» Monday, July 5, 2004
EU Commissioner
Asked if a decision had been made on Britain's new EU Commissioner, the PMOS said no. As we had been underlining consistently, a decision did not have to be made until the end of July.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Iraq/Saudi Arabia
Asked for a reaction to claims made by Britons held in Saudi Arabia that the Government had dragged its feet and used them as political pawns in the run up to the war in Iraq, the PMOS said that he was unable to brief on the discussions which had been had at the time because they were confidential. Nevertheless, he could say that he did not recognise the version of events that had been presented. Asked if he was implying that the claims were untrue, the PMOS said that the discussions about the detainees had been held in their own right. In the end, it was the outcome which was important.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Butler Report
Asked how the Government was intending to respond to the Butler Report, the PMOS said that the Inquiry team was aiming to present its findings on 14 July. At this point, it was premature to engage in a processological discussion about how the Report would be published. Asked if the Government had yet to receive the Report, the PMOS said he had no intention of getting drawn into a discussion about processology. We were still some days away from publication. If we had anything further to say, we would say it. Asked if the Opposition parties would be given the opportunity to see the Report in advance, despite the fact that they had boycotted the Inquiry, the PMOS said that these issues would be discussed through the normal channels, as you would expect. He was not going to pre-empt what the outcome might be.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)
» Friday, July 2, 2004
Iraq
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Ann Clwyd's view that it would have been better to try Saddam Hussein at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister was satisfied with the current arrangements. Saddam was being tried in Iraq by the Iraqi people. Put to her that the judicial process would have more legitimacy if the judge in Iraq had not been handpicked by the US, the PMS repeated that we were happy with the arrangements as they stood.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)
Europe
Asked for a reaction to Romano Prodi's comment that the UK's rebate belonged to a different period of European history, the PMS said that she hadn't seen Mr Prodi's remarks. That said, the position on Britain's EU rebate had not changed.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Stop and Search
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the latest statistics which showed a rise in the number of Asians who had been targeted by police under the Government's stop-and-search policy, the PMS said that both Hazel Blears and Baroness Scotland had been expressing the views of the Prime Minister and the Government on this issue this morning. Our commitment to race equality was as strong as ever. The imbalance illustrated by the figures today was unacceptable. That was why the Home Office had decided to set up a new unit - the Stop and Search Action Team - which would look at how the powers were used. It would also work with police forces to address the concerns around this policy. Put to her that the police had pointed out that the increase was due to the fact that they had been instructed to do what they could to avoid terrorist actions in the UK, the PMS acknowledged that the powers under the Terrorism Act were linked in with today's figures. However, it was important to recognise that they were dealt with in a different way to stop-and-search powers. For example, section 44 of the Terrorism Act stated that permission had to be granted by a Chief Police Officer before an arrest was made in a specific operation that had been undertaken.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Terrorism
Asked if the Government perceived a renewed terror threat from Al Qaida to be credible and if so what extra measures would be taken to protect the UK, the PMS said that it wasn't our policy to discuss security issues. It went without saying that the terror threat was kept under review and we obviously took all the necessary measures to try to ensure that the country was protected.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Iran
Asked if we were any further forward on the return of our boats and navigation equipment which Iran had confiscated when the eight British servicemen had been detained, the PMS said that discussions about this issue were continuing at Diplomatic level.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Guantanamo Bay
Asked if the US Supreme Court decision on the detainees on Guantanamo Bay meant that the British detainees would be released, the PMS said that discussions between the UK and the US were continuing.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
» Thursday, July 1, 2004
Iraq
Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
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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