British Prime Minister Leaves Daughter, 8, Alone at Pub
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NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images(LONDON) — Britain’s prime minister may want to consider signing up for one of those parenting-class vouchers he’s made available to those in his country.
On Monday, 10 Downing Street confirmed that Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife, Samantha, had accidentally left one of their children alone at a pub several months ago.
The Camerons and their children — Nancy, 8; Arthur, 6; and Florence, 22 months — had been attending Sunday lunch with two other families at the pub, reportedly close to the official country house for prime ministers.
According to The Sun newspaper, Nancy was visiting the restroom when the parents departed the pub in separate cars. David Cameron assumed Nancy was with Samantha and their two children; Samantha Cameron thought the child was with her father.
Nancy was left alone in the pub — called the Plough — for 15 minutes.
News of the mistake comes on the heels of an initiative supported by David Cameron that offers free child-rearing classes to British parents of children up to age 5 as well as texts and email reminders.
“Parents want help. It is in our interest as a society to help people bring up their children,” he said, according to the BBC. “We’re taught to drive a car. We’re taught all sorts of things at school. I think it makes perfect sense to help people with parenting.”
In a statement, Downing Street said the Camerons were “distraught” when they realized Nancy was missing.
“Thankfully when they phoned the pub, she was there safe and well. The prime minister went down straight away to get her,” a spokeswoman said.
Several residents ABC News spoke with in a nearby town said that parents forgot their children in pubs all the time. One couple, however, was shocked and wondered how David Cameron’s security had missed the girl as well.
In 2010, David Cameron spoke on the importance of family and children in an ABC News interview.
“You’ve got to make sure that you do find time for your family and children,” he said. “And for a good reason, which is that, you know, hopefully, one of the reasons you become a prime minister, is because you’ve got some balance and some equilibrium and some sort of reasonable judgment you bring to the problems of life. … If you get frazzled and fried and exhausted and forget who you are, then you’re going to be a rubbish dad.”
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio