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Line 1: {{For\|the David Cameron epithet\|Greased piglet}}{{short description\|British political scandal}} {{David Cameron sidebar}} {{Use British English\|date=December 2017}} {{Use dmy dates\|date=October 2015}} {{Multiple image [[File:David cameron announces resignation (cropped).jpg\|thumb\|upright\|David Cameron]]▼ \| align = right "'''Piggate'''" refers to a claim that, during his university years, the former [[British Prime Minister\|British prime minister]] [[David Cameron]] inserted his penis and/or scrotum into a dead pig's mouth as part of an [[hazing\|initiation ceremony]] for the [[Piers Gaveston Society]] at [[Oxford University]].▼ \| direction = horizontal ▲~~[[File:~~\| image1 = David cameron announces resignation (cropped).jpg~~\|thumb\|upright\|David Cameron]]~~ \| width1 = 113 \| image2 = Sus scrofa scrofa.jpg \| width2 = 200 \| footer = David Cameron and an example of a pig (right) }} ▲"'''Piggate'''" refers to a claim that, during his ~~university~~time ~~years,~~at ~~the~~[[Oxford University]], former [[British Prime Minister\|British prime minister]] [[David Cameron]] inserted his penis and/or scrotum into a dead pig's mouth as part of an [[hazing\|initiation ceremony]] for the [[Piers Gaveston Society~~]] at [[Oxford University~~]]. The anecdote was reported by [[Michael Ashcroft]] and [[Isabel Oakeshott]] in their [[unauthorised biography]] of Cameron, ''[[Call Me Dave]]'', attributing the story to an anonymous Member of Parliament who was allegedly a contemporary of Cameron's at the University of Oxford. Extracts from the book were published in the ''[[Daily Mail]]'' on 20 September 2015, prior to its publication. [[Downing Street]] sources responded by saying that Cameron, who was ~~Prime~~prime ~~Minister~~minister at the time, would not dignify the anecdote with a response, while friends reported him saying that it was "utter nonsense". Cameron said later that "a very specific denial was made a week ago". [[File:Lord Ashcroft presents Zulu at the Policy Exchange-Crossbench Film Society cropped.JPG\|thumb\|upright\|Michael Ashcroft]] Line 23 ⟶ 31: == Background == Ashcroft had long been a supporter of the British [[Conservative Party (UK)\|Conservative Party]] and was its biggest donor, having donated around £10 million, before dropping his support for the party in 2013 due to conflicts with David Cameron, especially his refusal to give Ashcroft a senior role in government despite his donations.<ref>{{cite news \|title=Lord Ashcroft's Cameron biography bears hallmarks of revenge job\|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/21/lord-ashcrofts-cameron-biography-bears-hallmarks-of-revenge-job \|work=The Guardian \|language=en-GB \|location=London \|access-date=22 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine \|last=Stewart \|first=Dan \|date=September 21, 2015 \|title=Why David Cameron's 'Pig-Gate' Scandal Isn't Going Away \|url=~~http~~https://time.com/4043311/david-cameron-pig-gate-scandal/ \|magazine=Time \|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref> Some commentators have interpreted the pig story and other anecdotes in the book as Ashcroft's revenge and reignition of the feud.<ref>{{cite web \|author=Steerpike \|date=21 September 2015 \|title=Lord Ashcroft gets his revenge on David Cameron: #piggate \|url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/lord-ashcroft-gets-his-revenge-on-david-cameron-piggate/ \|work=The Spectator \|language=en-GB \|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news \|last=Dominiczak \|first=Peter \|date=20 September 2015 \|title=Lord Ashcroft reignites bitter feud with David Cameron \|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11878948/Lord-Ashcroft-reignites-bitter-feud-with-David-Cameron.html \|work=The Telegraph \|location=London \|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref> == Response == After being asked about the anecdote, Downing Street said that it would not "dignify" the claim with a response.