Rishi Sunak is under fresh pressure over his early D-Day exit after he was filmed saying the events he did attend ran over time.
The Prime Minister issued a public apology after skipping the main international event in Normandy in order to record a TV interview.
Footage of him arriving at the ITV interview showed him apologising for keeping journalist Paul Brand waiting, saying that the commemorations he did attend “just ran over”.
The timing of the interview on June 6 was suggested by the Conservative Party because Mr Sunak had already planned to leave Normandy before the major event attended by world leaders including Joe Biden and Emmanuel Macron.
‘It was incredible but it just ran over.’
This was the moment Rishi Sunak arrived for the interview having just landed back from Normandy after cutting D-Day commemorations short to return to the election campaign.
— Paul Brand (@PaulBrandITV) June 12, 2024
Footage released by ITV showed him walking into the interview saying “it was incredible” but it “all just ran over”.
Liberal Democrat Treasury spokesperson Sarah Olney said: “This is proof that Rishi Sunak simply didn’t care enough to stay in Normandy.
“How he brushes this off is frankly insulting.
“Rishi Sunak does not deserve to be Prime Minister.
“Honouring the sacrifice of our veterans should be a privilege, instead Sunak treated it as an inconvenience.”
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps suggested the Prime Minister had chosen to miss the international event because no British veterans were there.
He told Sky News: “He was there meeting British veterans. The part that he didn’t attend had no British veterans at it at all.
“He has rightly issued his apology for it.”
Mr Sunak has previously insisted he “absolutely didn’t mean to cause anyone any hurt or upset” and “I just hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive me”.
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron was the senior UK politician at the event on Omaha Beach in Mr Sunak’s absence.
