Downing Street Says » 2004 » May

» Thursday, May 13, 2004

Pensions

Asked if an announcement on pensions would be made today, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that lots of discussions and good work on this issue were taking place and progress was being made. We hoped to be in a position to make an announcement within the next few days. Asked if the Prime Minister's meeting with the Chancellor yesterday would have focussed on this issue, the PMOS said that it wasn't our policy to brief on meetings between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. That said, Downing Street, the Treasury and DWP had all been involved in discussions about the pensions issue, as you would expect.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

European Constitution

Asked to comment on a reported proposal by France and Germany suggesting that only the support of twenty out of twenty five EU member states was needed to go ahead with the European Constitution, the PMOS said that he never commented on hypothetical scenarios. That said, it was not an idea that we would look upon with any particular favour.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Iraq

Asked if Adam Ingram was expected to make a substantive announcement this afternoon on the outcome of the investigation into the Mirror photos, the PMOS said that Mr Ingram would make the position as clear as he could within the constraints imposed by the ongoing investigation and the legal position. Both of those requirements obviously took precedence over everything else. Asked for a reaction to the suggestion that we had known the results of the investigation for several days, the PMOS said that the idea that we were deliberately holding anything back was false. He repeated that it was necessary for us to work within the constraints imposed by the ongoing investigation and the legal position. Asked if he was suggesting that the investigation into the Mirror pictures was still ongoing, the PMOS said that Adam Ingram would update the Commons this afternoon on the latest position. He was not going to pre-empt what he might say. Asked to clarify the constraints under which Mr Ingram was operating, the PMOS said that Mr Ingram would set out the position in more detail later today. As he understood it, the constraints related to the possibility of criminal charges, as was usual in investigations of this sort.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (10)

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