Serving soldier Lance Corporal Joe Glenton (r) at start of Afghanistan - Bring the Troops Home march
Perhaps ten thousand came to Hyde Park on a gloomy and slightly damp Saturday afternoon to take part in a march and rally to demand that British troops are bought home from Afghanistan now. At the front of the march to Trafalgar Square was serving soldier Lance Corporal Joe Glenton with his wife Clare. He marched in defiance of an order by his commander to return to barracks and not take part in the demonstration, and already faces a court martial for refusing to return to fight in Afghanistan. Among the other anti-war military family members marching was Peter Brierley, father of Lance Corporal Shaun Brierley, killed shortly after being deployed in Iraq, leaving a widow and a young child. After the recent commemoration service for the dead of the Iraq war, he refused to shake Tony Blair's hand when offered to him, saying "Don't you dare, you have my son's blood on your hands." Also at the front of the march were a number of veteran peace campaigners, including Pat Arrowsmith. The march, organised by the Stop the War Coalition, the British Muslim Initiative (BMI) and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND), as expected was entirely peaceful, though with some spirited chanting and a live band, The King Blues, which played on the route it was quite a lively event. There were many banners from groups around the whole of the country, including a large contingent from CND Scotland. At Trafalgar Square there was a rally with speeches from Tony Benn, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Omar Deghayes, Tariq Ali, George Galloway MP, Lance Cpl Joe Glenton and others.
Size: 5040px × 3354px
Location: Hyde Park to Trafalgar Square, London
Photo credit: © Peter Marshall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: afghanistan, banners, bmi, cnd, corporal, families, glenton, joe, lance, london, march, military, peace, placards, protest, rally, soldier, stop, troops, war
