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Rishi Sunak leaving D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations early on Thursday was an “embarrassing dereliction of duty,” Labour’s shadow housing minister has said.The prime minister apologised after skipping the major international ceremony remembering the 1944 landings in order to carry out a general election TV interview, prompting intense criticism.Mr Sunak described his decision as a “mistake.”Speaking to Sky News, Matthew Pennycook called Mr Sunak’s decision to leave France “embarrassing.””I’m glad he’s apologised, because it was absolutely a mistake,” he added. More

An NHS nurse clashed with a Tory minister during a heated Question Time debate on Thursday (6 June) as she told him “You talk absolute rubbish”.The nurse, who had worked in the NHS for 37 years, addressed Mark Harper, telling him social care had been “decimated”. She said: “Patients are dying in corridors. If you sorted out social care and put your money where your mouth is, then all these issues would be sorted.“You are talking absolute rubbish because you are trying to decimate the NHS and we all know that. You don’t want it and you never have wanted it.”“Are you going to let me come back on it?”, Mr Harper asked. More

Mark Harper repeated Rishi Sunak’s claim that Labour will hike household taxes by £2,000 if they win the general election during an appearance on Question Time on Thursday, 6 June.During the first televised debate of the campaign, the prime minster said analysis by Treasury civil servants showed a £38.5bn black hole in Sir Keir Starmer’s spending plans that would lead to each working household paying £2,094 more in tax.Treasury permanent secretary James Bowler said “civil servants were not involved in the production or presentation of the Conservative party’s document ‘Labour’s Tax Rises’ or in the calculation of the total figure used”. More

Two Tory ministers starred in a Gogglebox-style video reacting to the first leaders’ debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer.Mel Stride and Gillian Keegan were filmed watching Tuesday night’s (4 June) clash between the prime minister and the Labour leader with what appeared to be alcoholic drinks beside them, similar to the Channel 4 show.The pair offered their reactions to the debate, commenting on the PM’s “crisp” shirt and telling Sir Keir to stop talking about Liz Truss.A YouGov instant reaction poll gave Mr Sunak a narrow win of 51 per cent to 49 per cent in the debate. More

The UK general election campaign is now in full swing, with less than one month to go until Britain heads to the polls.Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer will have the opportunity to battle for votes over the coming weeks, with plenty of public appearances and a number of head-to-head TV debates planned.Occasionally, though, politicians can make a slip or two and it seems several high-profile gaffes have marred the early days of the Conservative Party’s election campaign. More

Sir Keir Starmer has branded Rishi Sunak a liar and claimed he had broken the ministerial code for suggesting Labour planned to hike taxes by more than £2,000.The prime minister repeatedly highlighted the allegation during his ITV head-to-head debate with Sir Keir on Tuesday (4 June), claiming “independent Treasury officials” have costed Labour’s policies “and they amount to a £2,000 tax rise for everyone”.But the Treasury’s permanent secretary, James Bowler, said ministers had been told not to suggest civil servants produced the figure at the heart of the Tory attack.Sir Keir today said: “What you saw last night was a Prime Minister with his back against the wall, desperately trying to defend 14 years of failure, resorting – and it was a flash of his character, an insight into his character – to lies. I don’t say that lightly.” More

Households across the UK on Tuesday 4 June watched Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clash on live television in their first debate ahead of the general election.The prime minister hoped to boost his Tory party’s dismal outlook, while Labour’s leader aimed to cement his status as the favourite.Both acknowledged the country’s many problems, from fraying public services to a broken immigration system as they went head-to-head on ITV.But who do the British public think won the first TV debate? More

Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer clashed on live television on Tuesday night (4 June) in the first debate ahead of the general election.The prime minister hoped to boost his Tory party’s dismal outlook, while Labour’s leader aimed to cement his status as the favourite.Both acknowledged the country’s many problems, from fraying public services to a broken immigration system as they went head-to-head on ITV.They were also told – on multiple occasions – to keep the shouting to a minimum by presenter Julie Etchingham.Here, The Independent takes a look at the key moments from the first TV debate. More