British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak,Queen Camilla,King Charles,French President Emmanuel Macron and wife Brigitte Macron at the Normandy Memorial on Thursday. Sunak did not stay long.Credit:Getty
That’s right,the man pandering to older voters by campaigning tobring back national service for Britain’s youth,inexplicably chose to snub a major commemoration for the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings,instead flying home for a TV interview.
The attacks have come from all sides of politics,with accusations he’s abandoned veterans to a claim he is not a patriotic leader.
A 102-year-old RAF veteran,Jack Hemmings,who travelled to Normandy,told the BBC that Sunak had made the wrong decision. “He opted to put an election before the thousands who were killed,” Hemmings said.
So,of course,Sunak’s decision not to stay at the event in northern France with other world leaders has been met with dismay by his Conservative colleagues,whom opinion polls suggest face the prospect of a heavy defeat in the general election on July 4.
A grovelling apology has been issued twice,but the bleeding cannot be stemmed. It will haunt him to the grave.
“On reflection,it was a mistake not to stay longer,and I’ve apologised for that,but I also don’t think it’s right to be political in the midst of D-Day commemorations,” Sunak told reporters. “The focus should rightly be on the veterans.”