Number 10 press briefing - morning 17 November 2010
Briefing from the Prime Minister's spokesperson on: the Irish economy, official photographer, Scottish and Welsh budgets and Parliamentary Private Secretaries.
Irish Economy
Asked if the Prime Minister would use his visit to Lisbon to talk about Britain’s contribution to any possible help for Ireland, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that he would not add to speculation about the Irish economy. The fact remained that no formal request for assistance had been made.
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Chancellor, the PMS said yes. The Chancellor said this morning that we would do what was in Britain’s national interest. Ireland was a close a neighbour and there were many links between our economies.
Official photographer
Asked if yesterday, the day of Prince William and Kate Middleton’s engagement, was the best day to announce that the decision for the Prime Minister to have a personal photographer had been reversed, the PMS said that he did not usually provide commentary on the previous day’s news. There was nothing to add to what had been said yesterday about the chronology of the day’s events.
Scottish and Welsh budgets
Put that there was an expectation that Scotland and Wales would blame London for imposing heavy spending cuts, the PMS said that we had been clear at the time of the Sending Review about our reasons for the spending reductions that were required.
Parliamentary Private Secretaries
Asked why there were so many PPS’s, the PMS said that it was quite normal practice for ministers to have PPS’s.