David Cameron. REUTERS UK prime minister David Cameron has joked that being assassinated might be preferable to continuing to deal with the Scottish independence referendum, according to the Evening Standard.

"After the events I have been facing over the past few days, assassination would be a welcome release," he reportedly said at a Downing Street party.

(To be fair, Cameon was speaking at a launch party for a new political thriller called "Head of State" about the assination of a prime minister. So his joke wasn't just out of the blue).

The vote — tomorrow — will be seen as a huge failure for Cameron if the Scots choose to go independent. Scottish voters who are enthusiastic about leaving the UK are often far to the left of Cameron, and the Conservative Party that he leads in government is a real contributor to anti-UK feeling north of the border.

Say what you like about the UK's previous prime ministers, at least they didn't lose bits of the country while in office (except for David Lloyd George, who lost Ireland in 1921).

But still, it's rare and slightly dark for a world leader to joke about being killed by his enemies. You'd never hear US president Obama telling assassination jokes, for instance.

Here's the original tweet on the quote, from the Evening Standard's Joy Lo Dico.

And here's the Standard's story: