BBC general election debate LIVE: Penny Mordaunt says Rishi Sunak's decision to leave D-Day commemorations early was 'completely wrong' in fiery start to battle between seven major parties

Stephen Flynn, Westminster Leader hits back at high wait times in Scotland:

Read analysis from MailOnline's deputy political editor David Wilcock on the start of the debate.

Daisy Cooper, Libs Dems

Stephen Flynn, Westminster SNP leader

The two leading women clashed over defence.

Mordaunt took aim at Labour's Rayner for voting to end Trident, the country's nuclear deterrent.

Mordaunt brings up Russian President Vladimir Putin, and says if you're doubting Labour would use that force - 'imagine what Putin is thinking'.

'Without credibility, we become a target', Mordaunt says.

While Rayner hits back saying: 'I will not be lectured by you on this.'

Penny Mordaunt, the Tory leader of the Commons, said:

Angela Rayner, the deputy Labour leader

A conservative spokeswoman has urged voters to back to party:

Five minutes to go until we are underway with the BBC Election debate in London.

We will be providing live updates as well as analysis and reaction throughout - so make sure to follow along!

The post was shared by Angela Rayner, Sir Keir Starmer’s deputy who will be representing him tonight.

Pat McFadden, Labour’s National Campaign Coordinator, speaking ahead of the BBC’s debate, said:

A squirming Rishi Sunak today issued a grovelling apology in front of TV cameras for leaving D-Day commemoration events early.

The embattled Prime Minister, who is facing a huge Tory backlash, admitted that he 'made a mistake' in skipping a major international ceremony in Normandy.

Speaking to broadcasters on a general election campaign visit to Swindon, Wiltshire, Mr Sunak was grilled about veterans saying he had 'let the country down'.

'I care deeply,' the PM insisted, as he called for D-Day events not to be 'politicised'.

It has been reported that Unite the Union, Labour's biggest donor did not support its manifesto.

Sky News reported that this was due to concerns about fire and rehire and the banning of new oil and gas licences.

Senior party figures and associates including union leaders met at a top secret location in Westminster this afternoon to sign off its manifesto for the July 4 vote.

Sir Keir and his top team are expected to face fights over a range of social and geopolitical issues including the fighting in Gaza.

SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn will be leading the charge for his party.

He has been the Westminster representative since 2022, after being elected as an MP in 2019.

The 35-year-old made headlines earlier this year when he called for Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle to step down over his handling of a vote on Gaza.

Ms Denyer has been the co-leader of the greens since 2021.

She has a long history in politics after started campaigning at just 18 years old before becoming a city councillor in Bristol for nine years.

In 2018, she wrote Europe's first Climate Emergency declaration, pushing Bristol to become carbon neutral by 2030 - a measure later adopted by hundreds of councils and the UK Parliament.

She describes herself as bisexual or pansexual and was recognised as one of Bristol’s most influential LGBTQ+ people by media website Bristol Live in 2021.

Rishi Sunak has been heckled while campaigning in Wiltshire.

While speaking about healthcare in the UK a member of crowd got increasingly infuriated at the PM and shouted:

They were discussing filling GP practices with enough qualified doctors.

Deputy leader of the Lib Dems Daisy Cooper will be representing her party in tonight’s head-to-head.

She was finally elected as an MP for St Albans in 2019, after three previous unsuccessful attempts.

The 42-year-old was previously the Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Education in 2021 and the spokesperson for Justice and Digital, Culture, Media and Sport in 2020.

Nigel Farage will be speaking on behalf of Reform UK following his appointment as party leader this week.

The former MEP and face of the Brexit campaign is back hoping, for the eighth time, to win a seat in Government.

He resigned as UKIP leader in 2016 and later helped launch the Brexit Party, which in 2020 rebranded as Reform UK.

It is expected that he will go in hard on Rishi Sunak for missing the end of the D-Day celebrations, while pushing the narrative that his party is the clear alternative to the Tories.

Deputy leader of the Labour party Angela Rayner will be standing in for Keir Stamer tonight.

The 44-year-old was elected an MP in 2015 and became deputy leader five years later.

Her plan for the evening is likely to showcase that the country can’t face another five years under Conservative rule and to disprove allegations made during the ITV debate that the public could face a £2000 tax bill increase under Labour.

Leader of the House of Commons Penny Mordaunt will be representing the Tory party for tonight's debate.

The 51-year-old was elected as an MP in 2010, and has held a number of ministerial posts including being the first female defence secretary in 2019.

She ran unsuccessfully twice to be leader of the Conservatives, following the resignations of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss.

Her aim for the evening is likely to be to limit the fallout from Rishi Sunak leaving the D-Day celebrations early and to push the line that a Labour government will raise taxes.

Good evening and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the BBC election debate which will see seven leading political figures go head-to-head.

The programme will be presented by Mishal Husain in front of a live audience and can be viewed on BBC 1, BBC News and BBC iPlayer from 7:30pm.

We will be providing live updates from the debate as well as analysis and reaction throughout.

Line up:

Conservative Party: Penny Mordaunt

Labour Party: Angela Rayner

Scottish National Party: Stephen Flynn

Liberal Democrats: Daisy Cooper

Green Party: Carla Denyer

Reform Party: Nigel Farage

Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth