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LAST UPDATE | 7 Jun 2024
BRITISH PRIME MINISTER Rishi Sunak has apologised on social media after leaving a major international ceremony to mark the 80th anniversary of D-Day to carry out a General Election TV interview.
Sunak today said it was a “mistake” to not remain in France for the international event.
He attended the British ceremony in Normandy yesterday, but left France before world leaders including US President Joe Biden gathered for the main international ceremony in the afternoon.
Instead, British Foreign Secretary David Cameron was the senior UK minister at the event.
Labour leader Keir Starmer remained alongside Biden, France president Emmanuel Macron and Prince William.
It has since emerged that he missed the event with fellow world leaders to head back to the UK for an interview with ITV that will not air in full until next week.
“After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK,” said Sunak in a post on X.
The 80th anniversary of D-Day has been a profound moment to honour the brave men and women who put their lives on the line to protect our values, our freedom and our democracy.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) June 7, 2024
This anniversary should be about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country. The last thing…
“On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise.”
He added: “This anniversary should be about those who made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.
“The last thing I want is for the commemorations to be overshadowed by politics.”
Sunak was condemned by political rivals and the decision has also caused unease in Tory ranks.
Dan Hodges, a commentator with the UK Mail on Sunday, labelled the decision to leave France as “staggering” and added that “outside of an election this would potentially be a resignation matter”.
He added that Tory MPs are “struggling to comprehend what Sunak has done” and noted that “we still haven’t seen or heard anything from Sunak”.
Rishi Sunak needs to come out, stand in front of a camera, apologise, and beg the nation for forgiveness. Why hasn't he already done. Why just a tweet. What's he waiting for. What's he hiding for. Does he think he can just style this out. https://t.co/4Fu8ftpQcv
— (((Dan Hodges))) (@DPJHodges) June 7, 2024
However, some hours later, Sunak appeared on TV to apologise for the incident.
He claimed that the “itinerary for these events were set weeks ago, before the General Election campaign”.
Sunak also said his attendance in France “was never in doubt” following reports that his team considered skipping the Normandy entirely.
“I am very happy to admit when I have made a mistake, that is what you will always get from me,” added Sunak.
Tense.
— Sam Coates Sky (@SamCoatesSky) June 7, 2024
Do watch in full pic.twitter.com/b0gnd6nv4i
Meanwhile, Craig Oliver, who was David Cameron’s No 10 communications chief, said Sunak stood accused of “not getting what it is to be Prime Minister”.
“I think if you’re planning these things, you’ve got to say ‘look, that’s going to block the Prime Minister out’. It’s a very important moment for the country. But it’s also a very important moment to show that you’re being prime ministerial,” Oliver told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“And the problem for Rishi Sunak this morning is he’s accused of not getting what it is to be a Prime Minister and what his duties are as a Prime Minister.”
Sunak sat down with ITV yesterday to defend claims he had made about Labour’s tax plans, having left commemoration events in France before the gathering of the world leaders on Omaha Beach.
The broadcaster said the timing of the interview, which will not be aired in full until next week, had been offered by the Conservatives.
It later emerged that Sunak had given a broadcast interview on the same day, a clip of which was shared by broadcaster Paul Brand.
Brand told ITV News At Ten: “Today was the slot we were offered … we don’t know why.”
The comment was heard during ‘D-Day 80: Tribute To The Fallen’, which aired on 5 June.
During the broadcast, the studio crossed over to live pictures of a military band.
But before the cameras cut away from the studio, a voice could be heard off-camera that appeared to say “French arseholes”.
A spokesman for the BBC said: “We sincerely apologise for an inappropriate comment that was captured during live coverage of the D-Day 80 event in Bayeux.”
-With additional reporting from Press Association
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How can a pampered billionaire empathise with people who had nothing and gave everything?
@Brendan O’Brien: He should at least remember a time before he married into wealth.
@Gerald Kelleher: Genocide has a specific meaning, one that was defined back in 1948 by the United Nations.
That it often gets used lazily, is unfortunate, and somewhat reminiscent of how the word decimate has change from it’s original meaning.
@Gerald Kelleher: “Genocide asserts the killing of a ‘race’ while there is just the human race with the only biological distinctions between males and females.” – see this stuff you spout, all you do is carry water for the people that would just love to exterminate those people they consider “different”.
Burying your head in the sand, and hiding behind a nonsense academic justification, is worse then doing nothing because you give excuses to those that do these things. You provide them deniability.
You deny the existence of Evolution by claiming that because it was used by the Nazis as a justification, it somehow can’t be real. Since when has fact depended on the impact of those facts.
And I know, I’m just going to get a ridiculously verbose response that will consist of nonsense claims but I’m quite frankly sick of seeing you justify atrocities by pretending that reality is somehow not reality.
