Sunak Thwarts His Own Campaign | Macron’s 'Panicked' Snap Election

[@restispolitics]

Please consider 'Liking' & 'Subscribing' if you enjoyed this episode. This really helps with exposure and distribution on KZbin!

[@ohheyitskevinc]

Which of you got the silver KZbin plaque thingy and who will get the gold million one? ;)

[@James-el6lj]

no thanks. @James-el6lj 0 seconds ago Rory Steward supports fox hunting and the medieval monarchy!

[@HappyCodingZX]

For me, it's not about D-Day in particular, which of course is insulting and was a mistake. What is concerning is the lack of judgement, political instinct and empathy that led to it. It demonstrates an appalling lack of ability to read the room, and an over-reliance on inexperienced advisors that is entirely incompatible with national leadership in general.

[@Drakshl]

This is exactly it. It's not "how could you do this on D day" but "HOW could you do this? Like as in how do you come to this decision, how do you think?"

[@kasgraham6348]

The votes leaking away from from Labour to Greens are more likely to be people who want the Greens to win, but in the past have always felt they had to vote tactically to try and stop the Tories. This is why we need proportional representation - so we can all vote positively for what we really believe in, rather than negatively to thwart the really bad outcome.

[@seymourclearly]

We really need proportional representation to bring fairness to our politics. 😊

[@davidpinfold852]

Macron calling elections in France has the same vibe as David Cameron calling the Brexit referendum with the same potential for it to backfire.

[@johnnyguitar6697]

It will be worse. Trust me.

[@johnwright9372]

Never underestimate the gullibility of the average voter.

[@marleneMS]

​@johnnyguitar6697 why trust you?

[@johnnyguitar6697]

@@marleneMS Because I have read the platforms of both the far left coalition and the far right, and there's not even the pretense of any economic competetence whatsoever. They both amount to free distribution of imaginary cash, and the financial markets will react very badly to them. Truss was almost immediately deposed by the conservative party, but no such mechanism will be available in France to restore stability.

[@sasinator6918]

These guys are such a good duo, one of my fave podcasts.

[@davidpaterson2309]

I don’t think Macron is “ panicked” at all. He knows very well that many people who voted RN in the European elections (protest vote, doesn’t affect who runs France) won’t vote for them in a French election so they will do “better” but possibly not enough to win a majority without coalition with the Republicans (which is a big risk for both of them). So it’s a challenge to the electorate - are you serious about this, is this really what you want? He can easily argue that as president that’s his duty - if the country seems to be undergoing a political paradigm shift, he cannot ignore that; he’s head of state, not PM. And if Le Pen forms a government with a narrow coalition majority, what is she actually going to be able to get done? And don’t forget that Macron remains president for another three years - so it becomes “cohabitation”, with Macron having every opportunity to demonstrate how vacuous the RN manifesto is in practice. Macron may be imperious in his manner and grandiose in his vision, but he certainly isn’t stupid.

[@andrewharrison7767]

imo its more because european elections use proportional representation, so EVERY vote counts, their general elections use first past the post - look at the last election; Macron's party won 0.09% more of the public vote (both 25.5%ish), but 120 odd more seats than the runners up (245 / 131). NF won 18.5%, but only 89 seats - as you say, he's being calculated, and far from losing the plot as rory posits

[@phueal]

I agree that he's not lost the plot, but it is certainly a risky and bold move. I think he's basically trying to call the public's bluff - he's saying "I know you used the European elections as a protest vote and voted for these nutters, but let's see you put your money where your mouth is and vote for them in an election which actually matters." I think he's betting that people will shy away from voting for them in national elections, and that a worse result now will take the wind out of their sails.

[@johnnyguitar6697]

Arrogant, and reckless, is what he is. And I write this as a person who voted him in, twice. His calculation was that: a) the left would not be able to unite as Melenchon is too divisive, allowing Renaissance to contest most of the 2nd round with the RN. This just blew in his face, and there's a strong probablility that it's the "Nouveau Front Populaire" that will contest most consituencies' second round, squeezing Renaissance out b) Les Republicains won't ally with the RN, disallowing them an outright majority at the Assemblee Nationale. A faction of Les Republicains, led by their president, Ciotti, has already announced that they will run a common platform with the RN What this leaves the country with is: - either a majority for the RN, which would be catastrophic (their economic platform would make Liz Truss' mini-budget look like a garden party) - or 3 blocs, none of which can have a majority and can't ally themselves with the other 2, effectively making the country ungovernable and eventually leading to massive social strife. Which would also be catastrophic I forgive him even less for doing this just weeks before France is to host the Olympics, running the risk of tarnishing the country's image. If he had to do this act of recklessness, he could at least have waited until after the summer.

[@johnharvey1786]

@@phuealI agree, or he simply feels I’m totally fed up with this craziness, if you really want an ultra right wing future, based on sound bites, then go for it, but don’t blame me when it all turns out very badly as it has in the UK. Then there are still those saying we just didn’t go far enough to the right or believe hard enough, just give us another four years to make just a little more graft, we only made one billion and we need two.

