, Labour's
Shadow Defence Secretary, in a letter to Conservative
Defence Secretary, , said:
Dear Grant,
Yesterday, Britain and our allies came together to
commemorate the events of D-Day. As one, we paid our respects to
the brave Allied forces who gave their lives for our
freedom.
The Prime Minister's decision not to attend the
events in Normandy yesterday - apparently in favour of recording
a TV interview - raise worrying questions about both his
judgement and his priorities.
As Secretary of State for Defence, I know you will
share those concerns. Accordingly, I believe the public are
entitled to answers on several key questions:
- When was the decision made for the Prime Minister to skip
yesterday's D-Day commemoration?
- Did the Prime Minister himself suggest that this was not the
best use of his time? If not the Prime Minister, who did?
- Did he record the television interview with ITV while D-Day
events were still going on in Normandy?
- Reports in the media attributed to Conservative Campaign
Headquarters on Wednesday morning claimed the Prime Minister was
“giving the next two days over to D-Day out of respect”. Did they
know this to be untrue at the time? If not, when was the decision
made to cut short the Prime Minister's attendance at the D-Day
ceremonies?
- The French government are reported to have said they were
told a week ago that the Prime Minister would not attend the
D-Day 80th commemoration. Is this true?
- Do you believe that the Prime Minister apologising in a
social media post is sufficient? Will you encourage the Prime
Minister to make a further, fuller statement of apology?
- Given that the Prime Minister has been campaigning on the
idea young people should complete a year's national service, what
does it say that he appears to have been unable to complete a
single afternoon of it?
There are many people across the country, especially within Armed
Forces communities, who feel betrayed and feel that
Britain has been let down by the Prime Minister. The public
deserve clear explanations from the Prime Minister and those
around him about why this dreadful decision was made. I trust
that these are the questions you are asking, and you will respond
as soon as possible.
Given the clear national interest and concern over this matter, I
will be making this letter public.
Regards,
Shadow Defence Secretary
