Viral

Seven years ago two of the greatest moments in British history happened on the same day

Seven years ago two of the greatest moments in British history happened on the same day
Ronnie Pickering expletive-filled road rage
IndyTV

Back in 2015, the stars aligned to produce two of the biggest, and most talked about moments in recent UK history on the very same day.

It turns out an infamous allegation against David Cameron which came to be known as ‘pig gate’ and the emergence of internet icon Ronnie Pickering both went viral within the same 24 hours.

On September 21 2015, former PM Cameron faced allegations relating to his private parts, a dead pig and a university initiation ceremony. A few years later he would denounce them as “false and ludicrous”.

The story first appeared in a book by former Tory treasurer Michael Ashcroft and journalist Isabel Oakeshott, and Cameron later said he could not believe anyone could have been so “stupid” as to print it.

Sign up for our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The 2015 biography repeated an uncorroborated anecdote that as an Oxford University student he had inserted “a private part of his anatomy” into a dead pig’s mouth as part of the process of joining the exclusive Piers Gaveston Society.

Cameron and Pickering, what a pairGetty/Twitter

It couldn’t be more different to another talking point on the day, which saw a video of a road rage incident in Hull go viral and lodge itself into public consciousness almost overnight.

The clip has racked up millions of views in the years that followed and focuses on Ronnie Pickering – a legend in his own lunchbox who took on a man on a moped, and believed he was a household name even before he went viral.

“Do you know who I am?” he asks in the clip, before replying: “Ronnie f****** Pickering!”

The fact that the two unlikely stories collided on the same day has left social media users with plenty to talk about.






Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.

The Conversation (0)
x