Selective-Memory-Loss @ No 10

"It's a horse's life and no mistake!" Arturo said, shaking his head.

"You've got it wrong, Arturo, you mean - it's a dog's life!"

"If I'd meant to say a 'dog's life' I'd have said a 'dog's life'. I said just what I meant: 'It's a horse's life'! Don't you know nothin'?"

After hearing all the horsey jokes on the radio and seeing all the tweets about Cameron and horses, I knew something was up. I'm not as daft as you might think!

Here I am sitting in 10 Downing Street, innocently looking out for any rats that might appear on the doorstep - when blow me down there's a story, on everyone's lips, about 'Boy David' Cameron and some old horse!

However, this is not just a story about any horse, you understand. It's about a horse named Raisa. Raisa was not just a run of the mill old horse. Oh No! She was a retired Metropolitan police horse. So far, so good, you might say. What has retired Metropolitan police horse, Raisa, to do with 'Boy David' Cameron?

It seems that Rebekah Brooks, the Red Headed Darling of the Murdoch Empire, was presented with Raisa when the horse retired in 2008. It was not a gift exactly or to put it another way - not a gift-horse!! The claim is that the horse was 'lent' to Rebekah Brooks.

It does seem strange that the Brooks' household, awash with racehorses, had to resort to being 'lent' a horse by the Metropolitan police! Surely, the ex-Etonian racehorse trainer could dish out a few quid to buy his wife a gentle hacking nag of her own! Maybe, it's through getting such 'loans' that you can afford to send other family members to Eton!

But let's get back to the other ex-Etonian, our 'Boy David' Cameron. What's the link with Raisa? Surely, his family has enough dosh to buy him a horse of his very own! Well, it seems not!

In the year or so before Cameron became Prime Minister, he actually rode Raisa! Whether he rode her or not seemed to have slipped his memory. When he was asked had he ridden the retired Metropolitan police horse, he said he couldn't remember.

Of course with the Leveson affair afoot, that would be enough to drive all such memories from anyone's mind, wouldn't it? But truth will out, as they say, and eventually 'Boy David' 'fessed up.

In the Telegraph, under the headline:

Horsegate: David Cameron 'not straight' over links with News International

Christopher Hope wrote:

Despite sustained questioning from The Daily Telegraph since Tuesday, Downing Street had refused to say whether Mr Cameron had ridden the horse.
At a press conference in Brussels, Mr Cameron finally made clear that he had ridden the horse with Charlie Brooks, Mrs Brooks’s race horse trainer husband, before the 2010 election.

The article quoted Cameron as saying:

“Let me shed some light on it. I have known Charlie Brooks, the husband of Rebekah Brooks for over 30 years, and he is a good friend.
“He is a neighbour in the constituency, we live a few miles apart. I have not been riding with him since the election.
“Before the election I did go riding with him. He has a number of different horses and yes one of them was this former police horse Raisa, which I did ride.”

Christopher Hope continued:

After three days of refusing to say whether Mr Cameron had ridden the horse, aides disclosed on Thursday night that in all probability he did, although he could not be sure as he rode several of Mr Brooks' horses.
One of the Prime Minister’s aides said: “It is highly possible that he was on that horse. It is likely that he rode that horse. He used a number of Charlie’s horses.”
She also confirmed that it was possible Mr Cameron had also gone riding with Mrs Brooks, because he could not be “100 per cent sure” that he had not. The aide said: “He has no recollection of ever going riding with Rebekah Brooks.”

Now that is weird! 'He has no recollection' of having ever been out riding with Rebekah Brooks! Her with hair like that, red enough to frighten the horses! Surely, he'd remember! Very bizarre. In fact, he was having a moment of memory blur. Very useful thing - memory blur!

Of course it could also be part of the 'selective-memory-loss' syndrome so prevalent amongst politicians. "I said that!, I'm sure you are mistaken. I have no recollection of saying any such thing."

It's a dangerous syndrome for anyone. In a Prime Minister - it can be catastrophic!

Christopher Hope finished his piece:

Labour MP Tom Watson said Raisa threatened to symbolise the cosy friendship between the key players embroiled in the phone hacking scandal.
He told The Daily Telegraph: “This horse is becoming the symbol of this scandal. It shows how powerful media players and politicians got too close.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/phone-hacking/9118889/Horsegate-David-Cameron-not-straight-over-links-with-News-International.html

It's poor old Raisa I feel sorry for! As Arturo said, 'It's a horse's life!' Here's a horse whose done her duty going up and down the hard streets of London: calming rioters; herding football supporters; rounding up students. She deserved a well earned rest by being put out to pasture; to roll in the mud; to rollick in the fields. Instead, she had to carry the ungainly weight of 'Boy David' Cameron around the Cotswold countryside. And it took him ages to even remember her! What else has 'Boy David' Cameron forgotten, I wonder?

I've just remembered - I'm hungry!

'Bye'