Blair may start 'White House' TV briefings

Tony Blair today opened the way for White House-style daily briefings on live television.

The Prime Minister ordered a review into the move which could see his official spokesman defending Government policy and fielding media questions in full view for the first time.

Downing Street said Mr Blair was open-minded but made clear he is keen to study the idea as a way of improving public trust in Government claims of success and denials about scandals.

Broadcasts would be bound to be carried live on many channels, giving unedited access to official messages for the first time and become a mainstay of the evening news.

Mr Blair also gave the review group the task of deciding other changes to daily briefings and considering whether Cabinet Ministers should conduct more live press conferences to rebuild good relations with the public.

And he wants the group, which includes PR professionals and journalists as well as Government spokesmen, to examine how the media handle political controversies to find ways of making coverage less "adversarial".

The plan is part of sweeping reforms to the Government media machine which will see Alastair Campbell's unprecedented powers to give orders to civil servants abolished.

David Hill, the new director of communications at Number 10, will not be given the same powers when he takes up his post. Moreover, former Labour press chief Mr Hill will work alongside a top civil servant appointed to protect the civil service from charges of bias.

The Prime Minister hopes the dramatic reshaping of Whitehall's media machine will help convince voters he has finally ended the turbulent years in which spin doctors were seen to have undue influence in Whitehall.

He was accepting, in full, recommendations of a review group made up of senior journalists, government spokesmen and public relations professionals including Mr Hill himself.

The group's aim is to make clear that political appointees such as Mr Hill should not be in complete command of the multi-billion-pound, taxpayerfunded government communications machine.

Instead it will be headed by a new permanent secretary based in the Cabinet Office. Mr Hill will be on an equal footing with the Prime Minister's official spokesman, a civil servant.

In practice, Mr Hill's authority will probably depend on how closely he is seen to work with the Prime Minister. But he is regarded as a straight-talker who will be keen to avoid controversy.