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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Politics
Rebecca Speare-Cole

BBC election debate LIVE: Party leaders take part in seven-way showdown... but neither Boris Johnson nor Jeremy Corbyn are there

Party leaders have taken part in the first seven-way general election debate - but the line-up was missing two key players.

Neither Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn joined the BBC showdown, but were replaced by the Conservatives' Rishi Sunak and Labour's Rebecca Long Bailey.

Discussions over the NHS, Brexit and immigration became increasingly heated as candidates clashed on how trustworthy their parties were.

It comes after two ice sculptures were placed on the stage at the Channel 4 Emergency On Planet Earth debate last night, acting as a visual metaphor for the Tories and the Brexit Party who declined to take part.

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