Thousands of people attend Armed Forces Day
- 00:01:03
- ITN
Thousands of people attend Armed Forces Day
Tens of thousand of Britons have turned out to help mark the country's first Armed Forces Day, with more than 200 events being held nationwide. Around 30,000 people gathered in the sunshine for the showpiece event, staged at the Historic Dockyard in Chatham, Kent. But Scottish Secretary Jim Murphy has hit out at "sickening" protests which caused disruption to another Armed Forces Day event, in Glasgow. In Kent, serving personnel, young recruits and veterans greeted Prime Minster Gordon Brown, head of the Armed Forces Air Chief Marshal Sir Jock Stirrup and Defence Minister Kevan Jones. Spectators cheered and waved flags as the personnel entered the dockyard following a parade through Chatham town led by the Royal Marines Band. During the Prime Minister's speech at a lunch reception, he announced next year's second Armed Forces Day national event would take place in Cardiff. Mr Brown said: "Today Chatham has spoken for the whole country. The people that have come here today have shown the high esteem and regard in which they hold the Armed Forces of our country." Meanwhile, police have confirmed that arrests were made and one person was injured after trouble flared at the Glasgow event. Protestors believed to be from an Irish Republican group are understood to have started chanting while a service was taking place in George Square. Mr Murphy hailed the "brilliant men and women" of the forces. "They are Britain at its best and Scotland at its bravest," he said. "At the other end of the spectrum, the event was soured by a tiny minority of mindless demonstrators who can't begin to understand the meaning of bravery and what the veterans have done for our country." He added: "I was subjected to sustained sectarian abuse from people who seemed to take great and foul-mouthed offence because I am Catholic." Elsewhere, the Queen met members of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards at Redford Barracks in Edinburgh.
ITN | June 27, 2009
