Flag raised as Watford marks Armed Forces Week

Fintan McGuinness

26 June 2024 at 9:29 am·2-min read

Luther Blissett and council chairwoman Dawn Allen-Williamson. <i>(Image: Watford Borough Council)</i> — Luther Blissett and council chairwoman Dawn Allen-Williamson. *(Image: Watford Borough Council)*

Watford is celebrating the service of the nation’s troops this Armed Forces Week.

Events this week are showing appreciation for currently serving troops, service families, veterans, and cadets as part of the national annual campaign which started on Monday and will last until Saturday.

Celebrations were kicked off with a flag raising carried out by council chairwoman Dawn Allen-Williamson at the Watford peace memorial by the town hall.

Luther Blissett and council chairwoman Dawn Allen-Williamson. (Image: Watford Borough Council)

The councillor said: “I want to say a huge thank you on behalf of our great town, to all of our veterans, service personnel, reserves and their families, whether you are at home or overseas, we are thinking about you.

“We are immensely proud of those who are serving in our armed forces and the work our veterans did.”

Cllr Dawn Allen-Williamson raises the flag. (Image: Watford Borough Council)

Reserves Day is marked today, June 26, while Armed Forces Day is being celebrated on Saturday, June 29.

Activities and events will be on offer nationally throughout the week, including another flag raising at Sun Sports Club in Bellmount Wood Avenue, Watford, from 10am on Armed Forces Day.

Residents can also attend official events at St Stephen Parish Council, in Bricket Wood, on June 30 and Dacorum Armed Forces Day at Gadebridge Park on June 29.

Watford Labour parliamentary candidate Matt Turmaine and Cllr Nigel Bell. (Image: Cllr Steve Cox)
Full list of Watford constituency candidates for the general election on July 4, 2024:

Dean Russell – Conservative and Unionist Party
Arran Bowen-la Grange – Green Party
Gary James Ling – Reform UK
Khalid Chohan– Workers Party of Britain
Ian Alexander Eric Stotesbury – Liberal Democrats
Matt Turmaine – Labour Party
Sarah Jane Knott – Heritage Party - Freedom. Family. Nation.

