» Friday, July 16, 2004
Honours
Asked for a reaction to Sir Hayden Phillips' report on the honours system which had been published today, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman reminded journalists that this report was different to that published by the Public Administration Select Committee earlier in the week. We would look carefully at the conclusions of both and issue a joint response.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Iraq/Butler Report
Asked for a reaction to the by-election result in Leicester South in which it seemed that the public had delivered a protest vote against the Government because of the war on Iraq, the PMOS said that as a Civil Servant, he was unable to comment directly on party political issues. That said, as the Prime Minister had made clear once again in his Statement this week, he recognised that people on both sides of the argument held strong views about the war. In his own opinion, the policy of containment had not been working and, post-September 11, it had become clear that the calculus of the threat had changed. He accepted that other people took a different view. However, people needed to start recognising that we had now had four inquiries which had found that the accusation that the Government had acted in bad faith did not stand up. Put to him that the voters still appeared to want to punish the Government for the war, even after four inquiries, the PMOS said the Prime Minister hoped that people's views would change as they saw progress being made in Iraq in terms of the interim Government taking charge, the continuing move towards democracy and the Iraqi-isation of the security effort. In the Iraqi Government's view, those who were carrying out acts of violence were clearly doing so against the wishes of the Iraqi people. They were determined that progress would continue. No one could deny that Iraq was better off now that it had been under Saddam.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (6)
Five Year Plans
Asked if the Prime Minister would be involved in the publication of the Home Office and Transport five year plans which were expected to come next week, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was closely involved in the development of the all the five-year plans, as you would expect.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Reshuffle
Asked if the widely anticipated reshuffle would take place over the weekend, the PMOS said that it wasn't our policy to answer reshuffle questions, as journalists were well aware.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
» Thursday, July 15, 2004
Chancellor Schroeder
Asked about the Prime Minister's meeting with Chancellor Schroeder in Downing Street this afternoon, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the two leaders met on a regular basis. It wasn't our policy to brief on their discussions.
Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Butler Report
Asked if the Prime Minister would respond to the Leader of the Opposition's letter asking him to front a debate on the Butler Report in the Commons next week, the PMOS confirmed that the letter had been received. However, since the Prime Minister was currently meeting Chancellor Schroeder, he had not yet seen it. Once the meeting had concluded, he would obviously have a look at it and respond in due course.
Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Transport Plan
Asked if the Government would set out its proposals for a piecemeal re-nationalisation of the transport system by stealth in its Transport plan, the PMOS said that the Government would publish its five-year transport plan shortly. He had no intention of pre-empting it. That said, if he was being asked about today's rail announcement, he would refer journalists to the Transport Secretary's Statement in the House.
Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Butler Report
Asked if there had been any discussion at Cabinet this morning about collective Government, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said no. Asked if the Butler Report had been discussed at all, the PMOS said no. He pointed out that one of the criticisms contained in the Report, which the media had picked up on, was the fact that some Cabinet discussions had not been prepared for properly. In the light of the fact that the Report had only been published yesterday, it was therefore entirely understandable why there had been no discussion about it at Cabinet today. In answer to further questions, the PMOS said that there were obviously implications arising from the Butler Report which we would reflect on. That would be done in a considered, rather than knee-jerk, fashion. In our view, that was the most sensible way to approach these issues.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)
Reshuffle
Asked if a reshuffle was expected tomorrow or whether journalists could safely take the day off, the PMOS said he sympathised with the journalists' predicament, but as they knew well, it wasn't our policy to respond to reshuffle questions.
Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Prime Minister’s Questions
[ Yesterday, The Prime Minister answered questions from MPs in the House of Commons. You can read and comment on his answers at TheyWorkForYou.com. ]
Briefing took place at 8:55 | 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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