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Labour and the Conservatives renewed hostilities in the second TV debate of the campaign, with Angela Rayner and Penny Mordaunt clashing over taxes, defence and the cost of living in a series of bad-tempered exchanges.

In an echo of Tuesday’s head-to-head debate between Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, Mordaunt, the Commons leader, several times raised the much-criticised idea that Labour would increase household taxes by £2,000, bringing derision from Rayner, and corrections from the BBC1 host, Mishal Husain.

Another recurring theme of the seven-way debate was representatives of the smaller parties clashing with Nigel Farage, as the Reform UK leader made contentious points on areas including immigration, crime and net zero.

Read the Guardian's analysis of the debate here

It's been a fairly torrid week for Rishi Sunak, and now... Count Binface has announced he will be standing in the general election and taking on “the biggest fish of the lot” in the PM's constituency in North Yorkshire.

In his podcast Trash Talk, Count Binface confirmed on Friday that he will be standing as a candidate in Richmond and Northallerton, which has been held by Sunak since 2015.

Read the full story here

One of the key questions in tonight's debate was how the parties would deal with the NHS.

It followed an uncomfortable confrontation between Sunak and an out-of-work GP earlier in the day.

Read the full write-up of the incident from Sky News here

Here is a round-up from journalists at the PA news agency looking at rundown of the key moments.

D-Day row rumbles on

The debate started with the row over the Prime Minister’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early on Thursday.

Penny Mordaunt said Rishi Sunak’s call was “completely wrong” and added: “I’m from Portsmouth, I have also been defence secretary and my wish is, at the end of this week, is that all of our veterans feel completely treasured.”

The former defence secretary said the issue should not become “a political football” but Reform UK’s Nigel Farage, who went to Normandy himself, replied: “It already is, because the veterans themselves are speaking out saying he’s let the country down.”

First applause goes to SNP…

…on the much-trodden debate over tuition fees, which are capped for Scottish students who want to study there at £1,820 in the 2023/24 academic year, compared with £9,250 in England and Wales. For most Scottish undergraduates, the £1,820 “home fee” is paid by the Student Awards Agency Scotland.

A medical student asked the candidates how they can ensure that she will graduate into a functioning NHS.

Mr Flynn said: “Given that you’re going to university to study medicine I think it’s also important to remind everyone in this audience the difference between the SNP and the Westminster parties. In an SNP-controlled Scotland you would not pay a single penny in tuition fees for your studies, what a difference that would make.”

Candidates re-tread budget lines

“Labour’s plans to tax your future pension, senior nurses and doctors, is going to get healthcare professionals to leave the service. That is going to lead to more waiting lists,” Ms Mordaunt said.

“Penny, that’s rubbish and you’ve just said we need a strong economy – you backed Liz Truss and crashed our economy,” Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner replied.

Ms Mordaunt added: “Angela Rayner’s party – Keir Starmer confirmed this earlier this week – they are going to put up your taxes by £2,000 per working household.”

The controversial figure has made headlines, with the Labour leader accusing Mr Sunak of lying about how the sum was calculated, and Ms Rayner also branded the allegation “a lie” during the debate.

Nigel Farage claims it was “one vs six” over immigration

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed he was “on a platform tonight with six other people whose parties have been wholly unconcerned” with immigration.

SNP Westminster leader Mr Flynn said voters had been “led down the garden path by the right wing in British politics for far too long. We need to stand against it, we need to promote our economy, promote our public services, and do so by promoting migration”.

However, Reform UK leader and Clacton candidate Mr Farage said he wanted to inject some “logic” into the discussion, to which Mr Flynn replied: “That would be a novelty for you.”

Penny Mordaunt said during the debate that Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner and others had “recently” voted against the UK’s nuclear deterrent.

Mordaunt said: “Angela Rayner voted recently, along with the guy that wants to be your foreign secretary and half the Labour front bench, to end our nuclear deterrent.”

Rayner and other Labour MPs voted against the renewal of the Trident nuclear programme. That happened in 2016.

The facts

The vote on replacing the UK’s four Trident nuclear missile submarines was taken on 18 July, 2016. It passed parliament, with a majority of Labour MPs voting for the renewal.

However Rayner was one of the 48 Labour MPs – and 117 MPs in total – who voted against the renewal.

So was David Lammy, who is Labour’s shadow foreign secretary.

However, last year Lammy said he has an “unshakeable” commitment to the nuclear deterrent. In June 2024 he said that the events in Ukraine had helped change his mind.

Rayner said this year that she has “never supported unilateral disarmament”.

Penny Mordaunt confirmed during the debate that the Conservative Party will publish its election manifesto next week.

