David Cameron pig claims: How Twitter reacted to allegations about PM's time at university
The allegations came from an unnamed source who was not present at the time of the alleged act
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Your support makes all the difference.Downing Street has said that David Cameron will not “dignify” allegations that he performed an obscene act with a dead pig during his time at university with a response – but that has not stopped Twitter having hours of fun.
The claims, made in a new unauthorised autobiography of the Prime Minister by Lord Ashcroft, spawned the hashtag #piggate, which has seen more than 160,000 tweets since the story broke on Monday night.
Many people were recalling a 2011 episode of Channel 4’s satirical drama series Black Mirror, where the fictional Prime Minister was forced to have sex with a pig on national television to save a member of the royal family’s life.
Writer Charlie Brooker said his story was purely fictional and had nothing to do with the allegations levelled against the Prime Minister.
“Just to clear it up: nope, I’d never heard anything about Cameron and a pig when coming up with that story. So this weirds me out,” he wrote on Twitter.
Inevitably, several spoof accounts started claiming to represent the alleged pig…
A lot of people called for Mr Cameron’s resignation…
Some people jumped to the Prime Minister’s defence…
But it was universally agreed that Monday was one of the best Twitter days ever…
Lord Ashcroft, the former deputy chairman of the Conservative Party and a prolific donor, reported the claims in his new book Call Me Dave: The Unauthorised Biography.
He and the co-author Isabel Oakeshott wrote that an unnamed “distinguished Oxford contemporary”, who is now an MP, recalled how Mr Cameron took part in an “outrageous” initiation ceremony at a Piers Gaveston Society event.
“His extraordinary suggestion is that the future PM inserted a private part of his anatomy into the animal’s mouth,” an excerpt published by the Daily Mail claimed.
Lord Ashcroft wrote that the man made the same allegation three times, with increasing detail, and claimed a photograph existed of the act.
Its alleged owner has not responded to Lord Ashcroft’s request to view the photo, and the peer wrote that it may be a “case of mistaken identity”.
The book comes during a continuing feud between the pair, who are said to have fallen out after Lord Ashcroft was passed over for a leading role in the Coalition.
The book also contains allegations that Mr Cameron smoked cannabis with university friends who nicknamed themselves the “Flam Club”, and later allowed cocaine at his home in London.
A spokesperson for Downing Street told The Independent: “It’s a no comment from us. On any of it.”
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson later told a press briefing that Mr Cameron would not “dignify” the allegations with a response.