The Prime Minister was accompanied by his sons as well his wife when he flew out to the Beijing Olympics yesterday, the first time that he has taken all the family on an official trip.

The boys were very excited, he said: John, 4, had been watching the Olympics on television, and Fraser, 2, was thrilled at getting on an aircraft. Sources made clear that Mr Brown and his wife, Sarah, were meeting the costs of their sons’ travel personally.

Some Labour strategists have urged Mr Brown to follow David Cameron in appearing in family shots for the press. But sources made clear that the Browns remained reluctant to have their children photographed.

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