Yahoo Finance Sunak under pressure after admitting ‘it was a mistake’ to leave D-Day events early
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is under severe pressure after he was forced into an apology this morning, for leaving D-Day commemorations early yesterday.
The prime minister said sorry for quitting the events in France in order to conduct a television interview yesterday, calling it “a mistake”.
The occupant of number 10 was widely criticised by Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey, who said he “brought shame” to the office.
John Healey, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, wrote a letter to Conservative Defence Secretary, Grant Shapps, saying the move raised “worrying questions about both his judgement and his priorities.”
This comes after a minister defended Sunak who skipped a ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day in order to carry out a TV interview. He attended the ceremony and made a short speech, pictured in Normandy but left early.
Sunak called a General Election for 4 July, as the Tories sit well behind in the polls.
In a statement on X, formerly Twitter this morning, he said: “The 80th anniversary of D-Day has been a profound moment to honour the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our values, our freedom and our democracy.
The 80th anniversary of D-Day has been a profound moment to honour the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our values, our freedom and our democracy.
This anniversary should be about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The last thing…— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 7, 2024
“This anniversary should be about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The last thing I want is for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics.
“I care deeply about veterans and have been honoured to represent the UK at a number of events in Portsmouth and France over the past two days and to meet those who fought so bravely.
“After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise.”
During the day, Sunak posted a sombre picture of himself and his wife at the commemoration before leaving, looking at a Second World War plane.
We will always remember the heroes who fought and died for our freedom. #DDay80 pic.twitter.com/0WBRmCVAXN
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 6, 2024
In his letter to Shapps, Healey said “the public are entitled to answers on several key questions”, including jwhen the decision was made, and whether it was Sunak himself who decided it was “not best use of his time”.
Healey also asked Shapps whether there was truth in reports that the French government was reported to have said just a week ago, that Sunak would not attend at all.
“Do you believe that the Prime Minister apologising in a social media post is sufficient? Will you encourage the Prime Minister to make a further, fuller statement of apology?”, he asked.
Rishi Sunak recently launched a policy of so-called ‘national service for 18-year-olds, which has come in for sharp criticism. Healey said given the policy, “what does it say that he appears to have been unable to complete a single afternoon of it?”
Sir Keir Starmer questioned Rishi Sunak’s character on a visit to a housing development in Brent Cross: “Politics is about the choices you make.
“And this election is about character, who you have in your mind’s eye when you make decisions and for me there was only one place I was going to be which is there to pay my respects to the veterans and to say thank you to them on behalf of all of us, including my young children who, as I said to many of the veterans, were pretty carefree yesterday going to school but that was down to their sacrifice and the sacrifice particularly of those colleagues of theirs who didn’t make it back.”
“I made a choice yesterday about what I would do as leader of the Labour Party and as a candidate to be Prime Minister and I knew I should be there. This was not a discussion.
“It was my duty to be there, it was my privilege to be there.
“Privilege is a word that is probably overused in politics but I felt privileged to be able to be with veterans who had fought on D-Day against the odds to liberate Europe and to allow me to grow up in peace and freedom and democracy.”
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Rishi Sunak had “brought shame” to the office.
“One of the greatest privileges of the office of Prime Minister is to be there to honour those who served, yet Rishi Sunak abandoned them on the beaches of Normandy,” Sir Ed said.
“He has brought shame to that office and let down our country.
“I am thinking right now of all those veterans and their families he left behind and the hurt they must be feeling. It is a total dereliction of duty and shows why this Conservative Government just has to go.”
While Sunak headed home, represented by foreign secretary David Cameron at the ceremony, Labour leader Keir Starmer, who is almost 20 points ahead in many polls, mingled with King Charles, and world leaders including Ukraine’s president Zelensky, and France’s Macron.
