British prime minister mistakenly leaves daughter, 8, in pub near home

Associated Press

LONDON

Prime Minister David Cameron and his wife got home from lunch with friends at a pub in the English countryside to discover they forgot something: 8-year-old daughter Nancy.

Nancy was fine — she was quickly reunited with her parents after they realized she was missing. But Cameron’s parenting skills took a drubbing Monday, just weeks after the government set up a program to give parents of young children classes on how to raise them.

Downing Street said the incident happened “a couple of months ago.”

Nancy was separated from her parents for only about 15 minutes until Samantha Cameron arrived to pick her up from the pub, she added.

The incident, revealed Monday by The Sun newspaper, sparked a debate in Britain about Cameron’s parenting. On the popular British parenting website Mumsnet, some people said the mistake was “easily done” while others wondered why the Camerons had not kept a closer watch on their young daughter.