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Subscribe to RSSPrime Minister David Cameron admitted that he, his wife and their entourage left their 8-year-old daughter in a pub after a recent Sunday lunch and didn't realize it until they arrived back at the government headquarters. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
LONDON -- British Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife left their eight-year-old daughter in a countryside pub by mistake after lunch on Sunday, according to reports.
Cameron rushed back minutes later to pick her up, the tabloid Sun newspaper reported.
Nancy had gone to the bathroom when rides were being organized to return home, the newspaper said.
The prime minister's office said Cameron and his wife Samantha were "distraught" when they realized Nancy wasn't with them, according to the BBC.
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The Camerons had been having Sunday lunch with two other families near the prime minister's country home, according to reports. The prime minister went home in one car thinking that Nancy was with his wife and two other children in a second car, the Sun reported.
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The child, who was looked after by staff at the 16th-century pub after her parents had left, was separated from her family for 15 minutes, the Sun reported.
The Sun quoted a pub "insider" as saying: "You'd have thought someone would have done a headcount or something."
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The incident, which was widely reported in the British media, could prove especially embarrassing for the Conservative leader as it came just a day before the government relaunched a so-called troubled families program. The government says 120,000 troubled families are at the root of high amounts of crime and social disorder throughout the country.
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Since the child was in no way injured and even got her first "work experience" while waiting for her parent's return, this all is really inconsequential.
In the Prime Minister's defence, he and his wife left in separate cars, each thinking the child was with the other. Any one of us who lives life at even a fraction of the pace the Prime Minister does knows the potential for such an incident could happen easily.
RBTatt...
not so inconsequential if you consider the PM's security people were in charge of the PM & his family
competency of security personnel is called to question
there are obvious holes in the basic plan if they are unable to keep track of the family they are guarding
oh how we are drawn to do idiot things
oops left my kid behind
oops i hit the nuclear missle button
When I was 5, my brothers were 7 & 10, our parents used to take us with them when they would go to a neighborhood tavern. The tavern actually had a play area for the kids located behind the building. The parents could see their kids thru the large windows and we had swingsets, slides, sand pits and other playground items to have fun on. We would beg our parents to take us there and it was a ball! Mom and dad actually had sometime together while watching us too. When it was over we walked home as my parents didn't believe in driving the car for less than three miles and we would have a picnic in the backyard. Those were the days.
This is news?
This stuff happens, it's not child abuse or neglect. It's just an accident. Things can get crazy sometimes. Hell my dad forgot me a couple times (though I think after the second time it happened I wondered if he was trying to get rid of me...)
can you imagine the secret service leaving a president's child behind in a washroom?
heads would roll
Why not just put her on the roof like Romney does?
BFD it's not the first time a kid has been left a pub because of I thought you had her or him and it won't be the last. It's not as if the Kid was left at a some dive bar, even if the kid was left a Hooters the waitresses would have given the kid a place mat some crayons and fries while they waited on parents to return. Quite making mountains out of mole hills
Are these idiots ever going to give up on this? Trying to make a big scandal out of a totally trivial event.
Why would the whole world give a schidt about this?
Not really that much of a story - English pubs are generally friendly and safe places. I am sure the family is pretty well known since the pub was near where the family lives.
Stories like this are probably quite common. Many years ago my aunt and uncle were traveling out west with their three children. In the confusion of bathroom stops they accidentally left one of their sons behind - it wasn't until miles later they discovered him missing. They knew exactly where to go - my cousin was safe and waiting with the gas station owner.
Give them a break....I once left my 6 year old and her 8 year old sister at a bank, after installing a job at the Pojoaque tribal shopping area. I was back in 10 minutes after realizing my error. I once left my ex wife on the New Jersey turnpike in a rest area for 30 minutes.......the error there was returning.....
This is WORLD NEWS worthy? Please. What parent hasnt lost track of a child temporarily. There was no danger present and the error was quickly realized and corrected. Slow day for world news? ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
This is what happens when you hire or allow other people to tend to your kids so you can keep a schedule, or aspire to achieve things that make good parenting inconvenient. If you are too important or busy to be bothered with taking your child by the hand and making sure they get home then you need to rethink your life and career.
AHHHHHHHH so you never turned you head for a second and your child was gone? If you say NO then I would not believe you.
I've left 2 of my 3 children (at separate times). When you think one parent has them and then you get down the road and (thank God for cell phones) you find out they don't, you just turn around and go back for them. 8 year olds aren't attached to the parents like infants and toddlers....
no big deal - only a mistake with one parent thinking the other had her. they quickly rushed back to get her not that they intended to abandon her in the first place.
this story could be retitled based on the INCREDIBLY LOW STANDARDS OF MANY HERE.."Brits and child-neglect". Seems like most of you think its completely normal to take your kid to a place where adults are getting drunk and with alcohol comes uninhibited behavior..this is why nightclubs card people... and it seems like a lot of you think that bringing your child around raucous drunks is just a fine idea. I guess you drop your children in gorilla enclosures at the zoo as well since that is about on par with dropping your kid off alone ina room full of drunks. Many of you make me completely sick. This article is weeks old and still gives me powerful indigestion.