The search for missing TV doctor Michael Mosley has resumed on Friday with police reinforcements after he went missing on the Greek island of Symi.
A local Facebook group said Mosley, known for appearing on programmes like This Morning and The One Show, went for a walk from Saint Nikolas Beach at about 1.30pm Greek time on Wednesday.
Police and firefighters have since used drones to scan the island, which is about 25 miles north of Rhodes, while a helicopter was deployed at about 7pm local time on Thursday.
Image:The helicopter's movements in the search on Thursday night. Pic: flightradar24
The search was paused for the night, but police said "more men will be coming" on Friday morning.
A statement from local police, which has been translated, said officers were informed about the "disappearance of the 67-year-old British national on the island" two days ago. It is reported that Mosley's wife raised the alarm then.
Image:Firefighters involved in the search. Pic: Panormitis Chatzigiannakis/via Reuters
Image:A helicopter scours the coastline. Pic: Panormitis Chatzigiannakis/via Reuters
Police then asked for assistance from the Greek fire service, with six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team arriving from Rhodes at about 2pm on Thursday.
The rescue operation is focusing on the Pedi area of the island after a woman reported seeing him there on Wednesday.
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Another woman in the area said Mosley's disappearance was "strange" as the path he was thought to be on is "clear".
"It's a quiet place… if you see the map of the area it's a clear path, it's nothing dangerous," she said.
"Many people go every day, every few minutes, that's the reason it's very strange because it's a clear path."
Adriana Shum, who shared the Facebook appeal yesterday, said in a later comment on the social media post Mosley reportedly "left his phone at his accommodation".
"The police, coast guard and EDOK, the mountain rescue people, are all searching plus all the locals are aware and keeping a look out," she wrote.
"These days it should be pretty difficult to get lost on Symi as so many of the paths have been surfaced and there is a lot more activity even in the most remote areas," she added.
Before the search was halted on Thursday night, she wrote: "Apparently he was sighted at Kamares so he made it that far..
"My husband has just spent 2 hours searching every public route in the valley by torchlight, calling his name, and has now joined EDOK to continue the search."
Image:Mosley with wife Clare. Pic: Ken McKay/ITV/Shutterstock
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We are supporting the family of a British man who is missing in Greece and are in contact with the local authorities."
Mosley is known for being a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films about diet and exercise.
The broadcaster fronted the Channel 4 show Michael Mosley: Who Made Britain Fat? and was part of the BBC series Trust Me, I'm A Doctor.
Who is Michael Mosley?
Mosley is known for appearing on television programmes like This Morning and The One Show.
He was one of the presenters of the series Trust Me, I'm A Doctor on the BBC - and also hosts its Just One Thing health podcast.
He also lived with tapeworms in his gut for six weeks for the documentary Infested! Living With Parasites on BBC Four.
Mosley is also credited for the rising popularity of the 5:2 diet for losing weight, which involves fasting for two days per week.
He is also a columnist for the Daily Mail and has made a number of films about diet and exercise.
More recently, he presented two series for Channel 4, Secrets Of Your Big Shop and Who Made Britain Fat?
His programmes have won an RTS and Emmy award and he has previously been named "medical journalist of the year" by the British Medical Association.
Mosley has four children with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley, also a doctor, author and health columnist, who wrote the recipe book Fast 800 Easy.
The couple, who have hosted theatre show tours together, recently attended the Hay Festival.
Trust Me I'm A Doctor star Saleyha Ahsan wrote on social media that the news was "shocking" and that she was hoping Mosley would be "found safe".
"I literally feel sick with worry," Ahsan added. "Don't even know what to say."
On Thursday's edition of The One Show, presenter Alex Jones opened the programme by saying that "lots of us are concerned to hear our friend Michael Mosley has gone missing whilst on holiday in Greece".
"Our thoughts are very much with his wife Claire and the rest of his family at this worrying time. We hope for more positive news," she added.
Wednesday, 1.30pm: Michael Mosley goes for a walk from Saint Nikolas Beach on the Greek island of Symi. The island is part of the Dodecanese island chain and is about 25 miles north of Rhodes.
Wednesday, 3pm: He has reportedly still not returned to the hotel he is staying at with his wife Clare Bailey Mosley - also a doctor, author and health columnist.
