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Edinburgh Reporter
4 days ago
- Politics
- Edinburgh Reporter
Marking Armed Forces Day in Edinburgh
In Edinburgh, a parade led by The Highland and Lowland Bands of The Royal Regiment of Scotland marched along George Street on Saturday morning, stopping at a saluting dais at the Assembly Rooms before assembling in St Andrew Square to mark Armed Forces Day. Armed Forces Day is always held on the last Saturday of June and is an annual opportunity to show support and gratitude for the Armed Forces community, including serving personnel, veterans, reservists, cadets, and their families. A selection of WWII vehicles, including some tracked tanks, also processed along George Street with the bands and veterans. The British Army in Scotland includes The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards at Leuchars Station, the 39 Engineer Regiment at Kinloss Barracks, and The Royal Regiment of Scotland at Fort George, representing a diverse range of combat and support capabilities. The government said that its Strategic Defence Review emphasises the importance of Scotland's industrial base. At Rosyth, Babcock is constructing the Royal Navy's new fleet of five Type 31 frigates, a multi-billion-pound programme supporting hundreds of skilled jobs and sustaining a world-class shipbuilding industry. This Armed Forces Week, 8,200 members of the UK Armed Forces will be deployed overseas, serving on 52 operations in 38 countries. Hundreds more personnel are working to protect our skies, shores and seas at home. Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray said:'I'm immensely proud of all our Scots servicemen and women and I'd like to thank them for the extraordinary work they do to keep us safe all day, every day in the UK and around the world. National security is a UK Government priority and we will always stand up for our military. I look forward to the whole country uniting for today's Armed Forces Day to show our support for currently serving troops, service families, veterans and cadets.' This year, the town of Cleethorpes in Lincolnshire will host the Armed Forces Day national event and is expected to welcome 200,000 visitors to the celebrations this weekend. The Ministry of Defence has also announced that the bidding process for next year's Armed Forces Day national event will open next week, on Tuesday 1 July. Local authorities can apply for up to £50,000 in funding to host the official Armed Forces Day national event. This follows the government's decision to bring back the Armed Forces Day national event for the first time since 2023. The winning town or city will also receive support from the Ministry of Defence such as military musicians, air displays and flypasts. © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam © 2025 Martin McAdam Like this: Like Related
Wales Online
4 days ago
- Business
- Wales Online
Prime Minister meets trainee pilots and sees a flight simulator at RAF Valley
Our community members are treated to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners. You can check out at any time. More info Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met trainee pilots and their families and was shown a flight simulator on a visit to RAF Valley on Anglesey. The No 10. leader made the visit yesterday to help mark Armed Forces Day today as he prepared to attend the Welsh Labour Party conference in Llandudno. Armed Forces Day takes place on the last Saturday of June. It is a chance to show support for the men and women who make up the UK's military units. The PM was joined at RAF Valley by Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan MS and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens MP. Today on Armed Forces Day there will be events to support serving personnel, service families, veterans and cadets. They will take place across the country with a national event in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire. Get the best island stories from our Anglesey newsletter - sent every Friday (Image: Paul Currie/PA Wire) It comes as the Government confirms plans for the first time that all government departments will have to legally consider the needs of the Armed Forces community when making new policy. More details of the legal duty will be set out in due course but could include initiatives such as extending travel benefits to the families of veterans and the bereaved, or flexible working for partners of serving personnel who are required to move as part for their role in the Armed Forces. The Government says this delivers on a manifesto promise and is part of the Government's commitment to renew the nation's contract with those who serve and following the Strategic Defence Review, which underscored the role the Armed Forces play in protecting our national security, which it says is the foundation of the Government's Plan for Change. (Image: Paul Currie/) The Government says it is committed to renewing its contract with the Armed Forces community, delivering two above inflation pay awards for service personnel and an extra £1.5bn investment this parliament to improve forces' family housing through the Strategic Defence Review. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: 'Across the country and around the world, our service personnel and their families make the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe and protect our freedom and our way of life. 'When I became Prime Minister, I made a promise to serve those who have served us. Through the new Armed Forces Covenant, we are delivering on that promise - ensuring our service personnel, veterans and their families are treated with the respect they deserve - that is our duty."
