Prime Minister and his wife visit a market in Cascais, 30 miles west of Lisbon
Clutching sunglasses, they pointed at the shellfish for the cameras
But with a blue t-shirt, dark dress and staged poses, it looked like 2013
Last year they visited a fish market in Aljezur, some 200 miles away
The blue t-shirt, the slicked-back hair, the inane pointing at shellfish: It can only mean David Cameron's holiday.
The Prime Minister's return to Portugal for a summer break was marked with the now-traditional photo opportunity, and his PR advisers are clearly taking no chances by doing anything radical or new.
In fact readers might have struggled to tell the difference between this year's pointedly relaxed shopping trip to a seafood market in Cascais in Portugal and last year's relaxed pointing visit to a market in Aljezur, some 200 miles away.
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Mussel man: David and Samantha Cameron today visited a seafood market in Cascais in Portugal
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With a blue t-shirt, dark dress, slicked-back hair and piles of fish, today's snap was an eerie echo of last year's visit to a market in Aljezur in the Algarve
Ed Miliband recently accused Mr Cameron of being ' a very sophisticated and successful exponent of a politics based purely on image'.
It seems that image is based largely on joining his wife Samantha in public admiration of prawns and mussels.
The Prime Minister returned to Portugal early this morning, after attending World War One commemorations in Belgium last night.
The Camerons and their children Nancy, Elwen and Florence jetted off for their summer holiday on Saturday.
But the PM left his family to fly to Glasgow the following day to attend the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
The senior Foreign Office minister dramatically resigned in protest at the government's 'morally indefensible' policy on Gaza.
But the drama was not going to stop the Camerons rushing out to cast a critical eye over Cascais's crustaceans.
After a quick call to London, Mr Cameron pulled on a dark blue t-shirt, Mrs Cameron donned a dark dress and they set off to land themselves some lunch – and a photo opportunity.
Clutching sunglasses, the couple pointed purposefully at the produce, shook hands with the locals and joined the queue to pay for their purchases.
It all seemed horribly familiar. Last year Mr Cameron pulled on a blue shirt and Mrs Cameron wore a dark dress as they headed out to admire the fish market in Alejezur in the Algarve.
Maybe Tory media gurus know something the rest of us don't. They obviously think voters like to see a Prime Minister who knows his way around a fish counter.
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In 2012 Mr Cameron made an impromptu stop at a Morrisons supermarket in Plymouth, where he bought fish and vegetables for a family dinner
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In 2011 Cameron bought monkfish, scallops and mackerel Fresh From The Sea in Port Isaac, Cornwall
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During the 2010 election campaign Mr Cameron campaigned through the night, including a stop at Grimsby fish market
In 2012, Mr Cameron interrupted a visit to the West Country to stop off at Morrisons in Plymouth, where he bought sea bass from the fish counter, new potatoes, lemons and other fruit.
A year earlier during a holiday to Cornwall – his fifth in 2011 – Mr Cameron bought monkfish, scallops and mackerel from Fresh From The Sea in Port Isaac.
In the run-up to the general election in 2010, Mr Cameron shunned the obvious politician's photograph kissing babies to grapple with a large fish during a visit to Grimsby.
During the election campaign Mr Cameron boasted of having a 'good fishing heritage', telling the Angling Times how his grandfather was a 'brilliant fly fisherman'.
The Tory leader added: 'I still do a bit of fishing, but not as much as I'd like to. I went mackerel fishing with the children this summer and we ate everything we caught, I'm pleased to say. I do a very good smoked mackerel paté.'
PM CRITICISED FOR RAF FLIGHTS AT THE TAXPAYERS' EXPENSE
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David Cameron has been accused of wasting taxpayers’ money after he used an RAF jet to fly back from his summer holiday after just one day abroad.
The Prime Minister flew to Portugal with his wife and three children on Saturday where they are enjoying a 10-day break staying in a villa.
But after just a few hours in the sun, on Sunday he was yesterday flown home by the Royal Squadron so he could attend the closing ceremony of the Commonwealth Games.
He then used the RAF plane to fly to France and Belgium for the First World War commemorations before flying back to Portugal on a commercial flight at his own expense this morning.
The Prime Minister has been criticised for not postponing his holiday for just a few days, which would have saved taxpayers thousands of pounds.
Mr Cameron’s extraordinary travel plan saw him rack up around 3,700 air miles in just three days.
Labour MP Thomas Docherty said: ‘Why couldn’t he just have booked his holiday for after these events, rather than blowing thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money jetting backwards and forwards?
Fellow colleague Steve Pound added: ‘It’s not like he didn’t know these events were happening - we’ve known the date of the First World War anniversary for 100 years.’
Mr Cameron, who has previously been accused of being too good at ‘chillaxing’, had an Easter break with his family in Lanzarote.
He and his wife will also take their traditional break to Cornwall later this summer with their children Nancy, eight, Arthur, six, and Florence, 23 months.
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