Beleaguered prime minister Rishi Sunak apologised on Friday 7 June for leaving the D-Day anniversary commemorations in France early.
Where did he go?
To conduct a television interview with ITV.
We’re sure that’ll be worth all the flag wankers foaming out the mouth. Sunak attended a British government event before returning home and missed the main ceremony at Omaha Beach, attended by France’s President Emmanuel Macron, US President Joe Biden, and Ukraine leader Volodymyr Zelensky.
In his apology Sunak said:
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.
Sunak, languishing in the polls and widely tipped to lose the general election on July 4, sent his foreign minister David Cameron to the event instead, where he was pictured alongside other world leaders.
Line up, lads
Opposition politicians accused Sunak of “a total dereliction of duty” by skipping a major international ceremony with fellow world leaders in Normandy on Thursday 6 June.
The Labour Party’s Jonathan Ashworth accused Sunak of prioritising “his own vanity TV appearances over our veterans” on D-Day.
Lib Dems leader Ed Davey, said Sunak had “brought shame” to his office and “let down our country”. It’s come to something when you’ve teed up the Lib Dems for a roast, eh?
Our pal J-Corbz had some classic decent points to make:
Rishi Sunak’s biggest source of shame should be the way his government has left thousands of veterans to languish on mental health waiting lists and sleep on the streets.
If he wanted to make amends, he would commit to giving veterans the security and support they need.
— Jeremy Corbyn (@jeremycorbyn) June 7, 2024
Comedian Sooz Kempner painted a more vivid picture:
“This is the moment Rishi Sunak lost the election”
Guys, they were already 25 points behind. This is like when you’re having a terrible awful gig and then you fully shit yourself on stage.
— Sooz Kempner (@SoozUK) June 7, 2024
Matt Green contemplated whether Sunak was throwing the election on purpose:
At this point it’s hard not to conclude that Rishi Sunak is trying to throw the election as badly as possible. Possibly as part of some sort of spread betting scheme.
— Matt Green (@mattgreencomedy) June 7, 2024
Political editor of Byline Times, Adam Bienkov, pointed out how our soggy little PM couldn’t even stick it out for one afternoon:
So to summarise, Rishi Sunak, who has committed to forcing all young people to spend an entire year of their lives serving their country, couldn’t even manage one afternoon of it himself. pic.twitter.com/vaBIlRY9vm
— Adam Bienkov (@AdamBienkov) June 7, 2024
Sunak’s stupid mandatory national service plan was clearly designed to warm the hearts of right-wing gammon with a hard-on for the military. But, Sunak couldn’t have dropped more of a clanger here. How can he possibly recover? One commenter had a suggestion:
Rishi Sunak being led out to give his morning interview today. pic.twitter.com/m67GZwynoY
— Donaeld The Unlaebelled Paerody Aeccount (@donaeldunready) June 7, 2024
And, more importantly, can we have more Tories melting down on telly about it?
Tory commentator, Tim Montgomerie on Rishi Sunak leaving the 80th D-Day anniversary: “I want to put my head in my hands. If he came back for a political interview from the D-Day commemorations that is indefensible. It’s political malpractice of the highest order”#newsnight pic.twitter.com/Fc9LxCZm2k
— David (@Zero_4) June 6, 2024
Writer James Felton called to mind the lunatic environment we’re in where Corbyn apparently not bowing low enough, or someone not wearing a poppy is enough for calls to have them sent to a gulag:
[in environment where politicians are accused of disrespecting the war dead for minor clothing infractions]
Rishi Sunak: might skip D-Day
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) June 7, 2024
Of course we can’t forget mainstream media positioning Sunak as some kind of politician extraordinaire:
Every few days I remember that Rishi Sunak was once hailed by the entire political and media class for his talent, competence and presentation and I just start laughing
— Jonathan Lis (@jonlis1) June 7, 2024
Fuck sake Camilla:
I must have missed the point at which the word ‘comeback’ was redefined to mean ’embarrassing shitshow’. pic.twitter.com/qh5GHM1Gil
— Parody Rishi Sunak (@Parody_PM) June 1, 2024
Try again
Given the absolute pasting he’s getting from all angles, Sunak has got the answer. He said:
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.
Nice try, sunshine. That doesn’t look like it’s going to hold water with… well, anybody. Sunak may well have sunk his own campaign before it’s barely started.
However, we have to agree with one commenter who argued over D-Day:
Am I the only one who doesn’t give a shit about Rishi Sunak ditching the D-Day thing?
It was 80 years ago, our obsession with WW2 is unhealthy, and it’s all a massive hypocrisy anyway in light of European leaders’ support of an ongoing genocide.
— Stella Cast 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (they/she) (@SpillerOfTea) June 7, 2024
All these politicians that are tripping over themselves to capitalise on Sunak’s howler have something else in common – their ongoing allowance for Israel’s genocide in Palestine. That’s exactly why we can’t take their outrage seriously. None of these people actually represent our interests, and the sooner we get rid of the whole lot of them, the better.
Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse
Featured image via YouTube screenshot/Sky News
