» Monday, July 9, 2007

Cabinet Office

The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told journalists that the Prime Minister had thanked Cabinet Office staff at a conference today for the manner in which the transition was conducted. He also referred to the announcements last week to put patients first in an improved NHS, setting out the Government's priorities going forward. The Prime Minister made reference to the changes in tuition fees that would mean that the majority of students would now receive grants. He also said that from tomorrow, all children at primary and secondary school would benefit from personalised learning and at all levels raise their performance, which was also the general subject matter of Ed Balls' statement on schools tomorrow. The Prime Minister continued to say that in the days ahead, we would bring forward announcements to put forward affordable housing as well as skills within the reach of more people.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Housing

Asked what sort of housing the Prime Minister was talking about, i.e., council housing, private houses for councils, the PMS said that part of that did include social housing, but more generally, it was housing that was affordable for people.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Education

Asked if the Prime Minister was saying the same things about education as he did when he was Chancellor with regards to things like mentors for improving literacy or numeracy skills, for example, the PMS said that he had spoken about this at his Mansion House speech as Chancellor, which was the most up to date guide on his thinking about this.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Accommodation

Asked if the Whips were moving back into No12 Downing Street, and had the Prime Minister decided where he would live, the PMS replied that there had been no decision made yet.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Admiral West

Asked for further guidance on Admiral West's review on security, the PMS said we had received initial and interim findings. This was the start, rather than the end of the process, as the full report with its recommendations would come later. We would take a decision at that point based on security and other considerations as to what we could release into the public domain.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

International Monetary Fund

Asked for a view on the head of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the PMS replied that it was very early days.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Alastair Campbell Diaries

Asked if the Prime Minister had been briefed on the contents of the book, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister read the papers and followed the news, so none of this was a great surprise.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Tax

Asked why the Prime Minister did not believe that marriage should be supported through the tax system, the PMS replied that marriage was supported through the tax system. For example, inheritance tax, as that related to assets that had been built up jointly by couples over a lifetime. The PMS said that he could not comment on specifics of proposals from the Opposition party.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Admiral West Report

Asked if Sir Admiral West's interim report would be out today, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that Sir Admiral West was currently conducting a review of the screening issues around NHS workers. He would be reporting back on his very initial and immediate findings, and once this report has been considered, it would be decided what if anything can be made public. But these were very much initial interim findings.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Foreign Affairs

Put that the Prime Minister's first foreign meetings were with the Portuguese Prime Minister, holding the Presidency of the EU, and Ban Ki Moon, and asked if this was an indication of his strategy and style, the PMS replied that both of these meetings had been in the diary for some time. It would be normal for the President of the European Council to come to London to meet the Prime Minister around this time of year and likewise, the Ban Ki Moon meeting was a long standing arrangement.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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