questions from the audience. the parties have made policy pledges and the conservatives have said they will raise child benefit tax threshold to £120,000 and charge it to households rather than individuals. labour have said if it wins power, it would make permanent a skin that ensures low deposit mortgages are available for first—time buyers —— a scheme. the lib dems have offered a bad month of paid leave for new fathers and a doubling of statutory maternity pay —— dad month. tom symons is in swindon on the campaign trail with the conservative campaign. this apology from the prime minister, unusual to get that, especially in an election campaign.— an election campaign. senior election watchers _ an election campaign. senior election watchers are - an election campaign. senior election watchers are calling | an election campaign. seniorl election watchers are calling it an election campaign. senior i election watchers are calling it a disaster for the conservatives and it looks like a mistake for rishi sunak to pull out early from the d—day commemoration, a major historical event, rubbing shoulders withjoe biden and volodymyr zelensky and emmanuel macron and also nigel farage there, reform coming up in the polls potentially, to come back to the uk, to do an interview for itv, immediately put under pressure defending himself against accusations he lied over the amount of money labour would have to raise to pay for its spending commitments. and it did not take too long before this apology came from rishi sunak, he said the anniversary, d—day anniversary, should have been about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country, the last thing i want is for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics, he said. on reflection it was a mistake not 0n reflection it was a mistake not to stay in france longer and i apologise. but you can be sure in today's campaigning which is up to speed again after the break for the d—day commemorations, he will be asked about this a lot. he is due at two places today, a school in the west of england and a nursery in southern england, where the conservatives are hoping to be talking about the author they are giving to parents and child benefit refunds and that will be overshadowed by the d—day issue. already seen some reaction from conservative supporting commentators, including one suggestion even the french government was told a week ago rishi sunak was not going to attend the commemorations in the first place. we have not been able to confirm that yet. what is your sense of the wider reaction and the mood on the campaign trailteam? i wider reaction and the mood on the campaign trail team?— campaign trail team? i think there are coule campaign trail team? i think there are coume of— campaign trail team? i think there are couple of points _ campaign trail team? i think there are couple of points to _ campaign trail team? i think there are couple of points to make. - are couple of points to make. certainly the conservatives have said he was due to attend the g7 next week, he would have been seen very much in the top table of world leaders. therefore the political implication of not being seen was not that great. that was before the apology rishi sunak has made. also worth pointing out being close to veterans is important to the conservative party. an early manifesto pledges in lung scan pain —— in this campaign... inaudible it is clearly a mess to have to apologise for coming back from a very historic commemoration, anniversary of a major event in british history. thank you, sorry about the break—up on the line to everyone trying to hey you, we got most of what you are trying to say. let me show you what nigel farage has tweeted in the last hour. he says, i was honoured to help raise £100,000 for the charity to send veterans back to normandy, a pleasure to meet them. rishi sunak could not be bothered to attend the international event above 0maha beach. who believes in our people? him or me? jessica parker is following the labour campaign today. we saw what nigel farage has tweeted in response to rishi sunak�*s apology, what is the labour response to the prime minister's apology? yes, unsurprisingly, pretty critical response from the labour party following yesterday's events and rishi sunak�*s decision to leave the commemorations early. we have been hearing from labour's shadow paymaster general, jonathan ashworth tsch, saying the pm chose to prioritise his vanity tv appearances over the veterans, a reference to the interview the prime minister did with itv news last night. he said, yet more desperation, chaos and dreadfuljudgment from this out of touch prime minister. i think opposition parties to the conservatives, like the labour campaign following, perhaps we'll hear from campaign following, perhaps we'll hearfrom keir starmer campaign following, perhaps we'll hear from keir starmer later, they will see up a political opportunity here. there are a lot of issues that parties try to champion in the general election but also values as well. patriotism being one of them. i think the labour party among others will be keen to try to paint this notjust as a poorjudgment by rishi sunak politically but a values —based one as well. the conservatives will say, look, the prime minister has quickly recognised his mistake, he has apologised. but of course he is not being criticised by opposition, there is also disquiet among conservative supporters about yesterday's events and it is the story dominating the headlines this morning in terms of the campaign trail early on. £31 morning in terms of the campaign trail early om— trail early on. of course penny mordaunt _ trail early on. of course penny mordaunt is — trail early on. of course penny mordaunt is going _ trail early on. of course penny mordaunt is going to - trail early on. of course penny mordaunt is going to be - trail early on. of course penny i mordaunt is going to be speaking trail early on. of course penny - mordaunt is going to be speaking for the conservatives against angela rayner, seven people on the debate tonight. presumably the apology is designed in part to try to close it down so that the candidates can talk about other issues they are all trying to put before the public. yeah, i think certainly there is probably an attempt by the conservatives and by mr sunak coming out with this apology which is unusual, as you are saying, to see something like that, to try to draw a line under it, say, as i mentioned, they recognised a mistake was made. to what extent it comes up into night's debate is hard to say at the moment. i would be surprised if it does not come up in some form or other, something other parties can use as an attack line against the conservatives. 