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Rishi Sunak apologised for being late to an ITV interview, blaming the commemorations of the Normandy landings for him staying in Normandy longer than planned.
The prime minister faced a huge backlash last Thursday when he left an event marking the 80th anniversary of Britain’s founding in Normandy early to return to the UK for a pre-recorded interview with ITV, sparking concern within his Conservative party that his actions had contributed to the party’s defeat in the general election.
However, it emerged he was planning to return to the UK much earlier.
The programme, which airs tonight, is revealed to have begun the interview by telling ITV’s UK editor and presenter Paul Brand: “Sorry for the wait”, before adding that the events of the Normandy landings “all took longer than planned”.
The Prime Minister later described the event as “unbelievable”, reiterating that it was “overdue”, adding: “I’m sorry for keeping you waiting.”
Mr Sunak added that he would meet “a lot” of veterans over the two days of remembrance and said he “thought I’d already spoken to almost everyone who’s there”.
But revelations that he apologised for being late to the interview – even after leaving an event marking the Normandy landings early – risk reviving the furor that forced him to apologise on Friday and rule out resigning before Election Day.
Mr Sunak later reiterated his apologies for leaving the commemorations in Normandy after “the events in the UK had concluded”. He said: “On reflection it was a mistake not to stay in France longer and I apologise.”
Elsewhere ITV Tonight During the interview, Sunak was asked about his background and whether he understood the struggles of ordinary people and whether he had ever been deprived of anything as a child.
The Prime Minister replied: “There are all kinds of things we wanted as kids that we didn’t have, right? Sky TV is the most famous one, actually, but there were lots of other things we didn’t have as kids.”
Mr Sunak also dodged questions about Nigel Farage, whose Reform Party leader is trying to take votes away from the Conservatives, and some of the Prime Minister’s own candidates have called on him to bring him into the party’s fold.
“I don’t really know him,” Sunak said. “I might have met him once in my life. I don’t know him.”
Responding to the opening line of the interview, Labour’s shadow budget chancellor Jonathan Ashworth said: “No one is going to believe Rishi Sunak’s promises. He has not offered any credible savings to fulfil desperate wishes. There is no money.”
“All Chancellor Rishi Sunak is proposing is another five years of disruption and an extra £4,800 to spend on families’ mortgages.”