Wednesday, 7.30pm: Mosley's wife reportedly raises the alarm and Greek authorites start to retrace his route but do not find him.
Thursday, 11am: An appeal (which appears to have been first posted on Wednesday at 5.34pm) is updated in a local Facebook group called Friends of Symi, which includes a photograph of the 67-year-old TV doctor on a beach wearing a blue t-shirt, grey knee-length shorts, a blue baseball cap and dark sunglasses. He is pictured holding a green rucksack. The post reads: "Have you seen this man? He set off to walk back from St Nick's at about 13.30 and failed to make it home. " It adds: "His name is Dr Mike Mosley and he is a familiar face for many British people." The edit reads: "So far he still has not been found and the search continues."
Thursday, 2pm: Six firefighters, a vehicle and a drone team are deployed from Rhodes to join the search.
Thursday, 7pm: A helicopter joins the search as Greek authorities continue to scour the coast.
Thursday night: Greek police say the search is being paused, but "more men will be coming" on Friday morning. Before the search is halted, Adriana Shum, the person to share the Facebook appeal, says in a comment on the social media post: "Apparently he was sighted at Kamares so he made it that far." She adds Mosley reportedly "left his phone at his accommodation".
Friday, 7am: Police confirm the search has resumed.
Friday morning: The local mayor's office says islanders, a helicopter from Rhodes and Greek officers, along with police drafted in from outside the island, are searching the Pedi area and surroundings. The rescue operation is focusing on that area of the island after a woman reported seeing Mosley there on Wednesday.
Friday, later: The Hellenic National Meteorological Service issues a yellow weather warning for Rhodes and the surrounding islands including Symi for high temperatures, which are forecast to reach highs of 36C (96.8F).
Radio 2 presenter and Channel 5 talk show host Jeremy Vine wrote in a social media post: "I'm praying this lovely man is found and thinking of Clare and the whole Mosley family."
MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis wrote on X: "Feeling disturbed about the news about Dr Michael Mosley. I hope he's ok."
Rishi Sunak has issued an apology on social media for not staying longer at D-day events in France yesterday.
The prime minister, having left Normandy in order to instead pre-record an election interview with ITV, said “for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics”.
He posted:
The 80th anniversary of D-day has been a profound moment to honour the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our values, our freedom and our democracy.
This anniversary should be about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The last thing I want is for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics.
I care deeply about veterans and have been honoured to represent the UK at a number of events in Portsmouth and France over the past two days and to meet those who fought so bravely.
After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise.
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Hannah Al-Othman is a North of England correspondent for the Guardian
It is a family affair in Hyndburn in Lancashire, where the Tory incumbent Sara Britcliffe is being challenged by her own first cousin.
Matthew Britcliffe is standing for George Galloway’s Workers Party of Britain on 4 July. He had joined the Labour party under Jeremy Corbyn, campaigned for them in the last general election, and cites the late radical Labour MP Tony Benn as his most inspirational political figure.
Sara Britcliffe was elected in 2019; then just 24-years-old, she became the youngest Conservative MP. Labour had previously held the seat since 1992.
Matthew Britcliffe has criticised his cousin for voting in favour of dumping raw sewage in rivers, and voting against a ceasefire in Gaza, and said “the last five years have been horrific, and we simply cannot afford another five years like that.”
“My desire to do the right thing is what has caused me to now stand to represent the constituency of my father’s family,” he said in a statement. “My family has been part of East Lancashire’s history through the age of industrialisation, and I well understand how most of us came to be here in the first place.”
“Days after the [2019] election, my father told me I had a cousin, who I’d never heard of, and that she had been elected to parliament as a Tory MP,” he continued. “It was disappointing news, and didn’t get any better. A vote for dumping more sewage in our rivers, and a vote against a ceasefire in Gaza: two votes of Sara’s which stood out to me.”
Speaking to the Lancashire Telegraph, Sara Britcliffe has said that “Matthew is an estranged family member with whom I have no contact due to personal reasons.”
She said she does not believe that her cousin lives in the constituency, adding: “it is important to note that we do share the same last name and that I will be the second name down on the ballot paper.”
