THURROCK Council Chaplain Rev Andy Higgs has caused outrage by making “a highly political” speech at Thurrock Council’s Armed Forces Day ceremony yesterday (Monday).
In front of veterans from the Burma Star, Far East Veterans as well as the parents of Lance Corporal Nicky Mason, who fell last year in Afghanistan, Rev Higgs clearly caused unease as he made reference to “the growing gulf between the armed services and the public”; “not complete unity that such wars are a good idea”, “celebration without criticism is not appropriate.”
This is not the first time that the Rev of St Mary’s in North Stifford has courted controversy. Last year he demanded that all the pink memento’s at the grave of Stifford Clays crash victim Katie Johnson be removed. This matter is still ongoing.
Not the time or place for that.
I could ‘almost’ forgive it, but when the camera panned away to show the veterans he was “preaching” to it just seemed downright distasteful. Yes, we might all have a grievance with the recent wars in the Middle East but look at the crowd, they all look like ex-servicemen pre-Falklands, those certainly who did not need or deserve to hear that diatribe.
Poor old Andrew MacKinley definitely didn’t want to be there either, he looks at his watch about five times in four minutes !