"You have already heard some announcements and you'll see more in our manifesto next week. We have got to cut people's taxes and we have got to alleviate burdens on business," said Mordaunt, who was in charge of parliamentary business in Rishi Sunak's government.

Britain's opposition Labour Party is also expected to release its manifesto next week ahead of the July 4 election.

One of the early talking points of the debate was Rishi Sunak's decision to leave the D-Day 80th anniversary events early to record an election campaign TV interview.

Penny Mordaunt, a Navy reservist, said it was right that Sunak apologised not only to veterans but to the public, although she added it should not become “a political football”.

The Commons leader said: “What happened was completely wrong, and the Prime Minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us.

“I’m from Portsmouth, I have also been defence secretary and my wish is at the end of this week is that all of our veterans feel completely treasured.”

Read a full report of how the politicians reacted to Sunak here

The leaders were asked for their closing statements:

Angela Rayner pledged change, boosting police, hiring thousands of new teachers and smashing criminal immigration gangs

Stephen Flynn said the SNP would put Scotland first in Westminster, take action on the NHS, rejoin the EU and deliver on net zero.

Carla Denyer said Keir Starmer had changed the Labour Party "into the Conservatives" she said the Green Party offered real hop and real change.

Rhun ap Iorwerth said Plaid Cymru gave a positive vision that there is a real chance to send Labour a message to stop taking Wales for granted.

Penny Mordaunt said there was a choice between Labour's high taxes and high bills or stick with the Tories' "Plan that is work" and pledged tax cuts and pensions.

Daisy Cooper said the country was crying out for change and pledged the Liberal Democrats would fix the NHS and social care.

Nigel Farage said he was the only person who didn't need an autocue, branded everyone else's arguments "pathetic" and said Reform would become a political phenomenon.

Viewers watching the debate appeared to question the Tories' record on crime.

The leaders were asked about keeping teenagers safe from knife crime.

Nigel Farage pushed stop and search and said people were scared of being accused of being racist if stop and search was performed in areas with a high number of black and ethnic minority people.

Daisy Cooper said there was a need to bring back community policing, she said stop and search was sometimes useful but that "suspicionless stop and search" had been used incorrectly and was not helpful.

Farage responded "we're scared of our own shadow here".

Mordaunt said the Tories had more than halved crime but said there were hotspots for knife crime.

"If you live in a Labour area you are 40% more likely to be a victim of crime," she claimed.

Angela Rayner said young people did not feel safe. "It's really sad when I go round my schools and talk to young people - they're frightened." Seh said young people who were scared of knife crime were more likely to carry a knife, and said young people needed to be educated and more police were needed.

The Tories added 20,000 police but cut 22,000 police, Rayner added.

Angela Rayner has bitten back at Penny Mordaunt as she repeatedly attempted to talk over her.

"We've just listened to you, Penny," Rayner said, while Mordaunt was reminded by host Mishal Husain that Rayner was mid-answer.

Penny Mordaunt was accused of following Rishi Sunak's 'shouty' style...

The election has burst into life this week. Nigel Farage's decision to stand for election in Clacton, Essex, was swiftly followed by the first significant moment of controversy that saw Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak wrangle over disputed claims about Labour tax increases.

As the parties once again clash over tax claims during this debate - what is going on?

Read the full story from Yahoo News.

Answering a question over whether climate policies or economic growth, Nigel Farage said the UK was sacrificing economic growth and manufacturing for a "fool's paradise" in which emissions were simply outsourced elsewhere.

He also added that China was building 80 coal-fire power stations every year.

Farage said the UK has been pursuing unrealistic climate policies. He described them as “impossible and unaffordable”. And that the UK has been “sacrificing economic growth”.

Responding to the Reform UK leader, Greens co-leader Carla Denyer said: “Nigel Farage has been misleading you. I’m an engineer. I used to work in the renewable energy sector. So much of what he said is simply untrue.”

As Farage talked over her, Denyer said that while the Conservatives and Reform UK could not be trusted on the climate issue, Labour had also rowed back on solving the climate crisis after dropping a flagship a flagship £28bn a year green investment pledge.

Farage's comments on immigration prompted an immediate backlash on social media.

"We've had this clown personality before with Boris Johnson," Angela Rayner said, as she answered a question about election promises. She said Labour would not make any promises they could not fund and said Labour "will not put taxes up for working people of this country."

Nigel Farage has said the political model is broken, and claimed Labour and the Tories "do not disagree on anything".

He said "we need a revolt against this system" and added there needed to be proportional representation and a new kind of politics to get real change.

The audience laughed as Penny Mordaunt was asked to be the first to answer a question on why politicians made promises when they wanted votes but did nothing when they were in power.

Mordaunt said plans were in place and said she was worried about her constituents not being able to afford life under Labour - she said the Tories were pledging to cut taxes and claimed Labour was putting up taxes.