Veterans minister Johnny Mercer has had some combative words over those criticising Rishi Sunak’s early D-day exit, saying “I do find the faux outrage from people who’ve done nothing but make my life difficult trying to improve veterans’ affairs over the years is pretty nauseating.”
PA Media quotes him saying to the Sun that he understood the outrage and that it was a significant mistake. He told the paper:
I get the outrage. It’s a mistake. It’s a significant mistake for which he’s apologised.
But I’m also not going to join the howls of the fake veterans supporters who say he doesn’t treat veterans correctly, because it’s not correct. Obviously it’s a mistake. The prime minister on these visits receives a lot of advice on what he should and shouldn’t be doing.
I’ve spoken to the prime minister this morning and obviously it’s disappointing, but I do find the faux outrage from people who’ve done nothing but make my life difficult trying to improve veterans’ affairs over the years is pretty nauseating, to be frank.
Mercer has represented Plymouth Moor View since 2015, and is standing again at this election.
Matthew Pennycook, the shadow housing minister, was out promoting the Labour policy on the media round this morning. He told viewers of Sky News:
It’s a new policy that will allow first time buyers, through a comprehensive and permanent mortgage guarantee scheme, to get on the housing ladder.
So home ownership for far too many young people is now a pipe dream. We’ve seen rates of home ownership among the young almost half since the 1980s. Now a majority of 20 to 24-year-olds are living at home, people delaying starting families, because they can’t buy their own home. So we need to do something about that. The government’s record on this has been woeful.
The scheme, we think, will help around 80,000 people. People who can afford mortgage payments, but perhaps can’t afford that large deposit they need. Perhaps they haven’t got help from the “bank of mum and dad” to get on the housing ladder. It is part of our comprehensive plan to address the housing crisis, boost economic growth, and unlock opportunity.”
He also spoke about social housing, accusing the government of “the net loss of 14,000 genuinely affordable social rented each and every year.”
He said:
We’ve got to build more of these genuinely affordable social rented homes, as well as take action on the empty and vacant possessions if you like. And that’s exactly what we plan to do.
Senior members of the Labour team are expected to spend much of the day holed up to iron out the party’s draft manifesto ahead of publication expected next week, but for public consumption today they have been promoting their “freedom to buy” housing policy.
Labour has said that, if it wins the general election, it will make permanent a mortgage guarantee scheme aimed at helping low-deposit mortgages become available for first-time buyers.
The temporary scheme, which involves the government acting as a guarantor for part of a home loan, was introduced by the Conservatives in 2021 and was extended until July next year by the chancellor, Jeremy Hunt. It is aimed at encouraging lenders to offer low-deposit deals to first-time buyers.
Labour believes its plan, which will be rebranded “Freedom to buy”, will help 80,000 young people buy their own homes over the next five years.
Jim Waterson is the Guardian’s political media editor
Sunak’s decision to head home early from D-day could have been explained away by a claim to be working on official business. Unfortunately, his cover was blown after it was revealed he had spent some of the afternoon recording an interview with ITV political journalist Paul Brand.
Extraordinarily, that interview will not be shown in full until next Wednesday night. It was part of a series of pre-recorded ITV interviews with political party leaders that will be broadcast throughout the election campaign – meaning Sunak could have recorded it at any point in the next four days.
On Thursday evening ITV decided to release a short taster clip from the longer interview, in which Sunak was challenged about his tax claims, hoping to attract some coverage ahead of Friday night’s televised debate between party representatives. Instead, the clip mainly served to highlight what Sunak had been up to when he headed back early from Normandy.
Brand, whose reporting helped bring down Boris Johnson during the partygate scandal, told viewers on ITV News: “Today was the slot we were offered … we don’t know why.”
It has often been mooted there should be some kind of role for the Electoral Commission in defining a set of rules around TV debates and interviews during an election campaign to either compel participation, or to avoid the airwaves being flooded. Tonight’s seven-way debate on BBC is the third of ten so far scheduled debates.
The BBC has just now issued a press release detailing a series of interviews that Nick Robinson is carrying out with party leaders. You may recall that Boris Johnson avoiding an interview with Andrew Neil in a similar BBC series of shows became a subplot of the 2019 election.
