Did Rishi Sunak Come Home Early From D-Day Commemoration To Do ITV Interview?

The prime minister's place at the Normandy event was taken by foreign secretary Lord Cameron.
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Rishi Sunak meets with a British D-Day veteran during the UK Ministry of Defence and the Royal British Legion's commemorative ceremony marking the 80th anniversary of the World War II "D-Day" Allied landings.
LUDOVIC MARIN via Getty Images

Rishi Sunak is under pressure to say whether he left D-Day Commemorations early to be interviewed by ITV.

The prime minister was in Normandy alongside other global leaders on Thursday morning to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied invasion of mainland Europe during the Second World War.

However, his place was taken later in the day by foreign secretary Lord Cameron, who appeared in photographs alongside French president Emmanuel Macron, German chancellor Olaf Scholz and US president Joe Biden.

On Thursday night, ITV released a clip of an interview Sunak did with the channel’s Tonight programme, in which he was grilled over Labour claims he lied about the party’s tax plans.

However, it was unclear precisely when the interview was recorded.

A Labour source told HuffPost UK: “Rishi Sunak should tell the truth - did he skip the D-Day commemorations this afternoon to try and convince people he’s not a liar?”

The Conservative Party has been approached for comment.

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David Cameron with France's President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and US President Joe Biden after Sunak left the event.
LUDOVIC MARIN via Getty Images

Before he left the event, Sunak told the British veterans present “Each of you who contributed that day - sailor, soldier, aviator, civilian - whether you fought on the beaches, or parachuted from the skies, or flew fighters or gliders, whether you were an engineer or a radio operator or an intelligence officer, your actions freed a continent and built a better world.

“You risked everything and we owe you everything.

“We cannot possibly hope to repay that debt but we can and we must pledge never to forget.”