Reform UK leader Nigel Farage has accused Chancellor Rishi Sunak of being unpatriotic after leaving a ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings in France early to film an interview for the UK general election campaign.
While other leaders, including US President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron, gathered on Omaha Beach in Normandy on Thursday, Chancellor Rishi Sunak was already on his way home to film a pre-recorded election interview with ITV.Telegraph report.
The Conservative leader attended the Normandy landings ceremony in Portsmouth, England, and earlier ceremonies in Normandy, but did not attend the major international event commemorating the sacrifices of World War II veterans, returning home early instead to allow former British prime minister and current foreign secretary David Cameron to attend the ceremony.
Rishi Sunak doesn’t think D-Day was important. pic.twitter.com/AhNdCMHWb4
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 7, 2024
Responding to the Prime Minister’s decision to return home early to campaign for the general election before the key events of the Normandy landings, Brexit spokesman Nigel Farage said: “What an insult to America, who lost thousands of soldiers on the way from the landings across the Normandy plains.”
“That says it all. He doesn’t really care about our history, he doesn’t really care about our culture. All he cares about is staying in office,” Farage said.
“This man is not patriotic. He has no faith in this country, its people, its history and even its culture. If you are a patriotic voter do not vote for Rishi Sunak. I was personally in Normandy because I wanted to be there. I care.”
The scandal comes as Farage’s Reform Party closes in on Sunak’s Conservatives. Polls taken just after the Brexiteer returned to the forefront of politics, reclaiming his position as leader of Reform UK and announcing he would stand in the Clacton parliamentary election, showed the Reform Party trailing the Conservatives by just two points nationally, suggesting Farage’s party may be on the verge of overtaking the Conservatives to become the country’s second-largest party.
It’s an honor to be in Normandy to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day. 🇷 pic.twitter.com/sRU2a8jKnX
— Nigel Farage (@Nigel_Farage) June 6, 2024
But Farage was not alone in his anger over Mr Sunak’s decision to pull out of the Normandy Senatorial election ceremony, with Tim Montgomery, founder of pro-Conservative website Conservative Home, saying he was “stunned” by the move.
“I think Rishi Sunak’s absence from election interviews is the gravest political misconduct. It’s lacking integrity. It’s fundamentally wrong,” he said.
As the scandal grew, Mr Sunak issued a statement of apology on Friday, saying: “I care deeply about our veterans and have been honoured to represent the UK at a number of events in Portsmouth and France over the past two days, meeting those who served bravely.”
“After the UK events in Normandy finished I returned to the UK. In retrospect it was a mistake not to stay in France longer and I apologise.”
The end of the Conservatives? Farage’s Reform Party closes gap with mainstream Conservatives to just 2 points https://t.co/rNxZDUH9Xl
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) June 6, 2024
