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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25% of young children and pregnant women malnourished in Gaza, charity says, as PM vows to fly critical medical cases to UK

Published

3 hours ago

July 26, 2025

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25% of young children and pregnant women malnourished in Gaza, charity says, as PM vows to fly critical medical cases to UK

A charity has warned 25% of young children and pregnant women in Gaza are now malnourished, with Sir Keir Starmer vowing to evacuate children who need “critical medical assistance” to the UK.

MSF, also known as Doctors Without Borders, said Israel’s “deliberate use of starvation as a weapon” has reached unprecedented levels – with patients and healthcare workers both fighting to survive.

It claimed that, at one of its clinics in Gaza City, rates of severe malnutrition in children under five have trebled over the past two weeks – and described the lack of food and water on the ground as “unconscionable”.

The charity also criticised the high number of fatalities seen at aid distribution sites, with one British surgeon accusing IDF soldiers of shooting civilians “almost like a game of target practice”.

MSF’s deputy medical coordinator in Gaza, Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, said: “Those who go to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation’s food distributions know that they have the same chance of receiving a sack of flour as they do of leaving with a bullet in their head.”

The UN also estimates that Israeli forces have killed more than 1,000 people seeking food – the majority near the militarised distribution sites of the US-backed aid distribution scheme run by the GHF.

In a statement on Friday, the IDF had said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians”, and reports of incidents at aid distribution sites were “under examination”.

The GHF has also previously disputed that these deaths were connected with its organisation’s operations, with director Johnnie Moore telling Sky News: “We just want to feed Gazans. That’s the only thing that we want to do.”

Israel says it has let enough food into Gaza and has accused the UN of failing to distribute it, in what the foreign ministry has labelled as “a deliberate ploy” to defame the country.

‘Humanitarian catastrophe must end’

In a video message posted on X late last night, Sir Keir Starmer condemned the scenes in Gaza as “appalling” and “unrelenting” – and said “the images of starvation and desperation are utterly horrifying”.

The prime minister added: “The denial of aid to children and babies is completely unjustifiable, just as the continued captivity of hostages is completely unjustifiable.

“Hundreds of civilians have been killed while seeking aid – children, killed, whilst collecting water. It is a humanitarian catastrophe, and it must end.”

Sir Keir confirmed that the British government is now “accelerating efforts” to evacuate children from Gaza who need critical medical assistance, so they can be brought to the UK for specialist treatment.

Israel has now said that foreign countries will be able to airdrop aid into Gaza. While the PM says the UK will now “do everything we can” to get supplies in via this route, he said this decision has come “far too late”.

Last year, the RAF dropped aid into Gaza, but humanitarian organisations warned it wasn’t enough and was potentially dangerous. In March 2024, five people were killed when an aid parachute failed and supplies fell on them.

For now, Sir Keir has rejected calls to follow French President Emmanuel Macron and recognise a Palestinian state – despite more than 220 MPs signing a cross-party letter to demand he takes this step.

The prime minister is instead demanding a ceasefire and “lasting peace” – and says he will only consider an independent state as part of a negotiated peace deal.