Rishi Sunak returned earlier than D-Day occasions had all completed

Military figures have been left in disbelief after Rishi Sunak returned from Normandy before all of the D-Day events had all finished to do a General Election interview recording with ITV News.

The Prime Minister attended earlier commemorations at Ver-sur-Mer in Normandy alongside King Charles and Queen Camilla, but left before the key ceremony at Omaha beach.

Instead, Keir Starmer was pictured talking with Ukraine hero Volodymyr Zelenskyy while David Cameron and Grant Shapps represented the Conservative Party.

The remembrance event above one of the beaches stormed by Allied troops 80 years ago was also attended by the Prince of Wales, US President Joe Biden and the French President Emmanuel Macron.

On ITV News at Ten it was revealed that Sunak’s team had been the ones to choose the time and date of the interview – despite the programme not airing until Wednesday next week.

The broadcaster’s UK editor Paul Brand said: ‘We’ve been asking the Prime Minister for an interview for a while now – we are profiling all the leaders on the ITV Tonight programme.

Rishi Sunak lays a wreath during a commemorative ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the World War II D-Day Allied landings in Normandy

Keir Starmer was pictured talking with global leaders including Volodymyr Zelenskyy 

David Cameron and Grant Shapps instead represented the Conservative Party alongside global leaders. Pictured: Cameron alonside French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and U.S. President Joe Biden

‘Today was the slot that we were offered, we don’t know why. Obviously it is not our choice.

‘But he certainly returned from Normandy ready to dive back into the campaign.’

Political cut and thrust had largely been suspended over as the 80th anniversary of D-Day took centre stage, and Mr Sunak appeared in his prime ministerial capacity at various commemoration events.

Tory sources had played down the diplomatic impact of the PM’s absence in Normandy later on Thursday, pointing out he will be meeting other G7 leaders next week at a summit in Italy.

Mr Sunak had used his interview with Mr Brand to reject Labour accusations that he ‘lied’ by saying the party would hike taxes by £2,000 – claims which were later criticised by the UK statistics watchdog.

But former British Army officer Colonel Hamish de Bretton-Gordon slammed the Prime Minister, telling the Mirror: ‘It’s a great disappointment. What could be more important than respecting the people who gave their lives for this country?’

And Col Richard Kemp, a former British Army commander in Afghanistan, added: ‘I know there is a General Election campaign to fight but this is a very significant anniversary of a major military achievement which led to freedom in Europe.

‘It’s being attended by some of the veterans who may never attend another due to their age. I think it was very important that he showed his commitment to it. It’s not dignified, it’s not the right thing to do at a fundamental level.’

Rishi Sunak (L) meets with a British D-Day veteran during the UK Ministry of Defence and the Royal British Legion’s commemorative ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of D-Day

Rishi Sunak wheels D-Day veteran Bernard Morgan, 100, from Crewe, as they head to lunch today

Akshata Murty, wife of Britain’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, talks with D-Day veteran Christian Lamb, who was earlier presented with the Legion d’Honneur

Tim Montgomerie, the founder of Conservative Home and the Conservative Christian Fellowship, added fuel to the fire when he said he was ‘genuinely and completely flabbergasted by the decision.

He told BBC Newsnight: ‘If he came back for an interview – a political interview – from the D-Day commemorations, that is indefensible. Absolutely indefensible.

He continued: ‘It’s extraordinary that the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, at a time when the King, who has advanced his medical treatments so he was there – this is going to be the last big commemoration where survivors will be present. 

‘I think it is political malpractice of the highest order if Rishi Sunak absented himself for an election interview on ITV.’ 

Earlier in the day, Mr Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron joined King Charles in a poignant silent prayer to remember those no longer with us, while memories of those who were on the beaches 80 years ago were also read out.

Charles, along the Prime Minister and military leaders laid wreathes of poppies at the memorial as Elgar’s Nimrod was performed by a brass band in the background, with the national anthems of France and the United Kingdom also being played as the Red Arrows roared overhead. 

Mr Sunak paid tribute to veterans, saying their ‘actions freed a continent and built a better world.’

‘You risked everything and we owe you everything,’ he said. ‘We cannot possibly hope to repay that debt but we can and we must pledge never to forget.’

Labour has now accused Mr Sunak of a ‘dereliction of duty’ for missing the ceremony. 

Shadow paymaster general Jonathan Ashworth said: ‘The Prime Minister skipping off early from D-Day commemorations to record a television interview where he once again lied through his teeth is both an embarrassment and a total dereliction of duty.

‘Our country deserves so much better than out-of-touch, desperate Rishi Sunak and his chaotic Tory Party.’

Rishi Sunak has been contacted for comment.