Within the next week they will start peeping out of men's lapels, be strategically placed on ladies' handbags and big ones will be displayed on the fronts of London's famous black taxis. It's Poppy Appeal time again in Britain and the paper and plastic poppies, sold by the Royal British Legion to raise money for military veterans, will be springing up all over the country on the run up to Remembrance Day on November 11. This year, however, the vibrant red symbol of blood spilled on battlefields from Flanders to Basra is taking on even more significance with debates raging in the papers and in parliament over the treatment of returning vets and soldiers who have died in combat. Earlier this month a mother, whose teenage son was killed by an explosion in Iraq, refused to accept an apology from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for confusion over the mix up of her son's body parts with another man's limbs. Several families have cried foul over compensation for their injured loved ones; one soldier, who lost both legs and suffered brain damage after he was struck by an IED in Afghanistan, was given a lump sum of just over £150,000 while a Royal Air Force (RAF) typist on a civilian claim received £484,000 from the MoD when she injured her thumb typing.