Briefing by the Prime Minister s spokesman on: Hazel Blears

Asked whether Hazel Blears would be replaced today, the Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that there were no plans to replace Hazel Blears today.

Asked if the Cabinet Secretary or anyone at the Cabinet Office had been involved in checking Hazel Blears expenses again, the PMS replied that there was a process underway whereby the Cabinet Office looked through ministerial expense claims, but he would not get into commenting on individual Ministers. Asked if that process was ongoing, the PMS confirmed that it was. Asked whether that process would need to be completed before any potential reshuffle, the PMS said that we were hoping to complete that process as quickly as we could.

Asked whether the Prime Minister had spoken to any Ministers about alternative jobs in Government, the PMS replied that that sounded like a reshuffle question. Put that a reshuffle would only be possible when all Ministers expenses had been sifted, the PMS said that that was a process question around the subject of a reshuffle, which would force him to comment one way or another as to whether there was going to be a reshuffle and therefore he would not be saying anymore.

Asked whether the Prime Minister was aware that Hazel Blears had paid money back on two properties, the PMS said that he would not comment on the specifics of Hazel Blears personal financial matters. She had paid back money and as we had said at the time, the Prime Minister welcomed that.

Asked if the Prime Minister was aware of the full facts when he said that it was totally unacceptable, the PMS said he was not going to comment on stories of that nature.

Asked if No10 was aware of what Hazel Blears had put up on her website when she had published her personal financial information, the PMS said he would not comment on the specifics of Hazel Blears personal financial arrangements. Put that close friends of Hazel Blears had claimed that the emergence of new information today was a classic smear operation, the PMS said that his general comment on this was that the Prime Minister was absolutely clear that anybody who spoke or operated on his behalf should stick to the tone and sentiment of what he said about Hazel Blears when he was very positive about the role she had played in Government over a number of years. That tone would be reflected in the letter that the Prime Minister would be sending to Hazel Blears, which would also make clear that he hoped that it would not be long before she could return to Government.

Asked whether Ministers checked with No10 when they posted information on their personal websites, the PMS replied that he had not seen the information on Hazel Blears website, but it sounded like personal information rather than Governmental information.

Asked for a flavour of the letter the Prime Minister would be sending to Hazel Blears, the PMS said it would reflect very much the tone and sentiment of what the Prime Minister had said at PMQ s. It talked about the very positive role that Hazel Blears had played in various jobs, as Chairman of the Labour Party and Secretary of State for Communities in recent years. It also spoke of her energy and the ideas that she was able to contribute, particularly to re-energising politics at a local level.

Asked whether he would characterise Hazel Blears resignation as a culmination of pressure from the media or a more general disillusionment with the Government, the PMS said that it was for Hazel Blears to characterise her resignation in the way that she saw fit to characterise it. She had set out the reasons for her resignation in the statement that she had made and the letter that she had sent to the Prime Minister.

Asked whether there was any concern that there seemed to be a disproportionate amount of women leaving their posts and was that something the Prime Minister would seek to rebalance, the PMS replied that the second part of the question was in regards to a reshuffle. On the first point, the PMS said that there were a number of individuals who had made clear their intention to stand down in recent days. It was the Prime Minister s view that there were clearly many talented women and men in the Government who had much to offer.

Asked whether the Prime Minister would agree with Lord Mandelson that the current situation was beginning to threaten the economic recovery, the PMS said that it was the Prime Minister s view that it was very important that we took action to deal with what was clearly a very difficult period for the whole of the political process and that we were able to ensure that we were in a position where all politicians were able to focus their efforts on the concerns of the country rather than their own concerns.

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