Downing Street Says » 2007

» Thursday, January 11, 2007

Education Figures

Asked by Gallery News if huge success though they were, were we anticipating any scepticism on the education figures, the PMOS said that the question was as neat an encapsulation of the lobby philosophy as he had heard for a while, ie, something's a success, therefore, it must be a failure. The figures spoke for themselves, and of course, we wanted them to keep improving. The PMOS said that the percentage of pupils who had achieved 5 or more good GCSEs including English and Maths had risen again this year to 45.3% - significantly better than in 1997 when only 35.6 per cent of pupils achieved this level. Alan Johnson also said that London was now ahead of the national average - that also spoke for itself. Was this the end of the road? Of course not. Was it a substantial stepping stone on the way to getting there? Answer: yes.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Prime Minister’s speech

Asked for further information on the Prime Minister's speech tomorrow, the PMOS replied that the speech was a strategic overview of defence for this country since World War II. It was looking at the choice that we now faced, and that choice was: did we remain a major player in defence terms in the world, or did we adopt a more passive role?

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

MRSA

Asked by ITN if the Prime Minister agreed with the Department of Health (DoH) that the MRSA targets should be delayed or dropped, the PMOS asked who in the DoH had said that. The journalist said that there had been a memo written by a DoH official saying that MRSA targets should be delayed or dropped. The PMOS pointed out that that was not what the journalist had initially said, and the question was a piece of spin, and although he knew that broadcasters did not "do" spin, it was a disgraceful example! Andy Burnham had said this morning that of course, it was a difficult target, but it was meant to be difficult, but it was leading to real improvements on the ground. The PMOS said people should not, therefore denigrate those efforts by a disgraceful piece of spin.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

» Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Home Office

Asked if the Prime Minister believed that Ministers' should take responsibility for departments and the decisions taken in departments, in particular with reference to what Nick Clegg has said, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that Ministers were responsible for departments but they could not make decisions or be responsible if they had not been made aware of problems in the first place. They cannot act on things they do not know anything about, in relation to the current situation the Home Office has launched an investigation and this was a commonsense approach.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Carbon emissions/offsetting

Asked what the Prime Minister's response was to Jonathan Porritt's suggestion that the approach to the issue of global warming was patchy and muddled, the Prime Minister's Offical Spokesman (PMOS) said that it was not muddled headed to double our compliance with our Kyoto target; it was not muddled headed to produce an energy review which allows us to develop clean technology; it was not muddle headed to lead the intellectual debate on climate change at Gleneagles and then take this forward with the Gleneagles dialogue which will then produce recommendations which the Japanese will be able to take forward when they take over the G8 Presidency in 2008. It was also not muddle headed to face up to the reality that if we have a growing world economy, that gave us the resources to invest in the research and development (R&D) which will produce more effective and efficient energy uses than if we don't have that investment to put into the necessary R & D.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (6)

Iraq and Troops

Asked, with regard to PMQs today, if there was any indication of an announcement of a timetable for Basra in general, the PMOS said that Operation Sinbad was just over half way through, progress had been made though the situation on the ground was not ideal. However, as a result of the work of our police training teams nearly 55 per cent of Basra city's police stations were up to the standard required; this is compared to 20 per cent last September. The murder rate in Basra has reduced from 139 reported in June to 29 reported this December. Reconstruction programmes in Basra are evident with the refurbishment of 176 schools, refurbishment of 3 hospitals and a further 8 primary health clinics, refurbishment of a pharmacy, an orphanage and 30 football pitches. These are all in addition to road and bridge repairs in the region.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Minimum wage

Asked if a £200 fine on employers was a real incentive to pay the minimum wage, the PMOS said that no employer liked to find themselves going through the courts or liked to find themselves fined. Therefore, the fines were a disincentive and the important thing was to look at the number of employers who did comply with the minimum wage and the real difference that it had made to lots of low paid workers.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Hamas

Asked if there was any view on the exiled Hamas leader, Khaled Meshaal's comments that the existence of Israel had to be acknowledged, the PMOS said it would be best to wait and see exactly what he had said but that it was correct to recognise the reality that Israel did exist and had to be recognised as such for there to be a two state solution.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Prime Ministerial meetings

Asked if there was a deliberate reason why the parliamentary lobby had not been told about the housing breakfast the Prime Minister and Ruth Kelly hosted this morning, the PMOS said no, the same practice had been followed with similar breakfast events week in, week out.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Somalia

Asked what the Prime Minister's comments were regarding the current situation in Somalia, if the Prime Minister supported the US and how that squared with the EU's position, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was aware of the US position in tracking the terrorists responsible for the bombings in 1998 but it was a matter for the US.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | 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.

The unofficial site which lets you comment on the UK Prime Minister's official briefings. About us...

» Thursday, January 11, 2007

Education Figures

Prime Minister’s speech

MRSA

» Wednesday, January 10, 2007

Home Office

Carbon emissions/offsetting

Iraq and Troops

Minimum wage

Hamas

Prime Ministerial meetings

Somalia

Search

Supported by

Recent Briefings

Archives

Links

Syndicate (RSS/XML)

Credits

Enquiries