- author, Lucy Clark Billings
- role, BBC News
Conservative cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt said the Prime Minister’s decision to cancel the Normandy landings anniversary celebrations early was “completely wrong”.
Mr Sunak was heavily criticised by senior party figures for walking out of Thursday’s ceremony in France marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings.
The Prime Minister returned to the UK early, appointing Foreign Secretary David Cameron as his deputy.
The first question in Friday’s debate was about defense.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said Mr Sunak’s “terrible” decision to step down early showed “we actually have a very unpatriotic prime minister”.
“What happened was totally wrong and of course the Prime Minister has apologised – not just to veterans but to all of us because he spoke for all of us,” Mr Mordaunt said.
The Speaker added that the issue should not become a “political ball”, but Mr Farage, who visited Normandy himself, said it already was.
Mordaunt did not praise Sunak’s record on veterans’ and defence issues, as other Conservative MPs did on Friday.
Following what is widely seen as the biggest blunder of the general election campaign so far, Mr Sunak apologised for X and said he hoped the “ultimate sacrifice” of those putting their lives on the line would not be “overshadowed by politics”.
He acknowledged that “on reflection” world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, should have attended the event commemorating the sacrifices made by soldiers in 1944.
Asked during the debate whether he would have left Normandy earlier, Mr Mordaunt said: “I wasn’t at the Normandy landings. I think what happened was very wrong and I think the Prime Minister has apologised for that.”
“But I think it’s important that we honor their legacy. They fought for our freedom. We can’t honor that legacy unless we spend the right amount on defense.”
Stephen Flynn, Westminster leader of the Scottish National Party (SNP), said: “A prime minister who puts his political career ahead of public service is not a prime minister at all.”
“A prime minister who puts his own political career ahead of Normandy veterans shouldn’t be a prime minister at all.
“So it is incumbent on all of us to do our civic duty and vote to remove the Conservatives from power.”
Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper, whose grandfather was on the beaches of Normandy on the day of the invasion, said Mr Sunak’s decision was “politically disgraceful”.
“This was certainly not the day for the prime minister to decide that fighting for his own political future should be his priority,” Plaid Cymru leader Rune ap Iowelt said.
“It’s tragic that so many veterans struggle in life after leaving the military,” Green Party co-leader Carla Denier said.
Commemorations of the Normandy landings included a British-hosted event in Vers-sur-Mer attended by the prime minister and King Charles, but Mr Sunak left ahead of the international commemoration at Omaha Beach.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer attended until the end of the event, the party confirmed, with Sunak thought to have returned to record an interview with ITV.
Sir Keir said he was “shocked” by how difficult it had been for veterans to get there and how many made the effort to get up from their wheelchairs to salute the King.
He said: “I just thought it was really important for me to be there to pay tribute to them and to those who didn’t come back and actually say thank you.”
“Rishi Sunak must take responsibility for his actions. For me, there was no other place for me to be.”
World War Two pilot Jack Hemmings, 102, who was in Normandy for the commemorations, told the BBC that Mr Sunak’s early departure was “the wrong decision”.
“He chose to encourage the thousands of people who were murdered to vote.”
Hemmings served with the 353rd Squadron and flew Lockheed Hudsons on maritime patrol missions to protect the Bay of Bengal from Japanese aggression.
