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, February 17, 2011

Prisoner Voting

Asked about warning from the President of the European Court on Human Rights regarding prisoner voting, the PMS said that the Prime Minister’s view was that we should keep the number of prisoners who had the vote to an absolute minimum. original source.

» Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Commission on UK Bill of Rights

Asked if the Commission was a sop to shut up angry backbenchers, the Prime Minister’s spokesman (PMS) replied that the Commission was the Government delivering on a commitment in the Coalition agreement. Pressed on what the Commission will do the PMS said it will investigate the creation of a British Bill of Rights that incorporated […]

Forests

Asked if the Environment Secretary continued to have the full support of the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that she did. He added that a consultation on forests was under way. original source.

AV Bill

Asked if the Government would seek to overturn the Lords vote on the 40 per cent referendum turn out, the PMS replied that the Government would look to the views of the House of Commons but that its position remained that the will of the people who vote in the referendum should be respected. original […]

Big Society

Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the Public Accounts Select Committee inquiry into the Big Society, the PMS confirmed that he did. original source.

Egypt

Asked if there were plans for any British Ministers to visit Egypt, the PMS replied that there were no such plans at the present time. original source.

Sex offenders

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that sex offenders would be able to appeal and be taken off the sex offenders register after the court ruling, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said the last thing we wanted to see was these people disappearing off the radar. We had some very tough restrictions in place […]

Unemployment

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the rise in youth unemployment, the PMS said yes, but it was worth recognising that youth unemployment had been a problem for many years. We had seen persistently high levels of youth unemployment even when unemployment was falling overall so it was clearly something we were concerned […]

Inflation

Asked whether the Prime Minister was relaxed about interest rates rising, the PMS said people should look at the Chancellor’s letter from yesterday. Monetary policy was clearly an issue for the Monetary Policy Committee, but he said for its part, the Government’s commitment to delivering its fiscal consolidation plan continued to provide the MPC with […]

» Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Prime Minister’s meeting with Russian Foreign Secretary Lavrov

Asked if there was a date confirmed for the Prime Minister to visit Moscow, the Prime Minister’s spokesman (PMS) said a fixed date had not yet been agreed but the visit was likely to take place in the second half of the year. Asked if the Prime Minister had discussed the extradition of Andrei Lugovoy […]

AV Bill

Asked if the Government was confident the Bill would reach the statute book by Thursday, the PMS said that the Bill was in the House of Commons today and should return to the Lords tomorrow. He added that it was still the Government’s intention that the Bill would get Royal Assent this week. Asked why […]

MoD email sackings

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Defence Secretary about the email sackings, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made his views very clear in that he thought the way the issue had been handled was completely unacceptable. The PMS added that the Defence Secretary had made the same point in […]

Inflation

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the increase in inflation, the PMS said that there had been a discussion at Cabinet on the general economic situation where the Chief Secretary had set out the figures and explained the context as set out in the Bank of England’s letter. He added that the Prime […]

Larry the Cat

Asked where Larry would live within Downing Street, the PMS said that he would have freedom to roam throughout the building. On the subject of who would pay the cat’s food and vet’s bills, the PMS confirmed that Downing Street staff would provide for Larry’s care at no expense to the taxpayer. On whether Larry […]

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, February 17, 2011

Prisoner Voting

» Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Commission on UK Bill of Rights

Forests

AV Bill

Big Society

Egypt

Sex offenders

Unemployment

Inflation

» Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Prime Minister’s meeting with Russian Foreign Secretary Lavrov

AV Bill

MoD email sackings

Inflation

Larry the Cat

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