Join Matthew Tempest for minute-by-minute coverage of Gordon Brown's first monthly meeting with the ladies and gentlemen of the press from 11am.
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10am
Hello and welcome to coverage of Gordon Brown's monthly press conference. He takes to the podium at 11am, having visited some of the areas affected by floods this morning.
Those who have read our live coverage of Tony Blair's pressers over the past three or four years will know that the former prime minister was a master of getting through the whole hour without giving a story away - often by bemusing reporters with a lengthy PowerPoint presentation to begin with.
Mr Brown promised to keep up the tradition of press conferences that he inherited from Mr Blair - although he said they will not necessarily be monthly - as well as the twice-yearly grilling by the select committee chairs.
Today is the first of those press conferences, inevitably to be dominated by the floods, but also quite likely to take in the possibility of an early general election on the back of the two byelection successes last Friday, the Turkish general election, the housing green paper (out this afternoon), the drugs review (this week), the tube's PPP problems, rising interest rates, and anything else before parliament breaks for the summer recess at the end of the week.
Mr Brown's early performances at PMQs have been a mixed - major policy announcements on supercasinos and cannabis classification, but he has also been caught out by David Cameron on issues like Hizb-ut-Tahrir, NHS closures and prisoners' early release.
It will be interesting to see how he copes with an hour of Fleet Street's finest.
11am
A few minutes' delay, in case you're wondering why it hasn't started.
There are two podiums set up, which suggests the environment secretary, Hilary Benn, may also be present.
CORRECT. Mr Brown is joined by Mr Benn. The PM begins with a some words on the flooding - additional funds have been made available, but "every advanced industrial coutnry is learning that we have to adapt to new ways of doing things", says Mr Brown of the floods.
Nick Robinson gets the first question. "You had plenty of warning ... are you confident everything was as ready as it should have been?"
Mr Brown parries that by saying the emergency services are doing a great job. In each set of circumstances where questions have been asked, answers have been given, he goes on, saying flood barriers stranded on a motorway wouldn't have made much difference, but that efforts now are protecting a power station that's threatened.
He quickly points to climate change as one of the factors in this emergency, and says the country still relies heavily on a Victorian infrastructure.
Hilary Benn points out this is an ongoing emergency, with nine flood warnings, and advises people to stay tuned to alerts through the media and hotline. "Do not go into the water, and look out for your neighbours and especially the elderly."
"We are tightening up the advice on new building," says Mr Brown to a specific question about building new homes on flood plains - if there is a question, the Environment Agency will have a say on potentially problematic flood plains. The advice was tightened up in 2000 and 2006, and will be tightened up again, says the PM.
11.10am
Sky's Adam Boulton picks up on the climate change reference, to ask what scientific advice has been given to the PM, and whether floods funding had been cut.
"We had a month's rainfall in a couple of hours, Adam," replies Mr Brown, before going on to say there will be longer term questions to be dealt with.
"There was no budget moving forward by the Environment Agency that was in any way handicapped," says the PM, saying their flood defence budget had now been raised to £800m.
"The investment is moving up and will continue to move up in the future."
11.15am
If the flood defences were inadequate, then surely there wasn't enough money, says Channel Five News.
No, I'm saying that every advanced nation will face these challenges, and there will be a review, says Mr Brown - and the flood budget doubled from £300m to £600m, and now to £800m, and if more is needed, we will look at that, says the PM.
Gary Gibbon of Channel 4 gets the first non-flood question - does Mr Brown have any "distaste" for the lenders in the cash-for-honours saga. Mr Brown quickly points to the Philip Hayden review into party funding, which will be fundamental. That will give us a better political funding system, but it needs all parties to cooperate, he says.
The Sun's George Pascoe-Watson asks: now you've been doing the job for four weeks, do you enjoy it? "There's a new challenge every day," smiles Mr Brown - pointing to the floods, to Russia, the bomb attempts in London and Glasgow.
And he also points to the announcement later today on housing from Yvette Cooper.
The Mirror's Oonagh Blackman asks if the army is stretched by being across Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as helping out in the UK flood crisis?
Mr Brown looks at his notes for the first time - before pointing out £750m has been made available for more military hardware in Iraq and Afghanistan.
11.20am
Mr Brown is asked if he agrees with Lord Levy that Hamas acts as a barrier to prevent people joining al-Qaida, and therefore it's best to engage with Hamas?
