The prime minister appeared to switch football loyalty from Aston Villa to West Ham during a speech on “multiple identities” in Croydon this morning.
David Cameron soon admitted his mistake in a moment of “brain fade” – echoing the phrase used by Green party leader Natalie Bennett after she had an “excruciating” interview on LBC radio in February.
Scots have been gathering in Glasgow’s George Square for a rally in support of the Scottish National Party – including plenty of pro-independence campaigners.
A crowd of SNP supporters gathered this morning to jostle for position before party leader Nicola Sturgeon launched her proposals for gender equality.
Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls was among the Twitterers to respond to David Cameron’s gaffe this morning, when he forgot which football team he supported.
David Cameron has taken some online stick today after forgetting which team he supported while talking about Britain’s “multiple identities”.
The prime minister seemed to switch loyalties from Aston Villa to West Ham, later admitting to “brain fade” – but how dedicated a footie fan has Mr Cameron really been?
When he was first elected to the House of Commons in 2001, Mr Cameron said he did not follow football.
He told the House in a debate on hooliganism that year: “Many of those who have spoken in the debate or have written about the subject are either lawyers or football fans, but I have to confess that I am neither.”
Mr Cameron’s preference for Aston Villa first emerged in the national press in 2005, after he was elected Conservative leader.
And he was reported in 2006 to have written on his blog that he “half-heartedly” supported Aston Villa and could name only three of their players.
Mr Cameron’s uncle Sir William Dugdale, who died last year, was the club’s chairman from 1975 to 1982.
It took Ms Sturgeon more than 45 minutes to walk the 80 metres from Buchanan Steps to the interview position, amid the hundreds of people who had gathered to see her.
The selfie-surge engulfed her as it might a film-star. It is something close to adoration, and this cannot be faked – that is the point, and as a seasoned correspondent you report what you see and I have never seen this in a UK election.
Never.
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has been talking up his party’s role if the 7 May election results in a hung parliament.
He said the Lib Dems should be the coalition partner of choice for both the Labour and Conservative parties.
“If no-one wins a majority – and they are not going to – on May 7, for me I think it is very important that people understand that Liberal Democrats will ensure that any government is legitimate and stable,” he told the BBC.
“That means that, in a democracy, the party with the greatest mandate from the British people – even though they haven’t got a majority – seems to me, to us, to be the party that has the right to try to assemble a government first.
“They may not succeed, but they should surely be given a chance to succeed.”
Mr Clegg said that either David Cameron or Ed Miliband would be Prime Minister after the election, but that any coalition should include the Lib Dems rather than Ukip or the SNP.
SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon drew huge crowds to Glasgow for the launch of her policy on gender equality, as Alex Thomson reports.
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