[@joecurran2811]

That was Cameron's thinking before the Brexit referendum

[@willtricks9432]

Sunak does not understand what many in the people would think about his actions on D-Day and nobody around him bothered to tell him.

[@soutteruk1]

If the liberators on the beaches of Normandy had been bankers, financial advisors and hedge fund wide boys , Sunak would have had more staying power.

[@Frommerman]

@@soutteruk1 He, like everyone else we've given power, has had his soul eaten by a business school, and he assumes everyone else also fed their souls to business schools.

[@soutteruk1]

@@Frommerman Nonsense! Sunak has a soul - or did I mishear you: Sunak's an arsehole? Apologies!

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

That's because he's not British. He's Indian.

[@soutteruk1]

@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat I wish Sunak wasn't British, otherwise he couldn’t be PM. But the fact that he is, unfortunately, PM means, also unfortunately, that he's British. Try again!

[@peterstarmes7110]

Sunak said his itinerary had been set before the election had been called, so he never intended to stay .No one has asked him why.

[@Gwanzan3325]

Sounds like whoever called the election has really stitched up Sunak. What a bastard that person must be!

[@svenhaile5946]

Sunak had decided to attend the celebrations in France and then in Britain on the same day. There were no British veterans in the later celebration, so he went to Portsmouth. Not a bad choice if one thinks about it, because Starmer stayed away from Britain. The ITV interview was scheduled very recently and was not the main reason for leaving France. While Sunak could have spent more time together with the King and the UK's Foreign Minister in France, it was really his poor communication for not emphasising his concurrent presence also at the festivities in Britain that was the election own goal (fueled by the media).

[@catrionaskivingtonskivingt4819]

You’re making excuses for him he came back to do an interview & embarrassed the UK

[@svenhaile5946]

Focusing on the interview is misguided and does not do justice to the gravity of Sunak's choice. The general election was not yet announced when the schedule was done. The plan to honour British veterans in the UK reveals that it was considered appropriate to let the King and the Foreign Minister stay in France and accept to make the PM return home. It shows that it should not be the PM alone making those decisions at such an important D-Day anniversary celebration. When campaigning began, Sunak still went home while Starmer stayed in France. It was another consequential judgement call, which proves the initial one was flawed. Now people would have said he was letting down the veterans if he had cancelled his appearance in Portsmouth. If Sunak had managed to communicate better, he would still have embarrassed himself of course. It required immense flexibility and wit to get on top of the issues but he was lacking. Critically, nobody should miss a golden opportunity to confidently mingle shoulder to shoulder with top World leaders - especially without being critised at the event for any individual or collective policies by anybody!

[@veeday1146]

The 80 year anniversary of D Day, possibly the last for many veterans, must surely have been written in large letters in every Ministers diary. I can well imagine that Sunak was happy to go to the UK part of the day but baulked at the bits involving Europe and the US. When given a choice of dates for the TV interview he deliberately chose that day as an excuse to leave the hated EU part. He has shown the world that he is no politician or statesman and his subsequent excuses looked feeble and reluctant. Time for the grown ups to start leading the country and any one still intending to vote Tory is either cavalier about all Tory behaviour since Boris Johnson or has a dubious and unpatriotic reason for wanting more.

[@juliangilbert5465]

Never ascribe to malice that which is adequately explained by incompetence.

[@WeedSlut187]

Bingo!

[@richardfraser1562]

Demanding that young people do national service while skipping out of D day yourself, isn’t a good look.

[@stephenburwood2615]

Alistair mentioned the two words ‘political judgement’ and that (the extraordinary lack of), ultimately, is what this was about.

[@benedictmarshall7031]

Sunak lacks gravitas. He’s a nannied schoolboy that knows he’s totally out of his league. He literally fled.

[@biscuit4259]

He’s not nannied at all!

[@adamjackson6887]

I don't think that's true, I think it's purely he has no political judgement at all. He goes out, does the thing he's told to do, then comes back. That's why he seems so weird and makes such odd decisions because we're not seeing the real person.

[@supereliptic]

@@biscuit4259oh, real working class lad is he? He left his job down the mines to take the PM role? Dude is about as silver spoon as you can get.

[@christinethomas6763]

Well from Day 1 stepping into the UK probably been flying by the seat of his pants when it comes to dealing with anything other than what a spreadsheet can tell him how even richer his family can arrange to become. Born with that caste of mind. Fair does.

[@robfodder5575]

@@supereliptic Is being 'working class' or having a previous job in mining a prerequisite to being an MP, or the PM ?

[@SirWhiteRabbit-gr5so]

His schedule?? The entire day should have been cleared ten-years ago for any UK PM!

[@jamesprice4647]

'It ran over.'

[@Dilbert-o5k]

Just as well the troops at the time didn't worry about it running over

[@JaneThornton-j3x]

Why the bleep did Sunak’s diary managers agree to book the itv interview for D-Day? It’s absolutely his responsibility that he went along with their plan, but where on earth were their heads?