0f can use as an attack line against the conservatives. of course it is not rishi sunak who will be there tonight. seven way debate, 90 minutes, and having watched the debate between keir starmer and rishi sunak earlier this week, might be quite a fast pace, get to a lot of issues, could potentially be messy at times. i don't want to pre—empt exactly what will be talked about, the format, how it will go, interesting to watch.— about, the format, how it will go, interesting to watch. thank you very much indeed- _ interesting to watch. thank you very much indeed. of— interesting to watch. thank you very much indeed. of course _ interesting to watch. thank you very much indeed. of course as - interesting to watch. thank you very much indeed. of course as we - interesting to watch. thank you very much indeed. of course as we have | much indeed. of course as we have been saying, attention will be focused later on the debate which involves representatives of seven parties. seven senior politicians tiring here tonight, for an hour and a half, they will face questions from audience members and those sent in from across the country. their policies, their performances in the spotlight. the leader of the commons, penny mordaunt, will represent the conservatives. for labour, its deputy leader, angela rayner. daisy cooper, liberal democrat deputy leader, will make her party's case, as will stephen flynn for the snp. green party co—leader carla denyer will appear alongside plaid cymru's leader, rhun ap iorwerth, and nigel farage will take part after becoming leader of reform uk earlier this week. meanwhile, the two main parties are still putting out policies ahead of their manifesto launches. labour says if it wins power, it will make permanent an existing government scheme designed to ensure first—time buyers can access low—deposit mortgages through the state acting as a guarantor for part of the loan. the conservatives have put forward plans to allow high earners to keep more of their child benefit. the party says, if it continues to govern, the threshold at which parents start to lose child benefit through a tax charge will double to £120,000. and it's committed to a previously announced proposal to assess claimants as a household rather than an individual. plenty still to be digested and scrutinised as political parties continue to vie for votes. leila nathoo, bbc news. 0ur correspondent hannah miller is outside bbc hq for us. the parties will have been prepping for tonight's debate, all wanting to get their messages out, yet within the last hour we have had this apology from the prime minister, how difficult will it be within the format of seven people for any clear message to be put across to the public? i message to be put across to the ublic? ~ . , ., ., , public? i think that is a really aood public? i think that is a really good point — public? i think that is a really good point to _ public? i think that is a really good point to some - public? i think that is a really good point to some extent i public? i think that is a really good point to some extent in| public? i think that is a really - good point to some extent in the sense we often see during these debates sound moments of leaders or deputy leaders, representatives, trying to outdo each other for social media. the sense of which whether or not they are successful in getting points across, some managed to do that far better than others. i think this row about rishi sunak leaving the d—day commemorations early yesterday is something i would certainly expect someone like nigel farage, representing reform uk, to be talking about. he has already tweeted saying it is him or me, as in rishi sunak or nigel farage, making a great play of this. if you are one of the politicians, i would point to the lib dems as well, particularly trying to take a different type of photo from the conservative party, they have described this this morning as a dereliction of duty by the prime minister. if you are one of the parties who really sees taking votes from the conservatives is a big part of your election strategy, you are going to want to keep going with this story that he has had to apologise for this morning. the labour party of course as well being very strong on it and suggesting... pointing out keir starmer stayed longer than rishi sunak. the issue of national security has won the prime minister has tried to campaign on quite significantly. i think during the debate of course the questions will come from audience members, there will be a variety of topics. this is something politicians might try to get in, i don't know the questions in advance, the politicians won't have seen them either, but that there is something around defence, these types of issues, we will see, but there will almost certainly be questions about other issues that are hugely important to voters as well, things like the nhs, the cost of living. to some extent, this is an issue that you would expect parties to try to get in and get their clips on social media at there, but i would also expect a broader variety of topics and views on display at the debate this evening because by having seven representatives from the different parties, there is a much broader display of policy platforms than we previously saw in the debate between rishi sunak and keir starmer earlier in the week. fin rishi sunak and keir starmer earlier in the week-— in the week. on the prime minister ossible in the week. on the prime minister possible apology. _ in the week. on the prime minister possible apology, you _ in the week. on the prime minister possible apology, you will- in the week. on the prime minister possible apology, you will have - in the week. on the prime minister. possible apology, you will have seen reports... i don't think we have verified ourselves, was he even going to be at the commemoration at all in the first place? suggestion he was planning not to attend and decided to attend for a brief time. given the conservatives are worried about some of their vote is going to reform and nigel farage, on the question of patriotism, many conservatives will feel vulnerable, won't they?