Baku-APA. In Japan, ostensibly to cover Prime Minister David Cameron's talks with other G7 leaders, traveling reporters had other things on their minds -- mainly next month's vote on whether Britain should ditch its membership of the European Union, APA reports quoting Reuters.
With the June 23 vote looming, British "hacks" who had paid thousands of pounds to watch Cameron's every move in Japan and to try to quiz him and his team on "Brexit", were frustrated to be swept off to a Japanese dance and music show miles from the summit venue.
Obsessed with one of the biggest events in modern British politics which was dominating the headlines at home, the disappointment of some in the press corps was palpable.
"We usually get decent access to both the prime minister and his team," one senior political journalist at a national newspaper, who declined to be named, grumbled. "This time we've got neither, it's a bit of a joke."
The situation was compounded by the fact that Cameron's media team, determined to concentrate on the official agenda of the Group of Seven talks, lacked his head of communications, who had been seconded to the "In" Europe campaign.
With his official spokeswoman also not able to be with him due to a personal commitment, Cameron was accompanied by less experienced press aides so the timing of the summit was less than ideal for both the prime minister and the journalists.
Cameron, joined by close aides including Europe adviser Tom Scholar, sat in the front section of the plane for the private charter flight to Japan, separated by a curtain from the around 20 members of the national media accompanying him. Towards the end of the 14-hour flight, Cameron came back to the press, setting out his aims for the summit before taking about 10 minutes of questions. In a sign of their jumpiness, Cameron's team asked in advance what topics would be asked.
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