Tower of London first flooded with poppies, now rubbish
In Tower Hamlets the Starbucks blow, between the lamp posts row on row
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A series of before and after pictures of the Tower of London are doing the rounds this morning, but while the photos show the "stunning" sea of poppies, they neglect to capture the flood of rubbish it has precipitated.
The impressive, if gaudy, installation 'Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red' by artist Paul Cummins has attracted a deluge of tourists and Londoners queuing to see the poppies spill from the arches, leading to Costa cups and fast food bags spilling from the nearby bins.
A picture of a pile of trash was uploaded to Reddit by a Londoner, who said it has "been here for days and just keeps growing".
The ceramic poppies will remain at the Tower until 11 November (Armistice Day), before being sold individually for £25 a poppy with 10 per cent of the proceeds going to charity.
The installation was at the centre of a row between Ukip leader Nigel Farage and comedian Frankie Boyle this week.
After Farage implied that it being hailed "Ukip-style" implied he was a modern day Winston Churchill, Boyle wrote: "The poppy memorial was described as 'Ukip-style' not because your party is imbued with the same Churchillian values as the poppy, but because the stunt itself was viewed as the sort of crass politicisation of patriotism that your party is so fond of."
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments