David Cameron has blamed journalists for confusion over whether ministers would have to resign from the government to campaign for an exit from the EU in the upcoming referendum.
The Prime Minister claimed reporters had "misinterpreted" him in a press conference held at the G7 Summit in Switzerland on Sunday.
Keen to clarify whether 'collective responsibility' would apply to those on the government's payoll, amid publicly-aired grievances by angry Eurosceptic MPs early on Monday, David Cameron organised another briefing for reporters on Monday, attempting to undermine their previous day's stories by saying that if they wanted further clarification on the matter they should "just ask".
Queue widespread outrage by those in attendance.
Cameron's retort fist prompted this reaction from the Daily Mail's deputy political editor, Jason Groves:
Top colleague @jasongroves1 raises an eyebrow at Cameron's shifting position https://t.co/ybCs7v1pSw
— Matt Chorley (@MattChorley) June 8, 2015Groves retorted playfully on Twitter, saying it was a "typical over-interpretation of an entirely neutral position".
@MattChorley typical over-interpretation of an entirely neutral position
— Jason Groves (@JasonGroves1) June 8, 2015But there was speculation too that he was not the only political pundit unimpressed with the Prime Minister's defence.
Judging by facial expressions of @chrisshipitv, @tnewtondunn & others on 10 o'clock news, the PM's 'misinterpretation' is quite a stretch.
— Christian Guy (@ChristianGuy_) June 8, 2015The two senior editors certainly didn't hold back...
Cameron: I definitely did not say what you all heard me say and I'll continue to quote back selective bits of my transcript to prove it
— Chris Ship (@chrisshipitv) June 8, 2015New definition for 'misinterpreted': I screwed up, but it's your fault #G7 #journalese
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) June 8, 2015After PM's #G7 press conference, an angry German TV reporter: "These British journalists, they've just asked the same question 7 times".
— Tom Newton Dunn (@tnewtondunn) June 8, 2015In fact, colleagues from across many different news titles were defiant in the face of the Prime Minister's criticism of their trade.
Many of the Cameron governments problems occur when journalists write down what he says and put it in their newspapers... @jameskirkup
— Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) June 8, 20157) Blaming the press for your own mistakes is never a smart move
— Tim Shipman (@ShippersUnbound) June 8, 2015@ShippersUnbound IIRC
1 What have you bastards made up now?
2 Worse than that. We wrote down what you said + put it in paper.
1 You fucker.
— James Kirkup (@jameskirkup) June 8, 2015Cameron claims journalists misinterpreted his comments about sacking ministers. In actual fact he supports Aston Villa.
— David Schneider (@davidschneider) June 8, 2015So it's hardly surprising then, that after blaming journalists for what has now become known as Cameron's 'EU-turn', that the Prime Minister should wake up to some of these front pages, collated courtesy of the i paper's editor, Olly Duff.
Blaming the media for your own cock-up isn't the smartest move..! pic.twitter.com/45SZJiuZXn
— Oly Duff (@olyduff) June 9, 2015David Cameron not only has to win back the large number of dissenting MPs in his party, it seems he may well need to heal some wounds with those in the media too.
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