Cameron side-steps questions on Sunak's D-Day exit
- Published
Foreign Secretary Lord Cameron has side-stepped questions about whether he advised the prime minister to stay on for the complete D-Day commemorations in Normandy.
Rishi Sunak has apologised for missing an event with US President Joe Biden for the 80th anniversary of the landings - in what is seen as the biggest gaffe of the general election campaign so far.
The Sunday Times reported, external that Lord Cameron advised Mr Sunak not to miss the event and was "apoplectic" but unable to stop the PM leaving.
Speaking to the BBC about Mr Sunak's early return to the UK, Lord Cameron said he gave "advice confidentially to my team leader about all sorts of things".
Pressed on the reports in the media, Lord Cameron said: “I'm not going to get into my advice, or my department's advice, to the prime minister.
"I’m part of a team and I support my team leader.
"The thing you have to remember, in politics, it's a team game, and I support my leader, and I support him as our prime minister. He's fighting an energetic campaign, and I'm right behind him.”
While world leaders, including French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, gathered on 6 June to pay their respects, Mr Sunak left Lord Cameron to deputise for him and travelled back to the UK.
The decision was criticised by opposition parties, as well as some Conservatives.
Mr Sunak said he had not "meant to cause anyone any hurt or upset" by leaving the D-Day event early and had "apologised unreservedly for the mistake I made".
He added: "I just hope people can find it in their hearts to forgive me and look at my actions that I've taken as prime minister, both to support our armed forces with an increase in defence spending, but also have the minister focused on veterans affairs around the cabinet table, making sure this is best country in the world to be a veteran."
Lord Cameron said Mr Sunak was right to apologise.
"He said, quite rightly, that he regretted not staying and thought that he had made mistake and was very frank and honest about it to be fair to him," Lord Cameron said.
David Cameron said the photo of him alongside (l-r) Emmanuel Macron, Olaf Shulz and Joe Biden was not a "substantial" event.
Lord Cameron explained his photo with Mr Biden, Mr Macron and Mr Scholz, which has become the defining image of the blunder, was a spontaneous decision - not an official event Mr Sunak missed.
"Mr Macron said he wanted to have a word with me. We had an exchange and then he said 'let's have photo of the quad' – which is Britain, France, America and Germany," Lord Cameron said.
"And so there we were, having a photograph. It wasn’t an event or a meeting or anything as substantial as that."
Asked if the Conservatives could win the election, he said, "any outcome is possible" and it was up to the British people.
Lord Cameron said: "I remember in 2015 being told that I was behind in the polls and I didn’t have a chance – it was all over. And we won that election."
The "only poll that matters" is on 4 July, he added.