The Telegraph
‘This wasn’t a debate, it was a medical emergency’: Our writers give their verdicts
Follow the latest reaction in our live blog
The Telegraph
Donald Trump is going to turn Starmer’s Britain into an international laughing stock
Grandfather Robert Blackstock, a retired engineer from Nottinghamshire, became the “Brenda from Bristol” of this election campaign when he asked Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer during Wednesday night’s TV debate: “Are you two really the best we’ve got to be the next prime minister of our great country?”
The Telegraph
Did Nigel Farage blow himself up in the BBC Question Time election special? Our writers react
It was finally Nigel Farage’s time to appear before a BBC Question Time audience this evening, more than a week after Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer had theirs. The Reform UK leader took the podium in the same hour as a Green Party representative, Adrian Ramsay. Yet only one of these men has excited reaction from our writers.
Business Insider
A grinding Russian assault appears telling about Putin's plan to defeat Ukraine
ISW's conflict experts warned that the West must "challenge Putin's belief that he can gradually subsume Ukraine."
The Telegraph
Joe Biden cannot run again
After Thursday night’s debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump, held on terms considered by many to be favourable to the current President, there is only one conclusion that it is possible to draw: Mr Biden should not run again for the US presidency in November.
The Telegraph
Blair has raised the alarm over the flaw at the heart of the Starmer project
When it all starts to go wrong for Keir Starmer, Tony Blair will at least be able to say that he sounded the alarm early. “People are elected on the basis that they are changemakers, because they’ve articulated a general vision for change,” he complained in an interview this week. “But what does that really mean, in specific terms?... If you don’t do that hard work and really dig deep, what you end up with are just ambitions. They remain ambitions.”
The Telegraph
Jill Biden has the fate of the world in her hands
Now might be a good time for Dr Jill Biden, the First Lady, to have a rummage around in the back of the wardrobe for one particular item of clothing. When Joe Biden opted against running for president in 2004, his decision was underlined by his wife’s decision to wear a halter top with the word “NO” scrawled on her stomach.
The Telegraph
Only one man has spoken for the nation in this joyless election campaign
It’s set to become 2024’s version of Brenda from Bristol’s infamous “Not another one !”
The Independent
Reform takes three point lead over Tories in shock poll
Reform has been dogged by allegations over racism, misogyny, homophobia and support for Hitler and Putin but a poll has put them three points ahead of the Tories
Business Insider
Russia is losing 1,000 soldiers a day in its relentless 'meat grinder' tactics against Ukraine: report
Russian troops are being used in head-on assaults on Ukrainian positions.
The Daily Beast
Obama Rode to Biden’s Rescue—but Intervention Could Yet Come
On Friday afternoon, in the aftermath of President Joe Biden’s disastrous debate against Donald Trump, private murmurs and public calls for an “intervention” ricocheted through Democratic circles. But then a hold-up emerged.Some 17 hours after Biden botched his big debate moment, his former boss came to the rescue.For many high-ranking Democrats, a single tweet from former President Barack Obama appeared to nix any chance of the 44th president meeting with the 46th and urging him to drop out.Rea
HuffPost
‘Total Nonsense’ And ‘Pure Fiction’: CNN Fact-Checker Exposes Trump’s False Debate Claims
Donald Trump’s list was “way, way longer” than Joe Biden’s, said Daniel Dale.
HuffPost
Marjorie Taylor Greene Melts Down Over Australian TV’s Trump Question, Gets Cut Off
“What is this?” fumed the far-right Georgia Republican, who suggested the anchor was getting her “marching orders from the Democrat Party.”
Bloomberg
China Miscalculated With Europe in Backing Russia, US Envoy Says
(Bloomberg) -- Beijing misjudged the impact on its relationship with Europe when it provided support for Russia’s war in Ukraine, America’s top diplomat in China said, as ties fray between the world’s No. 2 economy and Western democracies over the conflict.Most Read from BloombergSupreme Court Poised to Allow Emergency Abortions in IdahoSpaceX Tender Offer Said to Value Company at Record $210 BillionSupreme Court Ends OxyContin Settlement, Cracking Sackler ShieldChina’s Finance Elite Face $400,0
HuffPost UK
Gillian Keegan Suggests Sky News Presenter Doesn't 'Understand Economics' In Extraordinary Spat
The pair clashed over whether or not Liz Truss caused of the jump in inflation.
The Telegraph
Germany couldn’t afford to bail France out even if it wanted to
The “nein”, “non” or just a plain old “no way” has already been uttered. As France prepares for its most significant election in at least a decade, with its leading parties committed to increasing the government’s already lavish spending, Christian Lindner, the German finance minister, has made one point clear: France is not going to get a bailout, and certainly not from its close neighbours.
Associated Press
Russia warns it can take unspecified measures in response to US drone flights over Black Sea
Russia's defense minister ordered officials to prepare a “response” to U.S. drone flights over the Black Sea, the ministry said Friday, in an apparent warning that Moscow may take forceful action to ward off the American reconnaissance aircraft. The Russian Defense Ministry noted a recent “increased intensity” of U.S. drones over the Black Sea, saying they “conduct intelligence and targeting for precision weapons supplied to the Ukrainian military by Western countries for strikes on Russian facilities.” It noted that “such flights significantly increase the probability of incidents involving Russian military aircraft, which increases the risk of direct confrontation between the alliance and the Russian Federation.”
The Telegraph
Biden is a danger to the West
We think we have problems in the UK with the apparent lack of statesmen or women to run this country, but Joe Biden’s abject performance last night in the “debate” with Donald Trump is a worry not just for the US and the UK but the whole planet. What on earth will Vladimir Putin and the other evil tyrants around the globe be making of the leader of the only global superpower? The US president struggled to string a sentence together despite days of preparation, and seems to want the golf course r
The Telegraph
Labour’s services shake-up ‘will force middle classes to back of the queue’
Labour plans to force public bodies to put middle class people at the back of the queue for taxpayer-funded services including policing, schools and refuse collection, its opponents claim.
HuffPost
Chris Wallace's Stunning Claim On Trump Strategy For Debate Cracks Up CNN Pundit
Wallace's claim about the former president's planned approach was too much for Jamie Gangel, who repeatedly laughed.

Latest stories