For this time around, the BBC has announced this schedule:
Monday 10 June at 8pm – Rishi Sunak, Conservatives
Tuesday 11 June at 10.40pm – Nigel Farage, Reform UK
Wednesday 12 June at 7pm (BBC One and BBC One Scotland) – John Swinney, SNP
Wednesday 12 June at 7pm (BBC One Wales) – Rhun ap Iorwerth, Plaid Cymru
Tuesday 18 June at 10.40pm – Adrian Ramsay, Green party of England and Wales
Friday 28 June at 8.30pm – Ed Davey, Liberal Democrats
The BBC says it “has also invited Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour party, to be interviewed by Nick Robinson.”
Euro 2024 fixtures, the split of which was agreed a while ago by BBC and ITV, are also a factor interfering with the election broadcast calendar this year, as presumably nobody wants their slot to go up against an England or a Scotland match. The tournament starts with Germany v Scotland on 14 June.
Libby Brooks is the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent
The row over Douglas Ross apparently elbowing out another candidate who is recovering from serious illness in hospital shows no sign of abating this morning.
As we reported yesterday, the Scottish Tory leader made the surprise announcement that he would be standing for another Westminster seat – having insisted he was focusing on his Holyrood duties as an MSP – and none was more surprised than David Duguid, the anticipated candidate, who had been adopted by the local branch but was then blocked by the party’s management board for health reasons.
Overnight, Duguid’s local supporters have been out in force, condemning his treatment, while opposition voices have variously described Ross’s behaviour as “tawdry”, “shamefull” and “a betrayal”.
This morning Ross gave a lengthy interview to BBC Radio Scotland in which he insisted the management board was concerned “about the rigours of the election campaign and indeed the next five years as a member of parliament”.
Ross denied this was “an insurance option” for his career, and when it was put to him that colleagues at Holyrood were unhappy about his U-turn, Ross said these were “very unique circumstances” and repeated that he “wanted to lead from the front” in a key SNP target seat.
Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting has added to a chorus of disapproval of Rishi Sunak’s actions yesterday, saying it showed “the supreme arrogance of someone who thinks their time matters most and who doesn’t really understand what service means.”
Alex Cole-Hamilton, the Liberal Democrat leader in Scotland, has commented on Rishi Sunak’s decision to leave D-day commemorations in France early. He said:
During elections there are moments in time that don’t just punctuate the campaign, but can define or even end an entire career. Rishi Sunak’s abandonment of the D-day commemorations and the veterans we honour on the beaches of Normandy feels like one such moment.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has also commented, saying “Patriotic people who love their country should not vote for him.”
The big set-piece of the day is the seven-way BBC debate. Andrew Sparrow will be here later on to pick up the blog and cover that for you.
The BBC invited party leaders or “senior figures” to represent the parties at the debate, which is on at 7.30pm for 90 minutes. Penny Mordaunt, leader of the Commons, will represent the Conservative party in the debate tonight. You can imagine, given that she is standing in the fiercely proud port constituency of Portsmouth North, how thrilled she must be at the fact that Rishi Sunak’s D-day flit is sure to come up.
Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader, will speak for the official opposition. The Liberal Democrats will be represented by Daisy Cooper, their deputy leader. They will be joined by Stephen Flynn, the SNP’s leader at Westminster.
Three party leaders did accept the invite: Carla Denyer, Green party of England and Wales co-leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru, and Nigel Farage, the freshly installed leader of Reform UK, will make up the seven.
No parties from Northern Ireland are represented.
Mishal Husain is in the chair, and in a somewhat inside baseball* moment this morning she was interviewed on the BBC about the prospect of chairing the debate for the BBC. She was asked how she was going to keep control of a seven-way debate, and rather pointedly suggested that it gives the chance to the politicians appearing to communicate to viewers in ways other than simply in what they say.
[*I suspect putting the phrase inside baseball into the live blog is somewhat inside baseball itself]
Jessica Murray is the Guardian’s Midlands correspondent
The disgraced former Labour MP Keith Vaz has announced he is standing for election in his old seat, Leicester East, for a new local party.
Vaz will be taking on Labour, as well as his successor Claudia Webbe, who is standing as an independent candidate after being expelled from Labour over a conviction for harassment in 2021.
