Rishi Sunak tells Express readers he is truly sorry for D-Day blunder

Contrite Rishi Sunak issued an ‘unreserved’ apology to Daily Express readers for letting down the nation’s heroes when he quit D-Day commemorations early.

The Prime Minister admitted he had “made a mistake” as he faced fury over the decision to leave Normandy early to record a television interview.

Veteran Ken Hay, 98, who was captured as a prisoner of war just weeks after the largest seaborne invasion in history, summed up the strength of feeling when he said the PM had let the country down.

Mr Sunak addressed the backlash head on and insisted he was sorry for his actions.

The PM told the Express: “I’ve participated in a number of events in Portsmouth and France to honour those who risked their lives to defend our freedom and our values 80 years ago - my participation is one of the greatest privileges of my life.

“I returned home before the international leaders event later in the day, but on reflection, that was a mistake and I apologise to veterans and to Express readers unreservedly.

“I had the honour and privilege of speaking to many of them and their families, hearing their stories, expressing my gratitude personally to them.

“I am someone who will always admit when I’ve made a mistake. That’s what you’ll always get from me.

“Our D Day veterans are the best of us, and I will continue working day in and day out to make sure that the UK is the best place to be a veteran.”

Mr Sunak took part in all of the events involving veterans but left before a major international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of the allied landings.

The PM insisted he “stuck to the itinerary” that had been laid out for him for D-Day “weeks ago” and said it was “important” that the incident is not politicised.

Amid widespread fury from veterans, military leaders, Conservative politicians and the wider public, he pointed to his record on supporting the Armed Forces and Britain’s heroes in uniform.

He said: “I think people can judge me by my actions when it comes to supporting the Armed Forces.

“In this campaign, it’s the Conservative Party led by me which is increasing the amount of investment that we’re putting into our Armed Forces to 2.5% of GDP. That’s not something that’s been matched by the Labour Party.

“So there is a clear choice about backing our Armed Forces. And it’s also me as Prime Minister that’s made sure we have the first ever dedicated veterans minister in Cabinet with a dedicated Office of Veterans’ Affairs.”

The Prime Minister left France to record an ITV General Election interview which will air next week.

The broadcaster said the timing of the interview was suggested by the Conservative Party.

Veteran Mr Hay shared his upset over Mr Sunak’s decision.

“He lets the country down,” he said.

“It’s not the representation of how we’re trying to weld things together to keep the peace.”

The veteran suggested Mr Sunak had decided to “bail out, let them get on with it because ‘I want to stand in the election, I want my seat back’”.

The Prime Minister attended the UK national event at Portsmouth on Wednesday and then the British ceremony in Normandy on Thursday, the anniversary of the allied landings on D-Day.

But he then left France before the high-profile gathering of world leaders, including US President Joe Biden and France’s Emmanuel Macron, on Omaha Beach for the international ceremony.

Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron stood in for him instead.

Veterans’ Minister Johnny Mercer admitted it was a “significant mistake” and that he “gets the outrage”.

But Mr Mercer said he won’t “join the howls of the fake veterans supporters who say he doesn’t treat veterans correctly, because it’s not correct.”

He said: “People are going to try and turn this into a big political moment.

“It is a significant mistake, and I’m not underplaying it, but I think also it should be borne in the context of what we’ve actually done for veterans.”

Mr Mercer stressed the blunder should be seen in “context”.

He told The Sun’s Never Mind The Ballots Show: “I’ve spoken to the Prime Minister this morning and obviously it’s disappointing, but I do find the faux outrage from people who’ve done nothing but make my life difficult trying to improve veterans affairs over the years pretty nauseating, to be frank.”

Tory former SAS reservist David Davis pointed out Mr Sunak attended the events “honouring the veterans” rather than “rubbing shoulders with international leaders.”

He blamed the PM’s team and said he has apologised to veterans and “that was the right thing to do”.

A YouGov poll found 65% of Britons believe it was unacceptable for Mr Sunak to leave before the commemorations had finished.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer seized on the blunder, questioning his rival’s character.

Sir Keir stayed in northern France for the entirety of the commemorations and held talks with Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky.

He said: “Politics is about the choices you make.

“And this election is about character, who you have in your mind’s eye when you make decisions and for me there was only one place I was going to be which is there to pay my respects to the veterans and to say thank you to them on behalf of all of us, including my young children who, as I said to many of the veterans, were pretty carefree yesterday going to school but that was down to their sacrifice and the sacrifice particularly of those colleagues of theirs who didn’t make it back.”

He added: “Privilege is a word that is probably overused in politics but I felt privileged to be Reform UK leader Nigel Farage claimed the Conservative leader only cared about “staying in No 10” as he criticised the Prime Minister over his D-Day decision.

He said: “It just says everything. He doesn’t really care about our history, he doesn’t really care, frankly, about our culture, he cares about staying in No 10.”

Mr Farage claimed Mr Sunak was “not patriotic” and added: “If you are a patriotic voter, don’t vote for Rishi Sunak.”

The bad day for the PM continued last night as an out-of-work GP heckled him as he made a stump speech in Wiltshire.

Dr Jane Lees-Millais told the Prime Minister the NHS was “disintegrating” as he made a speech to Tory members.