Labor overtakes Tories on defense as poll shows damage caused by D-Day mistake

Voters trust Labor more than the Conservatives when it comes to the UK’s security and defense following Rishi Sunak’s damaging mistake on D-Day, a new poll has revealed.

New figures show Sir Keir Starmer’s party has moved five points ahead of the Conservatives on the major issue of protecting the country, marking a serious turnaround for Labor after the Jeremy Corbyn years.

A survey conducted by BMG Polling exclusively for I shows that 28 percent of adults surveyed think Labor is more trusted, compared to 23 percent who responded to the Conservatives.

The slight lead comes after the two parties have been tied on defense in recent months, suggesting Mr Sunak’s decision to leave D-Day commemorations early has damaged the Conservatives’ reputation in matters of security and defense.

In a sign of how much the D-Day mistake had an impact on the electorate, 81 percent of adults said they had heard of the decision, and even worse for conservatives, around 80 percent thought it was unacceptable for the Prime Minister. The minister left the event earlier than expected.

Although the poll showed that for the 75 per cent of people who had heard of Mr Sunak’s Norman gaffe it would not change the way they voted, it could have a more profound effect on his electoral chances.

According to the poll, 18 per cent of voters said his decision to cut short their attendance at the event meant they were less likely to vote Conservative on July 4, but worryingly for Mr Sunak, this figure s ‘rises to 26 percent among 2019 former conservative voters.

Pollsters said this suggested the prime minister could face an even greater challenge in trying to win back those who supported the Tories in the last election.

Overall, the Conservatives are now 20 points behind Labor, according to BMG Research: 41 percent of voters said they would support Labor and 21 percent would support the Conservatives. Reform UK was in third place with 14 percent, while the Liberal Democrats were on 12 percent.

Labor’s surge in defense polling comes despite significant attempts by the Tory machine to frame this election on the issue of security, with the party repeatedly warning that Labor cannot be trusted on defense .

In the run-up to the election, Mr Sunak gave a keynote speech saying a Starmer victory would “embolden Vladimir Putin”.

And in a comment for I On Wednesday, Defense Secretary Grant Shapps again attempted to draw a line between the Conservatives and Labor on security, saying “Keir Starmer seems blind to the red lights flashing on the dashboard.”

Commons leader Penny Mordaunt claimed during Friday’s election debate that if Labor were elected, the “deterrent” effect of Britain’s nuclear weapons would be rendered useless by a gift to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

For Labor, the shift in confidence towards the party on defense marks a significant turnaround for the party after the Corbyn years, which prompted serious questions about the party’s approach to security.

Starmer and his shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, have been working to rebuild ties with international allies, including between the Biden and Trump camps, ahead of the US presidential election.

The efforts appear to have paid off, with Mr Lammy’s diplomatic connections helping Starmer secure a place at the foreign leaders’ event during the D-Day commemorations, allowing him to secure bilateral meetings with the French president Emmanuel Macron and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenksy.