A World War II veteran left Good Morning Britain’s Adil Ray and Kate Garraway ‘mortified’ after he told the hosts live on air winning the war ‘wasn’t worth it’ because of the current state of the country.
Alec Penstone sat down with Kate, 58, and Adil, 51, to discuss his memories from battles during the war, and his feelings about the upcoming Remembrance Day.
Alec, 100, was joined by musicians the D Day Darlings, who surprised him with a performance on his arrival at the set of the ITV breakfast show.
The veteran, who started selling poppies at the age of 14, made his appearance ahead of Remembrance Day next week.
Alec went on to explain about how he signed up for the army to fight for the country, and headed to the battlefields as a young man.
Alec recalled fighting alongside close friends, many of whom lost their lives, and called himself ‘just a lucky one’ for having survived the war.
Asked by Kate what Remembrance Sunday meant to him, the war veteran then went on to reveal he felt that winning the war was ‘not worth’ how the country had turned out today.
His views are shared by an increasing number of Britons, with a new survey revealing national pride has plummeted and society is more divided than ever under Sir Keir Starmer.
In findings which will send alarm bells ringing in Downing Street, eight in ten said they felt the nation was divided – up five percentage points from two years ago and ten points from 2020.
And half of the public said Britain’s ‘culture’ was changing too fast, up from a third.
Worryingly for the Prime Minister, Reform UK voters – many in Labour’s traditional heartlands – were most worried about the cultural state of the nation, suggesting Nigel Farage’s party stand to make big gains in future elections.
A World War II veteran left Good Morning Britain ‘s Adil Ray and Kate Garraway ‘mortified’ after he told the hosts live on air winning the war ‘wasn’t worth it’
Alec Penstone sat down with Kate, 58, and Adil, 51, to discuss his memories from battles during the war, and his feelings about the upcoming Remembrance Day
Mr Penstone left the Good Morning Britain hosts ‘mortified’ with the admission about the state of the country, with Kate rushing to console the veteran and insist that ‘all the generations’ after him were ‘grateful’ for his sacrifice.
Alec told viewers: ‘My message is, I can see in my mind’s eye those rows and rows of white stones and all the hundreds of my friends who gave their lives, for what? The country of today?
‘No, I’m sorry – but the sacrifice wasn’t worth the result of what it is now.’
When he was asked to clarify what he meant by Adil, Alec continued: ‘What we fought for was our freedom, but now it’s a darn sight worse than when I fought for it.’
Consoling him, Kate chimed in: ‘Alec, I’m sorry you feel like that and I want you to know that all the generations that have come since, including me and my children, are so grateful for your bravery and all the other service personnel.
‘It’s our job now to make it the country that you fought for, and we will do.’
Reassured, Alec continued: ‘It’s so wonderful to know there are people like you who spread the word around to the younger generations.’
Taking to X, formerly Twitter, to react to the segment, one fan noted the hosts’ reactions to Alec’s admission, saying: ‘Adil is mortified.’
Another chimed in to praise the veteran, writing: ‘Alec Sir, I absolutely appreciate everything you’ve done for our country,’ as a third wrote: ‘Veteran saying it like it is on GMB!’
The new survey about national pride was carried out by researchers at King’s College London and pollsters Ipsos, who have been tracking UK cultural trends annually since 2020.
They branded their latest set of findings ‘frightening’ and said they laid bare an increasingly divided, polarised and downbeat society.
They also highlight how much of the public thinks Labour has failed to get to grips with several of their key priorities – and has potentially even fanned the flames of division with its wavering stance on issues like trans rights and Net Zero.
Lord Young of Acton, boss of the Free Speech Union, said: ‘This is the effect of Labour’s divisive identity politics.
‘Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers have been pandering to minorities who claim to be the victims of intersectional oppression, prioritising their rights and needs over those of ordinary Britons.
‘Labour politicians justify this two-tier approach by claiming it promotes community cohesion, but in reality it creates social division, as this poll makes clear.’
