Poppy Day parades across the country could be scrapped due to the coronavirus, according to reports.
The government has offered no official safety guidance to the thousands of volunteers organising the November 8 ceremonies.
Because they have not been told how to adhere to social distancing guidelines, it is feared the parades will have to be scrapped altogether.
According to current trends the coronavirus outbreak could well have lead to more than 200 people dying a day in November, making large gatherings difficult to put on.
Shadow Defence Secretary John Healey has urged his Conservative counterpart Ben Wallace to explain how the memorial services can go ahead.
The Labour politician said it was vital that march-pasts by elderly people were allowed to go ahead in a safe manner.
Mr Healey told The Sun: “They (the government) have washed their hands of any concern about local Remembrance events and say their only concern in the parade in Whitehall.
“It’s a matter of regret important local tributes are being left to fend for themselves.”
The Ministry of Defence said that "every effort" was being made to ensure that the fallen and veterans could be remembered.
A Royal British Legion spokesman said that parades and services were important, but that the safety of the public was the priority.
The coming together of thousands of people, many elderly, across the UK in November looks to be a difficult prospect right now.
As hard as it is to predict whether new restrictions brought in this week will stop infections spiking by then, Sir Patrick Vallance warned that the UK could see 50,000 new coronavirus cases a day by mid-October without further action.
The government's chief scientific adviser said that would be expected to lead to about "200-plus deaths per day" a month after that.
The number of coronavirus cases in the UK hit its highest level on a Saturday as more than 6,000 infections were reported for the fourth day in a row.
A further 6,042 lab-confirmed infections were detected in the 24 hours up to 9am on Saturday - taking Britain's total to 429,277 - a day after the country set a new daily record with 6,874 new cases.
Scotland (714) and Northern Ireland (319) each set new individual records for the daily number of new cases. An additional 4,639 infections were reported by England, while Wales had 370.
.jpg?w=600)