[@tezinho81]

Tories can't see beyond trying to get one over on labour. It's been that way for a long time, the vast majority of opposition questions at PMQs get answered with political slogans, basically amounting to "we are great you are poo nur nur nur", missing the point of PMQs entirely.

[@simonjacobs1]

Good episode as usual. Only thing to ask is why the word 'released' in regard to the hostages? - They weren't released, implying they were given willingly?

[@SheilaDavies-g8e]

I could listen to you two conversing/ discussing/debating the current world of of politics all day long. Not just for the content, but just listening to your voices.....your tone, clarity of speech and timbre are just wonderful.

[@soutteruk1]

Ask Ali about dodgy dossiers ...

[@adamjackson6887]

​@soutteruk1 why ask when he's answered the point last year in the two part TRIP episode about Iraq?

[@soutteruk1]

@adamjackson6887 Not to inform one's self, but to embarrass him. What is this Trip episode?

[@adamjackson6887]

@soutteruk1 The Rest is Politics. It must have been in March 2023 as that was the 20 year anniversary of the Iraq invasion. What do you think is embarrassing? The dossier (aka the "dodgy dossier") that's often referred to is not what was used to put this forward to Parliament and had nothing to do with him. That's why he gets annoyed. If you listen to that podcast (and there are other books that discuss the matter) it's more complex. Also, what do you think ie achieved by embarrassing him exactly? If you want someone to target, look at the Intelligence chefs at the time, such as Richard Dearlove.

[@soutteruk1]

@@adamjackson6887 Sorry I spoke. I much prefer among journalists Michael White for some reason that insistently bobs up ...

[@SuperGardenshed]

Sunak has no EQ. He's also got no real depth of feeling for British history. He's the perfect consultant / technical geek, but a useless leader. He's so competitive that he wants to win/be the best at everything that he thinks is important, but has no empathy and doesn't know when to switch that personal competitiveness off

[@matthewdobson100]

and yet still manages to have more empathy than Liz Truss did!

[@jeanmyers1787]

His family are of Indian descent so link to D Day 80 years ago hasn’t same meaning to Sunak

[@stevefraser7501]

The danger of poor voter turnout wouldn't be a problem if voting was mandated. It's never made sense to me how people can be so apathetic that they cant be bothered to get off their arse and vote. Were only talking once every 5 years for God's sake!

[@dansegelov305]

This is what happens when your national leader only wanted the job so he could put 'Prime Minister' on his CV.

[@matthewv4170]

He wanted to prove himself to his father in law methinks

[@venuslin8647]

So does Boris. Boris dreamt of being a king, but unfortunately, there is no vacancy. Unless .......???😂

[@leeharris7727]

Not much good having it on your CV if you’ve shown on (international) TV that you’re utterly useless!

[@twelvecatsinatrenchcoat]

This is what happens when you elect an Indian to lead Britain.

[@eliseleonard3477]

It seems to me (a psychiatrist) that Sunak’s bizarre departure from Normandy could only be about one of 2 things: either he’s so driven by electoral ambition that he just cared less about the commemoration, or that he’s driven by a sort of mechanical adherence to plans and utterly blind to the deep emotional meaning of the ceremony for the people he wants to keep leading. The two aren’t mutually exclusive 🤔

[@TerryUrquhart-v4w]

It’s because the reverence for those who died in the war is not engrained in him and his genes …simple ..he didn’t grow up knowing people who suffered and gave it all for his freedom …

[@rrickarr]

D-DAY has been on the calendar for 80 years!!!!!!!!!!! There is no excuse!!!! He could have chosen a different date. TV stations will clamour to interview a PM and they certainly would have set the calendar to suit you, Rishi, not the other way round!!!! World leaders have to attend all sorts of conferences and they stay there all day for many days!!!!! Rishi has shown his total incompetence and his incompetence showed long before this event!

[@tezinho81]

This is a really clear sign that the man puts party before country, he had one bloody job that day, which was to represent the UK, all of us, as our leader - and he failed. He just made the entire country look bad by ducking out and deliberately snubbing foreign leaders.

[@glyngreen538]

It’s been rumoured that he deliberately left early as he thought it would be a snub to the French and Europeans and he thought this would go down well with the ‘Gammon’ voters. Such poor judgement of the consequences show up the awful political judgement of him and his close advisors. Also ITV said they offered a range of days and times to do the interview and Rishi chose to do the one he did.

[@tezinho81]

@@SBuk1 left or right, most of us have a member of family who had to go to war. How dare you equate being a socialist with being unpatriotic, in the country which created the NHS.

[@simonpaine2347]

To be fair, it's not on the Microsoft etcétera calendars, so unless your aware of it, or interested in it, you wouldn't know and therefore it's quite possible to make other appointments in your calendar without realising.

[@tezinho81]

@@simonpaine2347 That sounds like the excuse I give my mum for forgetting mother's day, since I live in a different country with a different day. You do NOT forget D-day when you are PM of one of the major powers to have fought in it.

