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» Tuesday, February 14, 2006

2012 Olympics

Asked if the Government had any sort of Medals target in mind for the 2012 Olympics, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we were currently in 2006, our main objective for 2005 had been to secure the Olympics for London and that we had achieved. If we had any objective for 2012 it was to host a world class Olympic games that the nation could be proud of. Put to him that some Government sources had indicated that we were aiming to finish 4th in the Medals table and asked if that was not perhaps a little ambitious, the PMOS said that this sounded like a classic question for the Department for Culture, Media and Sport's press office.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Smoking

Asked how the Prime Minister would be voting in today's vote on smoking, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that people would have to wait and see. Since this was a genuinely free vote, we had no intention of pre-empting it for fear of that being seen as an attempt to give a lead to others. The PMOS also took the opportunity to warn journalists not to be surprised if they saw ministers going into different lobbies.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Smoking Bill

Asked for an indication of the Prime Minister's intentions during tonight's vote on smoking, the PMOS said that he would vote, but he would not announce in advance which way he would vote. Asked if it was possible that the Prime Minister might vote against the commitments on smoking in Labour's Election Manifesto, the PMOS said that, as he had said this morning, we had to recognise that the debate had moved on. The manifesto commitment had been for a ban in most public places. That would certainly be achieved by whatever the outcome of today was. The debate, however, had moved on with the decisions in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and public opinion had continued to move in a certain direction, as the Prime Minister had said at PMQs. The position on the issue had not been static and the introduction of the free vote was a recognition of that, as we had said at the time we had announced the free vote. A free vote was a free vote and quite rightly you would see ministers going into different lobbies according to what position they took on this finely balanced issue. That was perfectly proper.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

PM’s Plane

Asked if Downing Street recognised the pictures published in today's media showing a "luxurious looking" DC8 and the figure of £170,000 as the cost to hire it, the PMOS said that hire costs were a commercial matter and it was therefore inappropriate for him to get drawn into a debate about it. Suffice to say that we received a competitive rate for a plane that did the job (mostly). Asked why the Prime Minister and his party had not used the Queen's Flight, the PMOS said that, as he understood it, the length of the journey to South Africa had been an important factor which it had been necessary to take into account when making the arrangements for the visit. Asked if the incident had increased the need for a "Blair Force One" aircraft, the PMOS said that, as journalists were aware, a review of the whole issue was ongoing.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

David Cameron

Asked if the Prime Minister would like to congratulate David Cameron on the birth of his third child, the PMOS said absolutely, of course he would. The Prime Minister would send a message in the appropriate way at the appropriate time. Asked if the Prime Minister would still do PMQs in David Cameron's absence, the PMOS said that it was Prime Minister's Questions and if the Prime Minister was here then it remained so. Asked how the Prime Minister felt about facing his old adversary William Hague across the dispatch box, the PMOS said that he had no doubt at all that people on both sides were thinking about such an eventuality but let us wait until tomorrow.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Terrorism Bill

Asked if the Prime Minister was intending to vote tomorrow on the Lords' amendments to the Terrorism Bill, the PMOS said yes. Asked if he would expect to win and what his response would be in the event of a defeat, the PMOS said that it was important to take things one step at a time and understand exactly what it was that we were trying to achieve. As we had said last week, we wanted to send a clear signal that we were doing everything we could to counter terrorism. We believed that there were substantial concerns that needed to be addressed.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

ID Cards-Votes this week

Asked what message yesterday's vote on ID cards would send to the House of Lords, the PMOS said that it was important to note that there had been clear support for ID cards. We had never claimed that they were a "silver bullet". However, we believed that they were an effective tool which could be used in a variety of different ways. The clear signal emanating from the House last night was that the majority of MPs agreed with that view.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

PM-President Bush Meeting

Asked when the Prime Minister was next due to meet with President Bush, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any particular date in the diary at this stage. Asked if the two leaders would meet before the next G8, the PMOS said that we would have to wait and see.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Valentine’s Day

Asked if the Prime Minister had received any Valentine's Day cards this morning, the PMOS - peering down at the array of woebegone faces before him - said that there were some questions that he didn't think were appropriate to ask the Prime Minister.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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» Tuesday, February 14, 2006

2012 Olympics

Smoking

Smoking Bill

PM’s Plane

David Cameron

Terrorism Bill

ID Cards-Votes this week

PM-President Bush Meeting

Valentine’s Day

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