PM's D-Day actions a 'letdown for the whole country', says Lib Dems' Davey
PACopyright: PA
A photo showing Lib Dem leader Ed Davey playing tennisImage caption: A photo showing Lib Dem leader Ed Davey playing tennis
A bit more now from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who tells broadcasters he was “flabbergasted” and felt "pretty cross" that Rishi Sunak left early from events to mark D-Day in Normandy earlier this week.
He describes the PM's actions as a "letdown for the whole country".
Davey reiterated his party's call that money donated to the Conservative Party by Frank Hester - who was accused of making racist comments about Labour's Diane Abbott earlier in the year - should be given to a veterans' charity.
A reminder: it was disclosed earlier this week that the Conservative Party accepted £5 million from Hester in January - before his comments about Abbott hit the headlines - and that the party accepted a further £150,000 afterwards.
Hester allegedly said in 2019 that veteran MP Diane Abbott made him "want to hate all black women" and should "be shot".
Hester apologised for making "rude" comments about Ms Abbott but said his remarks "had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin".
Davey says: “I think the Conservative Party should give £5 million of that donation to a veterans' charity. I think if they did that, then people might be able to draw the line.
“But it’s such a letdown for our whole country and our history, and particularly our brave veterans that I think they've got to do more."
A Conservative spokesperson said earlier this week: "Hester has apologised and shown contrition and we consider the matter resolved."
Lib Dem leader: 'What about the potholes?'
BBCCopyright: BBC
Back to Newbury now where Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has been speaking to reporters after his game of tennis. One of topics he was asked was about the Conservatives’ pledge to reverse the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) expansion in London - something we reported on a little earlier.
The Lib Dem leader responded saying: "The Conservatives have had a year to do this since the Labour mayor brought it in, they've not done it. It's funny that they come up with these policies at election time.”
He says what has particularly “angered a lot of people” he's spoken to, who drive into London from areas such as Surrey, Sussex, Hertfordshire and Kent, is that “they didn't get any help for a car scrappage scheme”.
“What about the potholes?” he goes on to add.
"I can't really take the Tories seriously given their record on potholes and roadworks."
BBC Verify
Is the Conservative's claim that Labour will cost working households £2,000 correct?
During last night's debate, Conservative Penny Mordaunt repeated the contested Tory claim that Labour would cost “working households” £2,000. Senior Tory Mark Harper stood by the claim when interviewed by BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning, while Jonathan Reynolds for Labour branded it "lies".
The BBC has looked at the claim made by the Conservatives and found that the figure is misleading, because it is totting up more than £500 a year extra over four years, which is not what you would normally think of if somebody said your taxes were going up by £2,000.
This has been criticised by the statistics regulator.
The Conservatives came up with £2,000 by adding up how much they claim Labour's spending commitments would cost overall and dividing this by the number of UK households with at least one person working.
But their costing is based on some dubious assumptions and Labour disputes it. Like the Conservatives, Labour has promised not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT during the next Parliament.
The prime minister defended the Tories’ claim, saying that "independent Treasury officials have costed Labour's policies", but a letter from the top civil servant at the Treasury said that it "should not be presented as having been produced by the Civil Service".
Davey swings into action ahead of national park announcement
Hamzah Abbas
Reporting from the Lib Dem election bus
BBCCopyright: BBC
We have arrived in Newbury, where Ed Davey and
local Liberal Democrat candidate Lee Dillon are gearing up to play some tennis
ahead of their announcements today.
The Liberal Democrat leader has certainly been
enjoying himself on this campaign and this is the first outing for him today.
He’ll be talking about national parks (see the previous post) ahead of
the party's manifesto launch on Monday.
Lib Dems pledge to create at least three new national parks
BBCCopyright: BBC
Let's take a look now at the Lib Dems' headline pledge today - a plan to create at least three new national parks if they win the election.
Expected to be included in the party's manifesto, it would bring the number of national parks in England up to 13, with the party proposing to spend an extra £50 million a year for the new and existing parks.
Possible locations for the new parks include the Chilterns, the Surrey Hills and the Northumberland coast.
