Rishi Sunak is put on the spot over the D-Day debacle by GLEN OWEN... as PM admits 'we all make mistakes. We are all human'

It is Friday afternoon, and the storm over the Prime Minister's premature departure from the D-Day commemorations is at its height.

At the low point – so far – of the most calamitous Conservative election campaign in living memory, Rishi Sunak shares his thoughts with The Mail on Sunday. How is his day going?

'Well, I am enjoying this bit at least,' he says, gesturing ruefully towards the primary school he is visiting in Gloucestershire – situated, with unhappy resonance, on Veterans Way.

Outside, the BBC's Chris Mason is hopping from one foot to another as he records a piece to camera, setting out the full horror of the uprising after the PM's early exit from Normandy. 

The Tory campaign had already been shaken by Nigel Farage's announcement he would be a candidate in the election, pushing his Reform party ever-closer to the Conservatives in the polls and triggering blind panic among Tory candidates facing wipe-out on July 4.

Then the news broke the PM had skipped a ceremony with Presidents Biden and Macron to return home to record an ITV interview.

Mr Sunak repeats his apology, emphasises his record on veterans policy and tries to shift the narrative to the launch of his party's manifesto on Tuesday, which will include plans to slash welfare spending and axe stamp duty for first-time buyers.

'When I've made a mistake, I'm very happy to own up to it. That's the type of person I am,' he says. Subsisting on less than five hours' sleep a night – his first campaign call is at 5am, followed by an in-person meeting with aides at 5.40am – Mr Sunak must feel shattered and increasingly demoralised. And there are still four more weeks of this to go.

'My general view on these things is that I am working as hard as I can, and I am doing what I believe is right, and as long as you are doing those things then inside you can sleep OK. But I am not sleeping a lot [due to the campaign].'

'He adds: 'There are always tough moments. It's not been an easy time to have done this job. I haven't had many days where there hasn't been something difficult going on. So you've got to have an inner strength and resilience. We all make mistakes. We're all human. But I'm motivated to do what I can for this country to the best of my ability, and that's what keeps me going.'

Mr Sunak is also having to deal with an earthquake shaking the Tory grassroots, as local associations – caught on the hop by his election announcement – object to 'cronies' such as party chairman Richard Holden being parachuted in to 'safe' seats at the last minute.

Asked about this, the PM opts for the ostrich approach, saying: 'I don't think anyone I've spoken to has mentioned that to me. We've got great candidates up and down the country. What people are talking to me about is how are we going to help with the cost of living? How are we going to tackle the boats? How are we going to cut their taxes?'

Tory candidates were so enraged by the D-Day 'catastrophe' they have even discussed if it is possible to remove Mr Sunak as leader; which brings us neatly on to Boris Johnson, whose allies had previously said he was waiting for Mr Sunak to 'pick up the phone' and invite him to join the campaign.

Voters in those Red Wall, pro-Brexit seats won by Mr Johnson in 2019 have been particularly infuriated by the D-Day debacle.

Asked whether that contact had happened since he called the election, Mr Sunak says: 'He's been abroad for a good chunk of time, but he and I have been in touch.

'He's been very clear about the risks that Keir Starmer poses to the country [in his Daily Mail column].' Boris's allies say he will make 'targeted' interventions to help Tory MPs. He is expected to endorse individual candidates on leaflets and give supportive quotes via mail and social media.

To add to the historic omnishambles, party donors are shutting their wallets, prompting fears the Tories will run out of money before the end of the campaign.

If Mr Sunak looks bruised, his tormentor-in-chief Mr Farage is having the time of his life – pictures of the Reform leader posing in a Second World War jeep to mark D-Day contrasted strikingly with those of an embarrassed-looking David Cameron acting as the PM's stand-in in the leaders' photograph.

Mr Sunak insists he was sanguine when Mr Farage made his 'emergency' announcement on Monday, but stresses the likely perverse consequence of his actions: that by splitting the Right-wing vote, Mr Farage could open the door to a Labour Party which is privately committed to reversing Brexit.

'At the end of the day, one of two people is going to be Prime Minister on July 5,' says Mr Sunak. 'A vote for anyone who's not a Conservative candidate makes it more likely Keir Starmer gets in to No 10... he ran on a promise to defend free movement when he became leader of the Labour Party. 

'Voting for anyone who's not a Conservative candidate makes it more likely that you'll have someone in No 10 who's just not going to deal with migration, is not going to cut your taxes and is going to pursue an ideological approach to Net Zero that will cost everyone thousands of pounds.'

He adds: 'There are still weeks to run in this election and I'm going to keep making sure people understand the real choice. The last few years haven't been easy. Of course that means people will be frustrated. But I do think we've turned a corner. Inflation is back to normal, the economy is growing at a healthy rate, energy bills are falling and wages are rising.'

Those five hours of sleep a night must be being disturbed by the prospect of Reform 'crossing over' with the Tories in the polls. If replicated on July 5, the number of Tory MPs could be cut by two-thirds – and even lead to the Lib Dems becoming the opposition. 

'There is not much Mr Sunak can say to this, so he falls back on a time-worn classic: 'The only poll I'm interested in is the one on July 4.' The last time that phrase was used so frequently by the Tory party was in the run-up to Tony Blair's 1997 landslide.

A spokesman for Mr Johnson said: 'Boris Johnson is, as always, strongly supporting the Conservatives and encourages everybody to do the same.'