<ref>{{cite news \|last1=Dathan \|first1=Matt \|last2=Dearden \|first2=Lizzie \|date=23 September 2015 \|title=David Cameron says he 'will not dignify' claims he put his genitals in the mouth of a dead pig \|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne-refuses-to-comment-on-claims-that-david-cameron-put-his-genitals-in-a-dead-pigs-mouth-at-university-10510692.html \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/george-osborne-refuses-to-comment-on-claims-that-david-cameron-put-his-genitals-in-a-dead-pigs-mouth-at-university-10510692.html \|archive-date=26 May 2022 \|url-access=subscription \|url-status=live \|work=The Independent \|language=en-GB \|location=London \|access-date=25 September 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news\|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/downing-street-stays-silent-over-claims-david-cameron-put-genitals-in-a-dead-pigs-mouth-while-at-oxford-university-10510500.html \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/downing-street-stays-silent-over-claims-david-cameron-put-genitals-in-a-dead-pigs-mouth-while-at-oxford-university-10510500.html \|archive-date=26 May 2022 \|url-access=subscription \|url-status=live\|title=Downing Street stays silent over claims David Cameron put genitals in a dead pig's mouth while at Oxford University\|work=The Independent\|location=London\|access-date=21 September 2015}}</ref> ''[[The Independent]]'' reported that Cameron had told friends the claim was "utter nonsense".<ref name="The Independent">{{cite web\|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dead-pig-allegations-are-utter-nonsense-david-cameron-tells-friends-10511399.html \|archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/dead-pig-allegations-are-utter-nonsense-david-cameron-tells-friends-10511399.html \|archive-date=26 May 2022 \|url-access=subscription \|url-status=live\|title=Dead pig allegations are 'utter nonsense,' David Cameron tells friends\|work=The Independent\|location=London\|date=21 September 2015\|access-date=25 September 2015}}</ref> Cameron did not post a tweet on his [[Twitter]] account until 23 September, whereupon he received a barrage of pig-sex-related replies.<ref name="nsubuga">{{cite news \|last=Nsubuga \|first=Jimmy \|date=24 September 2015 \|title=David Cameron tweeted for the first time since #piggate and it didn't go very well \|url=http://metro.co.uk/2015/09/24/david-cameron-tweeted-for-the-first-time-since-piggate-and-it-didnt-go-very-well-5405621/ \|work=Metro \|language=en-GB \|access-date=19 November 2022}}</ref><ref name="allegretti">{{cite news \|last=Allegretti \|first=Aubrey \|date=23 September 2015 \|title=David Cameron Given Searing Reaction By Twitter Users After First Post Since #Piggate \|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2015/09/23/david-cameron-piggate_n_8184162.html \|work=HuffPost \|language=en-GB \|access-date=19 November 2022}}</ref> Cameron joked about the situation during a talk in Oxford later that week, stating "I've had an interesting week. It's a week in which thousands of trees have died in vain, sales of [[Supertramp]] albums have gone through the roof and one man's reputation lies in ruins. I don't think Michael Ashcroft will ever recover."<ref name="BBC News">{{cite news \|title=David Cameron jokes about Lord Ashcroft's book \|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-34363685 \|work=BBC News \|language=en-GB \|date=25 September 2015 \|access-date=25 September 2015}}</ref> Six days after the story broke, Cameron responded to a question about the issue saying: "Everyone can see why the book was written and everyone can see straight through it. As for the specific issue raised, a very specific denial was made a week ago and I've nothing to add to that."<ref name="guardian27">{{cite news \|last=Mason \|first=Rowena \|date=27 September 2015 \|title=David Cameron publicly denies Lord Ashcroft pig allegation for first time \|url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2015/sep/27/david-cameron-denies-lord-ashcroft-allegations-call-me-dave-dead-pig \|work=The Guardian \|location=London \|access-date=28 September 2015}}</ref> At the time of the statement, Downing Street had made no on-the-record denial of the anecdote.<ref name="guardian27"/> Cameron also stated that he was deferring taking action at the present time to sue Ashcroft over the allegations because he was "too busy running the country".<ref>{{cite news \|last=Farrell \|first=Jason \|date=28 September 2015 \|title=PM Says He's 'Too Busy' To Sue Lord Ashcroft \|url=https://news.sky.com/story/pm-says-hes-too-busy-to-sue-lord-ashcroft-10344929 \|work=Sky News \|language=en-GB \|access-date=19 November 2022}}</ref> Line 69 ⟶ 77: [[Category:Hashtags]] [[Category:Hazing]] ~~[[Category:Internet memes introduced in 2015]]~~ [[Category:Pigs in popular culture]] ~~[[Category:Political Internet memes]]~~ [[Category:Urban legends]] [[Category:Zoophilia in culture]]