Rishi Sunak is “deeply patriotic”, a Cabinet colleague has told Sky News, as the controversy over the prime minister’s D-Day snub rumbles on in the run-up to the election.
Responding to ongoing criticism of the Tory leader, Work and Pensions Secretary Mel Stride said his boss had recognised he had made a mistake over his decision to leave the 80th anniversary events in Normandy early to carry out a TV interview and would be “feeling this very deeply”.
In the face of a backlash from rivals, veterans and some within his own party, Mr Sunak was forced to apologise for skipping an international ceremony attended by world leaders including US President Joe Biden to mark the allied landings.
Among those to wade into the row was Reform UK leader Nigel Farage who told Sky News that the debacle proved Mr Sunak was “not a patriotic leader of the Conservative Party”.
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2:33
PM apologises for D-Day departure
PM’s ‘patriotism is beyond doubt’
Mr Sunak is campaigning in Yorkshire without the usual media pack today after facing accusations of “dodging” reporters’ questions on Saturday amid the continuing D-Day furore.
Speaking to the Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips show on Sky News, Mr Stride said: “I do know Rishi pretty well, in fact I consider him as something of a friend, and I know he is a deeply patriotic person who cares greatly about this country.
“I know he will be feeling this very deeply.”
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He added: “His commitment and his patriotism is in my opinion beyond doubt.
“Now that is not the same thing as saying a mistake was not made. He accepts that – he didn’t run away or resile from that situation.
“What he did is he stood up, he put his hands up, he accepted a mistake has been made and he unequivocally apologised.”
Image: Mel Stride was questioned by Trevor Phillips on Sky News
Mr Stride also dismissed the suggestion that Mr Sunak could hand over the leadership of the Tory Party before the 4 July poll.
He said Sunak would “absolutely” lead the party into the election and added: “There should be no question of anything other than that.”
But Conservative commentator Tim Montgomerie branded Mr Sunak’s early D-Day event departure as “the biggest gaffe I can remember in politics” and said morale in the party was at “rock bottom”.
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Meanwhile, Mr Farage has defended his claim that Mr Sunak’s early departure from commemoration events in France showed he did not understand “our culture”.
Pressed over whether he was trying to highlight Mr Sunak’s British-Asian background, Mr Farage highlighted the wartime contribution made by Commonwealth troops and suggested he was talking about the prime minister’s “class” and “privilege”.
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0:47
Farage: PM ‘not patriotic leader’ over D-Day
He told the BBC: “I know what your question is leading at – 40% of our contribution in World War One and World War Two came from the Commonwealth.
“He is utterly disconnected by class, by privilege from how the ordinary folk in this country feel. He revealed that, I think spectacularly, when he left Normandy early.
“And out there now there are millions and millions of people who were Conservative voters, traditional Conservative voters, not the Red-Wallers, who are now thinking ‘Do we go on supporting the Conservatives or do we support Reform?’
“And this is going to be, I think, the acid test of this election.”
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In his own interview with the BBC, Mr Stride argued Mr Farage’s remarks were “deeply regrettable”.
He said: “I think they are suggesting things – I’m not going to go any further than that because I didn’t want to stoke this whole thing up – but it just seems to me that that’s an ill-advised thing to have said.
“I feel very uncomfortable with that. We’ve had in our country, and it’s a source of great personal pride – as somebody who supported the prime minister, wanted him to be the leader of our party and our prime minister – that I’ve sat around a cabinet table that’s the most diverse in history.
“And I’m very proud of the fact that we have a British Asian who is right at the top of our government.”
On the same subject, Labour shadow justice secretary Shabana Mahmood told the BBC: “I think this is a classic Nigel Farage trick, lean just enough to signal a bit of a dog whistle and then lean straight back and sound perfectly reasonable and say something good about the contribution that Commonwealth soldiers, ethnic minorities made towards the war effort.”
Image: Shabana Mahmood
She added: “We can all see exactly what Nigel Farage is doing, he’s got form, it is completely unacceptable.
“This is a man that has a track record of seeking to divide communities who just wants to do it with a veneer of respectability whilst he’s at it.”
A Manhattan crypto investor is facing serious charges after allegedly kidnapping and torturing an Italian man in a disturbing bid to extract access to digital assets.
John Woeltz, 37, was arraigned on Saturday in Manhattan criminal court following his arrest on Friday. He stands accused of holding a 28-year-old Italian man captive for weeks inside a luxury townhouse in Soho, reportedly rented for $30,000 per month.
According to police reports cited by The New York Times, the victim arrived in the US on May 6 and was allegedly abducted by Woeltz and an accomplice.
The attackers are said to have stolen the man’s passport and electronic devices before demanding the password to his Bitcoin (BTC) wallet. When he refused, the suspects allegedly subjected him to prolonged physical abuse.
The victim described being beaten, shocked with electricity, assaulted with a firearm and even dangled from the upper floors of the five-story building.
He also told police that Woeltz used a saw to cut his leg and forced him to smoke crack cocaine. Threats were also reportedly made against his family.
Photographic evidence found inside the property, including Polaroids, appears to support claims of sustained abuse. The victim managed to escape on Friday and alert authorities, leading to Woeltz’s arrest.
Woeltz was charged with four felony counts, including kidnapping for ransom, and entered a plea of not guilty. Judge Eric Schumacher ordered him to be held without bail. He is expected back in court on May 28.