Reform UK MP Lee Anderson said: ‘Of course national pride has fallen. The education system is corrupting our youth, leadership has been weak for decades and millions can no longer afford a home of their own.
‘For patriotism to flourish, Britons need strong leadership and the confidence that their government is working for them, not against them.’
Sir John Hayes, chair of the Tory common sense group of MPs, said: ‘Keir came in with no clear defining purpose.
‘So people are feeling at sea because they think the Government doesn’t know which way it wants to take the country in.
‘The absence of a plan from Government doesn’t build popular confidence.
‘Ideological multi-culturalism basically said to people you can live how you like, do what you like, you don’t need to mingle, you can be introspective, and then we’re surprised that we’ve got a fragmented society.
‘We have to deconstruct that and have more people buying into British values and a shared sense of Britishness.’
In a sign that many think immigration remains too high under Labour, half of the public said Britain’s ‘culture’ was changing too fast – up from 35 per cent in 2020.
And 48 per cent said they would like the country to ‘be the way it used to be’, up from 28 per cent.
Strikingly, nostalgia for Britain’s past rose in every single age-group, even among 16 to 24-year-olds.
Nearly a third of this age group wanted the country to return to how it ‘used to be’, up from 16 per cent in 2020.
The next biggest jump was in people aged over 55, which soared from 34 per cent to 62 per cent.
National pride across all age groups also plummeted, with less than half (46 per cent) saying they were ‘proud’ of their country – down ten points from 2020.
The most prominent drop was among 16 to 24-year-olds (47 per cent to 29 per cent), followed by 35 to 54-year-olds (54 per cent to 43 per cent).
Across all age groups, 86 per cent said they believed there were greater tensions today between immigrants and people born in the UK, up from 74 per cent two years ago.
Nearly seven in ten who took part in the study cited ‘culture wars’ issues as being central to widespread divisions, up from less than half (46 per cent) in 2020.
Alec Penstone pictured in 1945, when he was stationed in Hong Kong
It comes after ITV shows came under fire for featuring stars that weren’t wearing poppies.
Kevin Maguire joined Susanna Reid and Ed Balls to discuss the latest news, as Chancellor Rachel Reeves addressed the nation with a pre-Budget speech on GMB this week.
While Susanna, 54, Ed, 58, and the Daily Mail’s Andrew Pierce had all pinned poppies to their outfits for their appearance on the ITV breakfast show, Kevin, 65, was shown without one.
The Poppy Appeal, which launched on October 23 this year, has prompted the majority of presenters appearing on television to wear poppies as a mark of respect.
While Kevin did not address his decision not to wear a poppy on the ITV show, he has previously told of opting not to wear one until the week before Remembrance Sunday.
It comes after Loose Women host Charlene White defended her decision not to wear a poppy on screen ahead of Remembrance Sunday, while also sharing a tribute to her late father who served in the RAF.
The symbol is typically worn in the weeks ahead of Armistice Day on November 11 to commemorate the armed forces who have died in conflicts – and the annual Poppy Appeal, dating back to 1921, raises funds for the Royal British Legion’s work supporting armed forces veterans.
Poppy Appeal sales hit a record £55million in 2018, then were £46.5million the following year, but plunged to £27.9million in 2020 amid the Covid-19 pandemic and lockdowns.
They have since risen to £42.2million in 2021 then slipped to £39.3million in 2022, before improving to £41.9million in 2023 and £51.4million last year – with the latest sum being almost one third of the Legion’s annual £160.7million income.
Over the years through numerous TV appearances, Kevin has been spotted without a poppy in the period before the week of Remembrance Sunday – including in 2022 when he was criticised after appearing on the Jeremy Vine show without a poppy.
During an episode of Good Morning Britain last year, he explained that he did choose to wear a poppy – but only in the ‘week leading up to’ Remembrance Sunday, which this year falls on November 9.
Good Morning Britain airs weekdays from 6am on ITV1 and ITVX.