Farage below fireplace for claiming Sunak would not perceive ‘our tradition’
Nigel Farage has come under fire today for claiming Rishi Sunak doesn’t understand ‘our culture’ after the premier left the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations early.
In an interview with the BBC‘s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Mr Farage said: ‘It shows the man doesn’t understand. He is not patriotic, he doesn’t care about our history, our culture.’
The Reform UK leader insisted his comments were about class rather than race after he faced heavy backlash from across the political spectrum as he was accused of ‘dog whistle’ politics.
Work and Pensions secretary Mel Stride was left feeling ‘uncomfortable’ by Mr Farage’s remarks, while shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood said they were ‘completely unacceptable’.
Mr Sunak told local newspaper The Northern Echo he was ‘deeply sorry for the hurt he had caused amid his constituents living in Catterick Garrison previously saying his decision to ditch the commemoration on June 6 was ‘disgusting’.
Nigel Farage has come under fire today for claiming Rishi Sunak doesn’t understand ‘our culture’ after the premier left the D-Day 80th anniversary commemorations early
Rishi Sunak issued a grovelling apology in front of TV cameras for leaving D-Day commemoration events early
On BBC One this morning, Ms Kuenssberg said viewers ‘might imagine that you are trying, not very subtly, to emphasise the prime minister’s immigrant heritage’.
Mr Farage said: ‘I know what your question is leading at – 40 per cent of our contribution in World War One and World War Two came from the Commonwealth.
‘He is utterly disconnected by class, by privilege, from how the ordinary folk in this country feel. He revealed that, I think spectacularly, when he left Normandy early.
‘Out there now there are millions and millions of people who were Conservative voters, traditional Conservative voters, not the red-wallers, who are now thinking ‘Do we go on supporting the Conservatives or do we support Reform?’
‘This is going to be, I think, the acid test of this election.’
Asked about Mr Farage’s original comments, Work and Pensions Secretary Mr Stride told the same programme: ‘I think they are suggesting things – I’m not going to go any further than that because I didn’t want to stoke this whole thing up – but it just seems to me that that’s an ill-advised thing to have said.
‘I feel very uncomfortable with that. We’ve had in our country, and it’s a source of great personal pride – as somebody who supported the Prime Minister, wanted him to be the leader of our party and our Prime Minister – that I’ve sat around a Cabinet table that’s the most diverse in history.
‘I’m very proud of the fact that we have a British Asian who is right at the top of our Government.’
Mr Sunak’s early departure from Normandy left Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron to join US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron, and Germany’s Olaf Scholz on Omaha Beach
Mel Stride, the Work and Pensions Secretary, dismissed suggestions the PM could quit amid the outrage at his early departure from Normandy commemorations
In a social media post this morning, Mr Sunak admitted ‘it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise’
Ms Mahmood suggested Mr Farage’s comments were a ‘dog whistle’ attack – that would be heard by the intended recipients in one way while appearing otherwise uncontroversial.
She said: ‘I think this is a classic Nigel Farage trick, lean just enough to signal a bit of a dog whistle and then lean straight back and sound perfectly reasonable and say something good about the contribution that Commonwealth soldiers, ethnic minorities made towards the war effort.
‘We can all see exactly what Nigel Farage is doing, he’s got form, it is completely unacceptable.
‘This is a man that has a track record of seeking to divide communities who just wants to do it with a veneer of respectability whilst he’s at it.’
Mr Sunak, who is the Member of Parliament for Richmond, Yorkshire, yesterday issued a grovelling apology as he told the Echo: ‘The itinerary had been set a while ago, but it was a mistake not to stay after the British events and after the engagement with British veterans, and for that, I am deeply sorry.’
He added that he had been ‘privileged to attend’ a number of events in Portsmouth and France.
Mr Sunak had been scheduled to speak to journalists from the national media shortly before mid-day but this huddle was cancelled by his team due to ‘timing issues’.
The under-fire Tory leader was also blasted by fellow Tories and military veterans for snubbing the final D-Day event in Normandy by flying back to London to conduct a pre-recorded interview with ITV.
The move prompted a fierce backlash from political rivals and some Conservatives already nervous about their party’s electoral prospects, with the outrage swelling after it emerged Mr Sunak had returned to the UK to record a General Election campaign TV interview.
Mr Sunak, pictured, had a disastrous week on the campaign trail having been forced to apologise for returning early from Normandy on Thursday
It later emerged that Mr Sunak had given a broadcast interview following his return from Normandy, a clip of which was shared by ITV journalist Paul Brand
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said people were ‘flabbergasted’ by the Prime Minister’s decision, which was ‘such a letdown for our whole country and our history, particularly for our brave veterans’.
‘I share the concerns of veterans and people across the country who feel really let down and are upset, and indeed some very angry,’ he told the PA news agency during a visit to Newbury.
Labour’s Sir Keir Starmer said it was his ‘duty’ to thank veterans at the D-Day event the Prime Minister skipped.
Mr Harper repeated the Prime Minister’s suggestion it had always been his intention to leave before the international event on Omaha Beach, even before he called the election.
The Transport Secretary told BBC Breakfast on Saturday: ‘I don’t know what the detail was of putting the Prime Minister’s schedule together, which, as he said, was done some time ago before the election campaign was called.
‘But look, it was a mistake. People make mistakes. The Prime Minister has made a mistake. He’s apologised for it. And he’s apologised to those that would have been particularly hurt by it.’
