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Sir Keir Starmer has distanced himself from Emily Thornberry’s suggestion that Labour’s plan to add VAT to private school fees would lead to larger class sizes in the state sector.The shadow attorney general said on Sunday, 9 June, that “it would be fine if we have to, in the short term, have larger classes”, amid concerns the policy could force pupils to leave private schools.Shadow education secretary Bridget Phillipson said the suggestion “just wasn’t right”.“We’ve had the analysis by the IFS (Institute for Fiscal Studies) on this, which says that there’ll be a negligible impact. So we’re very confident about that,” the Labour leader added. More

A Tory aide stopped a Sky News interview with Richard Holden as the party chairman sought to avoid questions about how he landed a plum Conservative constituency.Mr Holden, until recently the MP for North West Durham, was the sole candidate presented on what was expected to be a shortlist of three names for the Basildon and Billericay seat.He was asked about the “stitch-up” process that led to his candidacy, beginning his answer with the words “Emily Thornberry” before he was cut off by Jon Craig.An off-camera CCHQ advisor then interrupted to complain about the questions and terminate the interview. More

A Labour general election candidate has parachuted into Normandy to raise money for the Royal British Legion.Bayo Alaba marked the 80th anniversary of D-Day by joining other veterans to land in the same drop zone that Second World War soldiers did in June 1944.“This was my small homage to our forebears who gave everything for us on those beaches 80 years ago,” Mr Alaba wrote, sharing a video of his jump on social media on Sunday 9 June.While the Labour candidate for Southend East and Rochford made the jump for charity, he was mocked by Conservative councillor Daniel Nelson.Angela Rayner has since accused the Tories of smearing Mr Alaba. More

Nigel Farage has described Rishi Sunak as “utterly disconnected by class and privilege” from “ordinary” people.The Reform UK leader launched another attack on the prime minister over his D-Day blunder, suggesting Mr Suank has lost “millions” of Conservative voters after his early return from commemorations in Normandy.“He is utterly disconnected – by class, by privilege – from how the ordinary folk in this country feel,” Mr Farage said of Mr Sunak.“He revealed that – I think spectacularly – when he left Normandy early.”Mr Farage added that the PM made the “biggest mistake of his political career” on D-Day. More

A Reform UK candidate has bizarrely suggested he realised the UK needed to “re-examine” immigration after coming through an airport arrivals lounge.George Woodward, who is standing in the Leigh and Atherton Constituency, told The News Agents podcast that he wanted to get involved with Reform due to “the state of the country”.“Mainly migration is what drives me to get involved,” he said.“I had a moment last year – I was coming through an airport. I was at the arrivals, the British border. And I was like ‘wow, there’s a lot of people coming in here’”.Mr Woodward went on to accept that “some” of the people he saw in the arrivals lounge would have been tourists or British people coming back from abroad. More

Penny Mordaunt and Angela Rayner were all smiles minutes after a heated exchange over taxes at Friday’s election debate.The pair clashed repeatedly during the 90-minute discussion, broadcast by the BBC, with the Tory Commons leader appearing to focus her attacks on Labour’s deputy leader rather than the rest of the seven party representatives.After a shouting match over Ms Mordaunt’s claim that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 – which Ms Rayner described as a “lie” – the pair shared a friendly handshake and a smile as the debate went off the air. 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

The Liberal Democrat’s deputy leader described Rishi Sunak as “shameful” for leaving D-Day memorial events early as she recalled her late grandfather’s memories of the fateful day.Speaking on the BBC general election live debate on Friday (7 June), Daisy Cooper said: “It was not only politically shameful but I think many of us feel personally insulted. “I started yesterday morning watching a recording made by the Royal Mint of my late grandfather where he recounts catching his best friend who fell from the top of a Sherman tank and who was shot in the head as he waded through the water. “He recounted in his words, men blown to pieces, hands, legs and heads. If he had been there yesterday and seen the prime minister walk away from him, I would find that completely and utterly unforgivable.” More