Customers wearing Remembrance poppies were refused entry to The Star, a JD Wetherspoon pub in Gosport, Hampshire, during demonstrations on Sunday 25 October 2026. The company has acknowledged that poppy-wearers were among those turned away, but insists there is no ban on poppies across its pubs.
The dispute has taken another turn after Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary said officers had not asked pubs to close, despite Wetherspoon attributing The Star’s early closure to police advice.
What happened at The Star?
Footage circulated on social media shows a man wearing a red Remembrance poppy being told he could not enter The Star in Gosport High Street. A member of staff can be heard describing the poppy as political and telling the man he could go inside only if he removed it.
The exchange was reported by the Portsmouth News, while LBC published the circulated footage and accounts of the confrontation. One of the men reported to have been refused entry, Army veteran Scott Schillemore, said he was shocked by the decision.
The incident came as anti-immigration demonstrators and anti-racism counter-protesters gathered in Gosport. Police estimated that around 500 to 550 people took part across the two protests. The demonstrations passed without arrests, according to local reporting quoting the force.
Wetherspoon denies any general poppy ban
In a formal company announcement on 26 October, JD Wetherspoon rejected headlines suggesting it had banned veterans wearing poppies. It said extra security measures were in place because of the demonstration near The Star.
Wetherspoon acknowledged that some poppy-wearers and other members of the public were refused entry. It added that the pub had reopened, apologised for the inconvenience and said it continued to support the Royal British Legion Poppy Appeal. According to the company, its pubs raised £55,687 for the appeal last year.
That statement establishes an important distinction: the refusal of entry in Gosport is documented, but the claim that Wetherspoon operates a nationwide prohibition on Remembrance poppies is not supported by the company’s stated policy.
Police dispute account of closure advice
There is a further unresolved question about who decided to shut the venue. Wetherspoon said the pub closed for the remainder of Sunday on police advice.
However, Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary told the Portsmouth News that police had not asked any pubs to shut their doors. The force said no offences were identified among a group that gathered in the High Street after the protest, and that the group dispersed.
The two accounts have not been reconciled publicly. The police statement challenges Wetherspoon’s explanation of the closure, although it does not establish why the pub’s staff singled out the poppy when explaining entry restrictions.
Is wearing a poppy political?
The Royal British Legion’s published guidance says the red poppy has no political or religious meaning. It describes wearing one as a personal choice to remember service and sacrifice and to support the Armed Forces community.
The circumstances of Sunday’s demonstrations may help explain why pub managers were alert to political messages and clothing. They do not, on their own, establish that wearing a Remembrance poppy was evidence of participation in a protest.
What remains unclear?
It is not yet clear who authorised the specific restriction on poppies at The Star, whether staff misunderstood instructions intended for overtly political clothing, or precisely what contact took place between the pub and police before its early closure.
For now, the documented position is narrower than some viral posts suggest: people wearing poppies were turned away from a Gosport Wetherspoon during local demonstrations, the company apologised and denied a wider ban, and police disputed its account of being advised to close.