[@J1mmyMack]

It's funny that Brexit was meant to kill off UKIP/Brexit Party but it's had no effect, still the same problem with Reform. Let this be a lesson to the Conservative Party.

[@9eleven1877]

Astute point

[@johnwright9372]

Most Conservatives don't think. Austerity, Brexit, Covid corruption, they can't help themselves.

[@daydays12]

Cameron was and is idiotic...calling a referendum on EU membership

[@Dilbert-o5k]

The second part of your message is not required.

[@mahoganyk]

Disappointed that Rory and Alistair failed to mention the fact that the hostages were being held in a REFUGEE CAMP!

[@CubedDimensions]

I very much agree with Alistair about the narrative playing a part in the general view of gaffes. I doubt Milliband eating a sandwich exists in a vacuum, it was a general media narrative and view of the public that was mirrored in a singular picture.

[@ianrogerburton1670]

Only a FOOL would ever regard Schedules as being God-given Law instead of as flexible Blueprints.

[@soutteruk1]

... or a bureaucrat ... the dotted line redeems the means, result and intention.

[@Visherex]

I'm now sat here wondering if he's autistic or something, I am but even I wouldn't be that tone deaf

[@Notmehimorthem]

Re Brexit, we always needed two things: The ability to make our own national decisions and a decent government. We currently only have one, so that's why there is a failure.

[@paulgilbert1939]

You Are forgetting that Sunak is a cooperate first executive and no senior executive would ever want to spend a few hours with other CEO's and executive leaders when they know that they are on the way out!.. No one wants to be seen with you, no one has anything to say to you and no one has any time to hear what you think or are planning! (if you are about to be fired by the board the last thing you want to be doing is spending the day with other senior executives talking about the future of the company / country / Globe)

[@col.hertford9855]

He’s a politician, not a corporate executive. Part of the problem it’s him is he treats politics as a business. That’s why tory governance ends up in a mess.

[@venuslin8647]

Boris Johnson & Farage left us in a mess with Brexit..For Boris being a Mayor of London was not enough. Campaigning & voting for Brexit was a quicker ticket for him to become PM/leader of his party rather than waiting for Cameron to step down after his 3rd term as PM.

[@Dilbert-o5k]

Interesting take, possible.

[@brotherben4357]

Comment of support. Love the channel.

[@richardrhodes5323]

I think its a real shame that Rory left mainstream politics. The decent people are hounded out by the dogs in the pit of Westminster

[@paulinegibson7010]

Agree about Brexit. But Starmer is frightened about angering the red-wall voters

[@jessehopper8996]

Alistair so close to the point and missing it entirely with the greens voters. People who are voting green instead of Labour this time would vote for the greens if they could, the reason they were voting for Labour before was because of FPTP forcing them to vote for labour hoping they might beat the Tories, not because they WANT to vote for Labour. If you had preferential voting they would likely be voting 1 for greens and then just putting Labour above the Tories so their vote would eventually go to them if it came to it.. It continues to baffle me why Labour are trying so hard to win conservatives over and risk losing the whole left side of the party. Most of the people still voting conservative would never vote Labour and will only go further right if they don't vote conservative. Labour are never going to convince the Reform voters unless they turned into an actual facist party even then they're probably not going to get them if they're still called Labour. If this election goes so badly for the Tories that the Lib-Dems become the 2nd largest party, Labour could well find that the Lib-Dem's decide they're going to attack from the left and scoop up a lot of votes if they become seen as the major alternative to an increasingly right moving Labour party.

[@TerryUrquhart-v4w]

I can’t imagine why anyone can vote for these green clowns …their manifesto spells out that they are deluded ….

[@phueal]

Speaking as a Lib Dem, think we would struggle to attack Labour from the left. For one thing, although I think people are starting to forgive us for the coalition, I think it did remind people that we are definitely a centrist party; slightly left of centre maybe, but ultimately centrist. But more importantly, if the Tories fall into third place I think they will totally collapse, and the remnants will distribute themselves between Reform and us. Moderate Tories will probably join us, along with quite a few of their voters, and sadly that will probably shift our centre of gravity and move us to become a slightly centre-right party instead of a slightly centre-left one.

[@User-he6zd]

But green party and so voters have a lot of ideas that would not be liked by general public, incl. Centre left. Unilaterally (rejecting multilateral approaches) destroying our own nukes. No nuclear energy. £500 per tonne (like over 4x more expensive than highest carbon tax by EU country) carbon tax. No or minimal women in prison. Abolish our UN veto. Massively shrink our army, navy, and no foreign deployments of soldiers unless Russia and China agree. And that's not even mentioning the wealth tax nor rather absurd marginal income taxes graduates with kids will end up facing... 70%+. Combine this with cutting pension tax benefits and people will be much worse off financially now and in retirement

[@defenstrator4660]

What do you mean try to win Conservatives over. The Tories are a centre left party. That’s why Refirm is growing. People want a choice other than the uniparty.

[@phueal]

@@defenstrator4660 when everyone else is to the left of you, that’s because you’re on the far right. The Tories are not a centre-left party.

