The British servicemen and women who gave their lives in the D-Day landings and in the Normandy Campaign will be commemorated with a new memorial, supported by £20 million, the Prime Minister and Chancellor today announced.

The monument will be built at the site of the fierce fighting during and after D-Day. For the first time, a memorial will carry the names of the estimated 21,000 members of the British Armed Forces and Merchant Navy, plus those from other nations who fought directly alongside them, who lost their lives in the D-Day landings and the Normandy campaign.

As well as commemorating those who died in Normandy, the memorial will also pay tribute to several thousand sailors and airmen who were lost at sea, and those who died from their wounds after being brought back to the UK for treatment.

The memorial will be unveiled in Normandy on 6th June 2019 – the 75th anniversary of D-Day – and many of the remaining veterans, and the families of those who fought, are expected to be present for a parade at the D-Day landing grounds.

The Normandy Memorial Trust, supported by The Royal British Legion, has been the driving force behind the project and will now launch a fundraising appeal to build on the government’s contribution.

The £20 million government funding will come from LIBOR fines levied on the banking industry.

The Chancellor is planning to meet many of the Veterans on the eve of their departure at Southwick Park, outside Portsmouth, in June before they return to the Normandy Beaches to pay their respects to those who did not return home. Southwick Park is home to the historic D-Day Map Room and was the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force, from where the operation was planned and coordinated by General Montgomery and General Eisenhower.

The design and location of the memorial will be confirmed in due course by the Trust.

George Batts MBE, Legion d’Honneur, former National Secretary of the Normandy Veterans’ Association said:

It has been the dream of Normandy Veterans for many years for there to be a British memorial in Normandy dedicated to all those from the British Armed Forces who lost their lives in the D-Day Landings and in the Normandy Campaign which followed. This generous commitment by Her Majesty’s government will finally enable us to realise this ambition in time for the 75th anniversary of D-Day in June 2019.

Prime Minister Theresa May said:

We must never forget the courage, sacrifice and selflessness of the British servicemen and women who gave their lives in the D-Day landings. Located close by the beaches where they began the liberation of Europe, the Normandy Memorial will be a fitting tribute to them and a place where people can gather to reflect on their extraordinary achievements. Its unveiling on the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in 2019 will provide a timely reminder that we should never take our freedom for granted.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said:

This will be a fitting reminder of the ultimate sacrifice made by British men and women on D-Day for the freedoms we enjoy today. We have a duty to ensure their names will be remembered for generations to come. It is only right we support this project as we look forward to the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in 2019.

In a letter to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Finance Secretary Mark Drakeford set out Wales’ priorities ahead of the Spring Budget on 8 March.

The Cabinet Secretary outlined his concerns about the UK Government’s intention to press ahead with £3.5bn of cuts to public spending in 2019-20 – cuts which could result in a further £175m reduction to the Welsh budget.

And he called on the UK Government to use the Spring Budget to announce extra funding for health and social care services. 

Professor Drakeford said:  

“I remain very concerned about the impact of further cuts to public spending and the UK Government’s intention to press ahead with £3.5bn of cuts in 2019-20.  

“Our budget is already substantially lower in real terms than it was in 2010 as a result of the UK Government’s years of austerity – additional cuts on top of those we are already facing could mean a further £175m reduction to our budget.

“These cuts are unnecessary and counter-productive – now is the time for the UK Government to end its damaging policy of austerity and provide a much-needed fiscal stimulus to boost economic confidence and support vital public services.

“Over the winter, we have seen significant pressures in health and social care services across the UK. It was disappointing that the UK Government did not take the opportunity to provide extra funding for these services in the Autumn Statement. 

“I urge the UK Government to take action in this Budget to increase funding for health and social care in recognition of the very real pressures these services are facing.”

Police have detained a suspect who appeared in an online video verbally abusing two women on a metro train in Beijing after the post went viral online on Saturday.

The video clip showed the suspect making abusive comments to the two women, grabbing a cell phone from one of them as the woman called a police hotline, and eventually pushing the woman out the train door at a station on Line 10.

Police said the 17-year-old suspect has been put under detention for interrogation.

Tai Hay Lap, a Hong Kong political advisor, said on Saturday in Beijing that he thought Carrie Lam was the best candidate for Hong Kong’s top job.

Tai, vice chairman of the Tin Ka Ping Foundation and a member of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said he knew all three candidates seeking to become the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, “but, after comparing them, I would endorse Ms. Lam.”

On March 1, the election committee selected retired judge Woo Kwok-hing, former chief secretary Carrie Lam, and ex-financial secretary John Tsang to run for the Chief Executive’s post. The 59-year-old Lam secured 572 of the committee’s 1,200 votes – just 29 votes shy of the 601 needed to win the job. Meanwhile, Tsang and Woo got 160 and 179 votes, respectively.

Tai observed: “The Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office, Wang Guangya, has proposed four qualities for the next Chief Executive: [That person] must love the country and love Hong Kong; must have ability to rule; must win the trust of the central government; and must win the support of the Hong Kong public. In regard to each of the four aspects, Ms. Lam is the best.”

Lee Tak-lun, another CPPCC member and vice-president and CEO of Grand Finance Group, said he believed Hong Kong people and members of election committee would show wisdom in selecting the right person as Chief Executive.

Both persons believed that, on the verge of the 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s return to China, there were still many jobs yet to be completed by the region’s chief.

One is to do more to improve the recognition and identification of Chinese roots and culture among young Hong Kong people through education.

The two representatives are in Beijing to attend annual meeting of China’s top political advisory body, which will run through March 13.

“‘One country, two systems’ is an innovation,” Tai said of the constitutional principle formulated by the late Deng Xiaoping that Hong Kong and Macao could maintain for 50 years the capitalist economic and political systems, while the rest of China followed socialism; however it had not been “easy for us to make it thus far with the ‘One country, two systems’.

“Some young people never experienced what we went through before in Hong Kong, and never knew how the mainland helped us and always shows generosity towards us.”

He expressed cautious optimism for Hong Kong’s future, “Some young people in Hong Kong fear the challenges from the mainland and cannot see how the growth of the whole country is benefitting Hong Kong. The bad influence of some Western countries is here, too, so there are some negative voices. However, there’s only one China, and Hong Kong is the most diversified city in China in terms of development.

“Its development, whether [we talk] about the past or the future, is never about protectionism, but about breakthroughs and making the cake bigger.”

The Hong Kong Chief Executive election will be held on March 26, 2017 when the 1,200-members election committee will cast their votes.