Prime Minister briefed on Hearts' flying start

DARREN JOHNSTONE

WORD of Hearts' unblemished start in the SPL has reached Number 10 Downing Street with Prime Minister Tony Blair intrigued by developments north of the border.

Retired Labour MP George Foulkes, who is now a member of the House of Lords, became engaged in a conversation with the most powerful man in Britain about Hearts earlier this week.

Foulkes was at his party's annual conference in Brighton when Blair commented on George Burley's outfit who have won their opening eight games in the top-flight to open up a five point lead over Celtic at the summit. Chancellor Gordon Brown, an avid Raith Rovers supporter, has already quizzed colleague Foulkes about Hearts' blistering start to the campaign.

Foulkes said: "I have been at the Labour Party Conference in Brighton but I'm actually back in London now. Over the past couple of days I have spoken to dozens of MPs and Peers and all of them are talking about Hearts. When I was walking along the corridor, I actually bumped into the Prime Minister and I told him he made a great speech.

"He then turned around to me and said 'that's a great start your team has made'. It's great that Hearts' profile is getting better by the day."

Meanwhile, Foulkes has revealed plans to redevelop Tynecastle have moved a step closer following a 'very useful' meeting involving Edinburgh City Council officials.

He said: "We had a meeting with the council and other parties on Monday and it proved very useful.

"There are going to be various other meetings coming up and we will sit down at the end of October to review everything."

Taken from the Scotsman