Rishi Sunak has just apologised for missing the international D-Day event in Normandy to fly back early to the UK for an interview with ITV. There has been a mixture of outrage and total bewilderment about why the Prime Minister chose to leave after the British event, putting foreign secretary David Cameron in his place, and do an interview that isn’t even being broadcast until next week. He posted on Twitter:

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.

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.

I care deeply about veterans and have been honoured to represent the UK at a number of events in Portsmouth and France over the past two days and to meet those who fought so bravely.

After the conclusion of the British event in Normandy, I returned back to the UK. On reflection, it was a mistake not to stay in France longer – and I apologise.

Tory MPs have been unable to defend the decision overnight and the rage that they were expressing to one another showed that they would not be able to say anything constructive in interviews or on the doorstep today. One told me last night that ‘this is Corbyn levels of disrespect’ – a reference to Jeremy Corbyn refusing to sing the national anthem early on in his leadership. Others pointed out that Sunak had attended a number of other events, including the British commemoration, and had perhaps thought he’d done his bit. But even that shows a lack of political intelligence about the magnitude of the event, given the age of the remaining veterans attending.

Another MP says:

I think it’s partly that if you’re so caught up in the detail you can talk yourself into anything. A total inability to pan back and see the bigger picture. Plus he’s advised by idiots half of whom have now disappeared to fight seats and can in due course trash what’s left of the Tory party from parliament rather than No. 10. And people say he won’t have a legacy…

Sunak wants to draw a line under the incident so that the day isn’t filled with debate about why he left the commemorations early. The apology has taken some of the air out of the row, but the real damage has already been done: the news carried pictures of a former prime minister alongside world leaders, and the man most people assume will be the next prime minister joining them. Sunak was nowhere to be seen.