Downing Street Says » 2004

» Monday, July 12, 2004

Butler Report

Asked about the handling arrangements for the Butler Report on Wednesday, the PMOS said that letters had been sent to the Opposition this morning inviting them in from 6am on Wednesday to look at the Report (the same arrangements as for the Hutton Inquiry). Lord Butler had told us that he was planning to provide the Government with the final version of his Report - in the form in which it would be published - on Tuesday. As with the Hutton Inquiry, it was anticipated that Lord Butler would hold a press conference. This would take place on Wednesday. With the Speaker's permission, the Prime Minister would make a Statement a little later on in the day. This would give MPs time to read the Report themselves. Asked at what time the Prime Minister's Statement would be, the PMOS said that the details were still being finalised. Ultimately, it would depend on the timing of Lord Butler's press conference, which was a matter for Lord Butler himself.

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

UK-Italian Summit

Asked what would be discussed at the UK-Italian Summit on Tuesday, the PMOS said that this was an annual event. Last year's Summit had taken place in Rome. No doubt the issue of Iraq would be discussed, in addition to the Middle East and European matters.

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

Chancellor Schroeder

Questioned about the Prime Minister's meeting with Chancellor on Thursday, the PMOS said that the two leaders met up regularly for bilaterals, usually every six months or so. Asked if another tripartite meeting between the Prime Minister, Chancellor Schroeder and President Chirac had been planned, the PMOS said it went without saying that the Prime Minister valued his meetings with Chancellor Schroeder and President Chirac. However, he was unable to point to any specific arrangements at this stage.

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

EU Commissioner

Asked if a decision had been taken regarding the UK's EU Commissioner, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware. Asked by CNN if a decision was awaiting a Cabinet reshuffle, the PMOS congratulated the journalist on the clever way in which he had asked a reshuffle question. However, his usual rules regarding this issue would apply.

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

PM/Chancellor

Asked if it was likely that the Chancellor would remain in his post for a further five years in the light of reports today that the Prime Minister had decided to serve a full third term if elected, the PMOS said that the simple message was as follows: stories would come and stories would go. The Prime Minister believed it was his role - and indeed the Government's role - to get on with the job that the electorate expected them to do. There would always be difficult times in Government and there would always be difficult issues to be faced - whether it was Iraq, Europe or delivering on the domestic agenda. The last few weeks had shown that we were moving forward on Iraq. We were not claiming that the situation on the ground was perfect. However, it was clear that progress was being made. We had also moved forward on Europe. The Government was now involved in gradually publishing its improvement plans for our public services, which today's CSR would make possible. That showed that the Government was getting on with the job of doing what it had been elected to do - and, in the Prime Minister's view, that was what people should focus on. Stories would come and they would go. In the meantime, he was getting on with his job.

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

» Friday, July 9, 2004

PM/Sport Relief

The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister was hosting an event at Chequers today in aid of BBC Sport Relief in which he would be taking part in a 1 mile run with local school children. Sir Steven Redgrave, Colin Jackson and Chris Moyles, the Radio 1 DJ, would also be participating. Asked if the Prime Minister had been given the all clear by his doctor to take part in the run, the PMS said the fact that he was doing it showed that there wasn't a need for anything like that.

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

Butler Report

Asked again about handling arrangements for the publication of the Butler Report, the PMS said that we would let people know the arrangements at the appropriate time. The Report was not due for another few days and it would therefore be improper to get drawn into a discussion about processology at this stage. Asked if letters would be sent to those who had been criticised in the Report to warn them that they had been censured, the PMS said that that was a matter for the Inquiry team, not Downing Street. Questioned as to whether any member of the Government had received such a letter from the Inquiry, the PMS said that we had been careful from the outset not to comment on the Inquiry's proceedings. We had no intention of starting today.

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

Statistics

Asked Downing Street's reaction to the recommendation set out in the Statistics Commission's annual report suggesting the withdrawal of the practice of giving Ministers five days to preview forthcoming statistics because of the fear of political manipulation, the PMS said that she hadn't seen the report as yet, and was therefore unable to comment in detail on it. That said, in her experience, statisticians were very protective of their data, and therefore the figures that were published were those which had been collated in the first instance.

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

» Thursday, July 8, 2004

Rebate

Asked the Prime Minister's reaction to the European Commission's proposal to end the UK's budget rebate, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that since the Commission had yet to publish its proposal, it would not be helpful to comment on it directly. That said, while it was clear that the UK had grown more prosperous over the last ten years or so, we continued to believe that the rebate was fully justifiable because distortions in expenditure - as a result of policies, such as CAP - still remained. Moreover, under the terms of the EU Treaty, any change to the rebate would have to be passed unanimously. This meant that it would give us the chance to veto any proposal to end the scheme. Asked if he was indicating that any changes which were made to the CAP would open up discussions on the rebate, the PMOS pointed out this was a eighteen-month process in any event. He repeated that our position on the rebate had not changed. Pressed as to whether the position might change in the future should changes be made to the policy on CAP, the PMOS said he did not think it would be helpful to get drawn into a discussion about hypothetical scenarios. He repeated that our position had not changed.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi

Asked if the fact that the Met Police had been sent a file to the CPS on Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi was significant in any way, the PMOS said that if there were legal processes under way, it would be foolish for him or anyone else to comment on them.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

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» Monday, July 12, 2004

Butler Report

UK-Italian Summit

Chancellor Schroeder

EU Commissioner

PM/Chancellor

» Friday, July 9, 2004

PM/Sport Relief

Butler Report

Statistics

» Thursday, July 8, 2004

Rebate

Dr Yusuf Al-Qaradawi

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