PM ‘back at full throttle’
Prime Minister Tony Blair is 100 per cent fit and back at “full throttle” following his heart scare, Downing Street has confirmed.
Tony Blair was recovering on Monday after hospital treatment for an irregular heartbeat.
Mr Blair handed responsibility to Foreign Secretary Jack Straw to deliver a statement to the House of Commons about the European summit.
Mr Straw said of the PM’s condition: “He is in very good form and fully recovered.”
The PM held several meetings at No 10 on Monday despite instructions by doctors to rest.
Mr Blair chaired a 09:00 BST strategy meeting, held discussions with Cabinet Secretary Sir Andrew Turnbull, his deputy John Prescott, and several Labour backbenchers, as well as speaking to Irish PM Bertie Ahern by telephone.
Mr Blair is expected to fly to Northern Ireland later today should there be a breakthrough in talks on IRA disarmament.
The PM will face Iain Duncan Smith at Prime Minster’s Questions (PMQs) on Wednesday. He will speak in London on public services and later hold his regular debriefing with the Queen in the evening.
Despite the health scare, on Thursday Mr Blair will chair Cabinet and hold his televised monthly press briefing, the PM’s official spokesman confirmed.
