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| Trump and Macron address veterans in Portsmouth D-day commemoration – live news | Trump and Macron address veterans in Portsmouth D-day commemoration – live news |
| (32 minutes later) | |
| The events on the stage end with Sheridan Smith singing the wartime classic We’ll meet again. | |
| Now an RAF flypast is taking place. | |
| The Queen is speaking now. | |
| She says when she attended the 60th anniversary D-day event some people thought it would be the last event of its kind. But the wartime generation, “my generation”, is resilient, and she is delighted to be here. | |
| She says 75 years ago hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors and airmen left these shores in the cause of freedom. At the time her father, King George VI, said what was required was more than courage; it was a revival of spirit. | |
| She says many of those young people never returned. | |
| It is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the country and the whole free world, that she says thank you. | |
| The Portsmouth commemoration also paid tribute to the secret agents who worked behind enemy lines in the build up to D-day and to the French resistance. | |
| Of the several hundred Special Operations Executive agents working behind enemy lines, 55 were women.The French president, Emmanuel Macron, read the last letter of a young resistance fighter Henri Fertet, executed at just 16 years old: | |
| My dear parents, I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy … | |
| The soldiers are coming to get me. I must hurry. My handwriting may look wobbly but it is just because I am using a small pencil. I am not afraid of death, my conscience is completely clear ... A thousand kisses. Long live France. | |
| Some of those who survived appeared at the event. There was warm applause for a group of British veterans when they took to the stage.A video was shown of Eugene Deibler, an American veteran who served as a sergeant in the 501st Airborne Regiment, and parachuted into Normandy at 01.30 on 6 June, behind Utah beach. He said he had never jumped in conflict before. | |
| We did what we had to do. We jumped in there. I’m glad I did it, went from a boy to a man. | |
| One note of disappointment – there are scores of unoccupied seats in the official commemoration event, which seems a shame. Some locals have expressed disappointment that they have been kept away because of the tight security. | |
| At the D-day commemoration the audience have just been watching an extract from Pressure, the play by David Haig about James Stagg, the chief meteorologist who advised General Dwight Eisenhower about the weather ahead of D-day. | |
| Amid the pomp and ceremony it was the stories of the real people who took part in D-Day that shone out during the commemoration in Portsmouth. | |
| Theresa May read a letter from Captain Norman Skinner of the Royal Army Service Corps, written to his wife Gladys on 3 June 1944. The letter was still in his pocket when he landed on Sword Beach on 6 June. Skinner was killed the day after, leaving his wife and two young daughters. The letter read: | |
| My thoughts at this moment, in this lovely Saturday afternoon, are with you all now. I can imagine you in the garden having tea with Janey and Anne getting ready to put them to bed. Although I would give anything to be back with you, I have not yet had any wish at all to back down from the job we have to do. | |
| There is so much that I would like to be able to tell you. Nearly all of which you’ve heard many, many times. But just to say that I mean it even more today. I’m sure that I will be with you again soon and for good. Please give my fondest love to my Anne and my Janey. God bless and keep you all safe for me. | |
| A telegram was shown on screen, accompanied by a voice over: | |
| Dear Mrs Skinner, it is with the upmost difficulty that I write to offer you my most profound sympathies on the untimely death of your husband. All the time he had been under my command, he had done a grand job of work. | |
| Piper Alastair Parks, who serves with 4 SCOTS, The Highlanders, 4th Battalion The Royal Scottish Regiment, read an extract from the autobiography of piper Bill Millins recounting his experience of playing on the Normandy beaches: | |
| I jumped off the ramp as quickly as possible holding the bagpipes above my head, and landed in the water up to my waist ... I placed the bagpipes on my shoulder, blew them up, and started to play Highland Laddie as I waded the few yards to the beach. | |
| Here is the text of the letter read out by Theresa May. (See 12.15pm.) | |
| Theresa May is now reading out a letter written by a Captain Skinner to his wife two days for before D-day. | Theresa May is now reading out a letter written by a Captain Skinner to his wife two days for before D-day. |
| In it, Skinner said this was a difficult letter to write. Anyone with imagination must worry about what will happen, Skinner said. He said he had had some lovely years with his wife. He could imagine his family in the garden. He would give anything to be with them, but would not back down from the job he had to do. He asked his wife to give his love to his children. | In it, Skinner said this was a difficult letter to write. Anyone with imagination must worry about what will happen, Skinner said. He said he had had some lovely years with his wife. He could imagine his family in the garden. He would give anything to be with them, but would not back down from the job he had to do. He asked his wife to give his love to his children. |
| After May finishes, the text of a telegram later sent to Mrs Skinner announcing her husband’s death was read out. | After May finishes, the text of a telegram later sent to Mrs Skinner announcing her husband’s death was read out. |
| Here is the translation of the letter from a French resistance fighter read out by Emmanuel Macron, the French president. (See 12.03pm.) | Here is the translation of the letter from a French resistance fighter read out by Emmanuel Macron, the French president. (See 12.03pm.) |
| My dear parents, My letter is going to cause you great sorrow, but I have seen you so full of courage in the past that I do not doubt that you will remain courageous, if only out of love for me. | My dear parents, My letter is going to cause you great sorrow, but I have seen you so full of courage in the past that I do not doubt that you will remain courageous, if only out of love for me. |
| I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy. I do not want France to be arrogant and the world’s leading nation but hard-working, industrious and honest. | I am going to die for my country. I want France to be free and the French to be happy. I do not want France to be arrogant and the world’s leading nation but hard-working, industrious and honest. |
| Scuffles broke out in the centre of Portsmouth today after groups of football casuals marched through a protest against the US president’s presence in the city during D-day commemorations.A few dozen men marching behind a banner with the crest of Portsmouth Football Club at the centre of a Union flag chanted ‘scum, scum, scum’ as they arrived midway through speeches by trade unionists and others who had organised a gathering of a few hundred people in the city’s Guildhall Square.Police stepped in as the men scattered and tried to square up to those in the protest, who broke into chants of ‘nazi scum off our streets. | |
| Amid some pushing and shoving, one man with a US flag wrapped around his waist grabbed one of the protest placards and snapped after waving part of it around. The group then adjourned to a pub as the rally continued with speakers evoking the sacrifice of veterans who had fought to liberate Europe from nazism. | |
| I will be focusing on the D-day commemoration for the next half an hour, and will pick up PMQs later. | I will be focusing on the D-day commemoration for the next half an hour, and will pick up PMQs later. |
| In Portsmouth Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is now reading out a letter written by a French resistance fighter. | In Portsmouth Emmanuel Macron, the French president, is now reading out a letter written by a French resistance fighter. |
| He starts by thanking the other countries on behalf of his nation. | He starts by thanking the other countries on behalf of his nation. |
| Then he reads out the letter, in French. In it, the fighter says he does not fear death because his conscience is clear. | Then he reads out the letter, in French. In it, the fighter says he does not fear death because his conscience is clear. |
| President Trump, at 75th D-Day anniversary in Portsmouth, reads from FDR’s “Mighty Endeavor” World War II prayer pic.twitter.com/Oeq8LgMv4M | President Trump, at 75th D-Day anniversary in Portsmouth, reads from FDR’s “Mighty Endeavor” World War II prayer pic.twitter.com/Oeq8LgMv4M |
| These are from my colleague Ben Quinn who is in Portsmouth. | These are from my colleague Ben Quinn who is in Portsmouth. |
| A group of pro Trump football casual types have just arrived at the anti Trump protest on the centre of Portsmouth pic.twitter.com/zGGhZQ1w1a | A group of pro Trump football casual types have just arrived at the anti Trump protest on the centre of Portsmouth pic.twitter.com/zGGhZQ1w1a |
| A few scuffles braking out.. police stepping amid shouts of ‘nazi scum off our streets’ pic.twitter.com/YqPAb2u4R6 | A few scuffles braking out.. police stepping amid shouts of ‘nazi scum off our streets’ pic.twitter.com/YqPAb2u4R6 |
| This guy has just grabbed a protestor’s placard and broke it up after waving the debris around pic.twitter.com/buvfLe0NKF | This guy has just grabbed a protestor’s placard and broke it up after waving the debris around pic.twitter.com/buvfLe0NKF |
| President Trump is speaking now at the D-day event. He is reading from a D-day prayer written by FD Roosevelt, the US president in 1944. | President Trump is speaking now at the D-day event. He is reading from a D-day prayer written by FD Roosevelt, the US president in 1944. |
| The FDR D-Day prayer from which Pres Trump will read today can be seen and heard at https://t.co/swiOJVB9mq | The FDR D-Day prayer from which Pres Trump will read today can be seen and heard at https://t.co/swiOJVB9mq |
| World leaders attending the D-day commemoration in Portsmouth include: French president Emmanuel Macron, prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, President Donald Trump, Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison, prime minister Charles Michel from Belgium, the Czech Republic’s prime minister Andrej Babis, president Prokopis Pavlopoulos from Greece, Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, the prime minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel, the Dutch PM Mark Rutte, Norway’s PM Erna Solberg, Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Slovakia’s deputy prime minister Richard Rasi. | World leaders attending the D-day commemoration in Portsmouth include: French president Emmanuel Macron, prime minister of Canada Justin Trudeau, President Donald Trump, Australia’s prime minister Scott Morrison, prime minister Charles Michel from Belgium, the Czech Republic’s prime minister Andrej Babis, president Prokopis Pavlopoulos from Greece, Germany’s chancellor Angela Merkel, the prime minister of Luxembourg Xavier Bettel, the Dutch PM Mark Rutte, Norway’s PM Erna Solberg, Poland’s PM Mateusz Morawiecki and Slovakia’s deputy prime minister Richard Rasi. |