North Wales Live
5 days ago
- Politics
- North Wales Live
Prime Minister meets trainee pilots and sees a flight simulator at RAF Valley
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer met trainee pilots and their families and was shown a flight simulator on a visit to RAF Valley on Anglesey. The No 10. leader made the visit yesterday to help mark Armed Forces Day today as he prepared to attend the Welsh Labour Party conference in Llandudno. Armed Forces Day takes place on the last Saturday of June. It is a chance to show support for the men and women who make up the UK's military units. The PM was joined at RAF Valley by Wales' First Minister Eluned Morgan MS and Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens MP. Today on Armed Forces Day there will be events to support serving personnel, service families, veterans and cadets. They will take place across the country with a national event in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire. Get the best island stories from our Anglesey newsletter - sent every Friday It comes as the Government confirms plans for the first time that all government departments will have to legally consider the needs of the Armed Forces community when making new policy. More details of the legal duty will be set out in due course but could include initiatives such as extending travel benefits to the families of veterans and the bereaved, or flexible working for partners of serving personnel who are required to move as part for their role in the Armed Forces. The Government says this delivers on a manifesto promise and is part of the Government's commitment to renew the nation's contract with those who serve and following the Strategic Defence Review, which underscored the role the Armed Forces play in protecting our national security, which it says is the foundation of the Government's Plan for Change. The Government says it is committed to renewing its contract with the Armed Forces community, delivering two above inflation pay awards for service personnel and an extra £1.5bn investment this parliament to improve forces' family housing through the Strategic Defence Review. Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: 'Across the country and around the world, our service personnel and their families make the ultimate sacrifice to keep us safe and protect our freedom and our way of life. 'When I became Prime Minister, I made a promise to serve those who have served us. Through the new Armed Forces Covenant, we are delivering on that promise - ensuring our service personnel, veterans and their families are treated with the respect they deserve - that is our duty."
Daily Mirror
5 days ago
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
Keir Starmer unveils major Armed Forces plan - 'our duty'
Military personnel, veterans and their families will see their rights and access to public services legally protected under major plans announced by the Prime Minister Military personnel, veterans and their families will see their rights and access to public services legally protected under major plans announced by the Prime Minister. As the nation marks Armed Forces Day on Saturday, Keir Starmer will announce a new legal duty for all government departments to consider the needs of the armed forces community when making new policy. Initiatives could include extending travel benefits to the families of veterans and the bereaved, or flexible working for partners of serving personnel who are required to move as part of their role in the Armed Forces. Legislation will be brought forward to deliver Labour 's manifesto promise to bring the Armed Forces Covenant fully into law. The Covenant is a promise to ensure those who serve or have served in the armed forces, and their families, are treated fairly. READ MORE: 'I've seen first-hand the grit, sacrifice and pride our service men and women carry' Mr Starmer, who met trainee pilots at RAF Valley in Wales on Friday, said: 'When I became Prime Minister, I made a promise to serve those who have served us. 'Through the new Armed Forces Covenant, we are delivering on that promise — ensuring our service personnel, veterans and their families are treated with the respect they deserve – that is our duty. 'Our Armed Forces Covenant will put our Armed Forces community at the very heart of government decision-making. Their courage, duty, and sacrifice are the foundation of our national values, and they deserve nothing less.' As part of the Covenant's new legal duty, priority support will be given to those who have sacrificed the most, including the injured or bereaved. Local authorities, NHS bodies, and schools will also have a duty to consider the needs of the armed forces community in their decision-making. The government will also be legally required to publish an annual report on the Covenant's delivery and progress. Ministers have also committed to delivering two above inflation pay awards for service personnel and an extra £1.5bn investment this parliament to improve forces' family housing through the Strategic Defence Review. Saturday's announcement follows the Prime Minister's 'homes for heroes' policy guaranteeing housing for all UK Armed Forces veterans, exempting them from local connection rules for social housing. It also comes after a £3.5million funding injection for wraparound support services for veterans at risk of homelessness, including mental health, employment, and independent living support. Mark Atkinson, Director General, Royal British Legion: Those who have served in the Armed Forces often face unique challenges, for example moving frequently during service can make it hard for families to receive consistent support from public services or for spouses and partners to build careers. 'Expanding the Covenant Legal Duty will help public services better respond to these challenges by ensuring the needs of the Armed Forces community are taken into account when making decisions.'
Scotsman
6 days ago
- Business
- Scotsman
A dramatic revival in shipbuilding in Glasgow is under way
BAE Systems Sign up to our Scotsman Money newsletter, covering all you need to know to help manage your money. Sign up Thank you for signing up! Did you know with a Digital Subscription to The Scotsman, you can get unlimited access to the website including our premium content, as well as benefiting from fewer ads, loyalty rewards and much more. Learn More Sorry, there seem to be some issues. Please try again later. Submitting... As NATO leaders met in The Hague on Wednesday to make their historic re-armament pledge, about a hundred shipyard workers and managers at BAE Systems were gathering on Glasgow's Upper Clyde for the official opening of a vast new shipbuilding facility in Govan. The Janet Harvey Hall, named after the first woman to work in the yard in the second world war, is one of the largest industrial buildings in Scotland. It has to be big to accommodate the side-by-side construction – sheltered from Glasgow's notorious weather - of two Type 26 frigates that the UK's biggest defence contractor is building for the Royal Navy. In all, eight were ordered under a £7.9 billion contract with the Ministry of Defence. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad To a piped soundtrack of 1940s music including wartime crooner Vera Lynn, staff heard how the new facility was built on land once owned by Fairfields, the former Govan business that blazed a global trail for Scottish shipbuilding in the 19 th century. But as GMB union convener Kenny Smith told them: 'It also stands as a monument to the future.' PA That future can be seen in why the Type 26 is being built in Glasgow. It was in front of the same hall that Keir Starmer last month unveiled the government's Strategic Defence Review, warning the threats Britain now faces are 'more serious and less predictable than at any time since the end of the Cold War'. One of those is a marked increase in Russian submarine activity in the North Atlantic, particularly under the icy waters of the Norwegian Sea. This is where the Type 26 comes in. Described by BAE Systems as a 'frontline warfighting frigate' with 'high survivability characteristics', the vessel has been built for stealth, including an alternative electric motor to reduce noise. BAE Systems has invested £300 million in modernising its facilities in Glasgow to build the Type 26, including docks across the Clyde at Scotstoun where hulls are fully fitted out, including with a computerised 'combat management system'. A 'mission bay' towards the stern allows the deployment of drones and anti-hypersonic missiles. 'This is designed to beat the Russian sub at the cat-and-mouse game,' explains Simon Lister, a former Royal Navy vice-admiral and military attaché in Moscow who is now managing director of BAE Systems' naval ships business. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad The building of the Type 26 signifies nothing less than a dramatic revival in shipbuilding in Glasgow after decades of post-war decline. Just as sites like Govan and Belfast were vital to wartime efforts in the past, it's a revival driven by geopolitics. And it places Scotland at 'the beating heart of military shipbuilding', as Scottish Secretary Ian Murray put it last month when the first Type 26 was officially named 'HMS Glasgow' by the Princess of Wales. It's a revival that looks sustainable, too, which will matter for jobs. Annual defence spending of £2.1 billion in Scotland currently supports over 11,000 defence industry jobs, of which almost 5,000 are at BAE Systems in Glasgow. In the Netherlands, NATO committed to meet US president Donald Trump's demand to raise defence spending to five per cent of GDP by 2035. The UK has pledged as part of this to raise core defence spending to 3.5 per cent, with an additional 1.5 per cent on security- related infrastructure such as cyber security and border protection. The future cashflow prospects for defence businesses are rosy. Investors have taken notice, powering explosive growth in the share prices of European publicly listed defence companies such as Rheinmetall of Germany, Italy's Leonardo – which has an avionics and radar business in Edinburgh – and Babcock, the UK's second largest defence contractor that's building Type 31 frigates at Rosyth. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad This week, Babcock's chief executive David Lockwood declared a 'new era for defence' as his company raised its profits target. BAE Systems, whose shares are up 62 per cent so far this year, hopes it will win a contract from Norway this year to deliver five Type 26s. Developing a robust supply chain will be key. Two things announced in this week's UK Industrial Growth Strategy stand out. One is a new £400 million innovation fund to support new defence technology, while another is the creation of 'defence growth deals' for Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to create 'regional industrial clusters'. In March, the government said it would launch a new 'support hub' to small and medium enterprises better access to the defence supply chain. PA 'The government has made a very clear link between increased defence spending and the effect on the economy, so this will have an effect not only in Scotland but the supply chain, a lot of which is in Britain,' says Emma Salisbury, a research fellow at the Council on Geostrategy. Notably, about half of the supply chain for the Type 26 is sourced in Britain. One unknown is whether this increase in naval activity will have any spillover effect into civilian shipbuilding. A hearing at the Scottish Parliament this week heard from Brussels-based consultancy ADS Insight that while competition from Asia had hollowed out European shipbuilding over decades, calls have started to come for a European maritime industrial strategy. Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad
