this is bbc news. the headlines at 5.00: the exams regulator sets out the criteria for appeals against downgraded a—levels in england after nearly 40% were marked lower than predictions. i needed a, b, b. i only actually needed three seas to get into the foundation course for the veterinary foundation, which was my back—up, but on thursday i discovered that i had beenjust but on thursday i discovered that i had been just awarded three days. prince charles leads commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of vj day — the day world war ii ended with victory over japan. we salute all those who remain among us we salute all those who remain among us and offer our most heartfelt and undying gratitude for those who are

gone before. the prince of wales and veterans lay wreaths at the national memorial arboretum — as part of a service of remembrance. music: the last post we'll have the latest from events in the uk and around the world, as we remember the day world war ii ended. also, thousands of holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash to avoid a mandatory two—week quarantine. and the world snooker championship final is underway in sheffield. it's being played in front of spectators, as part of the easing of lockdown restrictions.

good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. the exams regulator quual has set out the criteria for how appeals of gcse, as and a—levels in england can be made. because of coronavirus no exams took place, and grades are being awarded using a controversial modelling system. schools and colleges will be able to appeal on behalf of students from monday. our political correspondent jonathan blake is here. what exactly are they saying? this guidance is being eagerly awaited by stu d e nts guidance is being eagerly awaited by students who believe they may have grounds for an appeal. as you are

setting out there. given that no a—level exams were ta ken setting out there. given that no a—level exams were taken this year, no gcse exams were taken either. those who have their a—level grades and are awaiting their gcse results in the coming week in england have been told that mock exam results could be used as the basis for an appeal in some cases, but what constituted a valid mock exam was uncertain because schools do them in different ways and there is no set criteria, so now we have some guidance from quual and what will be able to taken into account for stu d e nts be able to taken into account for students appealing against a grades. they say overrule this route is open to stu d e nts they say overrule this route is open to students whose mock grade is higher than their calculated grade. they are also allowing non—assessment mock exams, mock work to be used, that wasn't necessarily taken as part of an exam and it does apply to gcse, a.s. and a—level exams. broadly speaking, there are eight criteria, ranging from

everything according to assessment conditions, which means that appropriate the adulation was taken place and students didn't have access to materials they would not be able to look at in a normal exam. a type of assessment was used that was either a past paper from a releva nt exa m was either a past paper from a relevant exam board or something developed by teachers which was in line with those standards. and then marking, it says that work should have been marked using a scheme provided by the relevant exam board oi’ provided by the relevant exam board or aligned with an exam board's mark schemes, so it seems to be fairly broad and fairly open—ended. that seems to be the feeling, just looking at some initial reaction to this guidance, which is onlyjust been published, so students, teachers and i'm sure the teaching unions as well will be having a close look at this to see if it is going to help students who decide, and their schools have to appeal on their behalf, remember, that they do have grounds for an appeal based on the grade they are awarded. politically quite damaging? well,

depends on how it is received, really. a lot is riding on this appeals process because given fact that there are around 280,000 stu d e nts that there are around 280,000 students in england had their grades revised down by one from one predicted by the teachers to one they received after the standardisation model was applied, a lot of people may well want to go down this route of appealing against it and the criticism that has come the government's way, particularly from conservative backbenchers, is not necessarily been that they should scrap the system and start again or revert to the predicted grades, but this appeals process really does need to be robust and fair if the situation overall is going to bejudged to have done a good job, so a lot of people taking a look at this now. 0k, we will leave it there for now stop thank you very much. we are going to stay with the story and get some reaction to the announcement from the general secretary of the association of school and college leaders. thank you for speaking to us. your

reaction to this latest development. we are still looking at the detail of it, but i think ourfirst impression is that it feels pretty surreal. it was always going to be quite a big ask, wasn't it, to be able to say what a mock able to say what constitutes a mock exam, given that as an english teacherfor exam, given that as an english teacher for 32 years the way you put together a mock exam, the way you use that and mark that, will be different from one teacher to another, so we have been waiting for the criteria. we also knew it would bea the criteria. we also knew it would be a problem that if you haven't done your mock exams you would be penalised and what this guidance seems to do is to say anything goes. so if you have done a formal mock battle count. if you haven't done a formal mock, something else will count. it is worth reminding people that all of these things will already have been used in the process teachers go through in order to submit the predicted grades in the first instance. there will be some people worrying about the amount of time this is going to take on actually saying wouldn't it be better for the government simply to have said let's trust the teachers

