» Tuesday, May 1, 2007Prime Minister
Asked if any light could be cast on the timings of the Prime Minister’s announcement today that he will be making an announcement next week, was it something the Prime Minister had long planned to do today or was it a comment off the cuff, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said given the subject he would not classify it as an off the cuff comment but he could not really go beyond that. Next week begins Tuesday in Northern Ireland and that was as far as he would go. Asked to clarify if what the Prime Minister had said this morning on television, the Prime Minister intended to announce his plans for departure next week, the PMOS said that that is what the man had said on the sofa and he was the man who knew. Put to him that it was thought that ‘sofa government’ had been brought to an end, the PMOS said that unfortunately GMTV could not change their set. Put to him that the Prime Minister could effectively make a Party announcement at this stage in Northern Ireland but it was thought that he’d prefer to keep that day clear, the PMOS said Northern Ireland will be a big day and everyone recognises that. Certainly in terms of our approach it has always been that we have wanted to mark the occasion, and mark the occasion appropriately, but also let people focus on the achievements of local politicians and not distract from that in any way. Asked if the Prime Minister was marking the 10 year celebrations in any way, the PMOS said that what the Prime Minister had said on the television this morning still stood, and he understood there had been a party event. Asked if there would be any champagne parties in Downing Street this evening, the PMOS said that if there were he had missed out on them. Asked who was in charge of the Prime Minister’s leaving card and present, the PMOS said that he thought the reporter was getting ahead of himself. Asked if there would be a Prime Ministerial news conference in May, the PMOS said that we were only just in May and there was plenty time yet. Put to the PMOS that it was the Prime Minister’s birthday, 10th anniversary in Government and he was shortly departing did this mean the Prime Minister would be having a joint party, the PMOS said he could see the game the reporter was playing and asked forgiveness if he didn’t join in. Asked if the PMOS was able to say how the Prime Minister would make the announcement next week, the PMOS said he could not. Briefing took place at 9:00 | Search for related news 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. |
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