The PM says his government will do whatever it can to help the new Middle East envoy - Tony Blair, especially on economic measures and development. "We look forward to Hamas renouncing violence and accepting the state of Israel," he adds.
Iran next - and a reporter reveals that Mr Brown will travel to Washington next week (you're not supposed to do that). Mr Brown merely confirms he will meet president Bush shortly. The UK will work with the other powers to demonstrate to Iran that it's not acceptable to work towards nuclear weapons. Sanctions are having some effect, he says, but the UN might take action soon to strengthen them.
An Australian reporter returns to the floods, to ask if Mr Brown is categorically stating man made climate change is to blame for the floods? He goes on to ask about the Australian police questioning of a man down under, but adds that Mr Brown probably can't comment on ongoing criminal cases.
Mr Brown jokes that that is correct - he can', and compliments the reporter on answering his own question. Before handing over to Mr Benn on floods, who says the review will look at the future placing of infrastructure and the coordination of the emergency services - whom he thanks again.
11.25am
Mr Benn says the scientific consensus is that the climate is changing, and manmade activity is contributing to that. "The world will have to come to terms with more extreme weather," he says.
Another question on the Middle East: Will you push president Bush on the two-state solution?
Mr Brown says the president has been "consistent" on that, before looking to the actions of the Quartet. "But it's essential to have an economic roadmap underpinning the political roadmap," the PM goes on.
An Indian reporter asks about UK-India relations, and about Europe's "backlash" against globalisation.
Mr Brown points to his recent trip to India, and says there will be an "Anglo-Indian dialogue" in the next few months.
On globalisation, he points to a banner he saw at a Washington IMF meeting "Worldwide campaign against globalisation", which points out the paradoxes. We've got to show that globalisation will benefit the vast majority of people, he says.
Surely it's "extremely unwise" to build on the Thames Gateway, asks one reporter? That will be subject to the new tighter rules from the Environment Agency, says Mr Brown, as well as pointing out that existing cities on flood plains, such as York, need more flood defences too
11.30am
France 24 asks is Mr Brown will ever introduce the euro? And how will he convince Europe he is pro-European?
"I think everyone knows we made a difficult decision on the euro," he says, but it wasn't "the right time or the right circumstances".
We continue to review that but it's fair to say we do not intend to join at this stage, he goes on, saying he has always been "pro European", but the EU needs to see itself as part of the globalised economy.
It's got to be outward-looking, "open not closed".
A German reporter asks about the "conflict" with Russia - when will it be resolved, and was he happy with the EU support?
Mr Brown praises both Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel's response, before adding "we cannot tolerate the situation" where one man was assassinated and others put at risk, without being able to extradite the chief suspect.
"Will you rule out a strike against Iran," asks an Israeli reporter. "I firmly believe sanctions can work," says Mr Brown, but refuses to rule out any option. There will soon be a third [UN] resolution on sanctions, he adds.
Daily Record asks about Mr Brown's meeting with Alex Salmond last week - "Is he a man you can do with business with?" I look forward to working with him, his ministers and the Welsh administration to make sure the UK is stable and prosperous, Mr Brown stonewalls.
"What's surprised me the most in three weeks about being prime minister is the new challenge ... meaning you miss some of the sporting events you intended to watch." He mentions Wimbledon and the Tour de France in particular, as well as the new football season.
"Cabinet government is a discussion then reaching a conclusion," parries Mr Brown to a Newsnight question about whether cabinet can now overrule him.
11.40am
CNN asks if Mr Brown would "countenance" Mr Blair meeting Hamas before they renounce violence and recognise Israel? And does he back the independence of Kosovo, despite Russia?
"I want Russia to also back the independence of Kosovo" replies Mr Brown. He says Mr Blair will first be meeting the Palestinian Authority.
An American reporter asks what else will be on the agenda for the Bush meeting? Is the US doing enough to back up its G8 position on climate change?
"I meet him [George Bush] a few weeks ago when I was in America," begins Mr Brown, and looks forward to meeting him again, and says the Americans recognise that a post-2012 agreement on climate change is important for the whole world.
A reporter for the Scotsman asks if Mr Brown will review the Barnett formula in his comprehensive spending review? It's "well tested and tried" and he expects it will form the basis of public expenditure, the PM says.
Mr Brown is asked why more Muslim plots against the state have happened in the UK than USA - is that multiculturalism rather than the melting pot, she asks? The PM says he will be making a security statement on Wednesday, but the issue is how you separate the mainstream majority from the extremists.
