The thin end of the wedge?

[cazatou]

BBC Text service is reporting that the last survivor of the Titanic disaster (aged 96) is to sell at auction the Families momentoes of that tragedy to enable her to pay her nursing home bills.

Can we therefore look forward to the day when elderly former members of HM Forces are required to sell their momentoes (including medals) to fund the care that they require so as not to be a burden on their Families?

[Jackonicko]

She was a babe in arms on the Titanic, so her mementos largely date from after the tragedy - clothes given to the family on reaching New York, etc.

Still sad to see her selling them for such a purpose, of course.

If this is a siren call for higher taxes to pay for proper healthcare (and perhaps a few pence more in the pound for defence) I applaud it, but something tells me that many would not.

After all, we could save the money wasted by the civil service, NHS computer schemes, bureacracy, and on supporting spongeing immigrants...... and all the other usual right wing reasons as to why we should not have to pay more for those selected services that we do approve of.

[Epimetheus]

Once RAF - always RAFBF!

Thank goodness.

[cazatou]

Jacko

Yes, the Lady was a babe in arms at the time of the Tragedy - thus she had no memories of her Father who perished that night. The same is true of the children of many families whose menfolk went to War just a couple of years later; as well as the families of their children who fought in WW2.

It used to be the case that a recipient of the VC would forfeit the Award if convicted of "treason, cowardice, felony, or of any infamous crime, or doth not after a reasonable time surrender himself to be tried for the same." In 1920 it was stated in a letter that "The King feels so strongly that, no matter the crime committed by anyone on whom the VC has been conferred, the decoration should not be forfeited. Even were a VC (holder) sentenced to be hanged for murder, he should be allowed to wear his VC on the scaffold."

Now Social Services would require the sale of a VC to pay for upkeep.

[cornish-stormrider]

The state of this country is making me apoplectic with rage, My blood pressure has gone through the roof. WTF did all these heroes fight and (in many cases) die for??

This piss poor state of affairs we laughably call a society??

I say we flood the tunnel, float blighty off to sea, we won't need any carriers, the whole damn island is one.

we can make all the convicts and asbo holders row the oars.