go back to the centre assessed grade. why aren't they trusting the teachers? there is a legitimate worry about grade inflation. you can understand why you have a regulator and the regulator has been put in a difficult position today because it has come up with something which feels not entirely rigorous, shall we say. but what you want to know is if you get a grade aa from centre a, that's cool, it is the same as a great aid from that school. you also wa nt to great aid from that school. you also want to feel that a grey day from this year is the same as last year. but this process will inject grade inflation automatically because what we are going to see is young people just who are disappointed in their final grade, or quite legitimately now going to be able to say i did better in my mark and i would like that to be considered. we are therefore going to see those centre assessed grade is becoming the prevailing method, so that will be legitimised now and if they that is going to happen why don't we act in the interests of children and young people and get on with it instead of hanging them in limbo about their futures ? hanging them in limbo about their futures? let's just hanging them in limbo about their futures? let'sjust say hanging them in limbo about their futures? let's just say that this

appeals process is what the government wants, they are going to go ahead with it. can you just remind us what the process, what is involved in the process?” remind us what the process, what is involved in the process? i don't know the actual detail of how it will work with each awarding body next monday onwards they were told they will be ready for it, but it looks to me as if what teachers will be doing from monday is hearing from young people who are saying, well, my mock exam is better than the final grade i got. that will be thousands of children and young people. it would be unlikely that someone who has been downgraded has been downgraded below what they got in there mock, i suspect. so we will certainly have to find lots of exa m ples of certainly have to find lots of examples of mock exams those children sat to be able to then sign a form saying, this is what the child did. you don't have to send the evidence in, you have to sign the evidence in, you have to sign the forms, but that will have to be done pretty quickly because you have got children in the no man's land of whether they are getting a university place or not and then someone somewhere will have to decide whether that constitutes a tick mark against counting as a

mark. i think the bureaucracy and scale of this, and whether there is the capacity is even extraordinary and it will be even bigger when we get to gcses next week. we heard from a student who got drastically different results from what she had achieved in the box and what was predicted for her and i asked her —— in the mock exams and i asked if the appeals didn't work for her what was appeals didn't work for her what was a plan b? she said she would repeat the year. they are going to be a lots of students deciding i will do it properly my way. how are the school is going to cope with that? well, i think there is always an issue about whether the research is of the exams the children never actually sat, which are proposed for november and october for gcse, the results from that is going to be very difficult. what this process of appeals ought to mean if it was quick is actually you could get young people into university and their courses as quickly as possible andi their courses as quickly as possible and i think the real solution for this would be for universities to

have a greater generosity of spirit. for example, i heard from a student today who got to a stars and two a and wanted to go to oxford and to do maths and she was turned down. the reason was because she didn't get an a star in further maths. the second choice, university imperial has turned her down. she is a first generation advantage child. we need those young people to be given by university places, accepted that they didn't get the grades they expected, accepting that there is a hugein expected, accepting that there is a huge in place, in order to that we can bring focus on the most important thing, bringing our children to school and giving them some kind of normality. are you being consulted on any of this? the organisation? we do have discussions, we arejust organisation? we do have discussions, we are just supportive of 0fqual and think it is a good organisation. i haven't seen any of these details before they came out today and as you can see from my reaction we either pretty surreal and pretty bizarre. thank you, jeff

barton, the general secretary of an association of school and college leaders. do stay with us because just after 5:30pm we will be getting some reaction from a head teacher on this latest development from 0fqual. the prince of wales has led commemorations for the 75th anniversary of vj day, when japan‘s surrender ended the second world war. prince charles joined veterans and military personnel for a service at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. he paid tribute to the courage of those who fought, saying their service and sacrifice would, "echo through the ages" — and remembered all those whose lives were blighted by the conflict. nicholas witchell reports. a lone piper at dawn, aboard hms belfast, marking the fact that 75 years ago this morning, the world awoke, finally, to peace.

in the open spaces of the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire, a carefully choreographed commemoration attended by a0 veterans who fought in the fourteenth — sometimes forgotten — army against a voracious army against a ferocious enemy in some of the most challenging of conditions. many tens of thousands of allied troops from many different nations lost their lives in the jungles of southeast asia and tens of thousands more died injapanese prisoner of war camps. they shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. at the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. music: the last post

after the sounding of the last post by a royal marine bugler, a two—minute silence was led by the prince of wales. and in remembrance of lives lost from so many nations, from the british and indian and other allied armies, wreaths were placed at memorials here and in many of the nations that were involved in the conflict. today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here or in their homes, or wherever they may be, let us

affirm that they and the surviving veterans are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked, and cherished with all our hearts and for all time. 75 years on, the forgotten army was remembered and its last survivors cherished. nicholas witchell, bbc news. we are going to take you to central london because there is a special parade taking place at the moment. this is the royal hospital chelsea, famous of course for being the home of the chelsea pensioners. amongst the pensioners living there are actually three star recipients. there are 3a pensioners who are currently there and served in world war ii. three of them, as i said,

had served in the far east conflict and were awarded with burma stars. this had been planned ahead of the red arrows fly past, which we have learnt within the last hour has had to be cancelled. the red red arrows tweeted that sadly the weather has. to cancel today's fly—past over london. very disappointing, but safety always our first priority. that didn't stop the pensioners coming out and they being greeted individually by the secretary of state for defence and the governor of the royal hospital,. he will be taking the salute and speaking to the pensioners. in the background, i don't know if you can hear that... that is the band of the coldstream guards providing the music for the vetera ns.

so the commemoration of the events are continuing at the royal hospital chelsea in central london. let's speak now to carl murray, who's the son of major frank murray — a doctor in the royal army medical corps. he was taken prisoner in singapore and transported to japan during the second world war. thank you so much forjoining us, mr murray. it must be a very poignant day for you today. yes, watching the ceremonies this morning i was very moved, particularly by the testimonies of the veterans. we must never forget what happened. so your father was part of the royal army medical core and his story is

fascinating when you hear what he went through once he was captured in singapore. just tell us his story. after his capture he was in singapore until may 1943, transported to japan, where the ship managed to avoid being hit by us submarine torpedoes. in japan managed to avoid being hit by us submarine torpedoes. injapan he became a senior officer in the camp, he was the officer commanding the british pows, so he was responsible for the medical health and also making decisions about whether they we re making decisions about whether they were fit enough to go to work because they were used as slave labour. and so it was a great response ability for him. and i understand that there were great numbers of prisoners of war who died, but under your father's watch, i don't know if it is the right thing for me to say but it was only 13 prisoners who died under his watch. that is absolutely right. i meani watch. that is absolutely right. i mean i think the statistic is about a quarter of the japanese pows died,

but only 13 and this is in a camp of perhaps 400 people. my brother went ona perhaps 400 people. my brother went on a special reconciliation journey to japan on a special reconciliation journey tojapan in 2017, on a special reconciliation journey to japan in 2017, where he placed poppies on the graves in yokohama cemetery for 13 pows who died and my father's watch and he visited the pow camps as well. he must have seen some of the worst consequences of mistreatment by the japanese on their prisoners of war. what did he say of his time in those camps? he kept a daily diary and he recounted as best he could because he was writing essentially to my mother, so he didn't give too many details because even after the war my mother would probably have been upset by it. but it was the fact that the prisoners were suffering from diseases that could be easily cured with the right medicines, and even two prisoners died in a tragic

accident on a railway crossing and this was all preventable and this is what really disturbed him. and indeed, would disturb any doctor, to know that these diseases were preve nta ble know that these diseases were preventable and that you couldn't do anything to stop it. you mentioned there that he didn't say too much because it upsets your mother, and we know that many of these prisoners of war, once they were liberated they were encouraged, asked, i'm not sure what the right word is here, by the british army not to talk about what they went through. what sort of shape was your father in when he first stepped ashore in southampton? and did he talk about it? he had lost a lot of weight. he actually spent several weeks recuperating in british columbia across the pacific with a canadian family. i think the authorities were just worried about how gaunt the prisoners looked, but when he finally got home he was...

he really didn't talk about, as you say, whether it was under instruction i don't know, but he found it too disturbing, but later in life he met up with a former pow under his command and it brought back too many bad memories for him and even towards the end of his life he was in hospitalfor respite and even towards the end of his life he was in hospital for respite care and the actual site, we think of the beds, the row of beds, made him think he was back in the camp and he actually smashed a glass door as he was trying to escape full stop he was trying to escape full stop he was never quite the same after that, so my mother actually soon after my father died and my mother was actually made a war widow, many, many years obviously after the second world war because my father's war experiences had contributed to his death. let'sjust talk war experiences had contributed to his death. let's just talk about some of the stories that you have shared with us. a fascinating story about what took place on one of the howell ships, when some of the prisoners were being transported and

effectively how your father saved the lives of the prisoners, through a medical intervention involving flies? absolutely. again, my father didn't talk about this stuff, we learnt this from the memoirs of another pow, who was in that ship and in the same camp, keith mitchell, and he recounted that because my father was the senior officer on board, and there were 900 people in the hold of the ship. 950, and my father was in charge of the distribution of cigarettes, so he had the brilliant idea of giving out one cigarette for every ten dead flies the prisoners managed to ca ptu re flies the prisoners managed to capture and the flies had to be intact, so every day he would distribute the cigarettes, count the dead flies, store them and then once a day when they were allowed on deck to do the business, he would have a ritual burial at sea of the dead flies to make sure they weren't recycled. i think the japanese were astounded because the losses on these ships were incredible. you

know, the japanese were astounded when the ship got to japan. i don't think anybody on board had died and there was no dysentery because the fly problem had been solved by my father. . fascinating story. 0bviously father. . fascinating story. obviously we are remembering today, the 15th of august 2020. what did your father the 15th of august 2020. what did yourfather remember of the 15th of august 2020. what did your father remember of the 15th of august 1945? what did he say of that day? what he said was the prisoners in the camp he was in on the 15th of august, the prisoners were sent to work in local minds and on that day the japanese authorities stated that there was a typhus epidemic and the prisoners didn't have to go to work. my prisoners didn't have to go to work. my father immediately knew that this meant that the war was at an end and the prisoners had been stealing japanese newspapers and had access toa japanese newspapers and had access to a clandestine radio and they kind of knew what was happening to the rest of the world, and so my father knew exactly what i'd gone on and within a few days the japanese basically handed over authority to

the prisoners and particularly my father, and soon he took over the running of the camp. my father made a special point of going to a chinese prisoner of war camp down the road because they were treated even worse than the british, if you can imagine, and he made sure they got food and supplies and there was a matter of waiting for the american airdrops to occurand a matter of waiting for the american air drops to occur and then the final liberation and transportation home. carl murray, very quickly. the more you have learned, obviously like you have said your father didn't speak much about what he went through, but as you have learned of his story and what all the other soldiers enjoyed during the burma campaign and the far east, what are your thoughts of what those soldiers achieved? i just your thoughts of what those soldiers achieved? ijust think it your thoughts of what those soldiers achieved? i just think it is remarkable. they suffered... the ferocity of those battles, the

brutality of the japanese. .. those prisoners suffered in ways i think that we still don't really understand and it is only reading these letters that i have come to understand what made my father because he was just a shy boy from belfast and he found himself in the circumstances, but the main thing is we just must never forget what those prisoners suffered. prisoners from all over the world... forgive, yes, but don't forget. indeed. carl murray, thank you very much for your time. thank you. thank you. and the parade is taking place at the moment at the royal hospital chelsea. those are the chelsea pensioners, 34 of them actually who served in world war ii. three of them served in the far east conflict. all three are recipients of the burma star. to the

left that is the secretary of state for defence, ben wallace, along with the governor of the royal hospital, general sir adrian bradshaw, who has been meeting the pensioners, taking a salute and paying personal tributes to the pensioners themselves. the music you can hear there is being provided as part of this parade by the band of the coldstrea m this parade by the band of the coldstream guards. just one of the many coldstream guards. just one of the ma ny eve nts coldstream guards. just one of the many events that have been taking place today to remember vj day, the 75th anniversary of the ending of the second world war. you're watching bbc news. thousands of holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash to avoid a mandatory 2—week quarantine ,

which came into effect at 4am this morning. the new rules, which apply to france, the netherlands and four other countries, follow concerns about the rising numbers of coronavirus cases in each. andy moore has the details. the rush to return from france seems to be over. 0n the ferries, the airports, whether it is the trains in the eurotunnel, it is a lot calmer today but it's interesting. the majorferry operators, here in dieppe and dunkirk and calais saying that they are dealing with increased custom, so they are putting on extra demand and that suggests there are still many people coming back, even if they have to quarantine, because they feel... i've met and spoke to one family, 12 people who have tried to get here. they said they have tried to book online all throughout the day yesterday. claiming that the prices were going up for flights and frustrated because they will have to quarantine. two haulage workers who have just arrived saying that they were confused. somebody told them that the borders might close and they have been panicking coming from malaga. so stories increasing here of those who have missed the boat now having to quarantine. that was gavin lee there with an

update. we are now going to cost two andy moore, who has been collecting the latest for us, busy at gatwick. yes, we have spoken to some of those passengers, some of the first flying back to the uk after that for a deadline and getting their views on it all and what was happening. first of all, it was interesting that most or in fact all of them have filled out these passenger locator forms that you have to fill in. there is a £100 fine if you don't. we asked if anybody asked to see their reference numbers to check that. some said they had been asked, some said they hadn't. then we asked about the quarantine in general. some said they had tried to get back in early before the deadline and they had failed. most of them were resigned to the fact they would have to endure this two weeks of isolation. 0ne endure this two weeks of isolation. one man said it sucks, but what are you going to do? somebody else said, sale either you. i think a lot of

people have gone out to france in the anticipation that this quarantine might come into effect, so it wasn't a complete surprise to them. some were very angry that it was imposed with only about 30 hours notice, so the news was announced in france about 11pm at night and then it came into effect very early in the morning, so they were complaining that if they had been given more time they would have tried to change their arrangements, but i think by and large, yes, resignation that this is what happens in a pandemic and this is what we have to put up with. ok, andy, thank you very much for that update from. let's find out how things are looking, you probably saw it was pretty wet there. let's find out how the

for most of the uk be weather really isn't going to change much for the rest of the weekend, saturday a pretty dull, drizzly day and thunderstorms in the forecast as well, but it is not all bad. some sunshine around and some pleasantly warm weather across north wales, west of england and the western isles as well, so certainly not cloudy everywhere. temperatures are typically in the low 20s, but a lot cooler on the north sea coast, so thunderstorms are possible broadly speaking across the southern half of the uk as we go through the rest of today and into tonight. the overnight hours. and a very muggy night, 18 degrees in london, around the mid teens expected in scotland. showers expected again tomorrow, the possibility of thunderstorms again, probably the heaviest across more southern areas, and a little bit of brightness possible now and again, but on the whole a lot of cloud across the uk.

hello this is bbc news. the headlines. the exams regulator has set out the criteria for appeals against downgraded a levels in england after nearly 40% were marked lower than predictions. prince charles has led commemorations to mark the 75th anniversary of vj day, the day world war ii ended with victory over japan. we salute all those who remain among us and offer our most heartfelt and undying gratitude for those who are gone before. the prince of wales and veterans lay wreaths at the national memorial arboretum, as part of a service of remembrance.

we'll have the latest from events in the uk and around the world, as we remember the day world war ii ended. thousands of holiday—makers have arrived back in the uk after a last—minute dash to avoid a mandatory 2—week quarantine. let's get some reaction to that latest report from 0fqual. 0llie is a head teacher in east london. thank you forjoining us here on bbc news,

what you make of this? yes, we've just been digesting it this afternoon. the first thing to say is ina sense, afternoon. the first thing to say is in a sense, of call were given a really thankless task after so much heartbreak last week with so many children, particularly those from under resourced communities being downgraded. they have been asked to fix an algorithm that hasn't really worked, and certainly hasn't worked for students i teach. we looked at it today and we were hoping that it was allow us an opportunity to correct some of the injustices we've seen. looking at it, a couple of things seem promising. so, one of the things that it says is that you will be able to use what they are calling non—examined assessments, which we think, we don't know because we are waiting on clarity, but means coursework, which is a very valid form of assessment. it means that a student he was done very well on their english literature coursework, let say they have got a top grade that they needed for their place, that 0fqual

will accept that valid data source. earlier, we spoke about a lack of humanity in your earlier criticism when it started to unfold. what have stu d e nts when it started to unfold. what have students been saying to you about how they are feeling and thinking? we have had children is really upset, their families upset, we have had children is really upset, theirfamilies upset, all the things you would expect, but the biggest feeling is consternation. how can students who have worked incredibly hard in a context of a pandemic that his sent everything, has changed everything, and yet of call and the government, despite their best intentions, have come up with a system that has doubled down on disadvantage. we have to remember, inequality is rife in the education system already and this will just education system already and this willjust widen it, so we heard the stories of small groups and private

schools that haven't had their grades knocks back and that is no criticism of private schools it's just the algorithm that did it and we have to remember that these are choices that were made. no exams we re choices that were made. no exams were sat, these choices were made and we need to try and correct them if we can. when you look at this, i was just looking through this guidance that has been published by the government. do you think that it is going to make much of a difference to the students grades over the coming days because many stu d e nts over the coming days because many students will be thinking, well, i will go through the appeal or i'm going to have to resit. how much of a difference to think it will make? well, i think the first thing to think about is will come if the appeals are overturned, will universities hold their places. so an example of a student who missed an example of a student who missed an oxford or cambridge grades or manchester or whatever, it gets it overturned on appeal, will universities say that they will have them and are the universities prepared to have higher numbers of students? so that is the key question. i suppose the second question. i suppose the second question is that if these appeals

are broad and many of them are put through which i hope they will be, will the government stop the cap on university places and fund additional places. i don't know the a nswer to additional places. i don't know the answer to that but those are the important questions. if, as it seems possible that the appeal system will be able to right the wrongs. what is your advice to students at the moment? look, as teachers and head teachers, we are pragmatic people. we are desperately trying to get stu d e nts we are desperately trying to get students on courses, as all head teachers are doing, to get them on courses teachers are doing, to get them on courses that they can do through clearing under the roots and i'm sure schools are been successful without and i'm hearing stories of universities being supportive, but you have remember that there was probably won't be their first choice courses probably won't be their first choice courses and children will still miss out. and it is going to mean more work for teachers in terms of this new aspect of the guidance and the appeal process? i think so.

