the focus of events to start things off in france this week. it is the city, the first city to be liberated by british troops after d day, so it is a hugely significant location for france to begin its d day commemorations. have you seen pictures from the cathedral, i have come back from the service of remembrance been held there, a service designed to reflect the shared history between the uk and france. there are also prayers and said for peace and to honour the heroism and courage of the d day veterans attending that service at bayeux cathedral. this evening, events shift by care to the extraordinary bayeux memorial ceremony, and when you come into 70 like this, you cannot be helped but be moved by what you re seen, the perfection of the graves, the way they are set out here, it is quite something, particularly when you know the loss of life here was so brutal and difficult. events will switch here this evening once that cathedral service is complete. there will be a vigil
and first of two days of commemerations in europe to mark the 80 years anniversary of the normandy landings. good evening, a day is a long time in politics. this morning the front pages brough some brief respite to the conservatives. snap polls suggesting that it was rishi sunak who had come out on top in the first leadership debate of the campaign. the prime minister had referred several times in that debate to a so called independent assessment of labour s spending plans, which the tories suggest will mean every working family paying £2000 more in taxes. the prime minister said that was a figure that had been signed off by civil servants at the treasury. the only problem is it hadn t. the bbc has obtained a letter from the most senior civil servant in the treasury, the permanent secretary, james bowler who wrote to labour making clear the civil service had not been as involved as the conservativesclaimed. as you would expect, labour is furious. here s our political editor
as frank gardner reports. war planes from another time. memories from 80 years ago. today, a chance to honor those men and women who took part in d day, the operation that helped end the second world war. service chiefs, prime ministers past and present, the royalfamily and of course, the veterans. roy haywood was 19 on that day, a trooper in the sherwood rangers. i landed in on the evening of d day, and three weeks later i was so badly damaged that they had to amputate both my legs below the knee. i returned home eventually, and i have to say that i always considered myself one of the lucky ones that survived because so many of us didn t. this was the largest ever amphibious invasion in human history, over150,000 british, us, canadian and french troops landing on normandy s beaches under withering fire from german defenses. let us once again commit ourselves always to remember, cherish and honor those who served that day and to live up to the freedom they died for. honoring
And they amount to a £2,000 tax rise for every working family. keir starmer did eventually say it was false. this £2,000 he keeps saying it s going to cost is absolute garbage. but that wasn t the end of it. here was one of the prime minister s closest allies on the breakfast sofa this morning. i have worked in the treasury, and i can tell you these - are brilliant independent civil servants, and they would not be putting anything dodgy in there. - these are all the policies that have been set out . by the labour party. and actually, if anything, they are underestimating the cost to families. and look at what she said next. it has been signed off- by the permanent secretary of the treasury. yes, the most senior civil servant here at the treasury. except in a letter written to labour at the other day and published by the party today, that very same senior civil servant says politely that claim is rubbish. he writes that it includes costs beyond those provided by the civil service a
As you say, that people will remember what rishi sunak wants them to remember, this £2000 claim or are they going to take on board what labour have been saying, that this is a lie. this figure is wrong and it is nothing to do with their policy and all of their policies are fully funded. 0bviously policy and all of their policies are fully funded. obviously we have no way of knowing how that is going to play out over time, but it has caused the most of the enormous round here at westminster today. despite everything we have been hearing about this letter and what labour have said the conservatives have been continuing to said that they were right with their figure. that is absolutely correct. they have been to defending the number that they have been using in whether spokesmen have been out today saying, that if you are sick that this trigger was drawn up by a special advisers in the treasury rather than civil servants, then i think that is pretty close to nit picking. so as you can se