today at six, we're in portsmouth, for the latest stage of the commemoration, of the 75th anniversary of d—day. the queen has beenjoined by other heads of state and government, to pay tribute to to those who changed the course of the second world war, injune19li4. it is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the entire country — indeed, the whole free world, that i say to you all, "thank you". more than 300 veterans of the normandy landings gathered — most of them in their 90s, to remember the great military achievement, in liberating europoe from nazi occupation.

this is it, they're on the beach... the allied invasion was the biggest combined land, airand naval operation in history, and one of the decisive events of the second world war. i was terrified — i think everyone was. you don't show it, but it's there. i'm honored to be stood here today in front of so many other veterans. we must never forget. and 75 years since he first pa rachuted into normandy, harry read returns to the skies again. also on tonight's programme — the council shamed by its failures to safeguard the lives of two children. dylan was murdered by his father and evelyn by her mother's boyfriend — an official report says northamptonshire county council lost opportunities to save the children. care in crisis — the families in england who feel betrayed by a system that's confusing and costly —

a bbc investigation. in sport on bbc news, johanna konta must wait until friday to play her semifinal at the french open after today's players abandoned due to rain at roland garros. good evening from portsmouth, where more than 250 veterans of d—day, will soon be setting, on this vessel, the boudicca, bound for normandy, as part of the major commemoration, of the 75th anniversary of d—day.

the band is already playing to see them off. earlier today, they attended a special event to commemorate the events ofjune 1944, in the presence of her majesty the queen, and other world leaders including president trump and president macron of france. the invasion, which took place of the 6th ofjune, was the largest combined land, air, and naval operation in history. my colleague reeta chakrabarti has our first report on today's events, paying tribute to those men and women who helped liberate europe from nazi occupation. pomp and pageantry were on full display in portsmouth to mark 75 yea rs display in portsmouth to mark 75 years since one of the most audacious military operations in history. some of those who fought we re history. some of those who fought were also here, grandfathers or great—grandfathers now, reliving their part in the mission of supreme daring and bravery. we shall fight on the beach is... we shall fight on the landing ground... over 30,000

men were at work... they watched the retelling of that storing, the largest assault in history. when british and commonwealth troops, along with their american allies, crossed in the dark to the shores of normandy to begin the liberation of german occupied france. the free men of the world are marching together to victory. .. of the world are marching together to victory... it was an active international cooperation which led to the ultimate allied victory against the nazis. among the world leaders in attendance was president trump on the final day of his uk visit. he read the words of wartime predecessor, franklin d roosevelt. almighty god, our sons, predecessor, franklin d roosevelt. almighty god, oursons, pride predecessor, franklin d roosevelt. almighty god, our sons, pride of our nation, this day have set upon a mighty endeavour. a struggle to preserve our public, our religion, and our civilisation, and to set

free a suffering humanity. it wasn't all solemnity, there was a foot tapping boogie—woogie, part of a celebration of the cultures of the country which fought and won. # and then his number came up and he was gone with the draft #heis was gone with the draft # he isin was gone with the draft # he is in the army now #. but the focus of the day was the vetera ns, but the focus of the day was the veterans, men like john jenkins, portsmouth resident and former platoon sergeant. now 99 and brought everyone, including the queen, to their feet. i was terrified, i think everybody was, you don't show it, but it's there. i look back on it as a big part of my life. it changed me ina a big part of my life. it changed me in a way. and europe is vastly changed too with the german

chancellor, angela merkel, looking on, part of the face of a modern day peacetime continent. she watched her british counterpart, theresa may, in one of her last public engagement as leader of her party, read a letter from a british captain, written to his wife days before being killed in normandy. third june, 1944, my darling, this is a very difficult letter for me to write. as you know, something may happen at any moment, andi something may happen at any moment, and i cannot tell when you will receive this. please give my fondest love to my anne and myjamie. god bless and keep you all safe for me. # we'll meet again # we'll meet again # don't know where, don't know when # don't know where, don't know when #is # don't know where, don't know when # is the wartime anthem was heard in

the arena, it was up to the queen to bring the ceremony to a close. the arena, it was up to the queen to bring the ceremony to a closem the arena, it was up to the queen to bring the ceremony to a close. it is with humility and pleasure, on the half of the entire country, indeed the whole free world, that i say to you all, thank you. for the vetera ns, you all, thank you. for the veterans, a chance later to meet the queen and president trump. while members of the public who had watched the event from outside the arena gave it their warm approval. watched the event from outside the arena gave it their warm approvalli thought it was amazing, i thought it was a good turnout from portsmouth, and a good quality service. what did this mean to you, watching this today? very proud, very proud. this was their day, a moving tribute to the men who fought with such courage, and to their fallen comrades who fought at such cost. reeta chakrabarti, bbc news.

0ur north america editor jon sopel is with me. it's worth reflecting, john, that lots of today was about celebrating the remarkable cooperation that we saw 75 years ago. today also is the last day of the state visit of president trump, who was taking part there today. what does today tell us about that relationship three quarters of a century later? the special relationship 75 years ago had an existential importance. and for these guys who were getting ready to sail across it really mattered there was that cooperation. the theresa may donald trump relationship won't have the same historical residence of that one between churchill and franklin d roosevelt. it's completely different. but the us uk relationship is still vital. it's oui’ relationship is still vital. it's our biggest single export market. the intelligence sharing is unparalleled. armed forces are highly integrated. are the problems in the relationship which have been

highlighted in the trump state visit? of course, but i feel british officials will feel that the relationship has gone well, the visit has gone well, probably better than that, probably better than expected, and they will hope to build on that. but like 75 years ago, britain had to recognise that it had become the junior partner, despite the empire, britain needed america, and we are still the junior partner, and if there are trade deals to be negotiated in the future ina deals to be negotiated in the future in a post brexit world with donald trump, it will be wise for whoever is succeeding theresa may to remember that. thanks very much. as we've been hearing, the d—day landings were the biggest combined land, airand naval operation in history. up to 7,000 ships delivering more than 150,000 allied troops to five beaches along the coast of normandy, which was heavily defended by the occupying nazi forces. so how did the events of that momentous day?

the invasion was conducted in two main phases — first, an airborne assault, and then, the amphibious landings. shortly after midnight, over 18,000 allied paratroopers were dropped to disrupt the main german land forces and capture important positions inland. then after an intense naval and air bombardment of german coastal defences, the first landing started at about 6:30am. over 130,000 troops — mainly from the uk, the us, and canada — began landing on five beaches code—named utah, 0maha, gold, juno, and sword. for most of that day, this wave of troops, tanks, and artillery continued to flow onto the beaches in the face of fierce resistance from the german defences. air support was crucial, with over 14,000 missions can carried out by allied forces. not all of the ambitions to take territory on the first day were met,

with us forces facing particularly difficult opposition from elite german troops in the west. but a foothold had been achieved, and the battle to liberate northern europe from nazi occupation was under way. that's how things unfolded. here we are, 75 years later, with more than 250 of the veterans attending the events in portsmouth, arriving with the royal british legion ship. this is the mv boudicca, this specially chartered cruise ship, and in the next hour it will set sail for france, for tomorrow's memorial service in normandy. 0ur correspondent robert hall has been travelling on board, hearing the recollections of those who took part in the normandy landings 75 years ago. heading ashore and stepping back, portsmouth is one of the south coast ports which launched the d—day

armada. many of these men remember climbing another gangplank at the start of their journey to normandy. very emotional, i shall cry when i get there, nevertheless i am looking forward to it. jack mortimer was pa rt forward to it. jack mortimer was part of a team whose mission was to clear a path across the landing beaches. as we landed on the beach it was noisy. there was a lot of fire. a lot of gunfire going on from whatever. big ones. there were rocket ships out in the bay, out in the channel, that were firing. and the channel, that were firing. and the beach marshals, we were told to get on our way. jack and the 300 vetera ns a boa rd get on our way. jack and the 300 veterans aboard the boudicca have had an eventful few days, defying their age to make the most of what may be a one—off experience.” their age to make the most of what may be a one-off experience. i don't know, i don't know how to describe it all. it's just absolutely beautiful. from now on the mood will

change. on cell c, and the veterans gazed across the huge arena which retold the d—day story to a worldwide audience. —— south see common. hitler could have taken us over, but thank goodness he didn't. it's something you'll never see again. i suppose this will be the real last commemoration. everybody is getting so old. they will soon all be disappeared. we both have children and we have grandchildren i'iow. children and we have grandchildren now. they are interested. they think it should be remembered. —— ithink it should be remembered. —— ithink it should be remembered. —— ithink it should be remembered because a lot of people died for us to be here today. d-day was the largest seaborne landing attempted, 7000 ships, 130,000 troops from 14 countries. casualties were high, around 4500 of allied forces, significantly more for the german defenders. as the ceremony ended and

the survivors of d—day mingled with vip guests, jack found himself telling his story to the prince of wales. today has been great, lovely, beautiful. in a few moments, the boudicca will cast off for the last leg of her journey, boudicca will cast off for the last leg of herjourney, saluted by the royal navy and thousands of well—wishers, all paying their respects to modest men who are simply grateful to be here. so often, crowds gather to watch ships leaving portsmouth. this departure is particularly poignant. the boudicca and all these veterans will pause to watch the naval salute, a line of modern fighting ships, before she moves on for a moment of reflection. she is expected to fall silent just for a few minutes, before setting off across the channel to le havre and the solemn commemorations tomorrow.

robert hall, on board the boudicca, ready to set sail in about an hour. we will have more from portsmouth on the anniversary of d—day in a moment. now for the day's other news with george. 0fficial reviews into the brutal murders of two toddlers have severely criticised social workers at northamptonshire council. 0ne—year—old evelyn—rose muggleton was killed by her mother's partner last year, while 2—year—old dylan tiffin—brown was killed by his father in 2017. the case reviews paint a picture of chaos in the children services department, with a high turnover of staff, high sickness levels and heavy caseloads. 0ur social affairs correspondent michael buchanan has the story. you can see his little smile, and that would be it. the most adoring, loving, typical little boy you could possibly meet. dylan tiffin-brown was brutally murdered by his father in 2017. he had 39 separate injuries, as well as heroin and crack cocaine in his system. his

father, a drug dealer, cared for dyla n father, a drug dealer, cared for dylan alone for two days a week, and in the team agreements before he killed his son, children's social services received eight separate reports that rafael kennedy was an unsuitable parent. they didn't act. dylan's grandfather says the family are furious. there was reason to believe that there was to do the father, so why wasn't my daughter informed? why wasn't there a knock at the door? nothing at all. it's as simple as that. i feel let down by social services. northampton children services have had significant problems since 2013. today, a serious case review says excessive workloads, problems recruiting and retaining staff and poor management contributed to the failure to protect dylan tiffin—brown. a new leadership team today accepted mistakes had been made. we had failings in our system and the way we delivered services, which did not help to protect these

children. and that is in part why they are dead? we played a part in not being able to protect them. social workers were also criticised over their failure social workers were also criticised over theirfailure to social workers were also criticised over their failure to protect evelyn—rose muggleton. her family had a long history with children's services and they failed to spot she was being neglected, or that her mum and her partner, ryan coleman, had a history of violence. he inflicted 31 injuries on the one—year—old. 0fficials insist children services are slowly improving, but they are trying to do so under extreme pressure. despite the problems in children services, £10 million is due to be taken from its budget in the financial year. that's because the financial year. that's because the council is virtually bankrupt. dyla n were the council is virtually bankrupt. dylan were killed by two violent men. today's reports made clear they we re men. today's reports made clear they were also failed by the child protection system that had effectively broken.

