PM ‘completely wrong’ to leave D-Day commemorations early, says Penny Mordaunt

Published

1 year ago

June 7, 2024

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The prime minister was “completely wrong” to leave D-Day commemorations early, a senior cabinet member has said.

Rishi Sunak apologised on Friday after it was revealed he skipped an international event the day before on Omaha Beach in France – attended by leaders of the US, France and Germany – to come back to the UK for a TV interview.

But as well as political condemnation, he was also criticised by veterans, with 98-year-old Ken Hay telling Sky News: “He lets this country down.”

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Speaking at a BBC debate on Friday night, the Tory leader of the House, Penny Mordaunt, also repeated controversial claims that Labour would raise household taxes by £2,000.

Ms Mordaunt earlier admitted her boss should have remained at the D-Day gathering, but praised his apology, which she said he made “to veterans, but also to all of us because he was representing all of us”.

The ex-Royal Naval reservist added: “I’m from Portsmouth. I’ve also been defence secretary. And my wish at the end of this week is that all veterans feel completely treasured.

“I’m hoping tonight to convince you of some things that are important to them, important to their legacy. And I couldn’t do that if I wasn’t straight with you on that issue.”

However, after appealing for the row not to “become a political football”, there was a barrage of attacks from her rivals over the prime minister’s decision.

The SNP’s leader in Westminster 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.

“So it’s incumbent upon all of us to do our national service and vote the Tories out of office.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said it was a “complete and utter disgrace” from an “unpatriotic” prime minister, adding: “If his instinct was the same as the British people, he would never have contemplated for a moment not being there for the big international celebration and it shows how disconnected he is with the people of this country.”

Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said it “certainly wasn’t a day for a prime minister to decide… that his priority should be to fight for his own political future”, but he also criticised Mr Farage for using the commemorations as a “photo op”.

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Meanwhile, the Liberal Democrats’ deputy leader Daisy Cooper described how during the war, her veteran grandfather caught his best friend who had fallen from the top of the tank after being shot in the head while wading through the water.

Calling Mr Sunak’s decision “politically shameful”, she added: “If [my grandfather] had been there yesterday and seen the prime minister walk away from him, I would have found that, as I do now, completely and utterly unforgivable.”

Political figures from seven parties in the general election debated a range of issues during the show, from the NHS and housing to immigration and tax.

Labour’s Angela Rayner and Ms Mordaunt sparred throughout, with an especially heated exchange over much maligned claims by the Conservatives that Labour would raise taxes by £2,000 over the next parliament.

Mr Sunak used the figure repeatedly when he debated Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer on Tuesday, but the following day a senior Treasury official said the figure “should not be presented as having been produced by the civil service” and multiple economic experts disputed the numbers.

However, Ms Mordaunt made the claim again in a terse row with Ms Rayner, also claiming Labour would “bring in 12 new taxes”.

Labour’s deputy leader said it was “a lie”, attacking the government for “raising taxes to a record level” during their time in office.

But the sniping gave the others on stage a chance to mock the pair, with co-leader of the Green Party, Carla Denyer, saying: “Well, that was terribly dignified, wasn’t it?”

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MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

Published

6 hours ago

July 3, 2025

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MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.

She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

Politics latest: Zarah Sultana’s stinging resignation letter

Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.

She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.

Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.

The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.

Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.

In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.

She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

“We are not going to take this anymore.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”