Poppy sellers are members of the Royal British Legion. How many RBL members do you know ? Not many, I expect. Membership is in rapid decline and that's the reason you may have difficulty in buying poppies. Just for the record, you do not have to be ex-service to join the RBL so if you feel that strongly about it and want to support a great charity and a truly British institution that does tremendous work for ex-service personnel, then join your local RBL branch. Then you can even volunteer to sell poppies yourself next year !
Oh, I'm off to Ypres as usual this week to pay my respects to all those who died in The Great War, and to participate in the ceremonies at the Menin Gate. Did you know that the Last Post has been played there every evening without fail for the last eighty years ? WW2 excluded , of course.