John Swinney blasts Rishi Sunak over 'disrespectful' D-Day ceremony snub

John Swinney has blasted Rishi Sunak as "disrespectful" after he skipped a major D-Day ceremony to carry out a general election TV interview.

The First Minister said the Prime Minister should have been there to "represent the international interests of the United Kingdom."

The Tory leader said “it was a mistake” not to stay in France for the international event on Omaha Beach after attending the earlier British ceremony in Normandy.

Sunak has come under intense criticism after he missed the event with fellow world leaders to head back to the UK for a head-to-head.

Swinney said at a campaign event in the Springburn area of Glasgow that he had stopped campaigning for two days to attend the event.

He said: "I think it's a truly breathtakingly terrible decision for a number of counts.

"One, it was disrespectful to the veterans for the Prime Minister to leave as he did.

"Secondly, there was a major gathering of international leaders, of which the president of the United States, the chancellor of Germany, the president of France, the president of Ukraine, a variety of international leaders were all present, where I would have thought the Prime Minister would have wanted [to be there] because he still remains the Prime Minister today.

"I went to D-Day commemorations as First Minister of Scotland, not the leader of the Scottish National Party.

"He's the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom just now and he should have been there to represent the international interests of the United Kingdom.

"And he chose to perpetuate a story which we now know to be absolutely baseless. That is not the hallmark of the Prime Minister."

He had said earlier: "I took a very conscious decision that for the 48 hours I was involved in the memorial and observation of the sacrifices that have been made, I would essentially not engage in this election campaign - and I haven’t.

"I have deliberately exercised my responsibilities as First Minister to focus entirely on the D-Day commemorations."

Sunak issued a grovelling apology about his absence on Friday morning.

The Prime Minister said: “I care deeply about veterans and have been honoured to represent the UK at a number of events in Portsmouth and France over the past two days and to meet those who fought so bravely.

“After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise.”

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