From the BBC report https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4nnz0w41kvo"At the end of May, the French government told the BBC that "Rishi Sunak's presence is not guaranteed at the international ceremony, as the British ceremony will be held beforehand."It is the international ceremony that Mr Sunak missed.I understand from British sources that the itinerary for yesterday was arranged six to seven weeks ago - before the election was called, although at a time when clearly the prime minister must have been thinking about it.In other words, the plan all along was to miss that final event - and so, the claim goes, the decision to come back early wasn’t driven by doing the interview with ITV Mr Sunak recorded when he got back."So the decision to miss the international ceremony was taken before the election was called, and no-one thought to change that decision once the campaign got under way.
Richard Greenhough ● 262d