Markus Andrews

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailIt’s been another barnstorming week on the campaign trail as the political parties jostle for your vote at the general election on July 4.The Independent has pinpointed these key moments week:Sunak’s D-Day calamityThe prime minister made easily the largest gaffe of the campaign so far by ducking out early from the D-Day commemoration events in Normandy, France, on Thursday. His baffling decision not to stand alongside other world leaders on a world stage prompted fury, with at least one Normandy veteran suggesting the prime minister had let his country down. Mr Sunak apologised for the error, but the damage was done.Farage hit with milkshakeAnother unwelcome development for Mr Sunak was Nigel Farage’s U-turn decision to stand for election in Clacton-on-Sea. Speaking to hundreds of supporters at a rally on Tuesday, Mr Farage said he would be a “bloody nuisance” in Westminster. He has his sights set on leading Reform past the Tories on the right of UK politics. The day’s campaigning ended on a sour note for Mr Farage as, not for the first time, he was doused in milkshake. Sunak was offered deal to stop FarageIt was revealed exclusively by The Independent that in recent months a deal was in the works between Rishi Sunak and Nigel Farage’s parties to clear the way for the Conservatives at the election. Tory Brexiteer MP Andrea Jenkyns and former Leave.EU communications director Andy Wigmore tried to broker the deal, but sources told us that Mr Sunak was ultimately dissuaded by his advisers.Leader of Reform UK Nigel Farage (James Manning/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster email A man who reportedly assaulted the Danish Prime Minister in central Copenhagen will appear in a pre-trial custody hearing on Saturday, authorities said.Police confirmed “there has been an incident” with Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen on Friday and that a 39-year-old man was arrested. They didn’t provide further details and it wasn’t clear if Frederiksen was hurt.The man is expected to arrive at 1100 GMT at the Copenhagen District Court in Frederiksberg, a municipality enclave within the Danish capital.The prime minister’s office told the Danish state broadcaster DR on Friday that Frederiksen was “shocked” by what happened.Two eyewitnesses, Anna Ravn and Marie Adrian, told the daily BT that they saw a man walking toward Frederiksen and then “pushing her hard on the shoulder so she was shoved aside.” They stressed that the premier did not fall down.Another witness, Kasper Jørgensen, told the Ekstra Bladet tabloid that a well-dressed man, who seemed part of Frederiksen’s protection unit, and a police officer took down the alleged assailant. Søren Kjærgaard who was working at a local bar on Kultorvet Square where the incident happened told the BT that he saw Frederiksen after the incident and she had no visible injuries to her face but walked away quickly.Politicians in the Scandinavian country and abroad condemned the reported assault. Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said that “an attack on a democratically elected leader is also an attack on our democracy,” while Charles Michel, president of the European Council, condemned on X what he called a “cowardly act of aggression.”European Union parliamentary elections are currently underway in Denmark and the rest of the 27-nation bloc and will conclude on Sunday. Frederiksen has been campaigning with the Social Democrats’ EU lead candidate, Christel Schaldemose. Media reports said the attack was not linked to a campaign event.Violence against politicians has become a theme in the run-up to the EU elections. In May, a candidate from Germany’s center-left Social Democrats was beaten and seriously injured while campaigning for a seat in the European Parliament. In Slovakia, the election campaign was overshadowed by an attempt to assassinate populist Prime Minister Robert Fico on May 15, sending shockwaves through the nation of 5.4 million and reverberating throughout Europe.Frederiksen, 46, is the leader of the Social Democratic Party and has been Denmark’s prime minister since 2019.She has steered Denmark through the global COVID-19 pandemic and a controversial 2020 decision to wipe out Denmark’s entire captive mink population to minimize the risk of the small mammals retransmitting the virus.Assaults on politicians in Denmark are rare. On March 23, 2003, two activists threw red paint on then-Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen inside the parliament and were immediately arrested. Foreign Minister Per Stig Møller also suffered some splashes that day.—David Keyton in Berlin contributed to this report. More

Nigel Farage has suggested Rishi Sunak is “not a patriotic leader” after his D-Day blunder.The prime minister left the 80th anniversary events in Normandy early on Thursday 6 June to record a general election campaign TV interview.He later apologised for his decision to leave France before a major international ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Allied landings but urged people not to politicise the event.“That says a lot about him,” Mr Farage said of Mr Sunak.“He is completely disconnected from the centre of this country and he has proved to me that he is not a patriotic leader of the Conservative Party.” More

Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner clash over defenceSign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailRishi Sunak is claimed to be despondent over the furious backlash to his decision to skip a D-Day memorial attended by other world leaders, as a second cabinet minister openly criticised the decision.Transport secretary Mark Harper described Mr Sunak’s decision to miss the 80th anniversary event in Normandy as a “mistake”, after his cabinet colleague Penny Mordaunt condemned it as “completely wrong” in a fiery seven-way BBC debate on Friday night.Cabinet ministers told Bloomberg his misstep had exacerbated their concerns about his judgement – including one former loyalist said they regretted the Tories had not ousted him as PM earlier this year.And one insider told The Times they had “never heard it so quiet” at CCHQ after the PM’s decision to skip the international memorial sparked a major backlash.Broadcasters were also met with silence on Saturday, as a scheduled media slot with the prime minister was cancelled during a campaign visit to a walled garden at Auckland Castle on Saturday. Voters could be seen gathered at a hillside above the garden to try and catch a glimpse of him within.Show latest update 1717858538Sunak asked about NHS backlog at village feteRishi Sunak received a largely warm welcome from attendees at a village fete in his Richmond constituency on Saturday afternoon, where he met stall holders, chatted with members of the public, and played a game of “splat the rat”.He was welcomed by applause from some who appeared to be local Conservative members, but a consultant who identified herself as only Chloe to the PA news agency asked the PM about the NHS backlog as he arrived.The doctor, who said she recently rejoined Labour ahead of the election, said she “wanted to know what his plan is for waiting lists” and claimed the government had left the NHS “completely unprepared” for the pandemic.Elsewhere at the fete, children shouted “we love you Rishi” and filmed the PM as he visited a stall fronted by gift bags which read “Wine or Surprise”.Tom Wilson, Labour’s candidate for the reorganised Richmond and Northallerton constituency that Mr Sunak is seeking to hold, was also at the village event and at one point could be seen following the Prime Minister’s party at a distance.Prime Minister Rishi Sunak at a village fete More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailPenny Mordaunt was forced to open the second televised election debate with an apology and admission that her leader Rishi Sunak was “wrong” over leaving the D-Day commemorations early in another bad night for the Tories.But the Tory cabinet minister sought to make the seven-party event into a two-way fight between herself and Angela Rayner, who stood next to her in the line-up, in what another panellist SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn described as an “unedifying” row.The lineup also included Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper, Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage.From left, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage, leader of Plaid Cymru Rhun ap Iorwerth, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper, Stephen Flynn of the SNP, co-leader of the Green Party Carla Denyer, deputy Labour leader Angela Rayner and Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, take part in the BBC Election Debate hosted by BBC news presenter Mishal Husain (Stefan Rousseau/PA) More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailThey ducked it out for an hour and a half on prime time television on a Friday night. Here we look at some of the key moments from the BBC’s first multi-party debate, which saw seven senior political figures clash ahead of the election. Facing off were Conservative cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt, Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper, SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn, Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth, Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer and Reform UK’s Nigel Farage.“Completely wrong”Penny Mordaunt did not hold back as she began the debate, criticising the prime minister’s widely condemned decision to leave the D-Day commemorations early.“No prime minister at all”SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn also weighed in on the Tory leader and his D-Day snub, saying a PM who put his own personal career before public service is “no prime minister at all”.Angela Rayner and Penny Mordaunt More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailKeir’s Starmer’s election campaign has suffered a blow after Labour’s largest union donor Unite refused to endorse the party’s manifesto. The decision by the union was such a shock it even caught some shadow cabinet members by surprise. Party figures had described a crunch meeting on Friday, in which shadow ministers, union representatives, MPs and Labour members gathered to set the final manifesto, as “positive”.But it is thought that the party’s stance on practices like fire-and-rehire meant it could not support the plans. Keir Starmer holding a card bearing Labour’s pledges More

Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inboxGet our free View from Westminster emailA seven-leader debate on Friday saw fireworks fly on our TV screens yet again, as the UK’s general election campaign continues to hot up.Hosted by Mishal Husain on BBC One, leading figures from the UK’s major political parties were all in attendance.Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt represented the Conservative Party. She was joined by deputy Labour Party leader Angela Rayner.Daisy Cooper, deputy leader of the Liberal Democrats and Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, also took part.Stephen Flynn represented the Scottish National Party, Rhun ap Iorwerth appeared for Plaid Cymru and the Green Party was represented by co-leader Carla Denyer.It came after Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer went head-to-head on Tuesday.We want to know what you made of the BBC debate. Did it help change your mind about any of the major parties? Who came out on top for you? And who should be holding their head in their hands?Share your thoughts by adding them in the comments — we’ll highlight the most insightful ones as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details — then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen.Make sure you adhere to our community guidelines, which can be found here. For a full guide on how to comment click here.Join the conversation with other Independent readers below. More