Downing Street Says » 2006

» Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Berlin

Asked what would be discussed with Chancellor Merkel, the PMOS said the Prime Minister had met Chancellor Merkel in London and again at the EU Council where the Prime Minister had been impressed with the German government's position and how Chancellor Merkel had conducted herself. The main discussion would cover Europe, the Middle East Peace Process following Hamas's victory and Iran on which Chancellor Merkel had expressed very clear views. No doubt other issues would come up as well.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Smoking

Asked what impact the outcome of the Smoking vote had had on Patricia Hewitt's authority, and when had the Prime Minister made up his mind on what action was necessary, the PMOS said that if you went back to Prime Minister's Questions in December, the Prime Minister had stated very clearly that he was listening to the debate. If you also looked at his press conference in December he had stated there very clearly that he was listening to the debate and he saw that public opinion was moving in a certain direction. He also listened very carefully to the arguments put forward by the Health lobby as well. As he had said last night, he believed that this was the right decision as an individual, and that was why he voted in the way he had. Patricia Hewitt similarly had listened to the arguments and made up her mind, as an individual. A free vote was a free vote and Parliament had spoken.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Reshuffle

Asked how the Prime Minister's day was looking tomorrow now that he had all these votes out of the way, the PMOS said that events did not move that fast and he was not anticipating that sort of busy day.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Richard Gillingwater

Asked about whether Richard Gillingwater would step down as Chief Executive of the Shareholder Executive, the PMOS said that Richard Gillingwater had not said that he would be leaving. His contract ran until September and it was too early to start discussion on renewing it.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Smoking

Asked what the situation was in regard to 10 Downing Street, the PMOS said that there was a smoking room at the moment but that would obviously be covered by the legislation. In terms of implementation of the bill there would not be a delay in implementation; it would go ahead on schedule once it had gone through Parliament.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

PMQs

Asked by the BBC if given that the Prime Minister was taking PMQs despite the absence of the leader of the opposition David Cameron it was a sign that the Prime Minister did not trust any other member of his Cabinet to answer questions from William Hague, the PMOS asked the journalist to spell out what PMQs stood for. It was Prime Minister's Questions, not Leader of the Opposition's Questions. If the Prime Minister was in the country he took PMQs. If he happened to be abroad, as it happened the leader of the opposition could still do it, though they tended not to. So while he would congratulate David Cameron on his happy circumstances, the Prime Minister would still hold Prime Minister's Questions thank you very much.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

» Tuesday, February 14, 2006

2012 Olympics

Asked if the Government had any sort of Medals target in mind for the 2012 Olympics, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we were currently in 2006, our main objective for 2005 had been to secure the Olympics for London and that we had achieved. If we had any objective for 2012 it was to host a world class Olympic games that the nation could be proud of. Put to him that some Government sources had indicated that we were aiming to finish 4th in the Medals table and asked if that was not perhaps a little ambitious, the PMOS said that this sounded like a classic question for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's press office.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Smoking

Asked how the Prime Minister would be voting in today's vote on smoking, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that people would have to wait and see. Since this was a genuinely free vote, we had no intention of pre-empting it for fear of that being seen as an attempt to give a lead to others. The PMOS also took the opportunity to warn journalists not to be surprised if they saw ministers going into different lobbies.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Smoking Bill

Asked for an indication of the Prime Minister's intentions during tonight's vote on smoking, the PMOS said that he would vote, but he would not announce in advance which way he would vote. Asked if it was possible that the Prime Minister might vote against the commitments on smoking in Labour's Election Manifesto, the PMOS said that, as he had said this morning, we had to recognise that the debate had moved on. The manifesto commitment had been for a ban in most public places. That would certainly be achieved by whatever the outcome of today was. The debate, however, had moved on with the decisions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and public opinion had continued to move in a certain direction, as the Prime Minister had said at PMQs. The position on the issue had not been static and the introduction of the free vote was a recognition of that, as we had said at the time we had announced the free vote. A free vote was a free vote and quite rightly you would see ministers going into different lobbies according to what position they took on this finely balanced issue. That was perfectly proper.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

PM’s Plane

Asked if Downing Street recognised the pictures published in today's media showing a "luxurious looking" DC8 and the figure of £170,000 as the cost to hire it, the PMOS said that hire costs were a commercial matter and it was therefore inappropriate for him to get drawn into a debate about it. Suffice to say that we received a competitive rate for a plane that did the job (mostly). Asked why the Prime Minister and his party had not used the Queen's Flight, the PMOS said that, as he understood it, the length of the journey to South Africa had been an important factor which it had been necessary to take into account when making the arrangements for the visit. Asked if the incident had increased the need for a "Blair Force One" aircraft, the PMOS said that, as journalists were aware, a review of the whole issue was ongoing.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089. Material is reproduced from the original 10 Downing Street source, but may not be the most up-to-date version of the briefings, which might be revised at the original source. Users should check with the original source in case of revisions. Comments are © Copyright contributors. Everything else is © Copyright Downing Street Says.

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» Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Berlin

Smoking

Reshuffle

Richard Gillingwater

Smoking

PMQs

» Tuesday, February 14, 2006

2012 Olympics

Smoking

Smoking Bill

PM’s Plane

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