to think our Prime Minister and his family are entitled to a summer holiday abroad?

[MeiMeiMeiMei]

Heaven knows I loathe the man's policies but surely he and his family are entitled to a week or two in the sun? A couple of nutters murdered an innocent man but he'd just be giving more publicity to their "cause" if he cancelled his family trip to Ibiza?

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stealth I think it's the Mirror, who've used the term 'chillax' and Dave doesn't have to care about what the Mirror says because they'd criticise him for anything.

But he does have a reputation, rightly or wrongly, for chillaxing a little too much. He also has the reputation, particularly in the Conservative Party, for being too metropolitan and surrounding himself with a pampered elite.

A holiday in Ibiza is very metropolitan. Despite what some people who've never been there have said, parts of it are like Notting-Hill-on-Sea and I'd guess that those are the parts he and Sam are chillaxing in.

The murder of Lee Rigby and its aftermath is probably well in hand but it doesn't look good for the Prime Minister to be enjoying himself. The economy is in the toilet and that looks even worse.

It's a brave and possibly reckless act but I don't care about his political fate.

People in the Conservative Party and outside adore Margaret and revere her as a strong leader in times of economic and terrorist turmoil.

She was famous for having to be dragged on holiday and sleeping for four hours a night. I'm not saying that that's a good idea, but she was viewed as a strong leader and Dave is not.

I think he deserves a holiday with his family but this isn't the time to be seen sitting sunning yourself when your country has just had a terror attack carried out and thats what it was not a couple of nutters one was previously deported back to uk for terrorism and trying to train with terrorists. There were 4 others arredted that were linked to planned murders relating to thesr 2 men they also clearly stated it was a terror attack. The vast majority of this country are calling out for something to be done now not our pm to sit by a pool. Bad timing at best he should be seen to be here and supporting the family and the forces at this time.

Sorry, Margaret Thatcher. If we'd known each other I doubt we'd have been on first name terms

lol at chillaxing a bit too much :o
I had no idea he had that reputation (not sayig I agree or disagree)

Agree with everything VerySmallSqueak has said.

I think the papers want very much to make this a big deal when it just isn't.

The PM should have holiday time. Where he chooses to take it does not interest me. There will never be a good time, but the individuals that perpetrated the Woolwich murder are incarcerated.

Not much more DC can do there, and lets face it he could be back from Ibeza in a couple of hours if necessary.

YANBU. Ibiza can keep him!

To me it seems like a non-story that he's gone away for a few days over the BH week end.

Just that papers, especially the Daily Mail, live to stoke the fire and fuel the indignation of it all, that the PM would dare to go away.

As for the rest of us, it's an opportunity for an outpouring of bitterness, that because some are unable to go on holiday themselves, this means that everyone else should refrain from holidays too.

I work hard and enjoy taking the opportunity to go on holiday- though personally, i find that holidays in the UK are expensive!
I got a few quotes for Centre Parcs as a few of us wanted to plan a getaway. Going somewhere abroad worked out massively cheaper.

Anyhow, I digress.

But what the papers say about you is a big deal if they can persuade voters that you're worthless.

I live in London and holiday in Ibiza. I broadly agree with Dave's social views. Unfortunately for him I'm not a Conservative voter.

Lots of traditional Tories within the party do not share his views and lots of MPs are scared that UKIP will take their seats at the next general election or split the vote and allow another candidate in.

Voters outside a tiny privileged bubble are concerned for their jobs, the cost of living, immigration - of which terrorism is seen as a part - and may also be persuaded that he's not one of them either.

It's interesting how many people on this thread are saying: 'I don't like him, but he's entitled to a holiday.'

Fine, but if you're not going to vote for him, your opinion is irrelevant to his fate.

And you're not a disgruntled Tory member, so can't force a leadership challenge, so don't hold the keys to Number 10 in your hands, do you?

I sometimes think that verysmallsqueak and others are trying to turn the role of Prime Minister into a Presidential one. We vote for a political party and its party that chooses who they want as their leader.

We don't all vote for a particular person to lead our country who is then required to be at our beck and call whilst performing as some sort of spiritual/emotional/moral leader to the nation. We decide if the Conservatives do a good job, they decide if their leader does a god job. We're becoming more and more like Americans in this country, obsessed with personality and turning the job of Prime Minister into something other than what it was intended to be.

