Rishi Sunak ‘deeply patriotic’, ally insists, as D-Day furore continues | Politics News

Rishi Sunak is “deeply patriotic”, a cabinet colleague tells Sky News, as controversy over the prime minister’s D-Day snub resonates in the run-up to the election.

Responding to constant criticism the conservative leaderWork and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said his boss acknowledged he had made a mistake in deciding to leave 80th anniversary events in Normandy early to give a TV interview and that he would be “feeling this deeply”.

Faced with negative reaction from rivals, veterans and some members of his own party, Sunak was forced to apologize for missing an international ceremony attended by world leaders, including US President Joe Biden, to mark the allied landing.

Among those who entered the fray was UK reformist leader Nigel Farage, who told Sky News the debacle proved Sunak was “not a patriotic leader of the Conservative Party”.

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Sunak is today campaigning in Yorkshire without his usual media pack, after facing accusations of “dodging” reporters’ questions on Saturday amid the ongoing D-Day furore.

Speaking to the Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips program on Sky News, Mr Stride said: “I know Rishi very well, in fact I consider him something of a friend and I know he is a deeply patriotic person who cares deeply about this country.

“I know he will feel this deeply.”

He added: “His commitment and his patriotism are, in my opinion, unquestionable.

“That is not the same thing as saying that a mistake was not made. He accepts this – he did not run away or resist that situation.

“What he did was stand up, put his hands up, accept that a mistake was made and apologize unequivocally.”

Stride also rejected the suggestion that Sunak could hand over the leadership of the Conservative Party before the 4th of July poll.

He said Sunak would “absolutely” lead the party into the election and added: “There should be no other issue than that.”

But Conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie called Sunak’s early exit from the D-Day event “the biggest gaffe I can remember in politics” and said the party’s morale was at “rock bottom”.

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Sunak ‘totally disconnected from ordinary people’

Meanwhile, Farage defended his claim that Sunak’s early departure from commemorative events in France showed he did not understand “our culture”.

Pressed on whether he was trying to highlight Sunak’s Anglo-Asian background, Farage highlighted the contribution of Commonwealth troops during the war and suggested he was talking about the prime minister’s “class” and “privilege”.

He told the BBC: “I know where your question is leading – 40% of our contribution in the First World War and the Second World War came from the Commonwealth.

“He is completely disconnected from class, from privilege, from how ordinary people in this country feel. He revealed this, I think spectacularly, when he left Normandy early.

“And now there are millions and millions of people who were Conservative voters, traditional Conservative voters, not Red-Wallers, who are now thinking ‘Do we still support the Conservatives or do we support Reform?’

“And this will be, I think, the litmus test of this election.”

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‘Classic Nigel Farage trick’

In his own BBC interview, Stride argued that Farage’s remarks were “deeply regrettable”.

He said: “I think they’re suggesting things – I’m not going to go further than that because I didn’t want to stir up all that – but it seems to me that that’s an unwise thing to have said.

“I feel very uncomfortable about this. We have had it in our country, and it is a source of great personal pride – as someone who supported the prime minister, wanted him to be the leader of our party and our prime minister – that I ‘ I sat around a cabinet table that is the most diverse in history.

“And I’m very proud of the fact that we have a British Asian at the top of our government.”

On the same subject, Labor justice secretary Shabana Mahmood told the BBC: “I think this is a classic Nigel Farage trick, lean in just enough to signal a dog whistle and then lean back and look perfectly reasonable and say something good about the contribution that Commonwealth soldiers and ethnic minorities made to the war effort.”

She added: “We can all see exactly what Nigel Farage is doing, he is on form, it is completely unacceptable.

“This is a man who has a history of trying to divide communities and only wants to do it with a veneer of respectability while he’s at it.”