A 24-year-old woman was also taken into custody on Friday in connection with the incident. However, she was seen walking freely in New York the next day, and no charges against her were found in the court’s online database.
Authorities have yet to clarify the relationship between the suspect and the victim or whether any cryptocurrency was ultimately stolen.
Executives and investors in the crypto industry are increasingly seeking personal security services as kidnapping and ransom cases surge, especially in France.
On May 18, Amsterdam-based private firm Infinite Risks International reported a rise in requests for bodyguards and long-term protection contracts from high-profile figures in the space.
This comes amid a recent surge in kidnappings and ransom attempts. David Balland, the co-founder of hardware wallet company Ledger, was kidnapped in January 2025 and held for ransom for several days before being rescued by French police.
In May 2024, the father of an unnamed crypto entrepreneur was freed from a ransom attempt after French law enforcement officials raided the location in a Paris suburb where the individual was being held hostage by organized criminals.
Sir Keir Starmer could decide to lift the two-child benefit cap in the autumn budget, amid further pressure from Nigel Farage to appeal to traditional Labour voters.
The Reform leader will use a speech this week to commit his party to scrapping the two-child cap, as well as reinstating winter fuel payments in full.
There are now mounting suggestions an easing of the controversial benefit restriction may be unveiled when the chancellor delivers the budget later this year.
According to The Observer, Sir Keir told cabinet ministers he wanted to axe the measure – and asked the Treasury to look for ways to fund the move.
The Financial Times reported it may be done by restoring the benefit to all pensioners, with the cash needed being clawed back from the wealthy through the tax system.
The payment was taken from more than 10 million pensioners this winter after it became means-tested, and its unpopularity was a big factor in Labour’s battering at recent elections.
Before Wednesday’s PMQs, the prime minister and chancellor had insisted there would be no U-turn.
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1:20
Will winter fuel U-turn happen?
Many Labour MPs have called for the government to do more to help the poorest in society, amid mounting concern over the impact of wider benefit reforms.
Former prime minister Gordon Brown this week told Sky News the two-child cap was “pretty discriminatory” and could be scrapped by raising money through a tax on the gambling industry.
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1:22
Brown questioned over winter fuel U-turn
Mr Farage, who believes Reform UK can win the next election, will this week accuse Sir Keir of being “out of touch with working people”.
In a speech first reported by The Sunday Telegraph, he is expected to say: “It’s going to be these very same working people that will vote Reform at the next election and kick Labour out of government.”
South Western Railway (SWR) has been renationalised this weekend as part of the government’s transition towards Great British Railways.
The train operator officially came under public ownership at around 2am on Sunday – and the first journey, the 5.36am from Woking, was partly a rail replacement bus service due to engineering works.
So what difference will renationalisation make to passengers and will journeys be cheaper?
Image: Pic: PA
What is nationalisation?
Nationalisation means the government taking control of industries or companies, taking them from private to public ownership.
Britain’s railway lines are currently run by train operating companies as franchises under fixed-term contracts, but Labour have said they want to take control of the lines when those fixed terms end.
In its manifesto, the party vowed to return rail journeys to public ownership within five years by establishing Great British Railways (GBR) to run both the network tracks and trains.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander said renationalising SWR was “a watershed moment in our work to return the railways to the service of passengers”.
“But I know that most users of the railway don’t spend much time thinking about who runs the trains – they just want them to work,” she added. “That’s why operators will have to meet rigorous performance standards and earn the right to be called Great British Railways.”
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6:32
How reliable are UK trains?
How will ticket prices be affected?
Labour have argued cutting off payments flowing into the private sector could save the taxpayer £150m a year.
But the government has not explicitly promised the savings made from nationalisation will be used to subsidise fees.
It is unlikely rail fares will fall as a result of nationalisation, rail analyst William Barter told Sky News.
“The government could mandate fare cuts if it wanted to, but there’s no sign it wants to,” he said.
“At the moment, I’m sure they would want to keep the money rather than give it back to passengers. The current operator aims to maximise revenue, and there’s no reason the government would want them to do anything differently under government control.”
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0:54
UK has most expensive train tickets in Europe
What difference will it make for passengers?
Britain’s railways are frequently plagued by delays, cuts to services and timetable issues, but Mr Barter said nationalisation will make very little day-to-day difference to passengers.
There was “no reason to think” the move would improve issues around delays and cancellation of services, he said.
“It’s going to be the same people, the same management,” he explained.
“The facts of what the operator has to deal with in terms of revenue, infrastructure, reliability, all the rest of it – they haven’t changed.”
Image: Pic: PA
Which services are being next to be nationalised?
In the longer term, the move is likely to bring “a degree of certainty compared with relatively short-term franchises”, Mr Barter said, noting the government would only want to renationalise a franchise “because in one way or another something very bad is going on in that franchise, so in a way it can only get better”.
It also means the government will have greater accountability for fixing problems with punctuality and cancellations.
Mr Barter said: “If this is the government’s baby, then they’re going to do their best to make sure it doesn’t fail. So rather than having a franchise holder they can use as a political scapegoat, it’s theirs now.”
He added: “In the short term, I don’t think you’d expect to see any sort of change. Long term, you’ll see stability and integration bringing about gradual benefits. There’s not a silver bullet of that sort here.”
Next to be renationalised later this year will be c2c and Greater Anglia, while seven more companies will transfer over when their franchises end in the future.