Mordaunt was reminded that personal taxes were rising under the Conservatives. She claimed they had to fund things like furlough, as well as the global energy crisis.

She once again claimed Labour would put up taxes by £2000 - and was told by host Mishal Husain that those figures had not been fully provided by the Treasury.

Angela Rayner. talking about the cost of living said the Tories should "never forget" that they crashed the economy and blamed them for the cost of living crisis.

Penny Mordaunt said the UK was outperforming America on growth and Europe on inflation and said the way to keep this growing was to put more money in people's pockets. "we have got to cut people's taxes and we have got to alleviate the burden on taxes".

Mordaunt claimed Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 (repeating what Rishi Sunak said in the first debate) - prompting Rayner to respond: "That is a lie."

Mordaunt was reminded by the host that this figure had been disputed.

"That is absolute rubbish," said Rayner as the pair began talking over one another. "We have guaranteed that we will not raise taxes for working people."

Finally able to get a word in, Carla Denyer said: "Well that was terribly dignified," prompting applause from the audience.

Social media is focused on the clashes between labour's Angela Rayner and Conservative Penny Mordaunt in the first third of the debate.

A question has come from the audience about whether immigration is to blame for him being unable to get a doctor's appointment.

Lorenzo asked: “I’m struggling to find a house. I’ve noticed the roads are busier and it’s almost impossible to get a doctors appointment. I think immigration is partly to blame. What are the parties going to do about immigration."

Stephen Flynn told people to "rise up" and talk about the benefits of migration. he said people were "being led down the garden path by the right wing in British politics for too long" and that promoting migration was good for public services.

“Migration is absolutely essential to our public services, it’s absolutely essential to our businesses and it is absolutely essential to our economy," he said.

"What we need to do is end the demonisation of migration. We need migrants. And this race to the bottom on migration is driven by Nigel Farage, followed by the Conservative Party and hotly chased by the Labour Party and does not serve Scotland’s interests or your interests. So rise up against it.”

Nigel Farage responded that net migration had risen under Labour and the Conservatives. "Most of those that come in are not productive members of the economy," he said. "most of them are dependents."

He claimed there was "a population crisis" that was "making us poorer and diminishing our quality of life."

Green Party co-leader Carla Denyer accused Farage of being "cold hearted" by not wanting workers' families to join them in the UK, and added "if you meet a migrant in the NHS they are more likely to be treating you than be ahead of you in the queue".

Nigel Farage said the NHS doesn't work. "we're spending over 11% of the national cake on the NHS," he said. "The more money we spend, the less delivery we get - which means the model is wrong."

Stephen Flynn interrupted him to say "He is telling us that he doesn't believe in the NHS."

Farage replied that France had better results on health markers than the UK because it spent money differently.

Giving his own answer about the NHS, Flynn said: “As someone who was under the care of the NHS from the age of 14 to 32 - because I was a disabled man and I wouldn’t be standing here today if it wasn’t for for the wonderful treatment I received from the NHS - I know what it is to live in chronic pain and have that removed.”

Flynn received a round of applause when telling a member of the audience studying medicine that, in Scotland, she would not have to “pay a single penny in tuition fees for your studies”.

The parties were asked how they could guarantee the future of the NHS.

Cooper said the Liberal Democrats would fix the front door to the NHS with 80,000 more GPs, and "fix and offer free personal care - that means you can get the help you need when you need it". Cooper said they would be looking to big companies to fund fixing public services.

The SNP's Stephen Flynn was asked about Scotland's record waits for treatment. He said these were driven by a COVID backlog and Westminster's austerity agenda. "Tories and Labour both know they are going to cut public sector investments," he said.

Angel Rayner said it was "not true" that there were cuts coming down the line, ending the non-dom loophole to provide more NHS appointments. She was asked about the IFS report that the Labour and Tory party needed to find cuts or raise taxes to fund their plans. Rayner added that all roads led to the Tories when it came to NHS struggles.

Penny Mordaunt said the only people who have ever cut the NHS budget were "Labour, in Wales". We need to "increase the number of healthcare professionals we have" said Mordaunt, and "retain them".

Rayner received a round of applause after pointedly criticising Penny Mordaunt after she said the NHS was reliant on a strong economy to fund the NHS.

“You’ve just said we need a strong economy. You backed Liz Truss and she crashed our economy,” Rayner said. “You made people like me redundant when we were in the home care service.”

Asked about the armed forces, Reform's Nigel Farage said they would recruit 30,000 people into the armed forces and took a jab at Rishi Sunak for deserting D-Day commemorations before the end of the day.