[@nicholasbethell2921]

Even Liz Truss would have understood the optics of D-Day.

[@Onequietvoice]

Except she would have considered that it was all about her!

[@johnnyguitar6697]

@@Onequietvoice Too right. She would have written a book about how she single handedly won WWII.

[@justinneill5003]

Sunak is definitely a blagger. The other day he was trying to make out in an interview that he had it tough growing up, and had to "go without" things (although he couldn't seem to remember what "things.") It was an attempt to make him seem like "one of us." But all it takes is a couple of clicks to discover that his father was actually a GP and his mother owned her own pharmacy in Southampton. He says they emigrated from East Africa to make it sound like they were having hard times, but didn't bother to mention that the Asian community in East Africa is actually a very affluent section of society, leading players in the region's economy and dominant in the business sector. Sunak is a bullshitter, but unlike Johnson he isn't even very good at it, and he leaves himself wide open to being exposed as a fraud.

[@AdamTV]

I am surprised no one asked why Rishi was not attending the international D-Day event before it happened. I mean if he was not going to be there to meet the President of the USA at an event like this that is a big deal that someone much have noticed in advance.

[@LudovicStmartin]

Sunak's schedule is more important than the most important day in Europe history!!!He doesn't understand that thanks to D-Day he is free today !!!

[@jeanmyers1787]

His family were probably still in India 80 years ago

[@andypicken7848]

The PM leaving Normandy will be remembered long after the election. It was a very important move for patriotic British people

[@peterbustin2683]

Absolutely!

[@Onequietvoice]

I am not British or very patriotic (a quality that can conceal a multitude of sins) but I too found the move disgraceful. He was not there as leader of the Tory Party but to represent an entire nation.

[@hilarykirkby4771]

Not just the Brits - don't forget that the rest of Europe was occupied and was consequently liberated.

[@harlangrove3475]

Has Sunak bet big on fewer than 150 Tory MPs after the election? Truly an asset for Reform UK.

[@Dilbert-o5k]

​@@hilarykirkby4771 and probably minorities who had family members who fought in the war as well

[@Matthew-bu7fg]

Theyre not coming after Sunak nearly as much as theyd have come after Corbyn

[@frodenordseth4519]

Agree biggest own goal ever. Excuse - not related to election makes it even worse

[@mikedignum1868]

Sunak has no common sense whatever. And now he wants teenagers to do national service in one form or another!

[@paulteare5859]

works well in norway -

[@stuartivins7846]

PM Rushi Homey, to a D-Day Veteran "You think you had it bad, when I was at Winchester School, I didn't have Premiere Cable !!!" 0:47

[@FollowBetulas]

I honestly think Sunak wants to lose. There's no way anyone would willingly leave such an important event with high esteemed dignitaries and eyes of the world all around for a tv interview. I think it was a calculated move on his part that he knew it would get him out with ease.

[@smoozerish]

Anybody else think Sunak has been blagging it the whole time and actually behind it all, he is not very bright?

[@JelMain]

Who gives a damn? Excuses, excuses, excuses. I'm not interested in a detailed understanding of his nutcase. Just returning him to the shop as unfit for purpose.

[@RKC3.14]

No. I think you’re getting sunak confused with Truss.

[@rrickarr]

Rishi is not very bright. He may be very academic but he has no street smarts and he has no street smarts is because he has lived a very privileged life!!!!!!

[@shazzer1976]

He’s bright. Just out of touch. ‘Had to go without Sky’ (poor lamb!) completely blew an opportunity to talk about regeneration & innovation when asked if the Titanic Quarter in Belfast was the best place from which to launch his campaign. His inability to deviate from schedule may indicate a wider inability to think outside the box.

[@juliangilbert5465]

Like many public school old boys; overconfident, taught to overestimate their own abilities, arrogant, and educated beyond their intelligence.

[@zoemavridi5947]

Did Alistair Campbell just say that ‘he’s got political judgement’ 😂😂😂

[@daraithe]

Sunak is simply making the effort to try an fight an election campaign; by calling the GE for July, he will lose, resign as an MP and move to California in time to get his girls into school there for September. One thing about Rishi is that he is (usually) calculated and looks at the outcomes first. He knew he would never ever win a GE, so this was the desired outcome all along; make an effort so he can't be accused of jumping ship, but also knowing he is the Captain who is absolutely sinking with it.

[@Saint_Vincent1735]

Just when you think politicians can’t get any more lightweight, focusing on small insignificant details and not seeing the big picture they go and do it again.

[@eddragusin8733]

I would love to see these two host a joint interview with Sunak and Starmer. Would be political gold!

[@grahamariss2111]

Could it be that everybody around Sunak are so disillusioned with him they cannot be bothered to stop him doing stupid things.

[@luismanuel2612]

Alastair Campbell cannot hide his happiness at the prospect of a historic defeat for the Tory party,😂😁

[@peterbustin2683]

What angers me is that many many Indian soldiers as well as a lot of nationalities, fought against Hitler. Sunak is abandoning his own origins. For what?