there are concerns about the future of the ford plant in bridgend in south wales. union officials have been called to a meeting tomorrow morning. let's speak to tomos morgan. this plant has been under pressure for some time. what do you think tomorrow morning's meeting means? well, tomorrow it is thought that the workers will find out their fate. back in 2013, the bridgend plant won a contract to make a new petrol engine, the dragon project. 260,000 new engines. at that work diminished over time. a year later, the number was halved to 125,000. and then it was asked, is this work was viable, with a number of 2000 people, is it still viable to keep it open with only a limited number of engines to be made? fast forward to earlier this year, into january, ford announcing that 1000 jobs were to be gone. they didn't give a time

limit on when they wanted those jobs to be gone by. but they did want as many as possible to be voluntary redundancies as soon as possible. and now we understand that tomorrow trade union leaders and ford bosses will meet in their headquarters in essex, and it is thought that the workers here will find out the fate of their future. thank you very much. australian police have raided the offices of the country's national broadcaster abc over allegations it published classified material. abc says the raid was over its reports two years ago about alleged misconduct by australian troops in afghanistan, with the news director and two reporters named on the warrants. the company's managing director has spoken out, saying it raises legitimate concerns about the freedom of the press. three—quarters of mp‘s believe there is a crisis in care, when it comes to supporting the elderly or disabled in england. and most mps say their constituents are suffering because of cuts to the system. that's according to a poll

carried out for the health for care alliance, a coalition of health organisations, who say the local authority run care system needs to be fixed. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holt, has been examining the pressures on the care system for the bbc‘s panorama. look at you there. goodness. 77—year—old rita mcallister has parkinson's disease. we first met her when she had just moved into her somerset nursing home after years of being cared for in her own home. i gave up myjob. for six years i came and, you know, helped look after her. she was quite mobile. until that was very difficult to do with her pain levels. she went really downhill. herfamily is one of many in england who have complained to their mps about the confusion and unfairness of the care system. now the home that rita loves may have to be sold to pay for her care. it's like being penalised. for being ill.

for being ill, and for seemingly doing the right thing for yourfamily, and buying your property. it seems like a copout to say, right, if you've got an illness that is progressive, it's not going to get better, then you may have to fund it yourself. often, people who fund themselves end up paying more for their care than councils. it's quite difficult to get wheelchairs through... until recently jane townsend ran the largest care provider in somerset. what we had to do, and this is endemic in the sector, is charged self funders higher fee rates to cross subsidise the lower fee rates paid by councils. we completely disagree with this as a matter of principle. and that's a national problem. and it's wrong. and with the care system under such pressure, it's too easy for people to be missed. pat got red cross help for a few weeks after leaving hospital. then was largely on her own.

three months later she was frail and had recently fallen. she needed support and company. occasionally i feel i'd like to see somebody. there isn't anybody who can come. i don't want to get to where i don't do anything. we alerted the authorities and pat's now getting more support. eventually, rita's care needs became so high the nhs took over the costs, so her home hasn't been sold. the government said its put extra money into the system and will publish plans for reform at the earliest opportunity. alison holt, bbc news. you can see more on this in the second of a two—part panorama programme. it's called care in crisis: who pays? it's on bbc one at nine o'clock tonight.

let's return now to our main story — the commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of d—day and to huw in portsmouth. george, thanks very much. welcome back to portsmouth. we are going to talk about some of the aircraft used on d—day. they have been recreating some of the flights across the channel 75 years ago. the dakota "da ks" are the very planes that dropped the first airborne assault troops in normandy as the invasion got underway. two veterans who parachuted from the daks in 1944 have just repeated their jumps. they have been showing great courage and great skill, even that an elderly age. lucy williamson has this report. just after midnight, 75 years ago tonight, a dark constellation

appeared in the night sky above france. thousands of allied troops dropped quietly into nazi occupied territory. signalling the invasion that changed world war ii. among the troops dropped into normandy that night was harry reid, a 20—year—old signaller with the sixth airborne division. today, harry, now 95, prepared to repeat his jump over normandy in honour of the d—day anniversary. you had to push hard enough to miss the back of the whole, so that your parachute didn't push you forward. that banged your nose on the other side. which they called ringing the bell, by the way. the young paratroopers were told they had to complete their mission, whatever the cost. before he took his place in the dakota, in seat number12, his place in the dakota, in seat number 12, harry took a moment to absorb the risks he was facing. there was an almighty fireworks display going onjust there was an almighty fireworks display going on just ahead of us.

