Sept. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron was caught on microphone talking about informing Queen Elizabeth II about the result of last week's Scottish referendum. 'She purred down the line,' Cameron was shown on camera telling Mike Bloomberg at Bloomberg LP's headquarters in New York. (Source: Bloomberg)
U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron was caught on microphone talking about the reaction of Queen Elizabeth II when he spoke to her about the result of last week's Scottish referendum.
The lapse, caught on a pooled television camera recording a visit to Bloomberg LP's headquarters in New York today, is a breach of protocol by Cameron because communications between the prime minister and the queen, who is the head of state, are traditionally kept private.
'The definition of relief is being the prime minister of the United Kingdom and ringing the queen and saying 'It's alright, it's OK.' That was something,' Cameron told Michael Bloomberg, the former mayor of New York who is the majority owner of Bloomberg. 'She purred down the line.'
The prime minister went on to joke that he was planning to sue the polling companies that said the vote might be won by the campaign for Scottish independence. The 'no' campaign won the Sept. 18 referendum by 55 percent to 45 percent.
'It should never have been that close,' Cameron said. 'I want to find these polling companies and I want to sue them for my stomach ulcers because of what they put me through.'
A spokesman for Cameron's office, asked about the exchange, said that he wouldn't comment on a private conversation.
To contact the reporter on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Alan Crawford at acrawford6@bloomberg.net John Fraher
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Posted by Unknown on Tuesday, September 23, 2014 - Rating: 4.5
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