Penny Mordaunt was told not to apologise for Rishi Sunak’s general election D-Day gaffe
Penny Mordaunt was told not to apologise for Rishi Sunak’s general election D-Day gaffe
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The former Commons leader has revealed she threatened to pull out of TV debates if she was not allowed to acknowledge the move was a mistake. Penny Mordaunt was warned by Downing Street not to admit Rishi Sunak was wrong to snub D-Day in favour of a pre-election TV interview.
![[Rishi Sunak was condemned for leaving the ceremony early]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2024/06/07/10/224ac81a667f4eec8bd77ee0d66369cf.jpg)
The former Commons leader has revealed she threatened to pull out of TV debates, which saw her trade blows with Labour deputy leader Angela Rayner, if she was not allowed to acknowledge the move was a mistake. Speaking to Sky News’ Electoral Dysfunction podcast, Ms Mordaunt said she told Downing Street: “If you don’t want me to say that, go and call someone else into these debates.”.
The former Tory MP, who lost her seat to Labour’s Amanda Martin at the election, won the argument with No10 over the D-Day gaffe. At the second general election debate in June, Ms Mordaunt opened with an apology and an admission that Mr Sunak was “wrong” to leave D-Day commemorations early.
She told the audience: “What happened was completely wrong, and the Prime Minister has rightly apologised for that, apologised to veterans but also to all of us, because he was representing all of us. "I’m from Portsmouth, I have also been defence secretary and my wish at the end of this week is that all of our veterans feel completely treasured.".
