PM leaving D-Day events early completely wrong, Penny Mordaunt says
Conservative cabinet minister Penny Mordaunt has said the Prime Minister's decision to leave D-Day 80 events early to record a general election campaign TV interview was "completely wrong".
Ms Mordaunt, who is also a Navy reservist, said it was right Rishi Sunak apologised not only to veterans but to the public.
However, the former defence minister added it should not become "a political football".
During the seven-way BBC debate on Friday, Ms Mordaunt said: "What happened was completely wrong, and the Prime Minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us.
"I'm from Portsmouth, I have also been defence secretary and my wish is at the end of this week is that all of our veterans feel completely treasured," she said.
Asked if she would have left Normandy early as Mr Sunak did on Thursday, Ms Mordaunt said: "I didn't go to D-Day, I think what happened was very wrong, I think the Prime Minister has apologised for that.
"But what I also think is important is we honour their legacy, they fought for our freedom, and unless we are spending the right amount on defence we can't honour that legacy."
"I don't want this issue to become a political football," she added.
However, Reform UK leader Nigel Farage replied stating it already was a political football.
"It already is because the veterans themselves are speaking out saying he's let the country down," he said.
The Prime Minister apologised for his decision to leave France before a major international ceremony to mark the anniversary of the Allied landings but urged people not to politicise the event.
He admitted that "on reflection" he should have stayed for the event where world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, marked the sacrifice made by troops landing on the Normandy beaches in 1944.
SNP Westminster leader Stephen Flynn said: "A prime minister who puts his own political career before public service is no prime minister at all.
"A prime minister who puts his own political career before Normandy war veterans is no prime minister at all."
Elsewhere, Veterans' Affairs Minister Johnny Mercer also said he understood the "outrage" at the Prime Minister's actions.
"I get the outrage. It's a mistake. It's a significant mistake for which he's apologised," Mr Mercer told The Sun.
He suggested that Mr Sunak's team should take a share of the blame for their advice to him.
"Obviously it's a mistake," he said. "The PM on these visits receives a lot of advice on what he should and shouldn't be doing."
Sir Keir Starmer, leader of the Labour Party, said Mr Sunak "will have to answer for his own actions" in leaving Normandy ahead of the international D-Day event but "for me there was nowhere else I was going to be".
He told reporters on a visit to a housing development in Brent Cross: "It was my duty to be there, it was my privilege to be there."
Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said Mr Sunak's actions had brought "shame" to the office of Prime Minister "and let down our country".
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