Rishi Sunak: Absence of D-Day causes anger and prompts PM to apologise

London
CNN
—

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has apologized for leaving the 80th anniversary celebrations of D-Day early in order to film a television interview, a decision that raised suspicion and derailed his faltering general election campaign.

Sunak attended the first part of commemorative events in Normandy, France, on Thursday, but missed the international ceremony in Omaha Beach, which was attended by other world leaders and veterans of the 1944 Allied operation.

“The last thing I want is for politics to overshadow the celebrations,” Sunak wrote in a lengthy apology for X. After the British event in Normandy, I returned to the United Kingdom. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer, and I apologize.

But the move has already caused disbelief in Britain and represents another miscalculation in Sunak’s faltering election campaign.

The network confirmed that Sunak left the event to record an election interview for ITV, in which he defended claims about the opposition Labor Party’s tax plans, which fact-checkers and a senior civil servant said were misleading or inaccurate.

More than 20 heads of state and government and representatives of royal families across Europe attended the international ceremony, which was held on a day commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Allied beach landings in Nazi-occupied France, which laid the foundation for Germany’s defeat. In World War II.

The United Kingdom was represented by David Cameron, Sunak’s foreign minister and former prime minister, who took photos alongside French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and US President Joe Biden.

Also in attendance was Labor leader Keir Starmer, who was pictured speaking with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during the event. Labor was quick to condemn Sunak’s decision to sidestep events, and the gaffe dominated British news coverage of the election on Friday.

Labour’s general paymaster, Jonathan Ashworth, said on Friday: “Yesterday’s D-Day celebrations were about remembering the bravery of all those who serve our country.” “By choosing to prioritize his frivolous TV appearances at the expense of veterans, Rishi Sunak has shown what is most important to him.”

Sunak is currently expected to lose the July 4 election to Labor by a large margin, and his campaign has failed to reach a decisive moment that could tip the polls in his favor.

In recent days, his efforts were dealt another blow when Nigel Farage, the architect of Brexit and a populist thorn in the side of many Conservative leaders, announced that he would lead the Reform Party campaign, and directly appealed to right-leaning Tory supporters to ditch Sunak. And vote for his rebel group.