The inside story of Rishi’s D-Day disaster and how his No.10 team have been blaming each other for the shambles

It was the moment when D-Day became Dunkirk Rishi Sunak.

At the early morning meeting held by the Prime Minister’s election strategists on Thursday, the fact that he would miss the ceremony with Presidents Biden and Macron was said to have been dismissed by one of Sunak’s longest-serving aides.

‘It’s not important. It’s just a chance to pose together,” they reportedly said.

Within 24 hours, Sunak had pulled off a humiliating exit by apologizing for his return France asked to record a TV interview.

But while many critics have singled out ‘those around’ Sunak for this misstep, others are pointing the finger directly at the Prime Minister.

One said: ‘Can you imagine Boris being told to leave early for a TV interview? He just said, ‘Go away, I’ll stay.’

Rishi Sunak greets a D-Day veteran during the British Ministry of Defense and Royal British Legion commemoration ceremony on Thursday

The Prime Minister prepares to lay a wreath, flanked by the King and Queen and the President of France Emmanuel Macron and First Lady Brigitte

“Even if it was advisors who said he didn’t need to stay, as a director he could have ignored them,” another source said. ‘Spads advise. The Prime Ministers decide.’

It was almost worse; the original plan was for the Secretary of Defense Grant Shapps to go in Sunak’s place – until aides realized how strange it must have seemed to see him standing next to world leaders. So Minister of Foreign Affairs Instead, Lord Cameron was sent, because at least Cameron had once led his country.

Unfortunately, they didn’t realize that this was a job for Sunak. The decision to send Cameron is indicative of a prime minister accused of “not giving a damn about defense and foreign affairs”, according to a source familiar with the talks.

“The only time they can counter that perception, they fail so spectacularly. It is astonishing.’

The D-Day fiasco has deepened divisions within the Tory party, from Number 10 down to the party’s grassroots.

In the aftermath of D-Day, two of Sunak’s female aides were singled out during briefings, putting pressure on the already tense working environment in Number 10.

“There has been a lot of tension bubbling between the political side and the press for months,” said an insider, expressing concern that the “boys” – Sunak allies including his chief of staff Liam Booth Smith and political secretary James Forsyth – have female staff blamed for campaign mistakes.

Counter-briefings followed, with sources saying Forsyth attended several meetings where Sunak’s presence was described as ‘optional’.

Concerns were raised that Sunak was about to fly to Italy for the G7 This week the Prime Minister’s agenda was too full of government tasks. Initially, Mr. was also considered Keir Starmer would not attend the international leader’s D-Day event.

“It’s all a mess,” one insider said of the No. 10 operation.

Lord Cameron poses with Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden in Normandy after Rishi Sunak flew back to Britain and missed the international commemorations – and the big photo

After the Prime Minister arrived back in Britain, he gave an interview with ITV in which he denied lying about his claim that a Labor government will cost individuals £2,000 in taxes.

Adding to tensions, insiders say the French have fueled the D-Day row – including the heavily denied claim that Sunak had boycotted the event almost entirely. The insiders claim this was a reward for briefings on this President Macron deliberately missed the leaders’ bus at the Queen’s funeral so he could ride in a limousine instead.

Ministers complain that they are being kept out of the loop by the inner circle Oliver Dowden probably the prime minister’s ear.

Even senior ministers say they have been told what will be in the manifesto for their departments after everything has been decided Downing Streetand not consulted in the process.

One minister said the D-Day decision was ‘catastrophic’ and the way people closest to Sunak are being parachuted into safe Tory seats has only added fuel to the fire.

The Tories are furious that Will Tanner, Sunak’s deputy chief of staff who had played a key role in the manifesto process, campaigned in Bury St Edmunds & Stowmarket in the days before the crucial launch.

He is among a list of Sunak allies and aides who have been dropped into safe havens – usually using rules that allowed the party to submit a shortlist for one or three people when the deadline for selections Friday approached.

“We’ve seen that across the country. It is very, very undemocratic. Good local candidates have been excluded from consideration, and the center has presented associations with their friend candidate alongside two weak candidates.

“It’s a mess — and it’s demoralizing for the candidates, demoralizing for the members.”

Last night a senior Tory on the right of the party called for a post-election ‘reckoning’. ‘Whoever is the next leader must deselect these tossers.

“They are responsible for undermining the party – and all they care about is getting their own safe seats.”

The source said a “clean-up” of the party is needed, while another Tory candidate said if Sunak centrists take over after the election he will leave the party altogether.

Several candidates pointed the blame at Forsyth, Sunak’s old school friend. “His fingerprints are all over this. He’s probably never knocked on a door in his entire life, he doesn’t understand it Conservative Party – he just sits in a dark room and clears all these safe seats for his friends.”

And party chairman Richard Holden is facing calls to resign after claims of a ‘stitch’ over the way he was awarded the safe seat of Basildon and Billericay.

“I have never witnessed so much defamation and hatred towards a minister,” said a Tory elected alongside Holden in 2019. ‘He is a man without morals. We are determined to get rid of him.” Holden has denied the claims.

“I hope reform wins in Basildon and Billericay,” one long-term Tory campaigner told the MoS.

Others blame Sunak’s leadership style. A source said: ‘He manages his agenda like a CEO. When I’ve had meetings with him, it’s two minutes here, five minutes there. Everything is back to back. It’s as if he’s running a big company – without the flexibility you normally need in politics.’

The criticism is shared by conservative donors. Last week a donor who has been giving ‘£25,000 a year’ to the party for years switched to funding reforms.

With four weeks to go before election day, Tory candidates are trying to make the best of a grim set of cards.

Following the D-Day debacle, several Tory Red Wallers told CCHQ to cancel leaflet deliveries because they feature a photo of the Prime Minister.

One told the MoS: “I am running a hyper-local campaign.

“I don’t have Rishi in any of my brochures. I don’t even know the word Conservative. I hope to get written approval from Boris.”

Sunak loyalists hope the row will ‘blow over’. But a senior Tory adviser said the D-Day blunder has sunk in: ‘All our candidates are reporting it’s on the doorstep again. People will still be talking about it the day after the elections.’