British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak apologized on Friday for leaving a D-Day commemoration in France early, admitting a major public relations misstep in the midst of a general election campaign.
“After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned to the UK,” Sunak wrote on social media platform X. “On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay longer in France, and I apologize.”
Sunak did not explain why he had decided to leave early. But once back in London, he recorded an interview with British broadcaster ITV, in which he was asked about his claim during a televised debate this week that the opposition Labor Party would increase taxes on British households by 2,000 pounds, about 2,560. Dollars.
Sunak’s apology came after a storm of criticism, with less than four weeks until the election.
The Labor Party condemned his early departure as a “dereliction of duty”. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey accused Sunak of abandoning veterans of the D-Day invasion “on the beaches”. Even some officials in Sunak’s own Conservative Party expressed dismay.
Sunak’s departure meant his foreign secretary, David Cameron, was left to represent Britain at an afternoon ceremony with the leaders of France, Germany and the United States.
That created an unusual tableau of Mr. Cameron, a former prime minister, posing for photographs on Omaha Beach with President Biden, President Emmanuel Macron of France and Chancellor Olaf Scholz of Germany.
While Sunak is preoccupied at home with an uphill battle to keep the Conservatives in power, Cameron has often acted as his surrogate on the world stage. But in this case, Sunak gave his critics an opportunity to suggest that he was putting politics before a sacred milestone in the West’s battle against Nazi tyranny.
“By choosing to prioritize his own vanity TV appearances over our veterans, Rishi Sunak has shown what is most important,” said a senior Labor official, Jonathan Ashworth, in a sign of how the party planned to use the decision against him. “It’s even more desperation, even more chaos and even more terrible judgment by this out of touch prime minister.”
Sunak attended a ceremony on Thursday morning in Ver-sur-Mer, northern France, and was joined by Macron, as well as King Charles III and Queen Camilla. But he skipped the subsequent ceremony in Omaha Beach, which was attended by Macron, Biden, Scholz and other leaders.
“This anniversary should be dedicated to those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country,” Sunak wrote in his social media post. “The last thing I want is for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics.”
Labor leader Keir Starmer remained at the event and was photographed shaking hands and speaking with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine. Starmer, whose party has held a double-digit poll lead over the Conservatives for 18 months, has sought to raise his profile at international meetings in recent months.
For Starmer, who looked occasionally shaky during the televised debate with an aggressive Sunak on Tuesday night, it was a chance to regain his footing.
For his part, Sunak found himself on ITV answering more questions about his claim that Labor would raise taxes. Starmer called the allegation a “lie” and senior officials have criticized it.
ITV UK editor Paul Brand said the broadcaster had been trying to schedule an interview with Sunak for a long time. “Today was the gap they offered us,” he told ITV’s “Noticias a las Diez” program. “We do not know why”.