Vaz was the MP for Leicester East for 32 years, from 1987-2019, before he stepped down as a candidate after being caught in a tabloid sting offering to acquire cocaine for sex workers.
In a leaflet distributed to voters in the seat this week, Vaz said: “It was the greatest privilege of my life to serve as MP for Leicester East for over three decades. I absolutely love Leicester.
“Today, I am shocked with what I see. Despite so many opportunities, Leicester is unrecognisable, and on the edge of bankruptcy.
“Many people have urged me to stand again. I have decided to do so and accept the nomination of Leicester’s newest party, One Leicester, to be their candidate for one more term. Although I have always held Labour values, I promise to put Leicester first and party politics second.”
Vaz told the Guardian last year that he would not stand as an MP again, saying: “That ship has sailed.”
Rishi Sunak has apologised for leaving D-Day commemorations in Normandy early to head back to the UK and return to the general election campaign.
The Prime Minister tweeted this morning: “After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise.”
Mr Sunak did attend a British ceremony yesterday morning to mark the 80-year anniversary of D-Day but he did not attend an international gathering with other world leaders including Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron later in the day.
Instead, the Prime Minister returned to the UK and sat down with ITV to defend claims he had made about Sir Keir Starmer’s tax plans.
Labour accused Mr Sunak of a “dereliction of duty” while the Liberal Democrats said the premier had “brought shame” to the office of prime minister.
You can follow the latest updates below and join the conversation in the comments section here.
Labour pitch mortgage guarantee for first-time buyers
Labour says it will make permanent a scheme designed to ensure low-deposit mortgages are available for first-time buyers, if it wins the general election.
The mortgage guarantee scheme was introduced by the Conservatives in 2021 when Rishi Sunak was chancellor of the Exchequer.
It was extended until July next year by current Chancellor Jeremy Hunt.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to "turn the dream of owning a home into a reality".
The measure sees the government act as guarantor for part of a home loan – to encourage lenders to offer low-deposit deals.
The Labour Party says its plan will help more than 80,000 young people get on to the housing ladder over the next five years.
But according to the Office for National Statistics, some 40% of 16.5 million people aged 15 to 34 in the UK were living with their parents in 2022 - about 6.7 million people.
'Locked out of homeownership'
Labour says making the scheme permanent will mean young people facing tough conditions in the private rented sector or struggling to save will not be "locked out of homeownership".
It would be known as "Freedom to Buy", the party says.
In a statement, Sir Keir said that Labour would be "on the side of the builders, not the blockers", announcing the plans around home ownership.
The party leader said: "A generation face becoming renters for life."
"My parents' home gave them security and was a foundation for our family.
"As prime minister, I will turn the dream of owning a home into a reality," he added.
The existing scheme allows lenders to purchase a guarantee on part of mortgages, so if a bank decides to repossess a house, the government could compensate some of its losses.
The Treasury has designed its existing programme "to increase the appetite of mortgage lenders for high loan-to-value lending" - so buyers face paying smaller deposits for their mortgage.
Brokers have pointed out though that borrowers still have to pass checks to show they can afford mortgage repayments, not just raise a deposit.
Mortgage providers may only lend to those with a sufficient regular income, irrespective of any government guarantee.
This could just end up being a backstop as many lenders do not use the guarantee, as they are happy to offer deals with a 5% or 10% deposit in any case.
As part of the plans announced on Thursday evening, the Labour Party also pledged to "reintroduce housing targets", fast-track planning permissions on brownfield land and prioritise "grey belt" building - moves which it claims could boost building by 1.5 million homes.
David Sturrock, a senior research economist at the Institute for Fiscal Studies think tank said that big falls in homeownership during the 2000s meant young adults are now a third less likely to own their own home than they were 25 years ago.
He said that making the current scheme permanent had the "potential" to reduce one of the barriers to getting on the housing ladder.
"Prospective buyers also need to have a sufficiently high income to take out a (bigger) mortgage and afford the repayments," he said.
As a result, potential buyers in their 30s and from more well-off backgrounds looking to buy outside of London and south-east England were more likely to be able to take advantage of the offer, he suggested.
For its part, the Conservative party is putting forwards its "Family Home Tax Guarantee".
