walked into streams of hot lead

And breath…

Why dont you go & read up on it? You might be surprised by what you find out…’cos to be honest it sounds like you really dont know a lot about it.

There were some very good reasons for WW1 as were there some appallingly bad ones.

Top tip: take some time over your research, read different articles from different viewpoints taken at different times over the last 100 years.

Then & maybe then we can have an adult discussion about it rather than you just ranting & spouting teenage knee-jerk reactionist bollox..

Why the flip not?

When you see young (posh) tosspots like Gilmour Jr. swinging on the flags on the Cenotaph, because “he didn’t know what it was”; a bit more remembrance can’t hurt.

Anyway £50 Million over 4 years is better value than £9 Billion plus for 2 weeks of sport, and that went down very well.

I agree with the need to educate people about the Great War. I for one only recently found out that were it not for Germany supporting Finland in WW1, the Finnish may still be under the boot of the Russians.

They will be spending a fair bit £5 million upgrading the Imperial War Musueum which again is worthwhile investment – no doubt my mate who writes about WWI is rubbing his hands with glee as his book sales should shoot up.

The most extraordinary statistic is that of the 1400 odd parishes in the UK, only 50 had no casualties. No single parish in Scotland or NI did not have a casualty.

Blackadder Goes Forth is still the mainstay of any course covering the First World War. Agree that there’s so much to learn- today my class were learning about Empire troops who voluteered from all over the world to fight on the Western Front.

If they are going to spend that amount of money, I for one hope they spend a portion of it repairing and preserving the war memorials around the country, a lot of which are in a shocking state.

Whatever is done, please don’t turn it into a big yoof tourist event. This makes me want to weep with shame, in the wrong kind of way.

http://www.topdeck.travel/anzac-day-tours-gallipoli

Almost resulted in a fall-out between Australia and NZ a few years ago, when the Aussies wanted to book Midnight Oil for the Dawn Service on ANZAC day in Gallipoli. The horror.

Whatever is done, please don’t turn it into a big yoof tourist event

Yep. They’ve added a new spanking ‘visitor centre’ to Tyncot cemetary but it really adds nothing and takes away from the bleakness of the view. It really isn’t something to be seen and read in slide shows, it has to be experienced

£50m spend on teaching history is money well spent imo, if that’s what it goes on.

History is shamefully neglected in schools imo, considering how important it is. And when I was in school it was pathetically taught.

This is why you are who you are. It’s why you have an iPhone, the internet, liberty, food, everything. It’s all history, and you need to know.

And I’m not even a historian.