Farage said we must “respect our veterans, including those - with an average age of 100 - who were deserted by the prime minister in Normandy yesterday, which I think was a complete and utter disgrace and shows us a very unpatriotic prime minister. It was dreadful.”

“The veterans themselves are speaking out saying he’s let the country down. If his instinct was the same as the British people he would never have contemplated for a moment not being there for the big international ceremony and it shows how disconnected he is with the people of this country.”

What happened was wrong, Conservative Penny Mordaunt agreed, before saying that Sunak had apologised for his actions.

The Commons leader said: “What happened was completely wrong and the prime minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us.

“I’m from Portsmouth, I have also been defence secretary and my wish is, at the end of this week, is that all of our veterans feel completely treasured.”

Asked if she would have left D-Day commemorations early, Mordaunt said: “I didn’t go to D-Day. I think what happened was very wrong, I think the prime inister has apologised for that.

“But what I also think is important is we honour their legacy, they fought for our freedom, and unless we are spending the right amount on defence we can’t honour that legacy.”

Host Mishal Husain has introduced the debate - the first question is about how the parties will ensure the country is safe from major conflict.

Angela Rayner said that was Labour committed to the triple lock on nuclear deterrent, and to the 2.5% spending of GDP.

The Liberal Democrat candidate Daisy Cooper said it was a priority to reverse cuts to troops, would increase spending on defence year on year to reach 2.5% by next Parliament and provide homes for armed forces.

Tonight's debate, moderated by Mishal Husain and filmed in London, will be between leading figures from Labour, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, the Scottish National Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party.

Read the full story from the Manchester Evening News.

One of the UK’s largest trade unions has declined to endorse the Labour election manifesto after accusing the party of weakening its package of workers’ rights.

Unite refused to give its backing to the final version of the policy document, which was signed off on at Labour’s closed-doors Clause V meeting on Friday.

Read the full story from PA.

Tonight’s seven-way debate might be billed as the first chance to see all of the major parties head to head, but in truth we will all likely be watching The Nigel Farage Show.

And on a day when Rishi Sunak has had to apologise for leaving the D-Day commemorations early, the 90-minute BBC special could resemble a firing squad for Tory representative Penny Mordaunt.

Read the full story from The Telegraph.

General election campaigning will resume with a bang on Friday after Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer largely paused political activities to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday.

Sunak left the ceremony on Omaha Beach, Normandy, before it had finished to defend claims he had made about Sir Keir Starmer’s tax plans in an ITV interview.

Read the full story from The Telegraph.

Rishi Sunak’s election campaign has been thrown into disarray after the prime minister was forced to apologise for skipping a major international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in order to take part in a TV interview.

How did the saga unfold? Read the full story from PA.

The first head-to-head clash between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer on June 4 kicked off a series of TV debates in the countdown to the general election.

Millions of viewers tuned in to watch the Prime Minister take on the Labour leader on ITV for the first of a slew of political debates happening to win over voters ahead of July 4.

Read the full story from The Telegraph.

Nigel Farage is to make his first TV debate appearance as he continues in his goal for Reform UK to "take over" the Conservative Party.

Farage launched his general election campaign in Clacton-on-Sea, Essex, this week after announcing he would take over the leadership of Reform, telling a crowd of hundreds of people: “Send me to parliament to be a bloody nuisance.”

Read the full story from Yahoo News.

Read some of the predictions for tonight's debate:

The outlook was already looking bleak for the Conservative Party when Rishi Sunak called the general election following months of dismal approval ratings that showed little sign of improving.

At a campaign event last week, Sunak said he didn't think defeat to Labour was a "foregone conclusion", suggesting his main election rival Sir Keir Starmer was taking the British electorate "for granted".

However, a general election projection released on Monday will have added to the Tories' woes – predicting the biggest win for Labour in the party's history, surpassing even that of Tony Blair's 1997 landslide.

Read the full story from Yahoo News.

Ahead of tonight's debate, the top talking point of the past 24 hours has been the backlash to Rishi Sunak skipping a major international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in order to take part in a TV interview.

Sunak took the extraordinary step of saying sorry for his “mistake” on Thursday morning in a social media post.

He repeated his apology in an awkward exchange with broadcasters on the campaign trail later in the day.

He insisted he “stuck to the itinerary that had been set for me as prime minister weeks ago”, suggesting he had never intended to go to the centrepiece of the D-Day commemorations, even before he called the election.

“On reflection, that was a mistake and I apologise,” Sunak said, as he urged people not to “politicise this”.

Overly aggressive exchanges in TV debates “turn the public off”, Scotland's first minister John Swinney has said.

As with other election campaigns since 2010, televised debates between political leaders will be a fixture ahead of the July 4 vote, with a Scottish event and another between Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer already having taken place.

Read the full story from PA.