@ben wu: Language changes. Oxford dictionaries: “Historically, the meaning of the word decimate is ‘kill one in every ten of (a group of people)’. This sense has been more or less totally superseded by the later, more general sense ‘kill, destroy, or remove a large proportion of’, as in ‘the virus has decimated the population’. Some traditionalists argue that this is incorrect, but it is clear that it is now part of standard English.”
@ben wu: The UN definition of genocide: ‘a crime committed with the intent to destroy a national, ethnic, racial or religious group, in whole or in part.’
See e.g. what is going on in Gaza.
@Brendan O’Brien: Sure, language is also something that evolves, we are not in disagreement on that.
It’s just that sometimes words have a very specific meaning, regardless.
That is also why in professions like law, there are still a lot of Latin phrases used, since Latin is very ‘strict’ in meaning.
@Gerald Kelleher: There is a pretty fun book from 2007 called Isms and Ologies, by Arthur Goldwag. ’453 difficult doctrines you’ve always pretended to understand’.
It’s a very good read, or as Stephen Fry said about it , ‘A genuinely compelling and entertaining read’
@Tricia G28:
The many college-educated naivetes here are unlikely to have the stature to deal with natural selection as it originally emerged as a justification for invasion and extermination as a modified version of the conviction of Malthus (Lebensraum) in operation in 1840s Ireland.
“I could show fight on natural selection having done and doing more for the progress of civilisation than you seem inclined to admit. Looking to the world at no very distant date, what an endless number of the lower races will have been eliminated by the higher civilised races throughout the world.” Darwin.
Does that sound familiar in the context of WWII? There is no sense today that supporting the same conviction as the Nazis is horrifying, yet I have to see the adults in the room who realise it.
@ben wu: That’s not why Latin is used.
Latin is used because law was created by those who knew and spoke Latin. It evolved from the Church, which spoke Latin, and which controlled education.
And anyway, if you do know Latin, you’ll know that Latin words and phrases can have many meanings.
@Gerald Kelleher: Natural Selection is simple common sense.
If a gene mutation is beneficial to a species then that gene mutation is likely to survive; if not beneficial it is less likely to survive.
That is all it means.
Please stop trying to overlay YOUR prejudices on what is simple demonstrable and common sense.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: You are correct regarding the historic use and why it prevailed, but the reason why it is still used is because of
that ?strictness of the meanings
@Tric
Natural selection has nothing to do with evolution, as biological research began centuries ago, where the Earth’s geological and biological history is written in rock strata.
Natural selection is an outrigger of breeding. Specifically, gorillas evolved into black complexion humans, and black complexion humans evolved into white complexion Europeans.
“At some future period, the civilised races of man will almost certainly exterminate, and replace, the savage races throughout the world. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene between man in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as a baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla.” Darwin
Start being adults.
@ben wu: Not so.
Those Latin phrases are defined in English (where English is the tongue in use).
@Brendan O’Brien:
I am from the Human Race. What ‘race’ are you from?.
The people who have an influence on Holocaust education, including the Jewish community, fall far short of the extermination imperatives that emerged from Victorian natural selection. It is not arguing over words but the terrible recognition among society that inferior and superior ‘races’ exist.
You can’t answer the question because the only valid biological distinction within the human race is male and female. Want to make a sacrifice and an effort?, stop being a cheerleader for Royal Society scientific method modelling.
@Gerald Kelleher: Nothing you say disproves Evolution (and yes, Natural Selection IS a part of Evolution no matter how much nonsense you spew).
Again, let me repeat; the use of Evolution and it’s component parts, to justify atrocities does not mean that the Theory of Evolution isn’t real.
Intentionally using terms like “Natural Selection” and “Darwin” whilst IGNORING the literal century of work done to correct and prove the original theories put forward is the most obviously transparent deflection, just who is it you think you’re conning?
Do you think your intentionally obfuscating screed is enough so people can’t see what you’re actually claiming?
And how, you alone, are the person who can see the “truth”.
So let’s re-iterate. The use of a scientific theory to try and justify the perpetration of an atrocity doesn’t disprove the theory. Nor does it excuse those committing the atrocities.
You seem convinced you’re right. Instead of screaming into the void here, where’s your peer reviewed paper? Could it be that you have NO peers that share your beliefs? (And yeah, they’re beliefs). Is that because the Theory of Evolution (not “Natural Selection” as you insist on referring to it) is settled science?
@Gerald Kelleher: As I have pointed out to you many times, racism is a fact even though the concept of races is a flawed social construct. In the real world that you refuse to inhabit, people are discriminated against and murdered on account of the colour of their skin.
@Gerald Kelleher: I fecking told myself not to get pulled into your drivel and here I am.
Well, I’m done.
Go up to the Biological Sciences Dept in Trinity and tell them your claims. See how far you get.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Okay, that’s getting into a sort of circular type of debate. We know the defined meanings to the Latin phrases, hence why we still use them. so ,erm, ipso facto, we continue to use them.
@Brendan O’Brien: A few weeks ago he visited one of the poorest area of England, and tried to blend in by wearing a hoodie with a £750 designer backpack over his shoulder.
: Natural selection/eugenics was the driving extermination conviction of the Nazis and is shared by many commenters here who cannot escape the subculture they experienced during their college days.
“Thus, the reckless, degraded, and often vicious members of society tend to increase quicker than the provident and generally virtuous members. In the eternal ‘struggle for existence,’ it would be the inferior and less favoured [Celt] race that had prevailed by virtue not of its good qualities but of its faults.” Darwin
https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_Descent_of_Man_(Darwin)/Chapter_V
Evolutionary research is the fossil record in rock strata. Natural selection was an academic-political prejudice conviction and pure evil.
It takes courage to remove prejudice.
@Brendan O’Brien:
Natural selection is a dangerous Victorian prejudice conviction still celebrated and thrives in the biology section of the education system.
‘On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life’ Darwin, 1859
There are no favoured and less favoured ‘races’ among humanity; there is just the magnificent human race for those who are not prejudiced.
Our era suffers the new academic monstrosity of climate modelling with the imperative to control the weather/temperatures by controlling human behaviour. Society is plagued by those who are driven by dangerous academic convictions just as English and German societies once were.
@Tricia G28:
If it is any consolation, Tricia, in the background, the academic community has recently tried to respond to the by apologising for eugenics even though natural selection is how that perspective is more widely known. They try to hide natural selection behind eugenics.
“A most important obstacle in civilised countries to an increase in the number of men of a superior class has been strongly insisted on by Mr. Greg and Mr. Galton” Darwin
Irish society needs to be more engaged when it comes to the presence of dangerous and evil academic convictions, even those who unwittingly supported them in the past.
@Gerald Kelleher: I’ll add a box to the right, click on it if you are not a robot.
I only say that because each of these recent posts sound like a chatbot that hallucinates.
@ben wu:
Natural selection still thrives among those who buy into the subculture.
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fa/Scientific_racism_irish.jpg
@ben wu: The point being that legal definitions can differ significantly from definitions in other spheres, and common use.
The use of Lain in certain spheres – such as medicine or law – is merely because of tradition.
@ItWasLikeThatWhenIGotHere: Yeah, botanic and animal naming schemes use Latin or Greek as a rule too.
Planets and their moons mostly follow a rule of Roman gods for planet and Greek ones for moons, except for the one that was almost called George and has it’s moons names taken from english literature.. but that’s a bit of a sidepoint.
Wants young people do to a year’s service and show an interest. He didn’t last the day.
Respect and the tories are a contradiction in any conversation
Completely tone deaf.
A disgrace. Putting himself first instead of honouring the fallen heroes. Tells you all you need to know about Sunak.
@Sean Money: I may have issues regarding how leaders of countries historically use military forces… but I would never insult those people that put their boots on the ground when ordered to literally face death for the ideals they fought for.
You say ‘a disgrace’ I would say some words that are harsher and would get me banned.
What a remarkable LACK of judgment.
You actually couldn’t make it up. His biggest opposition is the feckin Reform Party, whose voters lap this stuff up!! How utterly dumb…..
@Tricia G28: who cares?
@Joe Kelly: a lot of people, European and American and others, as well as Irish people whose relatives fought against hitler (did you also follow the news regarding the role of mayo in d day preparations). And certainly every politician, as this is one of the most unforgivable political errors.
@Joe Kelly: I do. What’s the matter with you? Itching for a new Journal poll?
What a clown.
Donald Trump did not attend a ceremony to visit the American Cemetery, due to heavy rain. Not a valid excuse, in my opinion.
He really looks awkward among foreign politicians. It’s like he knows what they think of him and what his political party has done to the UK.
Todays leaders are a disgrace. Watch this. Whether you like him or not, just listen to the speech. No checking watches, no running off for interviews, no makinging it about him, no aimless wandering around. This world could do with a real leader or two.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CENbdxQcUZc
I’d give him a pass on this one. Militarism of an extreme kind. Not as bad as celebrations of the “great” war but bad nevertheless.
@Padraig O’Brien: This is the kind of drivel you’ll only find being said by someone whose country wasn’t torn asunder by Hitlers Nazi imperialism.
Car crash stuff from Sunak. Love it. Not that I have any faith in Starmer, but at least he’s not a Tory. Not technically, anyway
No affiliation.
@honey badger. I speak as one whose country was torn apart by English/British militarism, every bit as bad as the Nazis!
@Padraig O’Brien: And as people who can see the Palestinian homeland torn apart and stolen by israeli colonists.
Possibly a bit of a stunt. Playing to the gallery. With the BBC quock up also. You’d wonder what’s going on?
have your say