News diary 3-9 June: ITV hosts first election debate, Taylor Swift comes to UK, D-Day commemorations

A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.

Julie Etchingham in a TV studio moderating a debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn — Julie Etchingham moderates a debate between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn on ITV ahead of the 2019 general election. Picture: ITV

A look ahead at the key events leading the news agenda next week, from the team at Foresight News.

Leading the week

The second week of campaigning has seen party leaders traversing the country and taking in the joys of travel by train and other less traditional modes of transport, but the last few days for Keir Starmer have been dominated by a row over selections and accusations that the Labour leader is attempting a purge of left-wing candidates ahead of polling day. After Diane Abbott’s 13-month suspension was lifted earlier this week, she and fellow Corbynites including the former think tank director Faiza Shaheen, who narrowly lost in Iain Duncan Smith’s Chingford seat in 2019, complained publicly that they were being barred from standing as Labour candidates on July 4 while choice seats were allocated to pro-Starmer figures Luke Akehurst, Georgia Gould and Josh Simons. The party’s NEC is set to run the rule over the candidate selections at a meeting on Tuesday (June 4), though Starmer attempted to draw a line under one of the contentious issues by saying today that Abbott was ‘free to go forward’ as a Labour candidate.

Labour’s factionalism flare-up is sure to be one of Rishi Sunak’s main attack lines when the party leaders face off at the first TV debate of the campaign on Tuesday evening hosted by ITV’s election veteran Julie Etchingham. While the impact of TV debates on actual voting intentions may be questionable, the opportunity to land a lasting blow or deliver a quotable soundbite is still a useful prize at this stage of the campaign. We’re likely to see a lot of back and forth over the state of the economy and, particularly, plans for post-election taxation, but the presence of an audience means both leaders will need to be mindful of the possibility of being caught out on live TV. In an attempt to avoid any suggestion that ITV’s presidential format is excluding other voices, party leaders from Liberal Democrats, the SNP, Reform UK and the Greens have been invited to participate in a post-debate live programme.

The campaign should take a back seat later in the week as leaders prepare to mark the 80^th anniversary of D-Day on Thursday (June 6) with events in the UK and Normandy. Rishi Sunak joins King Charles, Queen Camilla and the Prince of Wales for the UK’s national commemoration on Southsea Common on Wednesday (June 5), featuring testimonies from D-Day veterans and a Red Arrow display, followed by a community vigil and light show in the evening. A Battle of Britain memorial flight which was due to participate in the commemorations is now in question after the aircraft were temporarily grounded following the death of Squadron Leader Mark Long in Lincolnshire last weekend.

UK commemorations also take place in France on Wednesday, including a Royal British Legion ceremony at the Bayeux War Cemetery attended by Princess Anne and a Commonwealth War Graves Commission service at Bayeux Cathedral, followed by a candlelight vigil which will see 4,500 graves illuminated. The prime minister, King and Queen join in on Thursday – the trio attends the UK’s commemoration at the new British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer, marking the monarch’s first overseas travel since he began cancer treatment earlier this year. Sunak and Prince William represent the UK at the main ceremony on Omaha Beach that afternoon.

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Looking abroad

US President Joe Biden, French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy are among over two dozen world leaders expected at the Omaha Beach ceremony honouring the nearly 160,000 troops that landed in Normandy in 1944. Zelenskyy’s presence means the war in Ukraine is likely to loom large over the gathering given recent Russian advances and the US decision yesterday to allow Ukraine to strike certain targets inside Russia with Western-supplied weapons. Macron has promised to outline further details on France’s support for Ukraine when the pair meet next week.

On Friday (June 7), Biden will deliver what looks set to be a major speech on ‘the importance of defending freedom and democracy’ at Pointe du Hoc, the site of the daring and crucial assault on German gunners by the 2nd US Ranger Battalion led by Lieutenant Colonel James E. Rudder. Russian President Vladimir Putin, who attended events marking the 70^th anniversary of the landings despite the occupation of Crimea earlier that year, has not been invited this time around. He’s set to deliver an address at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on Friday, with comments on Ukraine and the US likely on top of his economic remarks.

Yet more election news next week, starting on Tuesday (June 4) when results from India’s marathon multi-phase polls are announced. Most observers expect Narendra Modi and his BJP to secure another majority despite lowered turnout partly linked to record-breaking heatwaves. On Thursday (June 6), European Parliament elections begin, with voting taking place across the bloc through Sunday (June 9). Far-right candidates across Europe are expected to do well, possibly winning more seats than the centre-right European People’s Party led by current European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who is seeking another term. A good performance from the far-right may complicate von der Leyen’s plans given the European Socialists, Greens, and Liberals have all said they would oppose her reelection if she moves to cooperate with the likes of the hard-right European Conservatives and Reformists group (ECR). Preliminary results are expected on Sunday night.