new aspect of the guidance and the appeal process? ithink so. so firstly, monday morning, i'm going to go through all the assessments the children did throughout their a—level courses, we will look at the coursework, we will look at the criteria. 0ne coursework, we will look at the criteria. one thing just to note is that looking at coursework, looking at continuous assessment, looking at mock exams, triangulating that data to make a valid assessment of a student's grade sounds a lot to me like what we submitted in the first place which was a central assessment grade. and given all the doubts about what has happened with the algorithm and its reliability i am wondering whether in the end, the central assessment grade of the teachers was just as reliable as the algorithm. thank you very much. thanks very much. debenhams has asked an advisory firm that specialises in store closures to draw up plans for possible liquidation. but the struggling

retailer insists that the move is just a contingency plan and would be a last resort. well, our business correspondence gave me more of an update on what exactly debenhams have been saying. they have said that this is just a procedural matter. they have appointed this firm but they say that that is just a last resort and it is very unlikely that it is 124 stores were closed and it was going to liquidation. they say that once you go into administration, which debenhams did earlier this year, it is just debenhams did earlier this year, it isjust parfor the debenhams did earlier this year, it is just par for the course for an administrator to look at the possible future outcomes for the company. they look at where next for debenhams. 0ne company. they look at where next for debenhams. one of those options is that the business can't be sold, it could go into liquidation, but debenhams says that is unlikely. 0r by the company has been in trouble for awhile now, hasn't it? it has. debenhams has been on a downside for a few years as we have seen high streets and department stores struggle quite a few years.

basically, debenhams have said recently that things are turning around, but just a recently that things are turning around, butjust a few recently that things are turning around, but just a few weeks recently that things are turning around, butjust a few weeks ago, as we went into lockdown, debenhams have had to close all of their stores like other retailers did, but then during that lockdown, a number of stores were closed permanently, so 20 stores have it reopened i won't be reopening, and crucially in may, six and a half thousand people lost theirjobs from may, six and a half thousand people lost their jobs from debenhams. may, six and a half thousand people lost theirjobs from debenhams. 0r in total, that is how many people have told lose theirjob since may. that is a worrying situation and the appointment of this company could raise red flags, they are known for coming and assisting stores in trouble and the need to close their business but as i say, debenhams insists this is just a normal procedure. that is just a last resort and it is unlikely we will get that. lets take you back to central london where a special parade has been taking place at the royal hospital chelsea for the chelsea pensioners. this is part of the vj day events that are been

taking place today, 75 years since the end of the second world war. 34 of those pensioners served in world war ii, three of them in the far east conflict and are recipients of the burma star. a fly—past was planned by the red arrows, but that has had to be cancelled because of the terrible weather. music being provided for the pensioners by the band of the coldstream guards. 0ur correspondentjohn maguire was following those events at the uk's national memorial arboretum in staffordshire. when i know that one of the main objectives in today's planning here at the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire is to ensure that the veterans, the few remaining veterans, from the burma campaign

were very much front and centre of today's events. we can talk now tojim. jim, stillsmiling, which is good to see. what did you make of the service? today? hm. excellent. i hadn't a clue what to expect of this really and it is living up to expectations. and when there were the quiet moments, the two—minute silence, the moments of reflection, what were your thoughts? well, i had to think obviously of our colleagues that were lost... more so in the ve celebrations, but in fact we only lost one marine in the far east and that was because he was swept overboard while we were in the bay of biscay. right. 0n the way down? yes. we made three landings and they were all

unopposed. we were unaware that there was no opposition when we were actually going on. we were taking the gurkhas... and we got so far in. i hit a sand bank. and it stopped. i gave the order to down ramp. the craft moved again and it started moving and it went over... good grief, it was frightening to say the least. and what were conditions like? what were conditions like in the far so different of course to here in europe. very much so. strangely enough, all the briefings we had for the three landings we did, the briefings were not very