[@roseanncampbell3168]

He's a Hindu. Hindus dont give a damm about commemorating the dead. They believe as soon as you die the soul goes into another person or animal. I don't know why no one has mentioned this yet

[@Evemeister12]

California, baby.

[@grahamwheeler6967]

4th Indian division was one of the finest in the British army

[@johnwright9372]

Sunak serves the capitalist oligarchy, including himself, his and his wife's families.

[@bishwatntl]

If the 7-way debate was for people other than the party leaders, why was Farage there?

[@peterm7548]

No only did Sunak insult the veterans, the fallen and the country but he also avoided an opportunity to network with some of the West's most important leaders.

[@WeedSlut187]

To be fair, Biden was in another ethereal plane.

[@plumduff3303]

Rishi as a swimmingly naff numpty is doing superbly well for swimmingly naff numpties.

[@kokliangchew3609]

D-Day was not important to Sunak, especially non-British veterans. He had planned months earlier not to attend the international commemoration ceremony as he thought that D-Day was an all British affair, not an Allied affair.

[@phoenix-xu9xj]

I hate him. BUT! HEIS British. Ffs

[@glyngreen538]

It’s reported that Rishi initially spent plan to do to D Day at all but the French at least managed to persuade him to go to some.

[@jonathanbowen3640]

Sunak actually had done a lot to help veterans in April this year with Jonny Mercer. More than Johnson, May Truss etc ever did

[@kokliangchew3609]

@@jonathanbowen3640 If Sunak had cut short his attendance on Remembrance Sunday at the Cenotaph, what would you say?

[@jonathanbowen3640]

@@kokliangchew3609 ​ @kokliangchew3609 It depends what hes cutting short for. Anyway, I'm not defending him in terms of not staying for the international part of D Day it's importance to look at his contributions to the veteran's cause as a whole. The context is important. It's important not to just get all excited by one event in the daily news cycle and let that obscure the macro picture and the larger narrative. He's done some decent stuff (that's generally not covered by the media) for vets as PM as a whole.

[@marjanemoghimi4933]

He lost the plot, indeed

[@Lina-p6h7b]

When Sunak legacy will be written he will be remembered for disrespect ing the D Day

[@Simon-zb6fp]

Why can't we have quick elections like the French?

[@davidpaterson2309]

France is a presidential republic with a written constitution which gives the President a lot of power - including the power to call an election at any time he sees fit.

[@couli1807]

Hi there from a French in (voluntary) exile. We are heading for very troubled times in Europe. My analysis is the following and hopefully you will comment on it. Immigration and security are false issues that fuel the rise of extreme right movements. The real problem is the erosion of the middle-class, especially the lowest segments who slide slowly but surely into poverty. On the political scene, it is therefore no longer viable to govern in the center with "reasonable" policies, meaning liberalism with a variable dose of social reforms unless you tackle this main issue. Those "traditional" centrist governments - and the EU Commission - are perceived as technocratic without grasp of realities. To change this perception they would have to take bold measures that deviate significantly from liberalism, which they are incapable of. In France, with the semi-presidential regime, Macron incarnates this technocratic centrist approach that has failed for 7 years and he is now just plainly rejected, even hated! There is no way he can build a new coalition around him. I think both in the UK and in France, with very different political settings, in the short-term we will witness apparition of governments leaning to the extreme left (tax the wealthy, guaranteed revenues, etc). In France I bet the next government will be with Melenchon as prime minister. Despite the fact they are perceived as anti-semitic and pro-Hamas they are the most likely to attract voters from Macron's party and form a (very tumultuous and unstable) coalition to bar the extreme right. Whether those far-left leaning governments will succeed is another story and we might witness at some point some far-right government, which in turn will be unwilling to tackle the main issue of inequalities despite their populist promises and will have to resort to authoritarian and anti-democratic measures. Troubled times indeed.

[@johnnyguitar6697]

I subscribe to most of your analysis, except for the bit where you see Melenchon as PM. Melenchon scares off more people than Bardella or even Le Pen, and you can count on the RN to hammer this point home before the second round of the elections. I see Bardella as PM in a minority government, propped up by defectors of Les Republicains. Anyway, the net result will be the same as with Melenchon: a run on French government bonds with interest rates reaching stratospheric levels, triggering a crisis in the eurozone. That is, of course, if they actually implement their platform.

[@Dilbert-o5k]

And you don't think mass migration that takes everyone's resources and makes you pay more for everything Including more taxes makes a difference? It is amazing how many people have been gaslit into believing vast amounts of new people don't need vast amounts of resources and someone to pay for them.

[@richarddunbar4065]

Have you noticed that the German electoral map for the EU elections is now an exact map of pre-unification Germany. West Germany chose the CDU everywhere, and East Germany chose the AfD everywhere. Even Berlin shows as the sole island of West Germany in the middle of East Germany, as it was pre-unification. As my (West German) wife says - you can take the people out of the dictatorship but you can’t take the dictatorship out of the people. Sounds like Germany may soon declare the AfD an illegal organization due to it being financed by the Russian state. That will be interesting.

