Rishi Sunak has accused his critics of politicising D-Day after he was forced to make a grovelling apology for leaving the commemorations early to take part in a TV interview.
After he was widely criticised for cutting short his visit to France the prime minister conceded he had blundered.
“It was a mistake and I apologise,” he said.
But he later claimed the events should not be politicised and called for the focus to be on veterans when challenged over his D-Day ceremony snub.
Speaking to broadcasters on a campaign visit to Wiltshire, the Prime Minister said: “Over the past two days I’ve participated in a number of events in Portsmouth and France to honour those who risked their lives to defend our freedom and our values 80 years ago.
“The itinerary for these events was set weeks ago before the start of the General Election campaign, and having participated in all the British events with British veterans, I returned home before the international leaders event later in the day. On reflection, that was a mistake and I apologise.
He added: “I think it’s important though, given the enormity of the sacrifice made, that we don’t politicise this. The focus should rightly be on the veterans who gave so much.”
Mr Sunak’s his miscalculation in coming home while other world leaders stayed in Normandy to honour the sacrifice and courage of thousands of Alllied troops is bound to be seen as yet another major Conservative error in the election campaign.
It will add to the feeling among many Tory MPs that despite his undoubted skills in handling economic matters, the Prime Minister has a “tin ear” on other key aspects of leadership.
In an extraordinary turn of events, Downing Street was also forced to deny that Mr Sunak had initially planned not to attend the commemorations at all and that the French government had been informed a week ago.
No 10 said that was “not true” and that it had always been the plan he would go.
But even a senior Tory MP, veterans minister Johnny Mercer, said the decision to leave the anniversary events early was a “significant mistake”.
The prime minister has been accused of a “dereliction of duty” after he snubbed the event and gave a TV interview about the election.
It emerged on Thursday that the Prime Minister came home early to sit down with ITV to defend claims he had made that Sir Keir Starmer planned to hike taxes by £2,000 per person.
The tax claim, first made in a TV debate with the Labour leader, was also seen as a political own goal after the Treasury’s chief mandarin disowned the figure.
It meant he left commemoration events in France before a gathering of the world leaders on Omaha Beach with King Charles and veterans.
The Independent first revealed that he had also skipped the event with King Charles, presidents Zelensky, Biden and Macron, and other world leaders to return to the UK to campaign in the election with his party still losing ground in the polls.
