Rishi Sunak is put on the spot over the D-Day debacle by GLEN OWEN… as PM admits ‘we all make mistakes. We are all human’

It’s Friday afternoon and the storm over the Prime Minister’s premature departure from the D-Day commemorations is at its height.

At the low point – so far – of the most disastrous election campaign for the Conservatives in living memory Rishi Sunak shares his thoughts with The Mail on Sunday. How is his day going?

“Well, at least I’m enjoying this,” he says, gesturing ruefully towards the primary school he attends in Gloucestershire – located, with unfortunate resonance, on Veterans Way.

Outside of BBC‘s Chris Mason jumps from one foot to the other as he records a piece for the camera, portraying the full horror of the uprising following the Prime Minister’s early departure from Normandy.

The Tory campaign was already shaken Nigel Farage‘s announcement that he would be a candidate in the elections brought his Reform Party closer to the elections Conservatives in the polls and sparked a blind panic among Tory candidates facing an elimination on July 4.

Then came news that the Prime Minister had skipped a ceremony with Presidents Biden and Macron to return home to record ITV interview.

Rishi Sunak on the campaign trail during his interview with Glen Owen

At the low point – so far – of the most disastrous Conservative election campaign in living memory, Rishi Sunak shares his thoughts with The Mail on Sunday

The Tory campaign had already been shocked by Nigel Farage’s announcement that he would stand in the election, moving his Reform Party closer to the Conservatives in the polls.

Mr Sunak reiterates his apology, highlights his record on veterans policy and seeks to shift the narrative towards the launch of his party’s manifesto on Tuesday, which will include plans to cut welfare spending and cut stamp duty for starters.

‘If I’ve made a mistake, I’m happy to admit it. That’s the type of person I am,” he says. Living on less than five hours of sleep a night – his first campaign call is at 5am, followed by a face-to-face meeting with aides at 5.40am – Mr Sunak must be feeling broken and increasingly demoralised. And there are still four weeks to go.

“My general opinion on these things is that I work as hard as I can, and do what I think is right, and as long as you do those things, you can sleep just fine inside. But I don’t sleep much [due to the campaign].’

He adds: ‘There are always difficult moments. It has not been an easy time to do this work. I haven’t had many days where there wasn’t something difficult going on. So you must have inner strength and resilience. We all make mistakes. We are all human. But I’m motivated to do the best I can for this country, and that keeps me going.”

Mr Sunak is also dealing with an earthquake shaking the Tory base as local associations – roiled by his election announcement – object to ‘goons’ such as party chairman Richard Holden eventually moving into ‘safe’ seats are parachuted. minute.

When asked about this, the Prime Minister takes the ostrich approach and says: ‘I don’t think anyone I’ve spoken to has said that to me. We have great candidates all over the country. What people are talking to me about is, how are we going to help with living expenses? How are we going to handle the boats? How are we going to lower their taxes?”

Mr Sunak reiterated his apology, highlighted his record on veterans policy and sought to shift the narrative towards the launch of his party’s manifesto on Tuesday.

The manifesto will include plans to cut social spending and abolish stamp duty for first-time buyers.

Mr Sunak is also dealing with an earthquake that is shaking the Tory base as local associations object to “henchmen” such as party chairman Richard Holden being parachuted into “safe” seats at the last minute.

Tory candidates were so outraged by the D-Day ‘catastrophe’ that they have even discussed the possibility of removing Mr Sunak as leader; That brings us neatly to Boris Johnson, whose allies had previously said he was waiting for Mr Sunak to ‘pick up the phone’ and invite him to join the campaign.

Voters in the Red Wall, pro-Brexit seats that Mr Johnson won in 2019, are particularly furious about the D-Day debacle.

Asked whether that contact has taken place since he called the election, Mr Sunak said: ‘He’s been abroad for a while but he and I have been in touch.

‘He has been very clear about the risks Keir Starmer poses to the country [in his Daily Mail column].’ Boris’s allies say he will make ‘targeted’ interventions to help Tory MPs. He is expected to endorse individual candidates on flyers and provide supporting quotes via mail and social media.

To add to the historic omnishambles, party donors are closing their wallets, raising fears the Tories will run out of money before the end of the campaign.

If Mr Sunak looks bruised, his commander-in-chief, Mr Farage, is having the time of his life – photos of the reform leader posing in a World War II jeep to mark D-Day were in stark contrast to those of an embarrassed looking David Cameron acting as a stand-in for the Prime Minister in the leaders photo.

Mr Sunak insists he was optimistic when Mr Farage made his ’emergency’ announcement on Monday, but emphasizes the likely perverse consequence of his actions: that by splitting the right-wing vote Mr Farage could open the door to a Labor party that is private. determined to reverse Brexit.

Tory candidates were so outraged by the D-Day ‘catastrophe’ that they have even discussed the possibility of removing Mr Sunak as leader

Voters in the Red Wall, pro-Brexit seats won by Johnson in 2019, are particularly outraged by the D-Day debacle

To add to the historic omnishambles, party donors are closing their wallets, raising fears the Tories will run out of money before the end of the campaign.

“Ultimately, one in two people will become Prime Minister on July 5,” Sunak says. ‘A vote for everyone who is not a Conservative candidate makes it more likely that Keir Starmer will get to Number 10… he promised to defend freedom of movement when he became leader of the Labor Party.

‘If you vote for someone who is not a Conservative candidate, you are more likely to get someone in tenth place who is simply not concerned with migration, who is not going to cut your taxes and who is going to pursue an ideological approach to Net Zero that costs everyone thousands of pounds.’

He added: “There are still weeks to go before this election and I continue to make sure people understand the real choice. The past few years have not been easy. Of course, that means people get frustrated. But I do think we’ve turned a corner. Inflation is back to normal, the economy is growing at a healthy pace, energy bills are falling and wages are rising.’

Those five hours of sleep a night must be disrupted by the prospect of reforms moving to the Tories at the polls. If this is repeated on July 5, the number of Tory MPs could be reduced by two-thirds – and could even lead to the Lib Dems becoming the opposition.

‘Mr Sunak can’t say much about that, so he falls back on an old-fashioned classic: ‘The only poll I’m interested in is the 4th of July poll.’ The last time the term was used so often by the Tory party was in the run-up to Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: ‘Boris Johnson, as always, strongly supports the Conservatives and encourages everyone to do the same.’