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?

» Monday, January 31, 2011

AV Bill

Asked what direction the AV Bill was heading in, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that he was not able to say much ahead of the debate, which had just started. We would see how that went and take stock this afternoon/evening. Asked what the Government’s thoughts was on how to assuage those who had […]

NHS Reforms

Put that the Prime Minister had said this morning that there was a long list of organisations within the NHS that supported his reforms, the PMS said that the point the Prime Minister had been making was that there was a debate going on, which was what you would expect when changes to the NHS […]

Misc

Put that a council leader in Blackpool had said that the Government was letting down poorer areas, the PMS said that he did not know about the specific case of Blackpool, but made the point that we needed to tackle the deficit which required us to find money from central and local government. We believed […]

Egypt

Asked what the Prime Minister’s assessment was of what had been happening over the last few hours, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister had set out the latest position this morning. We wanted to see a process of political reform with an orderly transition to a government that […]

AV Bill

Asked if the Prime Minister was still confident of getting the Bill through in time, the PMS said there was not a great deal to add on what we had already said on this. The PMS said no doubt there would be discussions during the course of today and this evening and he did not […]

Bribery Act

Put that the CBI’s new chief had said this morning that the Act was not fit for purpose and was it the case that the Government was looking at it again, the PMS replied that we were looking again at this issue. We had listened to the concerns of business about the regulatory burden imposed […]

Health Bill

Put that the Prime Minister had said this morning that his own brother-in-law thought that hospitals would be disadvantaged by the new proposals, the PMS replied that we were conscious that we had a job to do in explaining these reforms, which was what the Prime Minister had been doing this morning. The PMS said […]

Misc

Asked if Andy Coulson was still at No10, the PMS said that he was. original source.

» Friday, January 28, 2011

Lords

Asked whether the Government will support an amendment to be laid on Monday by cross-bench peers, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said there was nothing to add to what had already been said on the issue. original source.

World Economic Forum

Asked whether Britain was making a specific commitment to the Gates Foundation, the PMS said the money was being allocated from the budget of the Department for International Development. Asked whether the specific plan for EU growth that the Prime Minister had outlined in his speech that morning would involve cutting business regulations to free […]

Tax

Asked what the Prime Minister’s response was to the Mayor of London’s blueprint for lower taxes, the PMS said a number of tax priorities had been set out, such as increasing the personal allowance to 10,000. This would be prioritised over other tax cuts including inheritance tax. He added that the Prime Minister had said […]

Iraq Inquiry

Asked whether No 10 believed that under the current Prime Minister, the Cabinet structure offered safe places’ to discuss war preparations, following comments by the Cabinet Secretary at the Iraq Inquiry, the PMS said that the National Security Council had been set up as the forum for the strategy on Afghanistan to be agreed and […]

Sure Start

Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned by the cuts to Sure Start children’s centres, the PMS said the money for the programme came from the Early Intervention Grant and that there was sufficient money in that grant to maintain a network of Sure Start centres. Local authorities also had duties under the Childcare Act […]

» Thursday, January 27, 2011

Economy

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) outlined what the Prime Minister would cover in his speech at Davos the next day. Asked whether the Prime Minister still believed the UK was out of the economic danger zone, the PMS said he had been making a specific point about speculation in sovereign debt markets, and the importance […]

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.

» Monday, January 31, 2011

AV Bill

NHS Reforms

Misc

Egypt

AV Bill

Bribery Act

Health Bill

Misc

» Friday, January 28, 2011

Lords

World Economic Forum

Tax

Iraq Inquiry

Sure Start

» Thursday, January 27, 2011

Economy

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