Rishi Sunak squirms as he is blasted for ‘bunking off D-Day’ in heated interview

Rishi Sunak squirmed as he pleaded for forgiveness after “bunking off D-Day”.

In a heated exchange with the BBC’s Nick Robinson, the PM apologised for not attending a commemoration on Omaha Beach in Normandy on Thursday. Instead Foreign Secretary David Cameron was pictured alongside US President Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The PM was told that many Brits believe it is the “basic duty” of the Prime Minister to have been there. Mr Robinson showed Mr Sunak the photo and demanded: “How do you feel when you look at that photo of D-Day at Omaha Beach?”

The PM replied: “Well, the last thing that I wanted to do was cause anyone any hurt or offence or upset, which is why I apologised unreservedly for the mistake that I made and I can only ask that I hope people can find it within their hearts to forgive me.” He then urged people to “look at my actions as Prime Minister to increase investment in our Armed Forces, to support our Armed Forces “.

Mr Robinson pressed again, telling Mr Sunak: “Do you understand that for quite a lot of people watching, I think, they simply think that the basic duty of the prime minister, the duty, was for you to be in that photograph and not David Cameron?”

The awkward-looking PM replied: “Well that’s why I’ve apologised unreservedly for the mistake and I hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive me.”

And Mr Robinson revisited the controversy again when he pressed Mr Sunak on the Tories’ record in power. He asked: “After 14 years, five Prime Ministers, Boris Johnson lying about parties, Liz Truss almost crashing the economy and you bunking off D-Day, after all the broken promises, you really think you deserve another chance?”

Mr Sunak meekly replied: “I’ve been very clear in the past, no Government gets everything right, but I am proud of what has been achieved over 14 years, this election is also about the future.”

It came as the PM admitted he’s failed on the NHS, housing and immigration as he was confronted over 14 years of broken Tory promises. Mr Sunak was forced to acknowledge it has become “harder” for people to own their first home under the Conservatives.

He also confessed that he had not delivered his pledge to cut NHS waiting lists and conceded immigration was “too high”. But as he tried to explain away his failings, he said: “No government gets everything right.” As Mr Sunak claimed he would deliver on the promises if re-elected, Mr Robinson likened him to “a guy in a pub who borrows 50 quid” but always promises it will be repaid tomorrow.

Mr Sunak was also forced to defend calling a snap election before any flights to Rwanda had taken off, despite putting it at the heart of his plan to tackle small boat crossings. So far this year over 11,000 people have reached the UK by crossing the Channel.

After the PM conceded that no one has yet been sent to the African nation despite three years of Tory promises, Mr Robinson said: “When you say you’ve got a plan you sound to me like a guy in a pub who borrows 50 quid and he borrowed it three years ago and he keeps saying, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll pay you back’. And then when you confront him in the pub, he says, ‘I’ll pay you tomorrow,’ you wouldn’t believe him, would you?

“You’re constantly promising what you will do, but what you haven’t done so far.” And told that many viewers believe “nothing works in this country”, the PM responded: “I’ve been very clear in the past, no Government gets everything right, but I am proud of what has been achieved over 14 years, this election is also about the future.”

He claimed waiting lists are starting to go down, but admitted: “I’ve been very clear. We have not made as much progress on NHS waiting lists as I would have liked, and they have risen.”

Challenging Mr Sunak over his failure to bring down net migration – as promised by the Tories in 2019 – Mr Robinson said: “Last year 685,000 extra people came here. That’s twice the population of Coventry. You didn’t control our borders, did you?”

The PM replied: “No, the numbers are too high. I’ve been very clear about that, but people can judge me as well on what I’ve done as Prime Minister, where I’ve put in place the biggest, strictest reforms to bring down immigration that we’ve seen.”

On his failure to get flights to Rwanda in the air despite three years of promises, Mr Sunak said: “We got the numbers down by a third last year. That had never happened before, never ever. The numbers had just gone up and up and up until I became Prime Minister. The numbers were down by a third last year, so people can trust me.”

The PM told the BBC that owning a home has become more difficult in the time his party’s been in charge. He admitted: “It has got harder and I need to make sure it gets easier.”