Military veterans have spoken of their fury at Rishi Sunak’s “one-line-apology’ he after skipped a D-Day memorial in France for a campaign interview with ITV.
After he was widely criticised for cutting short his visit to France, the prime minister apoligised on Friday, saying he was a mistake not to stay in Normandy longer.
But he later claimed the events should not be politicised and called for the focus to be on veterans when challenged over the snub.
Former Royal Marines Commando Ben McBean, from Plymouth, managed to recover from stepping on a Taliban landmine in 2008. 12 months later he ran the London Marathon despite losing two of his limbs. He did it again the year after.
The 37-year-old, who has previously been hailed a “hero” by Prince Harry - told The Independent: “It doesn’t really surprise me. He doesn’t give a s***. The people who really care about D-Day are veterans, their friends or family members. People who have been there and done that.
“Not to dig at Rishi Sunak personally, but he was only there because he was told to be there. If he was allowed to leave at exactly 3.05pm he would be leaving at 3.05pm.
“Today is he still thinking about things that happened 80 years ago? No. He’s on to the next thing. That is down to his job and who he is.
“Keir Starmer could be in the same boat we don’t know. Any leader who goes down there it is all for show.”
“That apology he was clearly told to say it. I don’t think he can say sorry again. He’s not going to fly back over there and say sorry to every gravestone now is he?
“If he came out to apologise and say sorry again it’s because he has been told to. If Rishi himself wanted to do something as a man he would cancel things and do something. But he is not he is trying to move on and cling on to power.
“It will be someone from his PR saying actually ‘sh** we are in the papers, it’s a negative story do this, do that’. It won’t be genuine just like going to D-Day in the first place.
“I think it’s over. He said sorry, he didn’t really mean it -just like he didn’t really want to be there.”
On whether the incident is enough for the Prime Minister to step down ahead of July 4, he added: “People aren’t going to say that is the final nail in the coffin. It’s just another thing on the campaign trail that hasn’t gone his way. He’s been ill-advised.
“I reckon someone [on Mr Sunak’s team] is going to get the sack.”
Liz McConaghy was the longest-serving female crewman on the Royal Air Force Chinook Fleet. She evacuated thousands of soldiers out of Afghanistan in her 17-year career.
She told The Independent: “The stories from D-Day we heard hit every veteran really hard, no matter what campaign you were in. They really resonated with us.
“Rishi’s apology doesn’t even scratch the surface. Something we enforce in the military is leading by example. and leaving those commemorations early was not leading by example.
“He wouldn’t even have a country to run if it wasn’t for those who lay down their lives to protect our soil. He couldn’t afford a few hours for them?”
On whether the incident was enough for him to stand down as prime minister, she said: “I’m not a politician, just a veteran. But he’s let a huge chunk of the country down for sure. It says a lot about what he prioritises, clearly himself and gaining votes.
“He’s shown in this that he has no moral courage to do the right thing, even if it’s not what you want to do. Who knows what else will that seep into going forward?”
Ken Hay, 98, who was captured as a prisoner of war just weeks after D-Day said: “What can you say they are politicians? I don’t have a great regard for politicians.”
He told Sky News: “He lets the country down, you know. It’s not the representation of how we’re trying to weld things together to keep the peace.”
Mr Sunak repeated the apology in a clip with broadcasters during a General Election campaign event in Wiltshire.
He suggested it had always been his intention to leave before the international ceremony on Omaha Beach, even before he called the General Election.
“I’m someone who will always admit when I’ve made a mistake,” he said.
“I stuck to the itinerary that had been set for me as Prime Minister weeks ago, before the election,” he told broadcasters.
Mr Sunak said that having participated in “all the British events with British veterans I returned home before the international leaders’ event later in the day”.
He added: “On reflection, that was a mistake. And I apologise. I think it’s important though, given the enormity of the sacrifice made, the focus should rightly be on the veterans who gave so much.”
“People can judge me by my actions when it comes to supporting the armed forces.”
