No. 10 to fly the flag on matchdays

No 10 Downing Street is to fly the England flag on World Cup match days.

The announcement came as it was revealed Tony Blair has written to Sven Goran Eriksson wishing the England team all the best in the World Cup.

Mr Blair's official spokesman said: "We will fly the flag on match days due to the special nature of the occasion."

Conservative leader David Cameron meanwhile arrived at the Commons on Wednesday with a St George's Cross flag fluttering from his bicycle.

On Tuesday Mr Blair said it was "ridiculous" to suggest he should not back England in the World Cup just because he was prime minister of four home nations.

"It's not insensitive to support one of the home countries in the World Cup," his spokesman reiterated on Wednesday.

Mr Blair has, thus far, not gone as far as Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell, who has attached two England flags to her official vehicle.

When Ms Jowell, who department is responsible for sport, was asked who she thought was going to win the cup, she gleefully pointed towards her ministerial vehicle, which is now bedecked in flags, to declare: "There's only one England."