Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Prime Minister.
Prime Minister
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) informed journalists that the Prime Minister was fit, fine, in good spirits and one hundred per cent recovered after yesterday. He said that he had seen him and remarked that if he hadn’t known that he had been in hospital, he certainly would not have known from seeing him this morning. The Prime Minister had been told to take it a little easy for today, which was why Jack Straw would be making the Statement on the European Council meeting to the House this afternoon. However, the Prime Minister was continuing to work in Downing Street today and would be holding a number of meetings as usual. For example, this morning he had chaired the regular 9am strategy meeting in his office in the usual way. He had also had his usual Monday morning meeting with the Cabinet Secretary. He would also have other meetings during the course of the morning and this afternoon. Regarding the rest of the week, tomorrow he would have various meetings and would have an Audience with the Queen in the evening as usual. On Wednesday, he would be in the House for Prime Minister’s Questions and would also be giving a speech on public services. On Thursday, he would hold his monthly press conference after chairing Cabinet, before departing for a regional visit which would continue to Friday.
Asked if it was sensible for the Prime Minister to continue to stick to his heavy schedule, the PMOS said it went without saying that the Prime Minister would take medical advice about what he should and should not do. However, as various doctors and medical experts had stated this morning, this was a relatively minor condition which, as consultant cardiologist Duncan Dymond from Bart’s hospital had said, was "high in nuisance value but low in gravity". It was not a long term serious cardiac condition. The Prime Minister was somebody who looked after himself and took a lot of exercise. He was fit and well. Apart from not delivering a Statement to the House this afternoon, his diary today looked pretty much the same as any other Monday. Asked on what basis he was asserting that the Prime Minister was fit and well this morning, the PMOS said he was making the statement on the basis that the Prime Minister had been discharged from hospital and was getting on with his job. Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister had any further medical appointments, the PMOS said that as he understood it, he would have to see a doctor again within the next couple of weeks, as was normal practice. Asked if the Prime Minister had been given any medical advice in terms of taking things easy, the PMOS said that this condition appeared to be one which affected a comparatively large number of people. The potential causes for it would appear to be fairly wide. We didn’t know why it had happened to the Prime Minister. As far as he was concerned, it was just of those things. Pressed further, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was taking things a little easy today inasmuch as he wasn’t making a Statement to the House. He was not working at full throttle today, but would do so from tomorrow. Asked to clarify whether the Prime Minister had been told to take the day off or to take it easy for the day, the PMOS said that journalists could be assured that the Prime Minister would be heeding whatever medical advice he had been given. Asked if the Prime Minister had been warned that the condition could occur again, the PMOS drew journalists’ attention to the statement we had issued yesterday which said that there was no reason for it to happen again. Put to him that he appeared to be saying the Prime Minister would make no changes to his lifestyle or the way he did the job, the PMOS said that was correct.
Asked the Prime Minister’s thoughts on the NHS given the rare opportunity he had been afforded to see it working from the other side, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister would be writing to the two hospitals he had attended yesterday - Stoke Mandeville and Hammersmith - to thank the staff there for their care. It had been excellent. In answer to further questions, the PMOS took the opportunity to brief journalists on the chronology of yesterday’s events. The Prime Minister had been feeling under the weather first thing, the reason for which was now clear, and he had seen a doctor at Chequers at about 9.30am. The doctor had examined him and had then referred him to Stoke Mandeville, where he had arrived at about 11.30am and where he had undergone some tests. The consultant cardiologist who was based at Stoke Mandeville also worked at Hammersmith Hospital, where indeed he had been working yesterday. It had been decided that the Prime Minister needed some treatment and he had subsequently returned to Chequers from Stoke Mandeville at about 1pm before leaving for London at around 1.30pm with Mrs Blair. He had arrived at Hammersmith hospital at about 2.20pm and had left at around 6.45pm. During that time, he had been driven in his usual car. No paramedic or ambulance had been needed. Asked if the Prime Minister had been feeling unwell overnight, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had felt unwell enough yesterday morning to see a doctor.
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister had felt frightened on his way to hospital yesterday, the PMOS said that the conversation he had had with the Prime Minister this morning had not ventured into that sort of territory at all. The nature of the problem had become clear while he had attended Stoke Mandeville and it had been decided that he should be treated at Hammersmith. The PMOS said he understood why journalists were posing all these questions - and it was perfectly legitimate for them to do so. However, it was important to understand the precise nature of the condition. It was nothing which came even close to a serious cardiac problem. Asked if the Prime Minister felt relieved that the diagnosis wasn’t particularly serious, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was of course very grateful for the concern being expressed and for the care that he had received. However, this had been a relatively minor problem which had been resolved quickly and he was continuing with his work today. He considered what had happened to be just one of those things which, subsequently, had been dealt with. Asked if the Chancellor had contacted the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that he had no intention of briefing on who had or had not contacted the Prime Minister.
Asked what treatment the Prime Minister had received, the PMOS said that he was not a medical expert. However, as he understood it, he had received the appropriate treatment in the usual way, which meant being under sedation for a short period - the usual length of time being about twenty minutes from start to finish. Asked if the Prime Minister had been anaesthetised, the PMOS repeated that he had been under sedation. Asked if the Prime Minister had lost consciousness at all when he had been feeling unwell, the PMOS said no.
Asked if the Prime Minister had taken the opportunity to reflect on his future given yesterday’s events, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was getting on with being Prime Minister. His appetite for the job was the same today as it was this time last week. Asked to confirm that yesterday was the first time the Prime Minister had suffered from the medical condition in question, the PMOS said yes.
Questioned as to whether the Deputy Prime Minister had been informed about the incident yesterday, the PMOS said that the Deputy Prime Minister, the Queen and Cabinet Secretary would all have been informed of what was happening, as you would expect. Asked who would have been in charge of the country and dealt with matters of extreme importance when the Prime Minister had been under sedation, the PMOS said that the situation hadn’t arisen so the question was hypothetical. He repeated that the appropriate people had been informed about what was happening, as you would expect.
Asked if the Prime Minister had regular "chief executive-style" health checks, the PMOS said that he hadn’t asked the Prime Minister. While we were trying to be as open as we could be about what had happened and we were answering as many questions as we were able, at the same time the Prime Minister - as with everyone else - was entitled to an element of privacy regarding his medical circumstances.
Questioned as to how the incident yesterday had been made public and whether Downing Street would have kept the details quiet had it had the opportunity to do so, the PMOS said that No 10 had been preparing to issue a statement last night after the Prime Minister’s return to Downing Street when we had been contacted by the BBC half an hour before we had been in a position to release it. Asked the source of the BBC’s information, the PMOS said he didn’t know. It was a matter for the BBC. To be honest, we were surprised that the information hadn’t got out earlier than it had.
Asked if the Prime Minister had referred to yesterday’s events in his meetings this morning, the PMOS said that there was the odd joke about it. But underlying that was the fact that the condition was what it was and it was important for people to put it into perspective. It had not been a serious cardiac problem and it had been treated quickly. The Prime Minister had recovered from it completely. Asked to give journalists a flavour of the jokes that had been made, the PMOS said he thought he had reached the end of his helpfulness.
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