Last night David Cameron became the first British Prime Minister to appear on the David Letterman chat show whilst in office. Unfortunately for the PM, the most noteworthy thing to come out of the interview was Cameron’s inability to answer two questions on basic British history. You can listen to the interview below:
And for the benefit of those who suspect that they’d find themselves floundering in response to those questions, here are the answers:
Question: What does Magna Carta mean?
Answer: Great Charter
The Magna Carta was drafted by Archbishop Stephen Langton and other senior Bishops in 1215, and signed by King John of England later that year. It would serve as a document to establish the rights of English citizens and to limit the power of the monarch, paving the way for Parliament to be set up.
The next time someone fails a citizenship test for not knowing the number of members who sit in the Northern Ireland Assembly, they can use the excuse ‘but the Prime Minister of this country doesn’t know the meaning of Magna Carta!’ Of all the subjects we expected David Cameron to stumble on in his appearance on Letterman, British history (which he claims to be obsessed with and studied until he was 18) was the last.
Question: Who wrote the words and music to Rule Britannia?
Answer: James Thomson and Thomas Arne respectively.
‘Rule, Britannia!’ is a poem written by James Thomson. The poem was set to music by Thomas Arne in 1740, creating one of the most recognisable British songs in history.
It has been played at numerous royal events, and is now closely associated with the British armed forces.
Slightly more specialist knowledge this one, but still shouldn’t be much trouble for a PM who studied History and History of Art to A-level at Eton. At least the Prime Minister’s team now knows that briefing him before an interview like this one should include Key Stage 3 history textbooks as well as graphs and charts on the state of the economy.Tags: David Cameron