| At the commemoration Trudeau has just read out the citation from the first Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross in world war two - a soldier who led his men across a bridge under heavy fire saying “there’s nothing to worry about here”. | At the commemoration Trudeau has just read out the citation from the first Canadian to receive the Victoria Cross in world war two - a soldier who led his men across a bridge under heavy fire saying “there’s nothing to worry about here”. |
| The D-day commemoration is mostly ceremonial, but it does have a political edge to it. To coincide with it, Downing Street has got the 16 nations who are attending to sign something called the “D-day proclamation”. | The D-day commemoration is mostly ceremonial, but it does have a political edge to it. To coincide with it, Downing Street has got the 16 nations who are attending to sign something called the “D-day proclamation”. |
| Here is the text in full. | Here is the text in full. |
| Seventy five years ago, our countries were about to embark on a decisive battle. | Seventy five years ago, our countries were about to embark on a decisive battle. |
| On 6 June 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed at Normandy, signalling the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. Casualty figures on all sides were immense, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, aviators and civilians killed or wounded in the days and weeks that followed. | On 6 June 1944, 160,000 Allied troops landed at Normandy, signalling the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. Casualty figures on all sides were immense, with hundreds of thousands of soldiers, sailors, aviators and civilians killed or wounded in the days and weeks that followed. |
| We stand together today to honour the memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day, and those many millions of men and women who lost their lives during the Second World War, the largest conflict in human history. | We stand together today to honour the memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice on D-Day, and those many millions of men and women who lost their lives during the Second World War, the largest conflict in human history. |
| We affirm that it is our shared responsibility to ensure that the unimaginable horror of these years is never repeated. | We affirm that it is our shared responsibility to ensure that the unimaginable horror of these years is never repeated. |
| Over the last 75 years, our nations have stood up for peace in Europe and globally, for democracy, tolerance and the rule of law. We re-commit today to those shared values because they support the stability and prosperity of our nations and our people. We will work together as allies and friends to defend these freedoms whenever they are threatened. | Over the last 75 years, our nations have stood up for peace in Europe and globally, for democracy, tolerance and the rule of law. We re-commit today to those shared values because they support the stability and prosperity of our nations and our people. We will work together as allies and friends to defend these freedoms whenever they are threatened. |
| We commit to work constructively as friends and allies to find common ground where we have differences of opinion and to work together to resolve international tensions peacefully. | We commit to work constructively as friends and allies to find common ground where we have differences of opinion and to work together to resolve international tensions peacefully. |
| We will act resolutely, with courage and tenacity, to protect our people against threats to our values and challenges to peace and stability. | We will act resolutely, with courage and tenacity, to protect our people against threats to our values and challenges to peace and stability. |
| In this way, we salute the surviving veterans of D-Day and we honour the memories of those who came before us. | In this way, we salute the surviving veterans of D-Day and we honour the memories of those who came before us. |
| We will ensure that the sacrifices of the past are never in vain and never forgotten. | We will ensure that the sacrifices of the past are never in vain and never forgotten. |
| Mostly this is a conventional and rather bland restatement of democratic values. But the paragraph I’ve highlighted in bold about working constructively together “to find common ground ... and ... to resolve international tensions peacefully” can be seen as an attempt to nudge President Trump away from isolationism and back towards upholding what is described as the rules-based international order (RBIO). | Mostly this is a conventional and rather bland restatement of democratic values. But the paragraph I’ve highlighted in bold about working constructively together “to find common ground ... and ... to resolve international tensions peacefully” can be seen as an attempt to nudge President Trump away from isolationism and back towards upholding what is described as the rules-based international order (RBIO). |
| The Queen delivered a similar message to Trump in her speech at the state banquet on Monday. | The Queen delivered a similar message to Trump in her speech at the state banquet on Monday. |
| The 16 nations who have backed the D-day proclamation are: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. | The 16 nations who have backed the D-day proclamation are: Australia, Belgium, Canada, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Poland, Slovakia, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. |
| In Portsmouth the D-day commemoration event is just starting. | In Portsmouth the D-day commemoration event is just starting. |
| Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, and Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, are both at the D-day commemoration. | Sir Vince Cable, the Lib Dem leader, and Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, are both at the D-day commemoration. |