[@helenheeney2284]

Brilliant to listen to those two interesting intelligent men and soooooo likeable

[@timanderson6005]

Rishi might be better understood if we consider him as possibly being more suited to a role in 'The Big Bang Theory' than No 10. What made him an effective banker makes him a troubled PM.

[@inghell]

Alistair is downplaying the far right rise in Europe too much. The biggest issue is that these kind of right wing populist movements are being normalised. Imagine even 10 years ago these parties coming second or third. It’s an increasing worrying trend that Europe is going in.

[@matthewv4170]

It's because of immigration. There is far too many single brown men in all cities across Europe. It's destroyed the culture. Everywhere is Goymerica

[@orcharddweller1109]

Populist means that the people support and want it, does it not? So if it is what the people want they should have it. That IS democracy.

[@inghell]

@@orcharddweller1109 That doesn't mean that it still isn't dangerous avenue to go down. I might want to a kilo of fried chicken everyday but that doesn't mean its a good idea.

[@farzanamughal5933]

​@@orcharddweller1109They won't give people what they want. They're just good salesmen

[@johnharvey1786]

Donald Trump summed it up perfectly, when he said “I love the uneducated”. Probably the most honest thing he’s ever said.

[@Nomoreanons]

Editors / Producers - PLEASE stop doing these long, drawn-out "Coming up" segment at the beginning and let us see the video!

[@debbiemclennan438]

i love Rory Stewart.

[@Theoriginalramjammer]

Members of my family were D-Day veterans. Vote lost.

[@markstephen9044]

Sunak thinks that most people are like him and only care about money. But even young people know that young people of the past like died so that the young of the future have the life and freedom they enjoy.

[@lafamillecarrington]

I think the fact that Ed Davey isn't the sort of person you'd expect to be having fun has made his falling in the water election campaign the only one to stand out. It has got him headlines that nothing else would.

[@Dilbert-o5k]

Should put him on a debate with post masters, that would liven it up.

[@yiskanight]

Macron’s election call seemed bizarre to me at first, but now I think it makes sense. Galvanise those against the far right. Le Pen, et al, fared very well, not just in polling, in reality. Vote to counterbalance their influence. I remember the weeks after Brexit, imagine if Cameron had called an election rather than resign?

[@peterdollins3610]

My beloved mother died in that period at least partly perhaps wholly because of the war when I was two years ten months. My father fired the Steam Engines through the Blitz once running over three bombs sabotaged by the workers in Germany, then the side driving rod came off when passing over a bridge, luckily the trailing one, then missed being fire bombed because his Engine was 'thirsty' etc. My Uncle on my mother's side shot down 13 aircraft before he was shot down. My Uncle on my father's side lost his leg fighting in Italy. First Uncle on my step-mother's side was tail gunner on a Lancaster Second Uncle fought through Burma behind the lines--a Chindet. My Engine Driver Ron was in the rear guard at Dunkirk to escape with his mate Big Sam to walk across France to get out & fight in the Eighth Army. Big Sam also became an engine driver. Other Drivers I had fought at Dunkirk across Europe into Germany. Sunak's apology is a non-apology. God's sake people do not vote for this clown or his Party the CONS who have destroyed this UK of ours so many fought & gave their lives for & to remove the Monsters from the Continent with many from the Commonwealth, America & elsewhere

[@EmptyGlass99]

There's nothing going on behind Sunak's dead eyes.

[@willtricks9432]

"The thing about a Sunak/Shark is the Eyes, He's got lifeless eyes, black eyes, like a doll's eyes." "When he comes at ya, he doesn't seem to be living, until he Bites ya, then those black eyes roll over."

[@jsmith1071]

At least he isn't staring like a startled rabbit in the headlights!

[@rsb8380]

Someone keeps commenting on these videos about Sunak’s “black dead eyes”. Calm down ffs lmao. He’s not evil. He’s just inept.

[@willtricks9432]

@@rsb8380 Sharks are not 'Evil', they just cruise around waiting to consume what they want. Sunak is the same and also politically inept. Viz had the strip "The Pathetic Sharks", Tory party writ large.

[@willtricks9432]

@@jsmith1071 He does that in front of the Press.

[@wendyknight9574]

Don’t you think for Sunak, it was a personal humiliation? Like when you go to a party, stand awkwardly waiting for a gap in conversation, or for someone - anyone to meet your eye. Instead conversation stops as you sidle up.

[@JelMain]

The Tory Party has a new version of Mornington Crescent or Ecclestone Pie - it's Emily Thornberry.

[@Saunajallu]

In Finland the far-right lost seats and the chairwoman of the far left party got a massive win. She got by far the most votes in EU election history even though the general turnout was a bit low. She got more votes PERSONALLY than any other PARTY except the center-right party and center-left party!

[@petrichor649]

Nudged me to register and have my say. It'll need a miracle here to oust the Tories, I can see Windsor castle.

