Rishi Sunak has broken his silence and vowed to carry on “until the last day of this campaign” as he tried to draw a line under last week’s D-Day row.
He also expressed the hope that “people can find it in their hearts to forgive me,” as he said he “absolutely didn’t mean to cause anyone any hurt or upset”.
Mr Sunak has been accused of going into hiding after he faced an outpouring of criticism for leaving the commemoration early.
One cabinet minister was even forced to deny the Tory leader would quit ahead of polling day on July 4.
But the Prime Minister said he would not stop “fighting for the future of our country”.
And he hit back at Nigel Farage‘s claim that the Tory leader does not understand “our culture”, condemning the remarks as not “good for our politics or indeed our country”.
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Mr Sunak has not done a TV interview since he was asked on Friday about 98-year-old D-Day veteran Ken Hay, who said he had let the country down.
“He lets the country down… It’s not the representation of how we’re trying to weld things together to keep the peace,” Mr Hay told Sky News.
Mr Sunak was accused of effectively going into hiding after he avoided questions from reporters on Saturday.
Back in action on the campaign trail, he told reporters when asked about rumours he could stand down: “People are gonna say what they’re gonna say. I am very confident in the actions that we’re putting forward for the British people.”
He added: “There are lots of people who want to write me off, write this off, say this campaign or the election is a foregone conclusion.
“They’ve been saying that, by the way, ever since I’ve got this job, right? Not since this election campaign.”
Mr Sunak added: “The reality is I’m not going to stop going, I’m not going to stop fighting for people’s votes, I’m not going to stop fighting for the future of our country.”
Earlier Chris Philp, a Home Office minister, said he was “surprised and disappointed” by the D-Day snub.
On Friday night former defence secretary Penny Mordaunt condemned it as “completely wrong”.
In a bid to divert attention away from the row, the Tories have set out a plan to recruit 8,000 more police officers.
The £810 million annual cost would be funded by raising visa fees and removing a student discount on the immigration health surcharge.
The prime minister skipped out on the international ceremony attended by other world leaders, including US president Joe Biden and French president Emmanuel Macron, to mark the 80th anniversary of the Allied landings.
He instead returned to the UK to take part in an ITV interview in which he sought to defend his claims of a £2,000 Labour tax bombshell after the figure came under fire from the Treasury and the UK’s statistics watchdog.
The gaffe has caused indignation in Tory circles, with general election candidates claiming the PM is effectively creating a free pass for Labour.
In an embarrassing moment for Mr Sunak, on Sunday the work and pensions secretary Mel Stride was forced to insist the PM was not planning to quit before 4 July.
