Downing Street Says » 2004 » December

» Friday, December 10, 2004

Media Coverage/Black Watch

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with General Sir Michael Walker's recent comments that media coverage to the Black Watch deployment might have put them at risk, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that General Walker was making the point that for reasons of operational security, people should be careful about what we said about military deployments. Any speculation about timings and movements could put troops in danger.

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

OPEC

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that OPEC may cut oil supplies, the PMS said she was not aware of the story, and until she had seen it, would prefer not to comment.

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

Soap Opera

Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to appear in a popular soap opera this Christmas, and if so, which one, the PMS said she was not aware of plans for him to do so.

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

Postal Ballots

Asked if the Government was going to go ahead with postal ballots for local elections next year, the PMS replied that it was up to the local authorities to decide if they would use postal ballots in their areas. Our view was that the postal ballots that had been used this year in the regional referendum and the European Elections showed that people were very interested in this, and that the turn out had increased. We were very keen that people took part in the democratic process, and postal balloting which had taken place this year showed it was popular.

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

Schroeder Dinner

Asked what was on the agenda for the Prime Minister's dinner with Chancellor Schroeder on Tuesday, the PMS said it would be better to wait until nearer the time.

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

Burglar/Prosecution Figures

Asked if the Prime Minister knew how many people were prosecuted each year for injuring or "shooting dead" burglars, and did he have any idea how widespread the problem was, the PMS said she did not have the figures, and advised the journalist to ask the Home Office.

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

Northern Ireland

Asked if the Prime Minister had held any further conversations with any of the parties involved in the Northern Ireland talks earlier this week, the PMS said she was not aware of any recent discussions. As her colleague had said yesterday, discussions were continuing, and we were at the stage where it would be better for those discussions to continue in private.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | 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.