The party has also criticised the Tories for “failing” to deliver on their 2019 manifesto commitment to create new national parks.
Why we're unlikely to hear from the PM today
Tom Symonds
Reporting from the Conservative election bus
BBCCopyright: BBC
Rishi
Sunak’s heading to the North East on the campaign trail today, perhaps in the hope of
talking less about D-Day and more about what he’d do as prime minister.
But
we’ve been told he won’t be talking to us, the national media, and there will be
no interviews. A possible “huddle” - when the PM takes a few questions from
reporters off camera - has been cancelled. We’ve been told this is due to time
pressure.
In
case you wondered, Sunak doesn’t travel on his party’s battle bus. A VIP area at
the back has also remained empty of Conservative candidates over the last two
days.
Today the Tories are focusing on their policies to make cuts to stamp duty for cheaper house
purchases permanent, and say they would force London Mayor Sadiq Khan to “reverse” his ULEZ
scheme, which requires owners of older polluting cars to pay to drive in the capital. The
pro-driver pitch worked well for the Conservatives in a by-election for Boris
Johnson’s old seat, Uxbridge and South Ruislip last year.
Reynolds pressed over why Unite is not backing manifesto
Sticking with Labour's Jonathan Reynolds, the Labour frontbencher is asked about the BBC's report that Labour's biggest trade union backer, Unite, has refused to endorse the party's general election manifesto.
He says the party has agreed its manifesto and it will be launched next week, saying it is "pro-business, pro-worker" which will improve the business and investment climate.
"Where individual unions have a disagreement on certain aspects of policy that is for them," he says.
It's put to Reynolds that it's been reported that Unite says the manifesto does not go far enough on protecting workers' rights, and jobs in the oil and gas industry.
He says Labour is offering a "comprehensive package" on workers' rights which would provide "greater security in the workplace".
On the decision not to grant additional licences for oil and gas projects in the North Sea, he says: "We have got to acknowledge that whatever the future of those additional licences, the North Sea is in decline. We have got to get the transition right."
It's also put to him Unite gave £3 million to Labour for the 2019 general election, and is asked if he has received assurances they will do the same this time. Reynolds says he hasn't, he doesn't deal with that, but says "we don't set policy based on what donations or income are from any particular quarter".
Labour 'candid' it would inherit Conservative tax rises, Reynolds says
BBCCopyright: BBC
We heard from the Conservatives on BBC Breakfast a little earlier, now we can bring you updates from the programme's interview with Labour's Jonathan Reynolds.
He said the Conservatives have told "lies" and made "misleading" statements about his party's tax plans.
In a debate with Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that under Labour, taxes would rise by £2,000 per working household.
Reynolds said there would be "no additional taxes on households under a Labour government when it comes to things like income tax or VAT", but did admit that if his party came to power, "we would inherit the government’s spending plans" which he says include "tax rises".
He gave the example of the personal allowance for income tax which is set be frozen for several years under existing plans, adding he is "candid" they are inheriting those plans, but says "that is not the same as the false claims the Conservative Party have put forward".
He adds that Labour are planning "revenue-raising measures", but he wouldn't describe them as taxes on households, and gives as an example of a proposal to change the tax treatment of income for private equity executives and non-doms.
Harper denies Tories' claims that Labour's tax plans are misleading
We've got a bit more now from Mark Harper who was asked a range of questions on BBC Breakfast.
He was pressed on whether the Conservatives are going to stick by their claims about Labour's tax plans following widespread criticism of how the Tories have presented the information.
The UK statistics watchdog has said anyone who heard Sunak say Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 per working household in Tuesday night's leaders' debate would have no way of knowing that was a sum totalled over four years.
And the PM's claim that "independent Treasury officials" had costed Labour's policies was put in doubt when a top civil servant said they were "not involved" in calculating the figure.
Harper says his party will continue to say Labour would cost working households an extra £2,000 in tax, saying it's been set out "very clearly" in a document how it would cost the average family more than that over a five-year Parliament.