instructive, we didn't know what we were going into, we thought were going into something like normandy and it turned out, i beg your pardon. it turned out they had disappeared two or three days prior to us landing. so i suppose we were relieved, to say the least. and what about vj it's self, can you remember much about that? it's a question that everybody asks me. i can only relate to what i assume about the period when vj day was declared. we were just in the third landing and we were down the coast down towards thailand and on our way to singapore, of course which was our destination. and we were quite involved

in the activities, i say we had done the third landing and we were expecting the next. further up the line, would be singapore and we were particularly looking forward to that. but nonetheless, we were ready. we'd been prepared. we knew what we were doing. we have been very successful in europe, so we knew that we could do the job. but that was about all i could say. it was about that period, just getting towards the end of covering the landings in burma that vj happened, they bombed, they dropped the bombs on germany, sorry, japan. and it was quite a relief. i'm sure it was. bob from the royal british legion. i think you said to me that the planning for today's started after the ve day commemorations a few months ago, but how did it go from your perspective?

well, as i said in may, we pretty much had nothing because of the coronavirus restrictions and over time, some of the restrictions were lighten so that veterans could come. that made all the difference because, in truth, if a commemoration like this does not have veterans and veterans story to bring it to life, it's just a ceremony. and i thought today all of the veterans spoke beautifully, spoke from the heart and i thought that the messages were emotional and meaningful, so i was delighted in that respect. i was also pleased because i think, as was reflected in the prince of wales's speech, we managed to broaden the understanding for younger generations about vj in as much is the 14th army was made up of so many people from so many parts of the world and the important lesson was how much better we worked together if we were all on one side and how much more effective we can be and i thought that the whole

story came across as well as i could hope. haven't seen the whole thing on tv, clearly, but for me, i was as pleased as i could be so i'm very grateful for the veterans are taking place. we are grateful to the british legion for all the help. smashing. taking us back and forward to normandy on numerous occasions. and you had wanted to take veterans to the far east, but of course... yes, we had 70 that were going to go, some to india, some to burma, some to thailand and singapore, but unfortunately, those rules changed. but all of the ones that had made a connection with us were either able to come or the individual posies that you will have been seen laying around had messages from them, so in total, 250 more people, veterans then we re here, had at least their thoughts brought here and laid by the guests. so, yes, i'm happy.

without ever being satisfied that all the veterans are, you know, will feel quite as i do that at least we demonstrated our respect and acknowledge their service, which i think it is important. and of course, for the loss of all those who didn't come home. of course, foremost in our minds. the location seem to lend itself to social distancing. yeah, and actually you would argue that it has forced us down a path. we have never done a commemorative event like this, but in truth i hope your viewers would agree that it came over really well and it is something different from marching bands and some of the more formatted kind of sense and i thought it was the better for it. all right. thank you much indeed. congratulations on today, bob gamble, jim healy, an absolute pleasure to spend some time with you, to hear some of your reflections and ijust wanted to leave you with something that is in the programme for today, a message from her majesty the queen, that pays tribute of course to those, especially those who ultimately paid the ultimate sacrifice,

it never made it back home. she said, "amongst the joy at the end of the conflict we also remember as we do today the terrible devastation that it brought and the cost borne by so many. maybe memory of their sacrifice and bravery remain with us always."

seller —— the prince of wales... he paid tribute to the courage of those who fought in the far east, saying the service and sacrifice would echo through the ages. he remembered all those whose lives were blighted by the conflict.

a lone piper at dawn, aboard hms belfast, marking the fact that 75 years ago this morning, the world awoke, finally, to peace. in the open spaces of the national memorial arboretum in staffordshire a carefully choreographed commemoration, attended by 40 veterans, who fought in the 14th, sometimes forgotten army, against a ferocious army in some of the most challenging of conditions. many tens of thousands of allied troops from many different nations lost their lives in the jungles of southeast asia. tens of thousands more died in japanese prisoner of war camps. they shall grow not old as we that are left grow old. age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

and the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will remember them. last post plays. after the sounding of the last post by a royal marine bugler, a two—minute silence was led by the prince of wales. and in remembrance of lives lost from so many nations, from british, pre—partition indian, and other allied armies, wreaths were placed at memorials here and in many of the nations, which were involved in the conflict.

today, in this hallowed place, and in the presence of all those gathered here, or in their homes, wherever they may be, let us affirm that they, and the surviving veterans, are not forgotten. rather, you are respected, thanked, and cherished, with all our hearts, and for all time. 75 years on, the forgotten army was honoured. nicholas witchell, bbc news. 50,000 british and commonwealth troops died in the war againstjapan, half in prison camps. some of their relatives joined surviving veterans at the national memorial arboretum and our correspondent, sian lloyd, was there. 96—year—old joan burfield,

known asjohnny since her navy days, one of the remaining few who remember vj day because they were there. she was then a wren, aged 21, stationed in the far east and charged with decoding signals, one of a group of young women who'd joined the navy to serve their country. 75 years on, she hasn't forgotten the most important message she came across. we were receiving signals, you know, from all over the place. and, well, somebodyjust shouted, "it's over!" "it's over! the war‘s finished!" but we still had to carry on. for sergeant francis raley, the japanese surrender signalled the first steps towards freedom. like thousands of others, he had endured years of suffering in prisoner of war camps. his daughters proud to be here today. he was taken captive by the japanese and taken to sumatra and he was there for three

and a half years, where he saw the most horrendous torture of people. he was lucky that he didn't receive, you know, too much bad treatment, in that respect. but it must have been horrific for him. gosh, if he was here today, he would just... well, he would say, his buttons would be popping off his chest, that'sjust how he was. he would just be thrilled to be here. it was an event to mark a historic day. it's been a lovely service. it's brought back lots of memories, especially when they talked about the prisoners, because those men, they were half starved, who could hardly walk... could hardly walk... remembering those who finally brought the second world war to a close. sian lloyd, bbc news, staffordshire. japan's emperor has expressed deep remorse today for his country's wartime actions, at a ceremony in tokyo. emperor naruhito, expressed hopes the "ravages of war"

would never be repeated, while japan's prime minister said his country now consistently values peace. the exams regulator in england, 0fqual, has given details of how students will be able to appeal against their grades. thousands of this week's a—level results, which had been the seven—day rolling averages 1088, the number of infections is slowly rising. three deaths were recorded in the same 24—hour period, taking the total number in the uk to 40 1000, 361. on average, in the past week, 13 people have died every from coronavirus. thousands of british holidaymakers have arrived back in the uk, after a last—minute dash to avoid new quarantine rules. travellers from france, the netherlands and four other countries, would have been subject to 14 days self isolation, after concerns over rising

coronavirus cases abroad. andy moore has the details. there were long queues at calais early this morning as people scrambled to get back to the uk ahead of the 4am deadline. at passport control, to get this far, they told us we should be fine to get back to the uk for the 4am deadline. on one of the last ferries out of france from dieppe, some exhausted travellers. and i'm told the ferry people know we need to get to the uk before four o'clock, so we will see you later. the ship docked in new haven just before the deadline. 3:58am in the uk. they laugh. fantastic! one group of edinburgh—based musicians who had been performing in normandy... classical music plays. ..hired their own fishing boat to get back in time. after an eight—hour crossing, they landed at hayling island in hampshire ten minutes

before the deadline. the airports were also busy with flights to the uk. the queue just keeps going and going and going. this was nice, last night. we've just boarded the plane, it's about ten o'clock and we had a really long, hard day. so many people in the airport, but we're finally on a flight. at gatwick airport this morning, some of the first passengers arriving back from france, who will have to go into quarantine. we were five hours too late... for the quarantine. so now we all have to quarantine. my husband's losing money for two weeks. it's ridiculous. the passengers arriving here in france are going into a very here from france are going into a very strict form of self isolation for two weeks. they won't be able to go out for exercise, they won't be able to walk the dog and any shopping will have to be brought to them. and the penalty for breaching those rules starts at £1,000.

andy moore, bbc news, gatwick airport. the exams regulator in england, 0fqual, has given details of how students will be able to appeal against their grades. after the controversy of this year's a—level results. almost 40% of teacher predictions for people unable to sit their exams because of the coronavirus pandemic were downgraded. 0ur education correspondent, elaine dunkleyjoins us now from salford. .. after the anxiety and an drilling of a—level results day, many students will now go through those results again with the appeals process. 0fqual have set out the criterion that schools must follow to challenge the grades awarded to students. eight different requirements must be met, peels can be made where a student has been awarded a grade lower than one achieved in a mock exam and can also include a non—exam assessment, which could include coursework. this also applies to gcse results, which will

be out next week. the government says overall the system has been fairand says overall the system has been fair and there has been an increase in the number of top grades awarded to students. this year's result has been a backlash across the whole of the uk and there have been calls for a u—turn, which we saw in scotland this week, with the government apologising and thousands of results upgraded to teachers' predictions. that no such policies promises but they say they will refund schools who successfully appealed. it is expected a high number of appeals at almost 40% of a—level grades were moderated down. examples have said they will be ready to process these appeals by monday. we will leave that to bear. elaine dunkley in sa lfo rd.