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David Cameron corruption comments to the Queen: What was said in full

Prime Minister was speaking in a group alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the Leader of the Commons Chris Grayling and the Commons Speaker, John Bercow

Adam Withnall
Tuesday 10 May 2016 16:01 BST
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(Getty Images)

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David Cameron has once again been caught on camera making a comment to the Queen which has sparked controversy.

He was overheard describing Nigeria and Afghanistan as "fantastically corrupt", on the eve of the arrival of the two countries' presidents in London for an anti-corruption summit.

The Prime Minister was speaking in a group alongside the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, the Leader of the Commons Chris Grayling and the Commons Speaker, John Bercow.

Here's what was said:

John Bercow: The great axis of the Prime Minister and the Leader of the House [Chris Grayling].

David Cameron: Well I don’t know about that.

We’re on the same side most of the time.

We’ve had a very successful cabinet meeting this morning to talk about our anti-corruption summit, we’ve got the Nigerians… actually we’ve got the leaders of some fantastically corrupt countries coming to Britain.

Nigeria and Afghanistan, possibly the two most corrupt countries in the world.

Justin Welby: But this particular president is actually not corrupt.

Queen: Is that right?

Welby: Oh yes, he’s trying very hard this one.

Bercow: They are coming at their own expense, one assumes?

[Group laughs]

Cameron: I… Yes... Because it’s an anti-corruption summit, everything has to be open. So there are no sort of closed door sessions, it’s all in front of the press. It could be quite, umm, interesting. But there we go.

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