"The costings are either Treasury costings or in a couple of cases they are the Labour Party's own workings," he says, adding "we've made reasonable assumptions, not outlandish assumptions".
Put to him that the programme director at the Institute for Government, Nick Davies, has said that using his team's research to party justify the figure is "misleading", Harper says: "I don't agree."
Labour leader Keir Starmer described the figure as "absolute garbage" while during last night's debate his deputy, Angela Rayner said it was a "lie".
Harper agrees Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early was a 'mistake'
BBCCopyright: BBC
We've just been hearing from senior Conservative Mark Harper on BBC Breakfast.
Asked about Rishi Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early on Thursday, the transport secretary says he agrees with the PM's description of it as as "mistake" and notes Sunak has apologised.
Sunak attended events in the UK and was at the British events in Normandy, Harper adds.
Asked if he would agree with fellow senior Conservative Penny Mordaunt's description of the decision as "completely wrong", Harper says: "It was a mistake. People make mistakes. The prime minister has made a mistake, he has apologised for it."
Seven takeaways from multi-party BBC election debate
BBCCopyright: BBC
Although it was last night, the BBC's election debate is dominating much of this morning's political headlines. If you didn't spend your Friday evening watching 90 minutes of political debate, here's a quick recap of the key takeaways.
1. Mordaunt joins D-Day criticism of Sunak
Rival parties took aim at Rishi Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early on Thursday. The PM has apologised, but the Conservatives' representative in the debate, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, added her own take, describing her leader's decision as "completely wrong".
2. Things got very heated between Mordaunt and Rayner
The random drawing of lots meant the representatives from the Conservatives and Labour were stood side-by-side, and many times in the debate the rest of the participants looked on as these two quarrelled. Although they did shake hands at the end and were seen sharing a laugh.
3. Flynn lands blows on public service cuts
Stephen Flynn, the Scottish National Party's Westminster leader, did well with the audience, winning plenty of applause. Including when he pointing out that students in Scotland don’t pay tuition fees and for his defence of immigration as being “essential” to public services and businesses. But he didn't mention plans for Scottish independence.
4. Farage comes under most fire from Plaid, the Greens and the SNP
Mordaunt largely ignored Nigel Farage, appearing reluctant to attack him head on. The same couldn’t be the said of the smaller parties. The Reform UK leader claimed it was "one versus six" over immigration, arguing that Britain was living through a "population crisis".
5. Tuition fees bring back bad memories for Lib Dems
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper admitted that her party’s decision to break its promise and back a rise in tuition fees - when it was in coalition with the Conservatives in 2010 - was a “sore subject for us, for sure” describing it as a “very difficult decision".
6. The NHS was a major flashpoint
The NHS has been described as being a national religion, but Farage suggested the UK could learn lessons from the French and argued the current model was wrong. For the SNP, Flynn accused him of wanting to privatise it, while the Lib Dem's Cooper said the key thing wasn’t the model but the amount of funding.
7. Smaller parties assume Labour victory
Labour and the Conservatives used the final 30-second statement to attack each other, but three of the remaining five politicians took it as given that Labour will win the election.
The fallout from Rishi Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early dominates today's papers for the second day running.
A reminder: Sunak was widely criticised - even from within his own party - for leaving an event held to honour the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, for which he has apologised.
The FT Weekend quotes a Conservative Party official calling it a "gift for Farage", with papers including the Guardian and the Mirror also giving great prominence to anger in the Tory party over the situation.
"Tories in despair as Sunak D-Day gaffe 'destroys' election hopes", declares the i weekend.
Sunak's decision to leave the event also came under fire during last night's BBC debate. Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt's remarks are on the front page of the Times, where she's quoted as saying the PM was "completely wrong" to have left early.
Away from D-Day, the Telegraph covers the Conservatives' plan to axe stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £425,000, while the Mail takes a different tack to the others, not featuring the election on its front page, instead focusing on the search for missing TV presenter Michael Mosley.
Labour aims to help entrepreneurs and small businesses
Labour
will also be out and about, setting out its proposals to help entrepreneurs and
small businesses.