[@joejohnson1969]

Well said, l can see Windsor Castle being bought by brics nation's economy to help with the upkeep ?

[@camerondeans9056]

I wish ALL politicians would stop turning up at these military remembrance events. I'm sick to death of these things having a political bent to them

[@markendicott6874]

Rishi-Washout is basically tanking his second job to be able to spend more time with his money. Good riddance.

[@MazzaEliLi7406]

Thank you.

[@Tommy-jl9dm]

Politicians try to manipulate what the majority want and they often do it on behalf of rich men who pay them off to do so

[@stephenhill545]

Maybe nobody told him because he never listens.

[@Jons8ye1]

Rory, dont forget the strong swing to the left in the Nordic counties. For example, the Swedish Democrats doing worse in their first ever election and the surge of the greens and left party.

[@RaysTrack]

Farage's candidate for Bexhill and Battle thinks there shouldn't have been a D Day at all; we should have been neutral. Farage refused to condemn the remark.

[@Dilbert-o5k]

Well maybe he was right in a hypothetical way. We lost a lot, and large swathes of the continent don't seem particularly appreciative of our peoples sacrifices.

[@phoenixreborn6065]

"Far right populist" - No, they are just right wing populist parties, not that Rory would know anything about being right wing of course.

[@stephenhill545]

D-Day wasn't in his schedule at all. That's come out.

[@fundude365]

Today, the 2nd round of the elections came in RN in 3rd place. Thank goodness the French left and centre woke up and smelled the ashes in time.

[@jeanpierreviergever1417]

My take is that Sunak thinks he can afford to ignore anything European after Brexit.

[@stephaniewilson3955]

The one who looked like the PM of the UK at the D-Day commemoration was Mr Starmer.

[@Dilbert-o5k]

Or farage who raised funds to get vets over there

[@JochenWüst]

The torries throw arround with allot of dirt...emily thornberry was mentioned..I recall BoJo was confronted by her....and Emily is married to Sir Christopher George Nugee... Nugee later became Queen's Counsel, then a High Court Judge, when he was knighted, at which point Thornberry became entitled to be styled Lady Nugee, but does not use the title....and BoJo, called her Baroness Something, meaning he threw dirt at her.....and Speaker Bercow got up and said; we do not name call People and dont call her by their spouses Names and went on to say, the Rt Hon Member has a Name and we know what her Name is and its not Lady Something....

[@Dilbert-o5k]

I bet she had a sky dish though even though she obviously didn't have any other privilege.

[@matsand4719]

But at Remembrance Sunday, when Corbyn was damned for not bowing correctly, it was the Tory leaders who went off for cheese and wine while Corbyn chatted with veterans.

[@Lindowman888]

As always excellent discussion. Point about Brexit is because polititions will make it about not respecting the poll rather than allow the debait to focus on the blames including how badly it was handled, how, upon knowing how bad, there was no right to vote again and of course the continued reference to doing the will of the people.

[@alalder1533]

Disgusted with Sinak after this D Day gaff. I can't see him remaining as a rural MP here in the dales once he's kicked out and wonder if he called the election simply so he could exit politics - not a conviction politician and I wish I'd never voted for him.

[@Iamjimpage]

Any idea where Rory’s jacket is from?

[@archwombat9250]

Loved Alistair’s Vase metaphor.

[@FlintReadUK]

While I hate conservative ideology in general and have been a Labour supporter my whole life, I do love listening to you guys talking politics, If only all conservatives had Rory's sense of honour, decency and kindness.

[@MalcolmEvans-we9wm]

You just confirmed Alistair what Nigel Farage said. Sunak did not understand the importance.

[@brandonprince3297]

Not a surprise. D Day, like Dunkirk, was all about small boats crossing the channel.

[@Dilbert-o5k]

Small boats?

[@Notmehimorthem]

Sunak has told us, he knows what hard times mean. It's going without a Sky subscription to sub his private school fees for elite private education (currently 50k). He knows hard times just like us, he feels our pain just like other Tories, as they look at their bank accounts and laugh at you. . .

[@HektorBandimar]

I wish Rory would speak up, he's very interesting when he can be heard.

[@marythorpe928]

We won, We have a Labour Government ,, How brilliant

[@theoutsider6191]

Hard to believe a Prime Minister did not realise the opportunity to look like a Statesman on that stage with all the other World Leaders. He could've looked like a serious individual if only for the period of the ceremony. The problem with Sunak though is he is not a serious politician, nor does he have conviction politics, and most obvious of all he is not a patriotic Brit. That is why he left, that is why he hid in the background on COVID when he should have been up there making waves about not locking down and not killing small businesses in the process, and it is why when he is booted out he will f@ck off to the USA as his friends say. You cannot fail to be touched by these memorial day events if you attend one. I went to Anzac Day in Sydney in 2011 because i was in Aus at the time and we were outside in the rain in the street all night for that. At no point did you think about leaving early, i'm not even Australian, but you cannot overstate the sacrifice those that fell, or returned made..