» Friday, January 11, 2008Donations
Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Peter Hain in the last 24 hours, the PMS replied that we did not brief on individual conversations that the Prime Minister had had with his Cabinet colleagues. Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Peter Hain, the PMS said yes. Asked who was responsible for donations to Mr Hain’s campaign, the PMS replied that this was a matter being looked into by the relevant bodies, but as people knew it would be inappropriate for her to comment on party donations. Put repeatedly that if Mr Hain had breached the Parliamentary rules, it would come under the Ministerial Code, the PMS said it was not for her to make those judgements and that she had nothing to add to what she had already said on this issue. Asked if the Prime Minister was happy that a person in charge of a major spending department was being accused at the very least of financial incompetence, the PMS reiterated that all of these matters were being looked into by the relevant bodies. Put that there was a new structure for possible breaches of the Ministerial Code, brought into effect as one of the new constitutional innovations by the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that she believed there was a measure related to this in the Governance of Britain document that was published in the summer and she would get back to the journalist with the details. Asked if someone was looking into whether Mr Hain had breached the Ministerial Code, the PMS said she had no information on that subject. Asked if the Prime Minister would be concerned if the Work and Pensions Secretary had endorsed companies that had made donations to his campaign, the PMS replied that that was a hypothetical question and related to party donations. Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that Peter Hain could continue doing his job while this issue was being dealt with, the PMS repeated that the Prime Minister had full confidence in Peter Hain. Asked if there were any plans for the Prime Minister to have a meeting with Mr Hain in the near future, the PMS said that there wasn’t any that she was aware of and we wouldn’t necessarily brief on meetings that the Prime Minister had with his individual Cabinet colleagues. Briefing took place at 11:00 | Search for related news Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089. Material is reproduced from the original 10 Downing Street source, but may not be the most up-to-date version of the briefings, which might be revised at the original source. Users should check with the original source in case of revisions. Comments are © Copyright contributors. Everything else is © Copyright Downing Street Says. |
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