Downing Street Says ... Every day the Prime Minister’s Spokesman meets a small coterie of political journalists known as ‘the lobby’ for a topical chat, or ‘briefing’.

Every day the Prime Minister's Spokesman meets a small coterie of political journalists known as 'the lobby' for a topical chat, or 'briefing'.

Downing Street Says... is an unofficial site that lets you read summaries of these briefings and add your own comments. Want to know more?

» Thursday, March 17, 2011

Libya

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister had made some further calls on Libya, following his calls last night. The PMS said that we would not get into specifics about those calls, but they were to Arab and African leaders. Talking to Arab leaders was important and the Prime Minister was making […]

Japan

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) advised that travel advice had been updated. Non-essential travel to Tokyo and north east Japan should still be avoided and as an additional precaution British nationals had been advised to remain outside an 80km radius of Fukushima. This was in line with US advice. He advised that SAGE continued to […]

Libya

On Libya the PMS advised that there had been substantive discussions on the draft resolution at the UN yesterday and that there remained a range of views in the Council. Tabling the resolution had had the desired effect of triggering serious discussions on next steps. The Prime Minister was closely engaged with the process. He […]

Bahrain

On Bahrain the PMS advised that the Foreign Office had updated their travel advice. They had recommended that those people without pressing reason to remain should leave the country. The first option was via commercial routes. In addition the UK Government would be chartering planes to assist departure. There would be a charge of 260 […]

» Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Libya

Put that the Foreign Secretary had just said that a no-fly zone could go ahead without a UN resolution and asked if he was going off message, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that he hadn’t seen the Foreign Secretary’s comments but presumed he had been referring to past precedents. Asked if the UN Council […]

Nick Griffin petition

Put that Nick Griffin from the BNP was delivering a petition to No 10 tomorrow and asked if the Prime Minister had been made aware of this in advance and how he felt about it, the PMS said that he wasn’t sure if the Prime Minister knew. People were entitled to deliver petitions to Downing […]

Sentencing Council

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about sentencing guidelines from the Sentencing Council that meant fewer people would be imprisoned for assault, the PMS said that the Sentencing Council was an independent body and it was responsible for setting out sentencing guidelines. Those guidelines were a point of departure for the judiciary, and it […]

Bahrain

Put that there had been calls for Prince William and Kate Middleton to keep the King of Bahrain off their wedding invite list, the PMS said that invitations to the Royal Wedding were a matter for the Palace, not the Government. original source.

Health Bill

Asked what the Prime Minister had meant at PMQs today when he talked about anti-cherry picking amendments’ in the Government’s health reforms, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been talking about the fact that there would not be price competition in healthcare. The point about cherry picking was the idea that private sector […]

Libya

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that there were further discussions in New York last night at the United Nations Security Council. We had decided we needed to move things onto the next stage, and following consultations with Lebanon, France, the US and others we had introduced the text of a further United Nations Security […]

Sentencing guidelines

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about sentencing guidelines that reduced the offence for someone who had physically attacked a police officer, the PMS said that the Sentencing Council was an independent body. It had set guidelines which were a point of departure for the judiciary when they were coming to judgements. Clearly our […]

Bahrain

The PMS said the Prime Minister had spoken to the King of Bahrain last night and expressed his serious concern at the deteriorating situation on the ground. He called for restraint on all sides and said that it was vital the Bahrain authorities responded through reform, not repression. The Prime Minister encouraged the King to […]

Japan

The PMS said that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies met again yesterday afternoon to review the situation in Japan. The unanimous view of the group was that from the perspective of possible radiation dangers there was no need for UK nationals to evacuate the vicinity of Tokyo. Asked whether or not it was true […]

Unemployment

Asked for the Government’s response to unemployment figures out today, the PMS said that the figures were mixed. There was a rise in the International Labour Organisation measure, which was a cause for concern, but the numbers claiming Job Seekers’ Allowance were down. Employment had risen by 32,000, which was driven entirely by growth in […]

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.

» Thursday, March 17, 2011

Libya

Japan

Libya

Bahrain

» Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Libya

Nick Griffin petition

Sentencing Council

Bahrain

Health Bill

Libya

Sentencing guidelines

Bahrain

Japan

Unemployment

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