David Cameron: saying Queen 'purred down line' was terrible mistake

David Cameron has admitted it was “a terrible mistake” to announce the Queen had “purred down the line” after he phoned to tell her Scotland had voted no to independence.

In a wide-ranging interview on the Today programme as part of the veteran presenter John Humphrys’ final show, the former prime minister also accepted “a big share of responsibility” for the situation the UK faces, but said there had been growing pressure throughout Westminster for a referendum on EU membership.

On the day his memoirs were published, Cameron defended his time in Downing Street and listed a number of achievements, including Michael Gove’s education changes and Iain Duncan Smith’s welfare overhaul, but he conceded he should not have made the remarks regarding the Queen.

“I don’t want to say anything more about this, I’m sure some people would think it may possibly even be that I have already said perhaps a little bit too much,” he said.

The former Tory party leader added that his comments at the time – declaring the monarch had “purred down the line” to him following the no result – were a “terrible mistake” for which he apologised immediately.

However, he said he did not ask the Queen for “anything improper” during the referendum on Scottish independence.

Challenged over his stepping down following the UK’s decision to leave the EU, Cameron said he would not have been the person to deliver Brexit after campaigning for remain despite claiming he would have delivered the result of the 2016 referendum.

He said he had not wanted to resign so quickly after the vote and hated giving the impression he was running away. However, he said he would have lacked the credibility a prime minister needs.

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Discussing the decision to hold a referendum, believed by many to have been an attempt to remedy divisions within the Conservative party, Cameron said it had come from “honest” motives, referenced “growing problems” with the EU and said there was an increasing appetite for a referendum in the UK.

However, he noted: “Do I accept a big share of the blame for the difficulties that we face in our country, do I think about it every day, does it pain me to see our politics frozen and our society divided? Yes it does, and I do take my share of responsibility for that, of course.”

He was then questioned further over accusations that the country had been left unprepared for a vote to leave the EU.

“I don’t think there was a huge amount more that could have been done than setting out the alternatives, recognising then that I wasn’t the right person to take this country forward, and giving the next prime minister the chance to choose between those alternatives,” he said.

Nevertheless, Cameron said he had fought hard during the referendum campaign and claimed the Labour leadership had not been committed. “I wasn’t the slightest bit complacent, I worked incredibly hard,” he said.

He also expressed his sadness that prominent former Tories including Ken Clarke and Sir Nicholas Soames had been ejected from the party, but expressed his support for the current prime minister and said Boris Johnson’s focus must now be “100%” on getting a deal from Brussels.

“There is still time for him to take the best path, which is get the deal, take it to parliament and try and win over people.”