It says, if it wins the election, it’ll overhaul the
business rates system to help High Street shops, as well as cracking down on
the late payment of invoices.
It follows on from plans the party first announced in November.
The Liberal Democrats also say they would look at overhauling
the business rates system.
Our full story on Labour’s latest policy announcement is here.
Tories to set out stamp duty plans
As
we briefly touched on a moment ago, the Tories are expected to speak about
their plans to permanently scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes worth up to
£425,000, if re-elected.
It
will apply to properties in England and Northern Ireland.
What’s
known as the nil-rate threshold for First Time Buyers’ Relief up to £425,000 is
currently due to expire at the end of March next year.
The
party is also expected to announce that it will bring in a new law, if they
win, to prevent the introduction of any pay-per-mile road taxes, and reverse
the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London.
Good morning and welcome
Good
morning, and welcome to another day of our live election coverage to kickstart
your weekend.
Last
night saw representatives from the seven biggest political parties make their
cases during a BBC election debate.
Today,
out on the campaign trail, the Conservatives are expected to announce a permanent
scrapping of stamp duty for first time buyers of homes costing up to £425,000 in
England and Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile,
Labour will promise to scrap business rates and crack down on late payments to
small firms. It is not immediately clear what Labour would replace business rates with.
The Liberal Democrats and SNP are also expected to be out and about on the campaign trail.
Stay
with us as we catch you up on last night, and look ahead to the day’s campaigning.
Thanks for reading and watching
We're about to pause our coverage - thanks for being with us.
The page editors tonight were Owen Amos and Alex Therrien, with Emily McGarvey, Adam Durbin, Matt Murphy, Cachella Smith, and Chas Geiger writing, and Malu Cursino and Sean Seddon reporting from the spin room.
With a final thought, here's our chief political correspondent, Henry Zeffman:
Video content
Video caption: Henry Zeffman: In the spin room, everyone insists their person won the BBC debateHenry Zeffman: In the spin room, everyone insists their person won the BBC debate
BBC Verify
Lucy Gilder
Nigel Farage’s claim about migrant dependants only true for work visas
Earlier in the debate, Reform UK leader Nigel
Farage was speaking about legal migration.
He
said: “Most of those that come in are not directly productive members of the
economy, most of those who come in are actually dependants.” He later added
“about 50% of those who come are dependants”.
The 50% part of the claim is right about
migrants who arrive in the UK on work visas - which is one of the main drivers
of legal migration into the UK.
Out of all the work visas issued in the year
ending March 2024 - the latest available figures - 48% were issued to dependants.
BBC Verify has not yet found data which shows
how many dependants of migrants work in the UK as “productive members of the
economy”, but we do know that some dependants are entitled to work and cannot
claim benefits.
One snap poll suggests Farage was debate 'winner', ahead of Rayner
Our colleagues on BBC Newsnight have been speaking to Luke Tryl, pollster for research group More in Common UK.
He says: “We have in the past few minutes closed a poll of debate
watchers, which has found the winner of the debate, according to viewers, was
Nigel Farage with 25% followed by Angela Rayner with 19%, followed
by none of the above on 14%."
BBC Verify
Tamara Kovacevic
Are there fewer GPs than at the last election?
Responding to a member of audience who said it was almost impossible to get a doctor’s appointment where he lives in Essex, the Lib Dems' Daisy Cooper said: "The Conservatives promised at the last general election to recruit 6,000 GPs. We now have fewer GPs per head right across our country."
Their pledge referred to England only, because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland manage their own health systems.
Cooper is right that this pledge has not been met, at least in terms of fully qualified GPs.
In December 2019, there were 34,519 full-time equivalent GPs in England - while in April 2024 (the latest available data) the number was 37,327, just over 2,800 higher.
But this number includes GPs in training.
If you look only at the number of fully qualified GPs, the number is down by 523 - from 28,129 in December 2019 to 27,606 in April 2024.
