Downing Street Says

Asked if the Prime Minister was likely to say anything today about the Icelandic bank situation, the Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister would do media during the course of today; whether or not he said anything about Iceland depended on whether or not he was asked a question about it.

Put that the pound had dropped this morning due to the situation with Iceland and asked if the Prime Minister was reconsidering his words about Iceland last night, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made clear, as was the case, that the behaviour of the Icelandic authorities had been unacceptable. We had found it very difficult to get information from them and they had indicated that they would give preferential treatment to domestic creditors over foreign creditors. We had always made it clear that we wanted to work constructively with the Icelandic Government. We took the action we did in order to protect UK creditors in the light of the Icelandic response, but we wanted to work constructively and cooperatively with them, which was why there was a Treasury delegation in Reykjavik today.

Asked if there had been a breakthrough with the Icelandic Government in the last few hours, the PMS said that in the last period of time it had been possible to discuss these matters with the Icelandic authorities, which had proved difficult previously. The Chancellor spoke to the Icelandic Prime Minister yesterday and there was a delegation of Treasury officials in Iceland today.

Asked if there were plans for further discussions today, the PMS said that the main discussion taking place today was between the Treasury delegation and the relevant Icelandic officials.

Asked how long the Treasury delegation would be in Iceland for and if a statement would be put out, the PMS said that it was a delegation of officials, not Ministers, so therefore there would not be any public statements from them. It was best to stay in touch with the Treasury in terms going forward after these meetings.

Put that Japan had offered to host a G8 meeting on the global economic crisis, the PMS said that we stood ready to have a meeting at any time, as and when it suited other world leaders.

Asked on the progress of discussions between the Treasury and banks regarding recapitalisation, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to the Treasury about the discussions they were having with banks.

Asked if tax relief for charities could be an option in order to help them through the current difficulties, the PMS said that we understood the issues relating to charities, particularly those who had deposits in the Icelandic bank that had gone under. That was why the City Minister would be meeting representatives of the charity sector today.

Asked about guaranteeing any deposits in Icelandic banks made by charities, the PMS said that it was best to discuss the specifics with the Treasury.

Asked if there was any comment on the renewed plunge in the Stock Market today, the PMS said that it was clear we were going through a period of volatility in global financial markets. We were clear that the package we announced on Wednesday was about putting in place the foundations for a reform of our financial system to help the UK get through this. As the Prime Minister had said in his article in The Times and as the Chancellor had said in his article in the Financial Times, the key next step was to intensify international cooperation and to try and find a global solution to what is a global problem. The Chancellor would be discussing these issues with his Finance Minister colleagues in Washington today.

Asked if the Chancellor would be selling the British plan, the PMS said that each country would want to tailor the precise response to its particular national circumstances however, as the Prime Minister said in his article today, the approach we had taken in Britain could form a good basis for an international response.

Asked if there were any plans to call in the Icelandic Ambassador, the PMS said that he was not aware of any plans to do so.

1 Comment »

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post.

Post a public comment

Name (required)
E-mail (required)
(You must give an email address, but it will not be displayed to the public.)
Website
(You may give your website, and it will be displayed to the public.)

Comments:

This is not a way of contacting the Prime Minister. If you would like to contact the Prime Minister, go to the 10 Downing Street official site.

Privacy note: Shortly after posting, your name and comment will be displayed on the site. This means that people searching for your name on the Internet will be able to find and read your comment.

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.

» Friday, October 10, 2008

Economy

1 Comment »

Post a public comment

Search

Supported by

Recent Briefings

Archives

Links

Syndicate (RSS/XML)

Credits

Enquiries