When the Prime Minister of Britain forgets his daughter in a "beer parlour" (pub) then we need to examine the parenting capabilities of this top politician.
British Prime Minister David Cameron's office has confirmed that he accidentally left his 8-year-old daughter Nancy in a country pub after a Sunday afternoon visit.
The incident sparked a debate in Britain about Cameron's parenting and comes only a few weeks after the government set up a program to give parents of young children classes in how to raise them.
It also highlighted a sharp contrast with security procedures in the United States, where it is nearly inconceivable that a similar mistake would have been made with one of President Barack Obama's daughters. US Secret Service agents routinely guard and monitor the president's immediate family when they are out in public.
In Britain, it is common for people to see the prime minister shopping for groceries and other items on weekends, although it is difficult to tell if in fact he is being carefully watched by plainclothes agents. Cameron's office confirmed that there "are security arrangements in place for the prime minister's family," but declined to provide any details on the type of protection provided, or the numbers of detectives assigned to the leader's wife and children.
A spokeswoman for Cameron under anonymity said:
"We do not comment on the prime minister's security arrangements,"
She confirmed that no member of Cameron's security detail had been judged to have made any mistakes in allowing Nancy to be left at the pub.
Downing Street said the incident happened "a couple of months ago" as the family was leaving the pub near Chequers, the official country house prime ministers use while in office.
Nancy had gone to the bathroom while Cameron and the rest of the family piled into two cars to drive back to the house west of London.
Cameron was traveling in one car with his bodyguards and assumed that Nancy was in the other car with his wife Samantha and their two other children. Samantha assumed Nancy was with her father, and they only realised she was missing when they got home.
The Cameron spokeswoman said "the prime minister and Samantha were distraught when they realised Nancy wasn't with them. Thankfully when they phoned the pub she was there safe and well."
Nancy was separated from her parents for around 15 minutes until Cameron arrived to collect her from The Plough in the village of Cadsden, she added.
The spokeswoman said Cameron and his wife took responsibility for the incident. "They are their children and they take responsibility for them," she said. "No one is going to face disciplinary action. This was an error."
She explained that Cameron and his wife had visited the pub with a group of friends and their children for drinks.
"He had gone with friends at lunchtime, with a number of families with children, and they left in various different vehicles," she said. "The prime minister is a very busy man, but he always tries to live as normal a life as possible with his family."
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