The Tories have pledged not to increase the number of council tax bands, carry out a council tax revaluation, cut council tax discounts or increase the rate or level of stamp duty which buyers pay when they purchase property.
Laura Trott, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, said: "Only Rishi Sunak and the Conservatives have a clear plan, backed by bold action, to strengthen the economy, bring mortgage costs down and help more people get on the housing ladder."
SNP candidate for Airdrie and Shotts, Anum Qaisar, said Scottish households were "being punished by Westminster failures", adding that "the cost of mortgages and energy bills are too high and families need help now."
The Liberal Democrats said they would "put community need over developer greed, giving people the chance to get on the housing ladder with genuinely affordable houses."
D-Day events marking the contribution of French men and women
who worked for the French Resistance seem somewhat muted, compared to the
boisterous array of events commemorating Allied soldiers.
“I don’t forget them. Please don’t forget them,” urges Catherine Nivromont, an elegant, spritely 81-year-old, as she leans forward,
intently, in her chair.
Catherine’s brother Pierre was just 17 in 1944. He worked
alongside other Resistance members, gathering intelligence on German positions
along the Normandy coast, to help Allied forces plan their June assault.
Pierre was in touch with locals who did German soldiers’ laundry.
Their clothing was marked with battalion details, revealing the quantity and
location of troops.
“Each person played their small part. Under occupation, you
had to resist silently. Secretly. You never knew who you could trust.”
Marianne BaisneeCopyright: Marianne Baisnee
Catherine’s dad Robert, who was also in the Resistance, along with Pierre, were eventually betrayed by a Frenchman they’d relied on to help make fake passports for Allied airmen stuck behind enemy lines.
Both men were sent to concentration camps. Her brother to Buchenwald. Her father, to Auschwitz.
“I think his homeland was more important to him than family,” Catherine observes a little sadly. “The risks he took were huge.”
But you’re proud of him, I ask. “Oh yes. So proud. That is why I see it as my job to still visit schools and universities. To tell the youth what the Resistance did. And how much they sacrificed for us.”
It’s thought only 2% of French citizens worked full time for the Resistance, though they relied on a far broader network of people willing to help.
For such a small group, they’ve had a big influence on modern-day France too.
Many in the Resistance were left-leaning. A large proportion, communist. After the war, they helped set up the new French Republic, implementing France’s strong welfare and health system which is still firmly in place today.
Royalty and world leaders will gather with veterans in Normandy to mark the 80th anniversary of the D-Day landings.
The King and Queen will pay tribute to fallen soldiers at the UK's national commemoration event at the British Normandy Memorial, in Ver-sur-Mer.
They will be joined by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and French President Emmanuel Macron.
The site, which opened in 2021, pays tribute to 22,442 service personnel under British command who died on D-Day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
This will be the first major anniversary event hosted at the memorial, and Charles and Camilla will officially open the Winston Churchill Centre for Education and Learning following the commemorations.
Meanwhile, Prince William will attend the Canadian commemorative event at the Juno Beach Centre, Courseulles-sur-Mer, before joining more than 25 heads of state and veterans for the official international ceremony on Omaha Beach.
The day will begin early with a piper on the beach at Arromanches helping to mark the moment the biggest seaborne invasion in military history got under way.
More on D-day
Related Topics:
Bayeux War Cemetery, the largest Commonwealth cemetery of the Second World War in France, will host a service led by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.
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1:07
Candle-lit vigil in Bayeux marks D-Day anniversary
In the UK, an 80-strong flotilla of boats will leave from Falmouth, Cornwall, where thousands of troops departed to take part in the invasion.
The Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh will join veterans at a Royal British Legion remembrance service at The National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire, and the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester will meet veterans at a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
It will be the second day the general election campaign has been being largely put on hold as the prime minister, Labour leader and other political figures are taking part in the commemorations.
Also in Normandy will be US President Joe Biden, who is on a state visit to France, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Canada's Justin Trudeau and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
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On Wednesday the Prince of Wales spoke to veterans and gave a reading at a D-Day event in Portsmouth.
He told one veteran who asked how his wife was that Kate would have "loved" to have attended 80th anniversary events.