it wasn't, of course, fireworks. and we we re it wasn't, of course, fireworks. and we were going straight into it. immediately we were assailed by the shelling and the tracer bullets, and all of the stuff they got us with. it was an horrendous inferno to go into. harry took off from duxford airfield today and flew towards the french coast, with fellow veteran jock hutton. paras, he said, learned to keep going when other people stop. 75 years from when harry first dropped into france, he is proving that again today. harry and jock are both now landed here in france. cheers went up from the crowd as they came down. they we re the crowd as they came down. they were flying in tandem with people from the parachute regiment. you can

see some more paratroopers landing here behind me. under this tribute to the men who kicked off the d—day invasion continues tomorrow with the main commemorations. theresa may, emmanuel macron and prince charles will all be here for services and other events to mark those who lost their lives during the d—day invasions. lucy, thank you very much. back in portsmouth, not long to go before the boudicca sets sail. i can tell you that there is quite a big crowd on board already. they are having quite a nice time, and lots of them are waving before they set off. luckily for them, the son has now come out to play as well. hopefully they will get a rather smoother crossing than all of the men who crossed 75 years ago tonight on the eve of d—day. so, with that nice sunny look in portsmouth, let'sjoin stav for the weather.

not a bad crossing for the next few hours, but it is set to turn stormier over the weekend. plenty of dry weather in england and wales, bara dry weather in england and wales, bar a few showers. low pressure to the north of the uk and the weather front has brought wet weather to scotla nd front has brought wet weather to scotland and northern ireland. this weather front has brought thundery rain to northern france and the low countries. the westwood edge is going to continue to clear for the south—east of england and east anglia as we head through this evening and overnight. generally pushing off into the north sea. further north and west we should see the rain easing down and that will leave a legacy of cloud, and mcguinness. nowhere particularly cold, with lows of seven, ten or 11 degrees in some of the larger towns and cities. the pressure chart for thursday shows this feature across the north sea, tending to move towards northern scotland through the day. this is the deep low i was talking about that will bring some very rough weather to the southern parts of the country and into france as we head through into friday. but this rain will spill into north—east scotland, to the northern isles, may be some of it could be quite heavy

through the day on thursday. elsewhere, again, not a bad day. there will be some showers around, some of them heavy across western areas, but good spells of sunshine, some areas staying dry altogether. top temperatures of 19 degrees. the low to mid teens further north. this low to mid teens further north. this low pressure is going to deepen, it is going to bring a spell of stormy weather to biscay in france and then it will move to central and southern parts of the british isles through friday, and then park itself across the north of the country into saturday. very strong wind on the southern flank. it could be very wet, across southern areas on friday. that rain transferred to northern areas and then it looks like sunshine and showers through the weekend with temperatures on the low side for the time of year. in a moment we'll have the news where you are — but we'll leave you here in portsmouth, with a reminder of today's memorable events, when we paid tribute to all those who took part in the d—day landings three—quarters of a century ago. goodbye.

i was terrified. i think everyone was. you don't show it, but it's there. i look back on it as a big part of my life. it changed me, in a way. the tide has turned. the free men of the world are marching together to victory. we shall fight them on the beaches. we shall fight on the landing grounds. in the fields and in the streets. that morning, they said, we're going to give you live ammunition, and this is the real thing. i was just over 17, on that day. but we were in trouble, and like every other service, we were just doing ourjob.

it is with humility and pleasure, on behalf of the entire country, indeed the whole free world, that i say to you all, thank you.