No 10 press office 'costs £1.4m'

No 10's press office costs up

The Downing Street press office's running costs rose by £223,458 last year to a total of £1,375,894, the Liberal Democrats say.

Treasury spokesman David Laws said the rise amounted to a 130% increase since Labour came to power in 1997.

He said that Tony Blair had "serious questions to answer" about the rise.

"I hope that the chancellor will look at the Number 10 press machine as part of his efficiency review and cut it down to size," Mr Laws added.