Keir Starmer said his decision to attend D-Day commemorations in full was “not even a discussion” – and Rishi Sunak needed to “answer for his choice” to leave early.
It comes after the Prime Minister faced fury for leaving Normandy early to do a TV interview last night. Speaking at a housing development in Brent Cross Village, the Labour leader said: “I made a choice yesterday about what I would do as leader of the Labour party, and as a candidate to be Prime Minister. And I knew I had to be there, I mean, it was not a discussion. It was my duty to be there, it was my privilege to be there.”
Asked if there was a mismatch between Rishi Sunak’s National Service announcement and his decision to leave early yesterday, Keir Starmer said: “I think there is and he’s going to have to answer for the choices he made. He’s the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. This was a day of reflection, of being humbled by the efforts other people have made on our behalf.”
Mr Starmer spoke movingly about the “humbling” scenes he witnessed at the 80th Anniversary commemoration above Omaha beach. And he said he thanked veterans on behalf of his children.
“I felt privileged to be there with veterans who fought on d-day against the odds to liberate Europe and to allow me to grow up in peace and freedom and democracy,” he said.
“I did actually say to them thankyou, on behalf of – I’ve got a 15 year old boy and a 13 year old girl – who went to school without a second thought yesterday. That’s down to the sacrifice those people made.”
He also paid tribute to elderly veterans who made the difficult journey to Normandy for the anniversary. He said: “It was not easy for them to get there. There was months and months of planning.
“Many of them were physically not in good shape, they’re in their late 90s. They made a huge effort to be there. I was really struck – it was really humbling and really moving – that when the King came, they were literally trying to – and most managed to – stand up out of their wheelchairs. I hadn’t expected that.
“They made that effort to get there, to stand for the king even if they could only do it for a few seconds.
“I found that humbling. It was a privilege to be there. There was only one choice as far as I’m concerned, as a world leader, any leader or just a civilian in the UK living in freedom – to be there, to pay full respects and say the important words – thank you.”