Live Reporting
Edited by Alex Binley
All times stated are UK
Get involved
PM's D-Day actions a 'letdown for the whole country', says Lib Dems' Davey
A bit more now from Lib Dem leader Ed Davey, who tells broadcasters he was “flabbergasted” and felt "pretty cross" that Rishi Sunak left early from events to mark D-Day in Normandy earlier this week.
He describes the PM's actions as a "letdown for the whole country".
Davey reiterated his party's call that money donated to the Conservative Party by Frank Hester - who was accused of making racist comments about Labour's Diane Abbott earlier in the year - should be given to a veterans' charity.
A reminder: it was disclosed earlier this week that the Conservative Party accepted £5 million from Hester in January - before his comments about Abbott hit the headlines - and that the party accepted a further £150,000 afterwards.
Hester allegedly said in 2019 that veteran MP Diane Abbott made him "want to hate all black women" and should "be shot".
Hester apologised for making "rude" comments about Ms Abbott but said his remarks "had nothing to do with her gender nor colour of skin".
Davey says: “I think the Conservative Party should give £5 million of that donation to a veterans' charity. I think if they did that, then people might be able to draw the line.
“But it’s such a letdown for our whole country and our history, and particularly our brave veterans that I think they've got to do more."
A Conservative spokesperson said earlier this week: "Hester has apologised and shown contrition and we consider the matter resolved."
Lib Dem leader: 'What about the potholes?'
Back to Newbury now where Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey has been speaking to reporters after his game of tennis. One of topics he was asked was about the Conservatives’ pledge to reverse the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) expansion in London - something we reported on a little earlier.
The Lib Dem leader responded saying: "The Conservatives have had a year to do this since the Labour mayor brought it in, they've not done it. It's funny that they come up with these policies at election time.”
He says what has particularly “angered a lot of people” he's spoken to, who drive into London from areas such as Surrey, Sussex, Hertfordshire and Kent, is that “they didn't get any help for a car scrappage scheme”.
“What about the potholes?” he goes on to add.
"I can't really take the Tories seriously given their record on potholes and roadworks."
BBC Verify
Is the Conservative's claim that Labour will cost working households £2,000 correct?
During last night's debate, Conservative Penny Mordaunt repeated the contested Tory claim that Labour would cost “working households” £2,000. Senior Tory Mark Harper stood by the claim when interviewed by BBC Breakfast on Saturday morning, while Jonathan Reynolds for Labour branded it "lies".
The BBC has looked at the claim made by the Conservatives and found that the figure is misleading, because it is totting up more than £500 a year extra over four years, which is not what you would normally think of if somebody said your taxes were going up by £2,000.
This has been criticised by the statistics regulator.
The Conservatives came up with £2,000 by adding up how much they claim Labour's spending commitments would cost overall and dividing this by the number of UK households with at least one person working.
But their costing is based on some dubious assumptions and Labour disputes it. Like the Conservatives, Labour has promised not to increase income tax, National Insurance or VAT during the next Parliament.
The prime minister defended the Tories’ claim, saying that "independent Treasury officials have costed Labour's policies", but a letter from the top civil servant at the Treasury said that it "should not be presented as having been produced by the Civil Service".
You can read more about it here.
Davey swings into action ahead of national park announcement
Hamzah Abbas
Reporting from the Lib Dem election bus
We have arrived in Newbury, where Ed Davey and local Liberal Democrat candidate Lee Dillon are gearing up to play some tennis ahead of their announcements today.
The Liberal Democrat leader has certainly been enjoying himself on this campaign and this is the first outing for him today.
He’ll be talking about national parks (see the previous post) ahead of the party's manifesto launch on Monday.
You can see a full list of the candidates standing in Newbury here.
Lib Dems pledge to create at least three new national parks
Let's take a look now at the Lib Dems' headline pledge today - a plan to create at least three new national parks if they win the election.
Expected to be included in the party's manifesto, it would bring the number of national parks in England up to 13, with the party proposing to spend an extra £50 million a year for the new and existing parks.
Possible locations for the new parks include the Chilterns, the Surrey Hills and the Northumberland coast.
The party has also criticised the Tories for “failing” to deliver on their 2019 manifesto commitment to create new national parks.
