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?

» Thursday, July 3, 2008

MPs’ Pay

Asked why the Prime Minister thought it was important that MPs voted for a 2.25% pay rise, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that we had released a Written Ministerial Statement about this on 17th June which made clear that it was important that MPs set an example at a time of wider public sector [...]

Fuel/Oil

Put that the Prime Minister had mentioned future arrangements for fuel supplies during the Liaison Committee, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been talking about the wholesale gas market more generally and that it was best to speak to Berr for the details. Put that the Prime Minister had said that fuel duty would [...]

Miscellaneous

Asked what was discussed at the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Aga Khan, the PMS said that they had discussed the cooperation between the Government and the Aga Khan Development Network, which supported projects in health, education, poverty alleviation, peace and stability. The Prime Minister had also congratulated the Aga Khan on his golden jubilee. Asked [...]

» Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Business Council

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) began by updating people on changes to the Business Council. Arun Sarin, the outgoing Chief Executive of Vodafone and Jean-Pierre Garnier, the former CEO of GlaxoSmithKline have stepped down from the council in reflection of the fact that they no longer have roles in UK-based businesses. They were replaced by [...]

Retirement Age

Asked whether the Prime Minister supported a compulsory retirement age, the PMS said the Prime Minister supported Government policy, which was set out very clearly in response to the Turner Commission a couple of years ago. Put that it discriminated against workers over 65, the PMS replied that the whole purpose of the Turner Review [...]

Letter from the Chief Whip

Asked whether the PMS could shed any more light on the letter sent to Keith Vaz by the Chief Whip, the PMS said that the Chief Whip had been making it clear that this had been intended as a light-hearted letter. Put that there was no question that the letter had been sent as quoted, the [...]

Hauliers Strike

Asked whether the Prime Minister had any sympathy with the argument that hauliers in this country paid a lot more duty than in other countries, the PMS said the Prime Minister understood the concerns that hauliers were raising, but what we had seen in recent months and over the past year or so, had been [...]

Vehicle Excise Duty

Asked if the Government was going to acknowledge that given the difficult economic circumstances this was not the time to penalise those with old cars, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Chancellor had set out the Government’s policy in the Budget. The Government did acknowledge that difficult decisions had to be taken sometimes [...]

Europe

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Peter Mandelson that the French President was undermining Europe’s negotiating position in the world trade talks, and if so had the Prime Minister raised this with President Sarkozy, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister certainly believed that Mr Mandelson was doing an excellent job as Trade Commissioner [...]

Asked if the Prime Minister was going to speak to the Russian President about BP, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be meeting with Mr Medvedev in the margins of the G8 meeting next week. We hoped that the issues relating to BP would be resolved by then, but we would obviously only [...]

Knife Crime

Asked if the Government was planning to look again at whether under-16 knife crime was counted in statistics as Cherie Boothe had said it should, the PMS replied that on the issue of knife crime statistics, the Home Office could give a specific response to that specific question. But we had asked police forces to [...]

» Tuesday, July 1, 2008

10p Tax Rate

Asked when we would know more details as to how the Government planned to deal with the remaining 1.1 million households who had been affected by the removal of the 10p tax rate, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that the Chancellor had already set out the plans for this year, and as he had [...]

Fuel and Food Prices

Asked about John Hutton’s idea for an immediate announcement on fuel prices, the PMS said that both the decision and the timing of any announcement were matters for the Chancellor. Asked about a report being published next week on energy, the PMS said that there was a paper on food being published in the next week [...]

Miscellaneous

Asked if Lord Malloch-Brown spoke for the Government when he said we were not in favour of Robert Mugabe having even a ceremonial honorary title in any future power-sharing government, the PMS said that Lord Malloch-Brown was the Minister for Africa so of course he spoke on behalf of the Government. Asked about US Secretary of [...]

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» Thursday, July 3, 2008

MPs’ Pay

Fuel/Oil

Miscellaneous

» Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Business Council

Retirement Age

Letter from the Chief Whip

Hauliers Strike

Vehicle Excise Duty

Europe

BP

Knife Crime

» Tuesday, July 1, 2008

10p Tax Rate

Fuel and Food Prices

Miscellaneous

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