- Thousands of Twitter users leave messages for David Cameron on social networking site
- Tory MP Nadine Dorries brands Cameron and Osborne as 'arrogant and posh'
- New poll puts Labour on 41%; Tories on 33%
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Out of touch? Prime Minister David Cameron has been given advice by Twitter users about how to 'keep it real'
David Cameron has tried to show he is a man of the people but 'call me Dave' was today told to 'keep it real Dave' by thousands of disgruntled Twitter users.
A stream of messages have been posted on the social networking site offering humorous suggestions to the Prime Minister about how he should get back in touch with the general public.
The Prime Minster has often said that he and the Government is battling alongside the rest of the country in its efforts to ride out the current economic crisis, but austerity measures have proved unpopular and embarrassing gaffs such as 'pastygate' have left voters questioning his integrity.
Writing under the hashtag '#davekeepsitreal', users poked fun at Mr Cameron's wealth and 'toff' background.
'Margo' wrote that Dave should 'keep it real' by 'sending a 'friend' request to John Prescott on Facebook!'
Mr Prescott himself couldn't resist getting in on the act, posting that the Prime Minister should 'eat caviar straight out of the tin' and start 'hanging out with northern MPs…like Nick Clegg.'
User David Townsend teased Mr Cameron for his recent claim that he shopped in Sainsbury's. Mocking the Witney MP he wrote: 'I'm not a snob. My butler has shopped at Tesco.'
Crumbling: David Cameron has come under fire for 'pastygate' when he claimed to have eaten a pasty from a branch in Leeds that doesn't exist
On the same theme Teacherdude commented: 'His favourite song is the Hollies. 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Butler.'
'The Hughes' said the Prime Minister could regain public confidence by 'paying for Special Brew on his platinum card.'
Mr Cameron has refuted suggestions that he is not in touch with the public and sticks by his famous 'we're all in this together' slogan.
However, ministers have recently been criticised over the way they dealt with the fuel strike threat and the handling of Abu Qatada's attempted deportation.
Satirical comments about Mr Cameron from Twitter users continued to flood into the site throughout the day.
Crumbling: David Cameron has come under fire for 'pastygate' when he claimed to have eaten a pasty from a branch in Leeds that doesn't exist
Chris Orton said the leader should keep it real by 'visiting the city of Cambridge to see how the other half live in the north.'
Cameron Addicott said that DC could be 'down with the kids' by announcing that his favourite rappers are NWA – 'Nannies With Attitude.'
Duncan Jefferies said the Prime Minister should refer to 'guns as shooters' when flogging arms to dodgy regimes.'
The comments comes in the wake of David Cameron's announcement yesterday that he wanted to 'stay in touch' with voters as he brushed aside claims that he was an 'arrogant posh boy'.
After a turbulent month he vowed to 'learn some important lessons' but his fightback was marred by an extraordinary attack on him and George Osborne by Tory MP Nadine Dorries who branded them 'arrogant posh boys' who 'don't know the price of milk'.
Out of touch? Ms Dorries claimed a clique at the top of Government prevents the likes of Mr Cameron and Mr Osborne from relating to the rest of the countryIn a separate blow to the Tories, a poll showed Mr Cameron's three-point lead a month ago has been replaced by an eight-point lead for Labour.
Mrs Dorries told the BBC's Daily Politics show: 'There is a very tight narrow clique of a certain group of people and what they do is act as a barrier and prevent Cameron and Osborne and others from actually really understanding or knowing what is happening in the rest of the country.
'I think that not only are Cameron and Osborne two posh boys who don't know the price of milk, but they are two arrogant posh boys who show no remorse, no contrition, and no passion to want to understand the lives of others – and that is their real crime.'
Mr Cameron sighed when Mrs Dorries' remarks were read to him later. 'Look, I don't agree with Nadine. She's got a very strong view about a number of things, he said. 'I go to Sainsbury's in Chipping Norton on a Friday or a Saturday. I do a lot of the family shopping. Sam does a lot of it on the internet.'
Asked about the price of a pint of milk, he said: 'I pay just under 50p.'
But in his most frank assessment of the Government's recent performance, the Prime Minister admitted: 'There isn't a day in this job that I don't learn some important lessons and you've got to make sure you stay in touch and realise that as you get on with it.'
