David Cameron 'lied' over Abu Qatada - Telegraph.co.uk

"They were told throughout that the deadline expired on the Monday night," he said.

The court has agreed to consider the Qatada appeal, even though it was filed after midnight on the Monday, clearly indicating that the court did not believe that the deadline had passed.

Mr Cameron's words, therefore, amount to an allegation that the court told the Home Office the deadline was Monday, then changed its position to Tuesday.

However, neither Downing Street nor the Home Office would later repeat Mr Cameron's assertion.

The Prime Minister's Official spokesman repeatedly said only that the Home Office had spoken to the court to "check" the British view of the deadline as Monday.

Chris Bryant, the Labour shadow home affairs spokesman, suggested that Mr Cameron had appeared to "go further than he knows to be the truth -- it may be that he's gone beyond the bounds of the truth."

No 10 rejected the Labour charge. A spokesman said: "The Prime Minister said what he said. That was correct."

In his interview, Mr Cameron also said he will not have "dealings" with people who are engaged in "aggressive" tax avoidance.

He has recently faced criticism for his close contacts with wealthy donors to the Conservative Party, and his decision to appoint several leading businessmen as informal government advisers.

The Prime Minister also defended his approach to his job, insisting that regular games of tennis and "date nights" with his wife make him a better leader.

Mr Cameron rejected claims that he is too relaxed in his working habits, saying his normal working day starts at 5.45am and that he works "very, very hard."

However, he insisted that his performance in the job was improved by making sure he has time to spend with his wife and children, or to take part in sporting activities.

"If you are completely fried and exhausted and have no time for your family and never go for a jog or play a game of tennis whatever; you will get into a situation where you make very bad judgements because you are exhausted and stressed and all the rest of it," he said.