Remember the Blairs Doing Their Bit to help the British tourist industry when it was badly hit by the Foot & Mouth disease crisis? Cue massive media coverage of Tone and Cherie smiling through gritted teeth whilst braving the rain and gales of a Cornish summer

So I have smoething in common with a former PM? A summer holiday in Cornwall. Where it rained. I bet they weren't in tents though, with a communal toilet block!

they decide if their leader does a god job. sic

Yes. It's a battle for the leadership of the Conservative Party and their fate at the election in 2015. Which is why the Daily Mail and the Daily Telegraph are all over the story.

I disagree that we're not concerned with personalities in this country, though obsessed is not a word I would use for most people, because I think it's insulting.

People hardly ever vote for an individual candidate. The last time I remember people doing it in a big way was when when Martin Bell won Tatton against Neil Hamilton on an anti-sleaze ticket. George Osborne is the MP for Tatton now.

Many people vote for a party, and would vote for a pig if it was wearing a blue or red rosette. That's me, actually, unless it was someone particularly egregious in which case I'd abstain.

Many others vote for a leader. During the '80s people you wouldn't have down as Conservative voters, much less fans of women, were proud to vote for 'Maggie'.

And then there are floating voters, which is what this story about Dave grooving in Ibiza is all about.

He has made holidays for us normal people impossible by making changes to the way schools work. Holidays are disallowed in term time completely=holidays too expensive for the working class. So why should he be allowed on his jollies with children that should be in school?!!!

Stealth it depends whether you called your child after the Cornish village you happened to be in when the waters broke.

Posh and Becks were pilloried for allegedly calling their eldest after the town where the sperm went in, but it doesn't seem a lot different to me.

No, and if I'd called my children after the situation I was in when my waters broke, my eldest would be Being-Sick-In-The-Sink and my youngest would be Advanced-Labour.

I don't agree with his policies but I do feel that he and his family should have whatever holiday they want and can afford.
In order to do his job well he needs time to recuperate - just like anyone else.

pumpkin that's the most ill informed post I have ever seen. His children aren't missing school - haven't you noticed its a bank holiday weekend?
Also fines and unauthorised absence for holiday has happened for years- they are not of Cameron's making.

pumpkin get a grip.

Holidays in term time were sanctioned under Labour.

We are off to Ibiza this year, same part as the Camerons and I can't wait.
There are few things more tasteless and vulgar than teh politics of envy.

Nothing would make me holiday in a shitty tent in rainy Britain when I can afford not to, thanks all the same.

I'm not entirely sure what you are getting at tbh Bluegrass.

I know how the process works.

Pertinent point that the commons are in recess till the 11th June for Whitsun, then they have to sit a really looong time till they break up in July for a couple of months Poor bloke must be dead on his feet.

It's all about PR isn't it and this is fucking terrible even to a complete amateur, you only have to look through the general comments in pretty much every newspaper, on every radio and tv phone in and humming through hundreds of forums to know that the mood of the country is dark and has the potential to be volatile. Why would you inflame that by taking a photo op in a nice sunny cafe while you sup on your espresso?

Even though it was a DM comment, someone pointed out the crassness of taking a break between the murder of Lee Rigby and his funeral. It wouldn't have been hard to get the timing right and put off his 'much needed break' till after the funeral would it.

Why leave yourself open to such criticism unless you truly believe your own hype. Imho it reflects firstly his own self absorbed character to make that decision and justify it to himself, and secondly on his performance as a PM, which I have to admit personally I'm not impressed with anyway and have never been moved to forget that he's there by pure fluke rather than any inherent trust from the population.

Advanced Labour sounds like something those people who befuddle me by insisting on talking about New Labour would say stealth.

If you called your child that you'd deserve a medal as a mother of the eternal republic and a sack of potatoes .

When people talk about the Evils Of Socialism I think 'Aren't you being a bit hysterical? It just means the NHS and the BBC licence fee, doesn't it?'

Maybe I'm wrong and need rehabilitation, which isn't a purely Communist idea.

What struck me about the photo in today's Guardian was that Dave and Sam were shown eating and relaxing in the sun - but their children were nowhere to be seen.

Now I know we all need time off from the god-forbids, but everyone's saying its only for three days, so wouldn't you expect them to be the kids for all of that time?

And I'm glad he's gone. Less chance of him appearing on the TV while I'm eating.

They, very sensibly, don't want their dc in the newspapers Suburban.

That photo would have been set up via an agreement, so the press take a few photos of them in a cafe, then leave them alone for the rest of the holiday.

I feel for Samantha Cameron, her husband has a very high profile job. They both have children and also has lost a child. They deserve time together as a family, perhaps his wife and children need him for a few days just to be a normal family. They can't have that in the uk
Much as I am sorry for the loss of his son, he's a major world leader. He isn't your average accountant or plumber or shopworker and he can't swan off oh his holidays when he feels like it.