D-Day blunder has Rishi Sunak under siege as war veterans and military chiefs condemn apologetic PM for skipping anniversary ceremony

War veterans, military leaders and critics from across the political spectrum lined up to condemn yesterday Rishi Sunak for skipping a major D-Day ceremony.

The Prime Minister apologized for his ‘mistake’ but was accused of letting the country down, with some even labeling his actions as ‘stupid’.

On a disastrous day, Tory sources wondered if it was possible to change leaders during a General election campaign and candidates lined up to criticize Mr Sunak.

This became apparent after attending British/French commemorations on Thursday together with the king and the president Emmanuel MacronMr Sunak left Normandy for an interview with ITVwhich will air next week.

It meant he missed the international ceremony, attended by 25 world leaders and heads of state, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings.

Rishi Sunak, pictured with wife Akshata Murty, apologized for leaving D-Day events early to take part in a TV interview

The Prime Minister faced anger after it emerged he was traveling back from Normandy to continue his general election campaign with an interview in front of ITV cameras

Veterans and world leaders gathered in France to celebrate the 80th anniversary of D-Day

World leaders, including the US president Joe Bidencollected on the occasion of the sacrifice made by the troops who arrived on the beaches of Normandy in 1944.

But Britain was represented by the Foreign Secretary, Lord Cameron – while Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer also worked with international politicians.

Yesterday, Mr Sunak apologized on social media and repeated it in a testy exchange with broadcasters during an election campaign in Wiltshire.

He suggested it had always been his intention to leave before the international ceremony on Omaha Beach, even before calling the general election.

“I am someone who will always admit when I have made a mistake,” Sunak said.

‘I stuck to the path that was mapped out for me as prime minister weeks ago – before the elections.’

Mr Sunak said that after taking part in all the UK events with British veterans, I returned home later in the day before the international leaders event.

‘On reflection, that was a mistake. And I apologize. I think it is important, but given the enormity of the sacrifice, the focus should rightly be on the veterans who have given so much.”

Mr Sunak is pictured here alongside the King and Queen, as well as French President Emmanuel Macron and his wife Brigitte

Labor leader Sir Keir Starmer remained at the international ceremony, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky

In a post on social media this morning, Mr Sunak admitted that ‘it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise’

During a seven-party debate hosted by the BBC, Common leader Penny Mordant admitted the Prime Minister had made a mistake by leaving early

Even the Prime Minister’s Veterans Secretary Johnny Mercer admitted Sunak had made a “significant mistake” by leaving D-Day commemoration events early to do a TV interview.

When challenged about what it said about his election rival staying in France when he didn’t, Mr Sunak said it was not “right” to be political.

He also said rumors that he had considered missing the Normandy elements of the D-Day anniversary commemorations entirely were “simply not true.”

ITV said the timing of the interview was suggested by the Conservative Party.

But after Sunak’s actions, a Tory source said: ‘Is it possible to change leader mid-campaign? It becomes a cliché, but it does feel existential for the party.’ Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, said the incident was Mr Sunak’s “Gillian Duffy moment” – a reference to Gordon Brown’s infamous microphone moment in which he called Ms Duffy a “bigoted woman”.

Farage told ITV: ‘It was a catastrophe for Gordon Brown and I think the one thing people have always associated the Conservative Party with is essentially patriotic. It’s run by a man who clearly isn’t.’

A former Conservative minister added: ‘It was completely stupid and completely unnecessary. I do not think so [Mr Sunak] has strong political nerve… and he has a reputation for being stubborn.”

98-year-old Normandy veteran Ken Hay, who was captured as a prisoner of war just weeks after D-Day, said Sunak had failed the country.

“It’s not a representation of us trying to piece things together to keep the peace,” he said. Mr Hay added that Mr Sunak had decided to “cope, let them get on with it because ‘I want to stand in the election, I want my seat back’.

The Prime Minister also faced anger from senior military figures, including Lord West, the former head of the Royal Navy, who said: ‘I would have thought he would have been desperate to be involved in such a big, big event of such significance. for so many millions of people in the UK, let alone around the world.

The Prime Minister visited a school on the road called Veterans Way for another election campaign visit and the irony was not lost on people

A squirming Rishi Sunak apologized to the TV cameras for leaving the D-Day commemoration events early

‘I find it very strange that he scores such an own goal.’

Lord West said Mr Sunak’s advisers ‘should have told him to stay’, adding: ‘It makes you wonder, ‘If they can’t run an election campaign, how on earth can they run the country control?’

Sir Craig Oliver, Lord Cameron’s No 10 communications chief, told BBC Radio 4’s Today program that Mr Sunak had been accused of ‘not getting what it means to be prime minister’.

On the D-Day events, he said: ‘I think when you plan these things you have to say, ‘Look, that’s going to leave the Prime Minister out’. It is a very important moment for the country. But it is also a very important moment to show that you are Prime Minister.’

Meanwhile, Ian Acheson, an aide who advised Michael Gove on extremism, left the Tories over Mr Sunak’s decision to end the commemorations early. In his resignation letter, seen by The Telegraph, Mr Acheson said: ‘It was an act of colossal stupidity or cynical calculation.

Whatever the case, it has made it clear to me that while I still embrace a conservative philosophy, I am no longer willing to outsource it to a bunch of lying, incompetent, and disreputable clowns.”

Labor leader Sir Keir said Sunak will have to be ‘responsible for his own actions’ as he left Normandy ahead of the international D-Day event, but ‘for me there was nowhere else I would be’. He said, ‘It was my duty to be there, it was my privilege to be there.’

He said, ‘It was my duty to be there, it was my privilege to be there.’

While LibDem leader Sir Ed Davey said Mr Sunak’s actions had brought a “disgrace” to the office of Prime Minister “and let our country down”.

Last night a YouGov poll showed that almost two-thirds of Britons found Sunak’s decision unacceptable.

Of the 5,778 adults surveyed, only eight percent found skipping the international ceremony “completely acceptable,” while 65 percent found it “unacceptable.”

But Business Minister Kemi Badenoch accused opposition figures of politicizing the row. She said: “He met the British D-Day veterans, which I think was very special – I think that was extremely important.

“And the rest is just noise that people like Mr Farage, who went there with the personal photographer, are trying to take advantage of.”

Speaking at last night’s BBC election debate, Commons leader Penny Mordaunt said: ‘What happened was completely wrong and the Prime Minister has rightly apologized for it. He apologized to the veterans, but also to all of us, because he represented all of us.”