By Joe Mellor Deputy Editor
David Laws ex-Lib Dem minister has claimed that David Cameron was given a list with the cost of common items of food and the names of hit pop songs; in the event he was asked any normal questions everyone else knows the answer to.
The PM was forced to rely on a “crib sheet” to let him know the price of milk and other daily goods, to ensure he didn’t look out of touch with the rest of the electorate, Laws claims.
The sheet included the prices of food items, including loaves of bread and mars bars, as well as the average price of a pint in London and Sheffield, according to a new book by David Laws.
Mr Laws claims to have seen the notes in a confidential economics briefing prepared for the PM.
Fans of The Thick Of It will see similarities with the “zeitgeist tape” which helped the minister to follow events, such as the Eastenders story line.
Cameron’s sheet listed current hit pop songs and movies that had just been released. The sheet listed Rita Ora’s I Will Never Let You Down, and movies Bad Neighbours and The Amazing Spiderman 2 among the popular movies.
In Mr Law’s book he wrote: “Politicians may not always know the top rate of capital gains tax but they don’t want to be accused of being ‘posh boys who don’t know the price of milk.”
Mr Cameron has often been accused of falsifying his everyman image. One example was when he said: “Of course I’d rather you supported West Ham,” when he had always maintained he was an Aston Villa supporter like Prince William.