Gaffes blow to PM's cuts road show

The Prime Minister faced a tough grilling by an audience of voters for the second time this week in which he floated the idea of stripping migrants of the automatic right to a free appeal when their visa application is rejected – one of 100,000 ideas put forward on a website.

But he walked into another row following the question and answer session after mistakenly saying Iran had a nuclear weapon. Labour claimed Mr Cameron was developing a "dangerous habit" for blunders in public but Downing Street insisted he had "clearly" been talking about Iran's pursuit of a nuclear weapon.

Mr Cameron made the comment as he said Turkey would be an important political influence if it joined the European Union because it could help solve some of the world's problems "like the Middle East peace process and the fact that Iran has got a nuclear weapon".

It followed an awkward exchange with retired telephonist Kathy Finn, 75, over another blunder on a recent trip to the United States, when he had described Britain as being a junior partner in the Second World War in 1940 – a time when the United States was still neutral.

She asked: "Who do you consider was the senior partner in the Battle of Britain when we were fighting alone in the first two-and-a-half years of the war?"

Mr Cameron replied: "There was no senior partner. We were on our own in 1940... what I meant to say was that I was referring to the 1940s, not 1940.

"You are absolutely right and I was absolutely wrong."

Labour's former Europe Minister Chris Bryant said: "He is increasingly getting a reputation for being a foreign policy klutz, with two right feet, both of them firmly planted in his mouth."

The Prime Minister had used the event to try to reassure the public over spending cuts. Voters have been invited to suggest savings in a concerted attempt by the Government to win public support amid fears off Greek-style riots as spending is slashed.

Before the general election Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, MP for Sheffield Hallam, singled out South Yorkshire as an area of possible discontent should a Tory government force through unpopular cuts to bring down the budget deficit.

More than 63,000 ideas for savings have been suggested by public workers through a Spending Challenge website set up by the Treasury, with another 37,000 proposals submitted by members of the public. The website will be closed to new ideas this weekend before users are invited to have their say.

Ideas put forward include a suggestion by a junior doctor that would mean health workers no longer need a new criminal records bureau check every time they work in a new hospital.

He also spoke warmly of an idea by an immigration worker to stop the "mad" right to a free appeal against visa decisions, "even though that appeal may cost 10,000".

Other ideas include making prisoners pay for any damage they cause to prison property, and councils setting up teams of volunteer "civic gardeners" to maintain their neighbourhood, allowing local authority gardeners to focus on other more pressing projects or cutting the number of staff needed, an idea certain to prompt fierce opposition.

"I want to make sure we take as many people in our country with us as we do that," said Mr Cameron. "That's why we issued this Spending Challenge. We have had 67,000 emails with ideas and letters from people within the public sector coming up with some great ideas.

"Some big ideas, sometimes quite small ideas, but great ideas for how we save money."

Facing a range of questions, Mr Cameron also said dangerous foreign nationals should be returned to their homeland, provided promises are given that they will not be tortured.