— won't they? yeah, i was 'ust checking fl won't they? yeah, i was 'ust checking my i won't they? yeah, i was 'ust checking my e-mails i won't they? yeah, i was 'ust checking my e-mails as h won't they? yeah, i wasjust checking my e-mails as you | won't they? yeah, i wasjust - checking my e-mails as you said that checking my e—mails as you said that because i personally contacted the conservative party about that report rishi sunak had said he was not going to attend at all, i contacted them by phone half an hour ago, i was told to e—mail, i told them we would be talking about it shortly and i asked if they wanted to push back on that, suggest it was wrong, offer any guidance, i have not heard back at this stage. we will have to see how they respond. we do not have it stood up ourselves, but something we have tried to put to the conservative party. particularly this kind of issue about national security and the international context to this election, whether it is the war in gaza, the war in ukraine, worries about china, something leaders both from labour and the conservatives have been trying to talk about and put themselves out there, rishi sunak claiming people know what he stands for in terms of keeping the country safe, the labour party trying to rid itself of previous issues it has had around that issue and trying to say, keir starmer is the man to do this. i think this mistake, as rishi sunak has acknowledged, further advances keir starmer�*s case in that sense because he did not make this misjudgment, this mistake, he did prioritise staying for the d—day commemorations, and nigel farage of course as well, from reform, he knows this is a key area for many of his voters. there are conservative mps who will be really quite worried about what this does to their own vote in their own constituencies when people see how this has played out. we when people see how this has played out. ~ ., , when people see how this has played out. . . , ., , ., out. we have seen the images of euro ean out. we have seen the images of european and — out. we have seen the images of european and us _ out. we have seen the images of european and us leaders, - out. we have seen the images of european and us leaders, but. out. we have seen the images of| european and us leaders, but not with rishi sunak, with david cameron instead. we will see what further emerges. thank you. we will be looking ahead to the tv debate later on this evening. what are people expecting from it? our reporter is in watford today and we can join her now. have you managed to get a sense of what people are expecting from it, are they going to be watching? yes, absolutely, hello, welcome to watford. kind ofjust waking up at the moment, some people picking up a coffee before going to college or work, but having had a few chats for people here, to set the scene, as a commuter town that you can access from london, it is some of that kind of diversity, bustling community driving some of the issues on people's mines, in terms of what they want to see improved on what they want to see improved on what they love about watford. i am in the centre of town, as you can see, the high street has a range of businesses, and that is one of the things people today so far have told me they love about watford will stop the other thing is the diversity of the other thing is the diversity of the community between different groups and ages, people enjoy talking to one another, which one may decide to me found like a rarity but one of the things she has loved someone who has lived here for a0 years. an interesting constituency, if we think about the types of things people might be wanting to hear from the leaders in the debate, this has been a seat that has previously been held by the conservatives but not with a very big margin. it is a hot target for labour. the influence of the liberal democrats would also be worth noting and watching because in the recent local elections, the liberal democrats have got dominance in the council as well as the mayor as well. talking to people, a range of things on people's minds and also the issues. i mentioned the proximity to london and the diversity of the community and for some people it is a massive positive, but for others, also pushing up the likes of house prices, making it a tricky place to get onto the property ladder. one guy we have been speaking to, just turning 35, still struggling to find a place for him and his family to be able to afford to live. those are some of the key issues here at the moment for people here. just waking up moment for people here. just waking up here, i have had my coffee, i am raring to go, there is a busker setting are behind us, a sense of life coming here to the town centre in watford. i’m life coming here to the town centre in watford. �* ., , ., ., ., in watford. i'm glad you have had one coffee. _ in watford. i'm glad you have had one coffee. i _ in watford. i'm glad you have had one coffee, i need _ in watford. i'm glad you have had one coffee, i need another. - in watford. i'm glad you have had| one coffee, i need another. thank you so much, we will be back to you as soon as you can get a bit more in terms of a sense of what people are saying. here are the candidate selected so far to battle it out in the constituency of watford. the bbc news website will have a complete list when they are confirmed. more officers are todayjoining a large search and rescue operation on the greek island of symi for the dr and television presenter michael mosley who has gone missing on holiday. his wife raised the alarm after he failed to return from a hike wednesday lunchtime. simon jones reports. in the scorching greek sunshine, the searches are continuing — both on land and from the air — trying to find out what has happened to michael mosley. this picture — along with an appeal for information — was posted on a local facebook group. greek police say michael mosley was with his wife on st nicholas beach on wednesday lunchtime when he decided to go for a walk. a sighting was reported at pedi. he then failed to return. he didn't have his phone with him. what can science tell us about getting a better night's sleep? some people think of sleep as a luxury... michael mosley, who's 67, has been on our tv screens for more than two decades, talking about health and science. apparently, this is the easiest and most reliable way to find out. a presenter known for getting stuck in. i've got this list of the things that i'm allowed on my new diet. he would often focus on diet and exercise. he's a regular on the one show. last night's programme opened with the presenters sharing the feelings of many viewers. lots of us concerned to hear that our friend michael mosley has gone missing whilst on holiday in greece, and our thoughts are very much with his wife, clare, and the rest of his family at this worrying time.