Cameron prepares nation for "bad news" David Cameron has cancelled a pivotal speech on the EU in order to grapple with the unfolding hostage crisis in Algeria. A Downing Street aide said the prime minister had taken the decision not to travel to Amsterdam on Thursday evening after information from Algeria "that means he simply cannot be away." Mr Cameron had sought to stay on top of the Algerian situation while travelling to Holland, even setting up a system to chair an emergency Cobra meeting with officials from Amsterdam. However, he subsequently decided he needed to deal with the crisis in north Africa which has involved several British nationals. A number of British citizens have been taken hostage. Already we know of one who has died," he told the BBC. "It is a very dangerous, a very uncertain, a very fluid situation and I think we have to prepare ourselves for the possibility of bad news ahead," he said. The decision came as Downing Street admitted on Thursday afternoon that it had not known in advance that the Algerian gas facility was about to be raided, despite having asked for notice of any such action. A spokesman played down any suggestion that the government was angry with the Algerians for proceeding without authorisation from other countries. However, he said the Algerian government was told that the UK "would have preferred to have been consulted in advance." Mr Cameron was told about the action at 11.30am in a phone conversation with Abdelmalek Sellal, the Algerian prime minister. The Algerians had turned down an offer of assistance from the UK which could have involved special forces and intelligence experts. The postponement of Mr Cameron's EU speech came after a week of diplomatic tensions before what was billed as a defining statement on the UK's future in Europe. Mr Cameron intends to make a statement to the House of Commons today to give an account of the dramatic events of the previous 48 hours.