Cameron, Channel4 and the Cocaine Interview

According to the Press Gazette, David Cameron has been boycotting Channel 4 over the "cocaine interview" he did during the contest for leadership of the Tory party.


A spokeswoman for Cameron told Press Gazette: "During the leadership election there was a live interview during Channel 4 News which overstepped the mark completely. David felt that the line of questioning went completely over the top.

"Fair enough, ask the question, but after the way in which they went about it we took the decision that they are not going to have a live interview again for some time."

According to a Channel 4 source, following the interview, which was pre-recorded and not live, Cameron's press officers contacted the programme and demanded sections of the interview be pulled.

During the interview, which took place in October last year, following the election of the Conservative party leader, interviewer Alex Thomson said to Cameron: "You say you want to listen.

So if or when a constituency says to you ‘David Cameron, have you ever taken class A drugs as an MP?' would you answer that question?"

Cameron responded: "I've always said law makers can't be law breakers. All I've said about my past though is what's private in the past should remain private."

Thomson went on: "Well, if I asked you if you snorted cocaine as an MP you'd therefore say no, wouldn't you?"

Cameron said: "That's right, but please, I think we've dealt with this."

He continued: "I've absolutely answered your question." Thomson said: "So, say ‘No'."

Cameron answered: "I've just said ‘No'."

Up until this interview, Cameron, whose camp described Thomson's tactics as "obnoxious and cheap", had never answered questions over whether or not he had used cocaine while an MP.

According to a Channel 4 source: "Cameron's machine then got on to Channel 4 News and said pull the interview, it's outrageous. We don't mind you running the second half of the interview, where he went on to talk about policies, but pull that interview, we don't want that on television."


But why would he want the interview pulled? Was he worried that by going on the record and saying, No he'd not done cocaine whist he was an MP, he was giving hostage to fortune? It's a hostage to fortune only if what he said in the interview was false.....