Why we're unlikely to hear from the PM today
Tom Symonds
Reporting from the Conservative election bus
Rishi Sunak’s heading to the North East on the campaign trail today, perhaps in the hope of talking less about D-Day and more about what he’d do as prime minister.
But we’ve been told he won’t be talking to us, the national media, and there will be no interviews. A possible “huddle” - when the PM takes a few questions from reporters off camera - has been cancelled. We’ve been told this is due to time pressure.
In case you wondered, Sunak doesn’t travel on his party’s battle bus. A VIP area at the back has also remained empty of Conservative candidates over the last two days.
Today the Tories are focusing on their policies to make cuts to stamp duty for cheaper house purchases permanent, and say they would force London Mayor Sadiq Khan to “reverse” his ULEZ scheme, which requires owners of older polluting cars to pay to drive in the capital. The pro-driver pitch worked well for the Conservatives in a by-election for Boris Johnson’s old seat, Uxbridge and South Ruislip last year.
Reynolds pressed over why Unite is not backing manifesto
Sticking with Labour's Jonathan Reynolds, the Labour frontbencher is asked about the BBC's report that Labour's biggest trade union backer, Unite, has refused to endorse the party's general election manifesto.
He says the party has agreed its manifesto and it will be launched next week, saying it is "pro-business, pro-worker" which will improve the business and investment climate.
"Where individual unions have a disagreement on certain aspects of policy that is for them," he says.
It's put to Reynolds that it's been reported that Unite says the manifesto does not go far enough on protecting workers' rights, and jobs in the oil and gas industry.
He says Labour is offering a "comprehensive package" on workers' rights which would provide "greater security in the workplace".
On the decision not to grant additional licences for oil and gas projects in the North Sea, he says: "We have got to acknowledge that whatever the future of those additional licences, the North Sea is in decline. We have got to get the transition right."
It's also put to him Unite gave £3 million to Labour for the 2019 general election, and is asked if he has received assurances they will do the same this time. Reynolds says he hasn't, he doesn't deal with that, but says "we don't set policy based on what donations or income are from any particular quarter".
Labour 'candid' it would inherit Conservative tax rises, Reynolds says
We heard from the Conservatives on BBC Breakfast a little earlier, now we can bring you updates from the programme's interview with Labour's Jonathan Reynolds.
He said the Conservatives have told "lies" and made "misleading" statements about his party's tax plans.
In a debate with Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that under Labour, taxes would rise by £2,000 per working household.
Reynolds said there would be "no additional taxes on households under a Labour government when it comes to things like income tax or VAT", but did admit that if his party came to power, "we would inherit the government’s spending plans" which he says include "tax rises".
He gave the example of the personal allowance for income tax which is set be frozen for several years under existing plans, adding he is "candid" they are inheriting those plans, but says "that is not the same as the false claims the Conservative Party have put forward".
He adds that Labour are planning "revenue-raising measures", but he wouldn't describe them as taxes on households, and gives as an example of a proposal to change the tax treatment of income for private equity executives and non-doms.
Harper denies Tories' claims that Labour's tax plans are misleading
We've got a bit more now from Mark Harper who was asked a range of questions on BBC Breakfast.
He was pressed on whether the Conservatives are going to stick by their claims about Labour's tax plans following widespread criticism of how the Tories have presented the information.
The UK statistics watchdog has said anyone who heard Sunak say Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 per working household in Tuesday night's leaders' debate would have no way of knowing that was a sum totalled over four years.
And the PM's claim that "independent Treasury officials" had costed Labour's policies was put in doubt when a top civil servant said they were "not involved" in calculating the figure.
Harper says his party will continue to say Labour would cost working households an extra £2,000 in tax, saying it's been set out "very clearly" in a document how it would cost the average family more than that over a five-year Parliament.
"The costings are either Treasury costings or in a couple of cases they are the Labour Party's own workings," he says, adding "we've made reasonable assumptions, not outlandish assumptions".
Put to him that the programme director at the Institute for Government, Nick Davies, has said that using his team's research to party justify the figure is "misleading", Harper says: "I don't agree."
Labour leader Keir Starmer described the figure as "absolute garbage" while during last night's debate his deputy, Angela Rayner said it was a "lie".
Harper agrees Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early was a 'mistake'
We've just been hearing from senior Conservative Mark Harper on BBC Breakfast.
Asked about Rishi Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early on Thursday, the transport secretary says he agrees with the PM's description of it as as "mistake" and notes Sunak has apologised.
Sunak attended events in the UK and was at the British events in Normandy, Harper adds.
Asked if he would agree with fellow senior Conservative Penny Mordaunt's description of the decision as "completely wrong", Harper says: "It was a mistake. People make mistakes. The prime minister has made a mistake, he has apologised for it."
Seven takeaways from multi-party BBC election debate
Although it was last night, the BBC's election debate is dominating much of this morning's political headlines. If you didn't spend your Friday evening watching 90 minutes of political debate, here's a quick recap of the key takeaways.
1. Mordaunt joins D-Day criticism of Sunak
Rival parties took aim at Rishi Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early on Thursday. The PM has apologised, but the Conservatives' representative in the debate, Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt, added her own take, describing her leader's decision as "completely wrong".
2. Things got very heated between Mordaunt and Rayner
The random drawing of lots meant the representatives from the Conservatives and Labour were stood side-by-side, and many times in the debate the rest of the participants looked on as these two quarrelled. Although they did shake hands at the end and were seen sharing a laugh.
3. Flynn lands blows on public service cuts
Stephen Flynn, the Scottish National Party's Westminster leader, did well with the audience, winning plenty of applause. Including when he pointing out that students in Scotland don’t pay tuition fees and for his defence of immigration as being “essential” to public services and businesses. But he didn't mention plans for Scottish independence.
4. Farage comes under most fire from Plaid, the Greens and the SNP
Mordaunt largely ignored Nigel Farage, appearing reluctant to attack him head on. The same couldn’t be the said of the smaller parties. The Reform UK leader claimed it was "one versus six" over immigration, arguing that Britain was living through a "population crisis".
5. Tuition fees bring back bad memories for Lib Dems
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper admitted that her party’s decision to break its promise and back a rise in tuition fees - when it was in coalition with the Conservatives in 2010 - was a “sore subject for us, for sure” describing it as a “very difficult decision".
6. The NHS was a major flashpoint
The NHS has been described as being a national religion, but Farage suggested the UK could learn lessons from the French and argued the current model was wrong. For the SNP, Flynn accused him of wanting to privatise it, while the Lib Dem's Cooper said the key thing wasn’t the model but the amount of funding.
7. Smaller parties assume Labour victory
Labour and the Conservatives used the final 30-second statement to attack each other, but three of the remaining five politicians took it as given that Labour will win the election.
Read more here, on what you missed.
Electioncast: The big BBC debate
Missed the election debate last night? Listen to Adam Fleming and Laura Kuenssberg on the latest episode of Newscast to hear the key moments and analysis.
What's on the front pages?
The fallout from Rishi Sunak's decision to leave D-Day events early dominates today's papers for the second day running.
A reminder: Sunak was widely criticised - even from within his own party - for leaving an event held to honour the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings, for which he has apologised.
The FT Weekend quotes a Conservative Party official calling it a "gift for Farage", with papers including the Guardian and the Mirror also giving great prominence to anger in the Tory party over the situation.
"Tories in despair as Sunak D-Day gaffe 'destroys' election hopes", declares the i weekend.
Sunak's decision to leave the event also came under fire during last night's BBC debate. Commons Leader Penny Mordaunt's remarks are on the front page of the Times, where she's quoted as saying the PM was "completely wrong" to have left early.
Away from D-Day, the Telegraph covers the Conservatives' plan to axe stamp duty for first-time buyers on properties worth up to £425,000, while the Mail takes a different tack to the others, not featuring the election on its front page, instead focusing on the search for missing TV presenter Michael Mosley.
Read the full paper review here.
