Tory minister tells Rishi Sunak ‘it is over’ as D-Day snub ends election hopes

One of Rishi Sunak’s own ministers has warned “it’s over” as the PM’s election campaign lies in tatters after he shamefully skipped a D-Day event

The Prime Minister was forced to apologise for flying home early from Normandy to record a TV interview, admitting it had been “a mistake”. He faced a backlash from military veterans including Dame Kelly Holmes, who accused him of “disrespecting” D-Day heroes by snubbing an event for world leaders at the 80th anniversary commemorations.

Conservatives have turned on each other over the extraordinary snub to veterans, with warnings he would have been immediately ousted as party leader if it was not the middle of the General Election campaign. One minister told the Mirror: “Don’t even ask. The wheels have come off. It’s over.”

Tory aides warned the campaign error was even worse than in 2010 when Gordon Brown was caught on tape describing voter Gillian Duffy as a “bigoted woman”. A source said: “This is gonna kill us.”

Leaked messages from a private group for verified Conservative members, seen by the Mirror, show the level of fury among party grassroots. One member wrote that it “shows he really only cares about himself”. “He will go down as the most selfish PM ever”, agreed another. A further member said that “it just shows what a dumpster fire this campaign is […] Sunak took a gun and nearly blew his own foot off with the shot”.

Dame Kelly, who is Honorary Colonel of the Royal Armoured Training Corps, said following the Prime Minister’s latest blunder: “We need change now.” The Olympian, 54, served for 10 years in the Army and has long been an active campaigner on veterans’ rights.

“The fact is, it’s 80 years of D-Day and we know that at the next celebration, in five or 10 years, it’s very very unlikely that we will have many or any veterans left from Great Britain and it’s up to us to keep that memory alive,” she told the Mirror. “Some of them drowned before they even got to the beach, but it was clearly not that important to our Prime Minister when he didn’t even stay. The sacrifice is that we were sending kids, 16, 17 year old kids.

“Give people respect where it was due. Other people stayed on. I don’t know what he was coming home for and I don’t really care. If he was coming home for a media interview that could have waited until tomorrow. It’s disrespectful. It is.”

Keir Starmer, who attended the event with world leaders the PM missed, said: “Rishi Sunak will have to answer for his own actions, for me there was nowhere else I was going to be.”

Asked if there was a mismatch between his announced plan to bring back National Service for 18-year-olds and his decision to leave early, the Labour leader said: “I think there is… 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.”

Ken Hay, 98, a Normandy veteran who was captured as a prisoner of war just weeks after D-Day said of Mr Sunak: “He lets the country down.” But whining Mr Sunak accused his critics of “politicising” his decision to skip a D-Day event with world leaders including Joe Biden and Volodymyr Zelensky.

In an interview with broadcasters, it was put to him that one unnamed Tory candidate had accused him of having a “disdain for the armed forces” and not “understand[ing] patriotism”. He was told that some Tories have been in tears over how he is running the election campaign. Mr Sunak said: “I’m someone who will always admit when I’ve made a mistake. I stuck to the itinerary that had been set for me as Prime Minister weeks ago, before the election.”

Earlier in a tweet, the PM wrote: “After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise.” The Prime Minister left Normandy to record an ITV General Election interview which will air next week.The broadcaster said the timing of the interview was suggested by the Conservative Party.

Kelly Holmes: Unique – A Memoir, the updated paperback rrp £9.99 published by Mirror Books, is on sale now.