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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Comment
Martha Gill

D-day deserter Rishi Sunak didn’t do his duty, so why should gen Z be expected to do theirs?

Man salutes, seated in a wheelchair, wearing uniform and a chestful of medals, and surrounded by ranks of gravestones.
RAF veteran Bernard Morgan salutes fallen D-day comrades at the Bayeux war cemetery, in Normandy. Photograph: Aaron Chown/Reuters

Rishi Sunak is in an unfortunate position. Anything he does that even slightly cuts convention will now be read as a terrible blunder. Once a narrative like this picks up steam it is hard to stop. The press wants to add to the story arc. A delighted Labour will help it along. And perhaps even some of his own camp, looking for a scapegoat in the coming election defeat, will be rooting for him to fail.

There’s really no spinning his latest gaffe. It’s quite the decision to aim your entire campaign at those who care about the second world war, and then to skip a D-day ceremony, leaving veterans standing.

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