E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
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.
Former top aide to British PM charged in perjury case
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.
Britain's PM eats humble pie over snack tax
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."
From May 2010: How tragedy transformed UK's Cameron
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.
More world news from msnbc.com and NBC News:
- Spain to seek bailout; up to $125 billion on table
- Second solo Pacific rower rescued after 50-ft waves batter boat
- UN: Smell of death at scene of massacre in Syrian village
- Women brave attack to protest Egypt harassment
- In court, Italian showgirl reveals code name for Berlusconi
- Soccer, cable TV at Gitmo? US lockup in Cuba quietly being upgraded
Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
Much ado about nothing, as usual...
Nope because they are politicians they are allowed to forget their child in a bar unlike someone who is poor. A poor couple would have been arrested on the spot for something like this and so should they.
No big deal. Not even news worthy. Alot of parents forget there THINGS.
I heard about the nice lady who was done smoking Marajuana and forgot her baby was in a car seat on the roof and drove away. She came back and got IT.
Then the crackhead who forgot it was her kid she was sellin to get another score.
Some parents I hear have even forgot what they were doing and threw their kid in a dumpster. They must of forgot. They were so involved and just thought IT was more trash.
Besides it's not like there aren't plenty of kids around. All you have to do is grab one by the hand and take IT away. To many little ones around anyway. Hell ! They will probably just grow up and be like you and me someday. Not all the kids can grow up to be news reporters and politicians.
I was left in the cotton field when I was about 8. I am from a large family and my big brother was in charge of us. It was getting late in the evening when suddenly I realized I was alone in a vast field of cotton, no people and no wagon. I found my way to the road and was walking alone when a John Deere tractor pulling a load of cotton on the way to the gin picked me up. I wound up at a gin in the neighboring town. By then my parents had no way of locating me and were frantically searching, in all the wrong places. I made it to within a mile of our house before my saviors finally came alone.
I had the adventure of my life and a story that has lasted me for over 60 years.
Two things, even if we were close to home I still took my daughter to the bathroom at age 8, and I'm a single mom with 2 (adult now) kids. If it was a single bathroom I waited outside the door. We live in a small city of 65,000+, but I wasn't about to take any chances.
Second thing, isn't there security for the PM and his family for wherever they go, or is it just for the PM and not his family? Even if they were close to home he is the leader of England, right?
Wow you people amaze me. If this woman lived in a trailer park and did this you guys would be calling for her head and she would have been arrested but because they are "respectable" people they can get drunk and leave their kid in a bar. Sure they were not drunk in a pub! They left their kid in a bar and cps needs to get invovled to make sure they never do this again. They also should have been arrested.
A pub in England may serve alcohol, but they are very family friendly establishments. They are nothing like American bars. Also, CPS is in the U.S., not England. And if this family should be arrested, then so should thousands of other parents from all walks of life who have made similar mistakes.
And poor people get away with much worse mistreatment of their children all the time. Trailer parks are rife with alcoholism, drug addiction, prostitution and children still live there so clearly they are not getting busted left and right. I would rather my child get left behind at a respectable British pub then a trailer park any day of the week.
Don't be so naive and ignorant.
Explain to me how I am naive and ignorant?
I'm certainly not naive about England or English pubs. And ignorant? I'm sure I can pull stats to back up my claims about trailer parks in the U.S.
Lacylou...where in the article did it say they were DRUNK in this pub?..this was LUNCH with the family on a political tour of pubs...hardly the time or place for a Prime Minister to get drunk in public
& PH...I'm with you re English pubs
plus, the latest report said staff found the 8 year old child hiding in the washroom
childish prank on her parents?
My dad always enjoyed telling a story when he was riding with a motorcycle club. They rode in to a roadside park to take a bathroom break. As they pulled up a couple ran to their car, jumped in and sped off. Seconds later a couple of little kids, about 8 or 9 came running up, scared that their parents had left them. My dad and his friends took turns giving the kids rides and trying to calm them down until the parents quite sheepishly returned. That couple learned several lessons that day.
Just the other day a colleague of mine saw a small child walking along a highway. My friend stopped and asked the upset child where his parents were. He couldn't speak English, but didn't seem to know. My friend didn't have a cell phone, so she drove him to the closest house, about 1/2 mile away. As she was talking to the person who lived there a car pulled up with a teenage girl and her boyfriend. They were supposed to be babysitting a younger sibling, but apparently had became distracted.
This sort of thing does happen, and it is good when there is a happy ending.