Labour aims to help entrepreneurs and small businesses
Labour will also be out and about, setting out its proposals to help entrepreneurs and small businesses.
It says, if it wins the election, it’ll overhaul the business rates system to help High Street shops, as well as cracking down on the late payment of invoices.
It follows on from plans the party first announced in November.
The Liberal Democrats also say they would look at overhauling the business rates system.
Our full story on Labour’s latest policy announcement is here.
Tories to set out stamp duty plans
As we briefly touched on a moment ago, the Tories are expected to speak about their plans to permanently scrap stamp duty for first-time buyers on homes worth up to £425,000, if re-elected.
It will apply to properties in England and Northern Ireland.
What’s known as the nil-rate threshold for First Time Buyers’ Relief up to £425,000 is currently due to expire at the end of March next year.
You can read more about the plans here.
The party is also expected to announce that it will bring in a new law, if they win, to prevent the introduction of any pay-per-mile road taxes, and reverse the expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone in London.
Good morning and welcome
Good morning, and welcome to another day of our live election coverage to kickstart your weekend.
Last night saw representatives from the seven biggest political parties make their cases during a BBC election debate.
Today, out on the campaign trail, the Conservatives are expected to announce a permanent scrapping of stamp duty for first time buyers of homes costing up to £425,000 in England and Northern Ireland.
Meanwhile, Labour will promise to scrap business rates and crack down on late payments to small firms. It is not immediately clear what Labour would replace business rates with.
The Liberal Democrats and SNP are also expected to be out and about on the campaign trail.
Stay with us as we catch you up on last night, and look ahead to the day’s campaigning.
Thanks for reading and watching
We're about to pause our coverage - thanks for being with us.
The page editors tonight were Owen Amos and Alex Therrien, with Emily McGarvey, Adam Durbin, Matt Murphy, Cachella Smith, and Chas Geiger writing, and Malu Cursino and Sean Seddon reporting from the spin room.
With a final thought, here's our chief political correspondent, Henry Zeffman:
Video content
BBC Verify
Lucy Gilder
Nigel Farage’s claim about migrant dependants only true for work visas
Earlier in the debate, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was speaking about legal migration.
He said: “Most of those that come in are not directly productive members of the economy, most of those who come in are actually dependants.” He later added “about 50% of those who come are dependants”.
The 50% part of the claim is right about migrants who arrive in the UK on work visas - which is one of the main drivers of legal migration into the UK.
Out of all the work visas issued in the year ending March 2024 - the latest available figures - 48% were issued to dependants.
But when you look at the total number of visas issued in the same period (about 1.4 million), about a third (400,000) went to dependants.
BBC Verify has not yet found data which shows how many dependants of migrants work in the UK as “productive members of the economy”, but we do know that some dependants are entitled to work and cannot claim benefits.
One snap poll suggests Farage was debate 'winner', ahead of Rayner
Our colleagues on BBC Newsnight have been speaking to Luke Tryl, pollster for research group More in Common UK.
He says: “We have in the past few minutes closed a poll of debate watchers, which has found the winner of the debate, according to viewers, was Nigel Farage with 25% followed by Angela Rayner with 19%, followed by none of the above on 14%."
BBC Verify
Tamara Kovacevic
Are there fewer GPs than at the last election?
Responding to a member of audience who said it was almost impossible to get a doctor’s appointment where he lives in Essex, the Lib Dems' Daisy Cooper said: "The Conservatives promised at the last general election to recruit 6,000 GPs. We now have fewer GPs per head right across our country."
It is true that the Conservatives pledged 6,000 more doctors in general practice by 2024-25.
Their pledge referred to England only, because Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland manage their own health systems.
Cooper is right that this pledge has not been met, at least in terms of fully qualified GPs.
In December 2019, there were 34,519 full-time equivalent GPs in England - while in April 2024 (the latest available data) the number was 37,327, just over 2,800 higher.
But this number includes GPs in training.
If you look only at the number of fully qualified GPs, the number is down by 523 - from 28,129 in December 2019 to 27,606 in April 2024.