'I'LL STEER CLEAR OF TAX DODGERS'
David Cameron will try to avoid close dealings with tax-dodging businessmen in future, he pledged yesterday.
The Prime Minister, whose party has been accused of being too close to the rich, said the Government was cracking down on individuals and businesses carrying out 'aggressive tax avoidance'.
When asked if he would try to avoid dealing with tax dodgers, he told the BBC: 'Generally speaking, yes, I think that's sensible.'
But he refused to comment on Sir Philip Green's tax affairs – the billionaire retailer who was a Government efficiency adviser.
Critics accuse Sir Philip of avoiding millions of pounds of tax by registering most of his business in the name of his wife Tina, who lives in Monaco.
Mr Cameron said: 'He came up with very sensible suggestions for how you could reduce costs in government and therefore reduce people's tax liabilities.'
He suggested poor communication was to blame for many of the Coalition's recent difficulties – citing the fuel strike, when ministers were accused of helping to trigger panic buying.
Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude called for voters to fill jerry cans with petrol and keep them in their garages.
'Sometimes a presentational mistake can be an important mistake,' said Mr Cameron. 'On the fuel strike issue ...we have taken very effective action ... but did we communicate perfectly at every stage? I think most people would say, "No you didn't".'
Asked if he would apologise for the Government's role in causing chaos at the pumps, the Prime Minister said: 'The Government took the right action in terms of the resilience of the country but we need to do better in terms of communication.' Pressed again on whether he was sorry, he added: 'Of course. Look, I'm responsible in the end for everything the Government does, and if we don't get it right I'm very clear about that.'
In a separate interview, part of a round attempting to draw a line under recent difficulties before local elections next month, Mr Cameron conceded his Government must 'raise our game'.
'Raise the game': Mr Cameron conceded yesterday that the Government must do better as a poll put Labour support at a nine-year high of 41 per cent
'Everything we are doing is about helping people who work hard and do the right thing and making this country more pro-enterprise, more pro-get-up-and-go, more pro-work, more pro-effort.
MY DATE NIGHTS ARE IMPORTANT
The Prime Minister yesterday defended finding the time to have 'date nights' with wife Samantha and watch DVD box sets.
Mr Cameron said he was 'absolutely driven' in his job, but insisted it was right to find time for his family.
As polls show that support for the Conservatives is plummeting, some backbench Tory MPs have said Mr Cameron is too relaxed for his role.
One Tory backbencher told the Financial Times that Mr Cameron was 'putting the school run ahead of the national interest'.
But Mr Cameron said that Prime Ministers who do not take time out from their jobs end up 'completely fried and exhausted' and make 'bad judgements'.
'That is the mission. You have difficult weeks or difficult months. I want us to raise our game and do better,' he said.
The Prime Minister dismissed claims that he is too relaxed. 'I may look relaxed but I don't ever feel particularly relaxed in this job,' he said. However, a committee of MPs will today give voice to criticism of Mr Cameron's leadership style in a report blaming a lack of strategic thinking for a series of policy mistakes.
'Policy decisions are made for short-term reasons, little reflecting the longer-term interests of the nation,' MPs on the commons public administration select committee will say.
Former Cabinet Secretary Lord O'Donnell, meanwhile, launched an extraordinary attack on ministers' attempts to blame civil servants for some of their woes.
'It doesn't usually work, and I don't think it will work this time either,' he said.
He also defended the right of Treasury officials to offer potential tax changes to an number of different administrations, following claims the 'pasty tax' and 'granny tax' – had been rejected by previous Chancellors and 'taken off a shelf'.
'Just because one political party doesn't think something is a good idea doesn't mean that a different form of government might decide that they've got different political priorities and might want to go with it,' he said.Last night's ICM survey for the Guardian revealed support for Labour has reached its highest level for nine years.
Ed Miliband's party has seen its poll rating rise by four points in the past month to 41 per cent, a figure last enjoyed by Labour during Iain Duncan Smith's ill-fated leadership of the Tories.
Labour's fortunes have risen as support for the Tories has fallen by six points to 33 per cent.
Mr Cameron's three-point lead a month ago has been replaced by an eight-point lead for Mr Miliband.
Liberal Democrat support is unchanged on 15 per cent.
Try telling the truth for a change and stop U-turning would be refreshing!
- Flippity Gibbit, Northampton, England, 24/4/2012 19:13
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