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?

» Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Broadband

Asked about Cabinet discussions on broadband, the PMS said that discussions were relatively short but the Government was looking to meet its commitments on broadband.

Chinese Visas

Questioned on Chinese visas for the UK, the PMS said that Chinese people were increasingly coming to the UK for business reasons and tourism. The Government wanted to make it easier for visitors to come to the country for those reasons and were looking at bearing down on the bureaucracy involved when issuing visas.

West Coast Mainline

Asked about the publication of the Laidlaw Report, the PMS said it would be published in the near future.

Government Non Executive Directors

Responding to questions on Lord Browne’s Cabinet presentation on Government Non Executive Directors, the PMS said that it was a brief presentation on the progress of private sector Non Executive Directors appointments to Government departments. Lord Browne was pleased with progress to date, but there was more work to be done.

Boris Johnson Speech

Asked to comment on Boris Johnson’s speech on Britain’s relationship with Europe, the PMS said that the Government position on a referendum and relationship with Europe had not changed, but work looking at the balance of competencies was taking place.

» Monday, December 3, 2012

Press Briefing morning Monday 3 December 2012

Monday 3 December 2012 The Prime Minister’s Spokesperson (PMS) answered questions on the Leveson recommendations, Israel, tax and Tibet The PMS confirmed there would be a Cabinet meeting tomorrow, as well as a short one on Wednesday morning where the Chancellor would brief colleagues on the Autumn Statement.

Leveson

When questioned about the draft bill on implementing the Leveson recommendations, the PMS said the government was having cross party talks on the recommendations. As part of those talks, the government had agreed to draft the legislation envisaged by the inquiry’s recommendations. Asked about concerns expressed by the opposition on the drafting of legislation, the […]

Israel

Asked about the PM’s view on the recent announcement of Israeli settlement building, the PMS referred lobby to the statement from the Foreign Office. The FCO this morning summoned the Israeli Ambassador to London to meet with Alistair Burt. The PMS said that Mr Burt had set out our concerns. Responding to questions about whether […]

Tax

Asked about the criticism of Starbucks, the PMS said the issue was how we tackle tax avoidance and HMT had been setting out what the government intended to do. The PMS said that the government needed to make sure it was tackling aggressive tax avoidance and it was doing this in a number of ways, […]

Tibet

Asked if ministers were banned from meeting the Dalai Lama earlier this year, the PMS said no, they were not banned. The PM himself met the Dalai Lama in May this year. The PMS said that when it came to government contact with foreign dignitaries, we often coordinated our approach across government.  

» Thursday, November 29, 2012

Press Briefing morning 29 November 2012

Thursday 29 November 2012 The Prime Minister’s Spokesperson (PMS) answered questions on the Leveson Inquiry report Questioned on the Government’s response to the Leveson Inquiry report, the PMS said that the Prime Minister (PM) would be giving his response to the House that afternoon and the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) would also provide a statement […]

» Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Press Briefing afternoon Wednesday 28 November 2012

Wednesday 28 November 2012 The Prime Minister’s Spokesperson (PMS) answered questions on alcohol pricing, Leveson and payday loans

Alcohol pricing

When asked whether the government was taking legal advice about the proposed changes to alcohol pricing, the PMS said that it was being looked at by the courts because of the ongoing legal case in Scotland. The government was following this closely. The government had said for some time its intention was to bring this […]

Leveson

When questioned on whether the Prime Minister would be speaking for the entire government when he made a statement on Leveson tomorrow, the PMS said there would be a government statement by the Prime Minister at 15.00 tomorrow. When challenged if the PM supported a DPM statement, the PMS said that people were digesting the […]

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.

» Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Broadband

Chinese Visas

West Coast Mainline

Government Non Executive Directors

Boris Johnson Speech

» Monday, December 3, 2012

Press Briefing morning Monday 3 December 2012

Leveson

Israel

Tax

Tibet

» Thursday, November 29, 2012

Press Briefing morning 29 November 2012

» Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Press Briefing afternoon Wednesday 28 November 2012

Alcohol pricing

Leveson

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