Tower of London poppies: should they stay or go?

Representing every British or Colonial military fatality during the First World War, 888,246 hand-made ceramic poppies have been installed at the Tower.

The artwork, which was a collaboration between stage designer Tom Piper and the ceramicist Paul Cummins, was always intended to be ephemeral. The poppies were installed gradually over a period of months.

But their popularity has prompted some, including the London Mayor Boris Johnson, to suggest that they should stay in place to allow more people to see them.

Speaking to visitors at the Tower this morning, I found a variety of opinions.

Agreeing that they should stay, one woman described the scene as “so humbling”.

But another woman told me: “in my opinion they should go, because they represent the transience .. these were young men that went to war, and their lives were snapped out.”

A man said: “they should go, but at the end of the War they should do it all again, as a reminder.”

Speaking on Channel 4 News, former army officer Patrick Hennessey said he had changed his mind and now believed that they should be removed: “Surely what we must be keeping upmost in our minds when we are remembering the Great War is loss and sacrifice, and there is an inherent loss and sacrifice in the work.”