Prime Minister David Cameron has denied claims that he engaged in acts of bestiality while at university. The claims, raised in a book co-written by former Conservative Party Deputy Chairman Lord Ashcroft and journalist Isabel Oakeshott, also included suggestions that Cameron smoked marijuana and cocaine.
Speaking at a press conference heading to New York, Cameron said the intentions of that book were perfectly clear.
“I think everybody, everyone can see why the book was written and I think everyone can see straight through it,” Cameron said according to published media reports. “As for the specific issue raised, you know a very specific denial was made a week ago, and I’ve nothing to add to that.”
David Cameron publicly denies Lord Ashcroft allegation for first time http://t.co/5T03qgy10c
— The Guardian (@guardian) September 27, 2015
Ashcroft had suggested Cameron engaged in acts of bestiality during an initiation into the Piers Gaveston Society, a dining club based at the University of Oxford. Conservative Party sources previously said the claims were untrue, though Downing Street officials did not publicly comment on the matter until Cameron’s remarks to journalists.
Cameron added, according to a report from The Daily Telegraph, that Ashcroft had been looking for revenge. Ashcroft had been in a feud with Cameron after not being given a cabinet post after the 2010 general election.
Media reports say investigations are underway to find the MP who had claimed he had witnessed evidence in photographs of the event taking place. Mark Field, the MP for the Cities of London and Westminster, denied he was the source, after it was suggested in newspaper reports published Sunday that he was the MP in question.
Cameron is in New York to meet with world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, where subjects are to include the conflict in Syria. Meetings are to begin later Monday.