Image:King Charles and an emotional Queen Camilla in the Royal Box at the UK's national commemorative event . Pic: PA
The King also addressed the crowd and paid tribute to the "courage, resilience and solidarity" of those involved in the historic invasion of Normandy - a pivotal moment in defeating the Nazis.
At one point, the Queen was pictured in tears as Royal Navy veteran Eric Bateman recalled the horrors of the day.
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After the event in Portsmouth, tributes moved to the beaches of Normandy, where hundreds of allied defence personnel parachuted into a historic D-Day drop zone to commemorate the airborne invasion of 80 years ago.
Princess Anne unveiled a statue of a rifleman storming the beaches and hailed the "loyalty, bravery and duty" of Canadian forces.
Later on Wednesday evening a candle-lit vigil was held at Bayeux War Cemetery following the annual D-Day service of thanksgiving at Bayeux Cathedral in Normandy, and at Pegasus Bridge, a champagne toast was held shortly before 11pm, carrying on a tradition which has occurred since 1944, as fireworks were launched into the air overhead.
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Keir Starmer knew that all he had to do was to get through the debate without making a horrible mistake. No wonder he was nervous, unsure whether to address the audience, his opponent, or presenter Julie Etchingham.
He had a good start, sounding more sympathetic to Paula from Huddersfield, who has to cook in batches to save electricity – although it took him some time to get round to “my dad was a toolmaker; my mother was a nurse; our phone was cut off”.
Sunak knew that he had to disrupt his opponent and unsettle people about the prospect of a Labour government. He seemed relaxed but combative, interrupting Starmer repeatedly and demanding to know why he wanted to make life more difficult for people by putting up their taxes.
The Labour leader was slow, again, to respond, eventually calling the figure of £2,000 in extra taxes that the prime minister used “garbage”. It was, he pointed out, arrived at by feeding assumptions into the Treasury – assumptions that included Tory policies by mistake.
Sunak scored the first win of the debate on the unexpected subject of NHS strikes, drawing applause from the studio audience, saying the junior doctors want “a 35 per cent pay rise and I don’t want to raise your taxes to pay for that”.
Starmer looked genuinely frustrated when Sunak challenged him on how he would resolve the dispute, and was reduced to a sulky “when I can get a word in edgeways”, which he repeated later. But the prime minister had made his point – that Starmer’s airy promise to “get people in a room together” was a bit rubbish.
After that, though, Starmer turned the tide, mentioning Liz Truss as often as he could and having the better applause lines. He was clapped for saying that VAT on school fees was “a tough choice, I do understand that”. He was clapped for promising to “end non-dom status completely” – even though, as Sunak pointed out, the Conservative government has already done it – and to make “oil and gas companies pay their fair share”. And he was clapped for promising to “smash the gangs” to stop the boats.
Sunak, on the other hand, attracted mocking laughter when Starmer challenged him on his claim that NHS waiting lists were “coming down”. Starmer pointed out that they had gone up since Sunak had promised to get them down; Sunak countered: “They are coming down from when they were higher.”
By then, Starmer had got over his early nerves and appeared to realise that he was playing politics on easy mode. He kept pointing out that the Tories had been in power for 14 years, and that Sunak didn’t seem keen to defend the record. Sunak kept saying that the election was about the future.
Sunak finally had a strong message for his closing statement: “In uncertain times we simply cannot afford an uncertain prime minister. If you don’t know what you’re going to get from Labour don’t vote for it.” But before he got to it, he had to pause to take a sideswipe at the ghost at the feast: Nigel Farage. The election was a choice between him and Starmer as prime minister, said Sunak: “A vote for anyone else makes it more likely that it will be him.”
The debate confirmed that Sunak was quicker and sharper, and that Labour’s policies are only barely battle-ready. But it also confirmed that Sunak has been fighting a hopeless battle from the start, and that the words “Liz Truss” are enough to bring most political arguments to an end.
YouGov’s snap poll showed nearly a dead heat, with 51 per cent saying Sunak “won”, and 49 per cent Starmer.
That was all that Starmer needed to do to clear the most important of the foreseeable hurdles in this election campaign. It was striking that his irritability was more in evidence than Sunak’s past tetchiness, which had been suppressed completely.
We had better get used to Starmer’s weary and humourless dismissiveness, because we will see a lot more of it when he becomes prime minister.