But he won't comment on the Glasgow/London cases. Mr Brown quotes Lord West that this is a "long process".
11.45am
A reporter asks for a reaction about the quote from the president of Sudan saying that Mr Brown and president Bush have been "lying" about the situation in Darfur.
"[This] is one of the greatest humanitarian tragedies of our time," says Mr Brown - 2 million displaced, 200,000 already dead, and many more potentially starving and dependent on aid. He hopes there will be a new UN resolution in the next few days. We're prepared to impose more sanctions on the regime, he goes on.
What's Mr Brown reaction to the Turkish election? Mr Brown has already spoken to the new PM and the foreign secretary has sent good wishes. He hopes Turkey will continue its programme of reform, he adds.
Colin Brown from the Independent harks back to the use of UK airports for extraordinary rendition - "a report will be published in the next few days", says the PM.
He is also asked id the US and UK are no longer "joined at the hip". The relationship between a PM and a president should be a strong one, replies Mr Brown.
A tricky question: "How do you define extremism"? I mean those people who preach or practise terrorism, and who call for attacks on Israel, the UK and the US says Mr Brown.
We've got to convince the young people who listen to those preachers to support the mainstream position, he goes on, and that will require periodicals and education.
11.50am
Mr Brown warns that there is a danger of the world relapsing into protectionism if there's no new WTO deal.
Perhaps one shouldn't read too much into it, but the BBC, Sky and Bloomberg have now all cut away from Mr Brown's live press conference. It's webcast live here on the Number 10 website, however.
The Herald's Catherine MacLeod asks where segregated faith schools sit in a new vision of Britishness? "We've always had faith schools in Britain," begins Mr Brown. Ms MacLeod is trying to get the PM to say he'll revisit this Blair decision too, but he stops short of that. We've had them for centuries, says Mr Brown, and Britain has always championed fairness and responsibility.
11.50am
The Gloucester Citizen reporter asks about a National Audit Office report saying only around 18% of flood defences were up to scratch - why wasn't more spent earlier?
Mr Brown says it's a shame that the two of them didn't meet in Gloucester, but says funding was increased between 1997 and 2007 and will be increased again by 2010.
The PM keeps complimenting the reporter on coming all the way from Gloucester - but I suspect he's a lobby journalist who covers the Gloucester papers among others.
"I've nothing but praise for the people of Gloucester and the emergency services," says Mr Brown. There will be a grant to the local authority, he adds.
A Chinese reporter asks a pretty open question - how do you see the future of UK-China relations? But follows it up with particular question on perhaps lifting an embargo on military hardware to China.
The PM points to the number of Chinese students in UK universities, and the fact that the 2008 Olympics in Beijing will also trigger a cultural Olympiad between the two nations. "And I hope to meet premier Hu soon".
Israel radio asks about the rise of anti-semitism in the UK - and about a friend who was restricted to one piece of hand baggage on flying out of the UK, uniquely he claims.
That's a result of the events of 2005 says Mr Brown (I think he means 2006) of the restrictions.
Midday
Three more questions. Is Mr Brown concerned about economic knock-ons of the spat with Russia? We're working constructively elsewhere, but we cannot stand by when a UK citizen is assassinated on our streets and we identify a suspect.
A Polish TV reporter asks about the new EU treaty/constitution. Mr Brown points to the red lines the UK government successfully argued for at the most recent summit. "The constitutional concept ... has been abandoned," he insists.
"We want the EU to work better and that's why we accept the need for an amending treaty."
The Guardian's Patrick Wintour: "Are you a moralist killjoy?" In light of supercasinos and cannabis, will you do a U-turn on 24 hour drinking? Mr Brown points out he's been in London 20 odd years, and he quotes Mark Twain, saying: "This is no place for a puritan...and I did not long remain one."
Quite a good joke. But Mr Brown says he has looked at the evidence, and that while there has been a small increase in arrests between 3am and 6am, and very few pubs open all night long.
Let's look at the evidence in the longer run - the legislation has only been up and running for two years.
Two final questions. Joe Murphy of the Evening Standard asks how long Mr Brown wants to be PM - "as long as the last one"?
"I'm just here to do the job," replies Mr Brown, before pointing to his housing and education priorities.
12.10pm
The final questioner has disappeared - or had their question answered - so Mr Brown thanks everyone and departs.
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