Jaslam-4164063 stated:
RRROOOFFFLLL Islamic Extremists? Mate seriously?
good things she wasn't kidnapped either way - 'but it could only be a Muslim surely?'
I assume you actually meant to say "it could only be a Muslim, Shirley." ;-)
LOL
I would think that a Muslim in an English Pub would stand out and everyone in the pub would be staring at them. No chance of kidnap there.
I could imagine seeing an article like this in the Enquirer, but here on MSN? I guess the journalists need to do something instead of the real work "credible" journalists do.
I would like to meet the parents that have never lost their child for a few minutes. It is a sickening feeling, and can be caused by any number of things that have nothing to do with being irresponsible. I am just glad that the little girl was found safely.
For the American public that has not been to the UK, a pub is a social gathering place, not unlike a roadhouse restaurant in the US. It is not uncommon for families to have dinner there. Its not a college frat party.
The guy must be drunk with power.
Flashback. Family of 10. Picnic for my 5th birthday. Packed up the kids and left without ME!!! (I was in the backyard)...anyone that don't think it could happen didn't come from large family.
All was cool. Sat on front porch waiting. Welfare scammin' drunken bum neighbor noticed. Came over and told me they didn't care about me, left me on purpose...that's when I freaked. Look up white trash in the dictionary, that's his picture.
I was crying on porch when Dad came back. Told him what happened. Thought he was gonna kill the neighbor, and only time I ever saw him cry. He survived the WWII Pacific campaign, and coulda done some real damage.
Thank god Cameron's daughter didn't run into someone like that...or worse.
Another reason Brit will always rhyme with TWIT!!!!!!!!!!!
Another UK Idiot
no wonder thier economy is in the shape its in ,thiey cant even keep track of thier kids .let alone money.its like a monkey and the football.....
Byron, I am pretty sure that they can all spell a lot better than you can. Please explain "it's like a monkey and the football." Just a short paragraph will do, not need to write 500 words. Also, the US economy is about the same as the British economy right now.
Byron...just read what you wrote. Enough said.
What have you folks got against the British, anyway?
Sounds like something obama had a part in ..he must have been behind this somehow ..
I was left at a pub once. Fortunately for me I was trained on what to do in just such a case and was able to drink my way out. I still train as you never know when it may happen again.
This comment was two years old, I have one that is even older....a family travelled 80 miles from home on a pilgrimage. After the event, they began their trip home. At the end of a day's journey (approximately 16 miles) they found he was not with accompanying relatives. They returned to the big city and found Him. His name was Jesus, His parents Mary and Joseph. Prime Minister Cameron is in good company.
I think the reason that this is a story is because it's unexpected that such a VIP could be forgotten about in a bar. Imagine if one of Obama's daughters were left behind in a bar. The story isn't that the parents were irresponsible. It's the fact that a lot of incompetence went into leaving the kid behind.
It's not the end of the world, but at the same time, no way do you let the parents off the hook.
Yes, it's easy to take your eye of your child just for a second, and turn around and he/she is gone. In the end, though, it's your responsibility as a parent, no matter how busy you are, or who is riding in which car, etc.
Once our child ran off at a large public park. He was playing on a jungle gym, my wife and I were talking to each other, and when we looked back - BAM! - he was gone! Panic does not describe what we felt. I ran one way, my wife the other. She found him on another play set about thirty feet away. He was "missing" for all of thirty seconds - the longest thirty seconds of my life. Yes, it happens all the time. And we aren't bad parents. But still, ultimately, it was our responsibility.
What a lot of bulls**t, have you never left a young 'un behind, Give the man a chance!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's not like they sold her into white slavery or left her in a brothel or a crack house. I'm sure the staff was very nice to her and bought her a pint or two on the house. On the other hand I'm sure it's prolly Obama's fault.
Who among us has not left a child in a bar a time or two?
Right?
Sheeesh, people on here are so judgmental!
The kid was thirsty and wanted to stay behind a while longer. It takes a limey to do something like this. SOOO good day to you all. Cheers!!
Just another example of what drinking does to an moron!
I have never left any of my 4 children anywhere at anytime by accident! If my wife and I split up for separate rides, I make sure the kids are with me or her and in one or the other cars before any one leaves... ALWAYS!
No bull@!$%# excuses!
here we go again with yet another person (Dominator) assuming the Prime Minister was drunk at lunch with his family & 2 other families eating together in a public place...
I bet the strongest thing they drank was orange juice...non-fermented
Old English will do it everytime.