Downing Street Says » 2008 » December

» Tuesday, December 9, 2008

Economy

Asked if the economy was discussed at the Prime Minister s event this morning, the Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister, Jacqui Smith, and Hazel Blears were talking about the Government s crime agenda, and what the Government was doing to tackle crime, but obviously this broadened out into a wider […]

Briefing took place at 16:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Euro

Put that the Chancellor had been asked earlier at the Press Gallery lunch about joining the Euro, and that he responded by saying that he would do whatever was necessary, but that the policy had not changed one jot since 2003, the PMS replied that he was not at the event or seen the Chancellor […]

Briefing took place at 16:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Cabinet

The Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that Cabinet this morning had lasted for about an hour. They predominantly discussed the economy and there was also a discussion on the Children s Plan led by Ed Balls and on the situation in Zimbabwe led by the Foreign Secretary. On the economy, the […]

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Zimbabwe

Asked for details on the Zimbabwe discussion, the PMS said it was an update on the appalling situation there as outlined by the Foreign Secretary. There was also a contribution from the Development Secretary on the assistance that we were providing and a reference to the fact that Mark Malloch-Brown would be travelling to the […]

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Economy

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that banks should focus on cutting mortgage rates or rebuilding their balance sheets, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister believed that we had taken action in order to strengthen the balance sheets of banks through the re-capitalisation programme and that the banks should pass through any reductions in […]

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Credit Card Summit

Asked about the credit card summit and whether the political parties were profiting from credit card companies, the PMS said that questions in relation to the behaviour of political parties were best addressed to the political parties themselves. Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was wrong for political parties to profit from 20% interest […]

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Small Businesses

Asked if there had been any progress on lending to small businesses, the PMS said we were seeing some progress. The banks were taking a constructive approach to these discussions and we had seen announcements from RBS and HSBC in recent days about how they would be treating small businesses more fairly. So we were […]

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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