I'm so glad that I have found this thread! I'm usually the person who gets called a "SJW" or a "leftie" by people if I can be arsed to engage in arguments on Facebook because apparently I shouldn't be concerned about what other people are doing
I respect that he fought in the war as many others have but as @Gymandtonic put it - it really does play into the "populist, nationalist, pro Brexit, anti foreigner, bring back the Empire mentality." I wonder if he would get the same treatment if he didn't serve in the war? It sounds awful, but I think that the government were waiting for someone like Captain Tom to come along to play into this "Make Britain Great again" narrative. Or at least they're using it to their advantage.
I've been jumped on because I have said that while he wasn't exactly forced to raise the money, but it was the people's money that were used towards the NHS. The NHS which we pay taxes for yet somehow these last 10 years or so, the NHS is still underfunded and understaffed. We shouldn't NEED to have to rely on the people's money and an elderly man if our taxes were being used properly. It's the same with other charities and food banks. I've seen a lot of people say that we "need to look after our own" but are the same people who complain about free school meals, Internet access to all etc yet the same people are more concerned about "foreigners" in our country.
Sorry that this turned into more of a political rant. All of this just highlights how backwards and flawed our "great" country is.