Penny Mordaunt was warned by Downing Street not to admit Rishi Sunak was wrong to snub D-Day in favour of a pre-election TV interview.
The former Commons leader has revealed she threatened to pull out of TV debates, which saw her trade blows with Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, if she was not allowed to acknowledge the move was a mistake.
Speaking to Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ms Mordaunt said she told Downing Street: “If you don’t want me to say that, go and call someone else into these debates.”
The former Tory MP, who lost her seat to Labour’s Amanda Martin at the election, won the argument with No10 over the D-Day gaffe.
At the second general election debate in June, Ms Mordaunt opened with an apology and an admission that Mr Sunak was “wrong” to leave D-Day commemorations early.
She told the audience: “What happened was completely wrong, and the Prime Minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us.
"I’m from Portsmouth, I have also been defence secretary and my wish at the end of this week is that all of our veterans feel completely treasured."
Asked if she would have left Normandy early as Mr Sunak did on Thursday, Ms Mordaunt said: "I didn’t go to D-Day, I think what happened was very wrong, I think the Prime Minister has apologised for that.
"But what I also think is important is we honour their legacy, they fought for our freedom, and unless we are spending the right amount on defence we can’t honour that legacy."
A Normandy veteran and the former head of the Royal Navy were among those who condemned Mr Sunak for leaving D-Day commemorations early to take part in a TV interview in what was seen as one of the general election’s most damaging gaffes.
The prime minister skipped out on the international ceremony attended by other world leaders, including US president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings.
The former prime minister faced repeated gaffes on the campaign trail, from his rain-soaked launch in Downing Street to asking brewery workers in Wales if they were excited for the Euros, which the country has not qualified for.
Ms Mordaunt said she knew it would be the first question asked at the general election debate, arguing she would be distracted from attacks on Labour’s tax plans if she did not answer it head on.
She told the podcast: “We wanted to focus on the tax issue and the increased taxes that Labour were going to bring in, and actually anything that I was going to be asked, I had to answer involving those messages. That’s the thing they really wanted to land.
"And so they said, ‘Well, what are you going to say on D-Day?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m going to say it was absolutely the wrong thing to do and we’re really sorry for it. And you know, what else can you say?’ And they said, ‘Well, can you just, you know, maybe not say that?’
"And I said, ‘If you want me to have any chance of communicating with the public about our concerns about what Labour are going to do on tax, you want me to give them a run around on D-Day?’
"I said, ‘You can’t do that. This is a black-and-white issue. And if you don’t want me to say that, go and call someone else into these debates’.”
