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U.K. scandalized after common jogger bumps Prime Minister

People are making jokes—but it raises serious questions over security.

 

Rob Price

Tech

Posted on Oct 27, 2014   Updated on May 30, 2021, 8:09 am CDT

The British Prime Minister’s security arrangements are under review after a jogger ran directly into David Cameron during a Monday morning run.

It’s already called, of course, called #BumpGate.

Dean Balboa Farley, reportedly a “keen runner,” charged headlong into Cameron as he was leaving the Civic Hall in Leeds in the North of England. After making contact with the PM, he was rapidly bundled away as Cameron’s security bustled him out of harm’s way.

Farley later took to Facebook to dispel rumors he might have deliberately assaulted the Prime Minister. “So I’m all over the news as ‘the protestor that attacked David Cameron in Leeds,'” he wrote. “Yeah if you call brushing into someone while running then getting assaulted by half a dozen coppers.”

Police also downplayed the incident, saying that it was “nothing sinister,” and that Farley was “just a man in the wrong place in the wrong time.” Cameron also joked about it, and said that his protection teams do a “very good job.”

Nonetheless, the Guardian is reporting that Scotland Yard is reviewing security to work out how someone was able to get so close to the Prime Minister without being stopped. After all, had Farley’s intentions indeed been “sinister,” it could have had a far more serious outcome—and the incident reflects far more badly on the British security detail if compared to other countries. After all, can you imagine the outrage if someone had gotten close to Barack Obama and the Secret Service did nothing to stop it? 

H/T Guido Fawkes | Photo via ukhomeoffice / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)

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*First Published: Oct 27, 2014, 4:19 pm CDT