Downing Street Says » 2005

» Friday, June 17, 2005

G8

Asked about the G8 communiqué on climate change, the PMS reminded journalists that firstly she didn't usually comment on leaked documents and secondly this document had been a draft. We were three weeks away from the G8 meeting. The most important communiqué would come out of that meeting and we should wait for that. Asked about the details of the draft documents, the PMS said there would be many drafts around, that was the nature of a draft document.

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

» Thursday, June 16, 2005

Prime Minister Summons

Asked if there was any information on an alleged summons being served on the Prime Minister to appear at Weymouth County Court on Tuesday next week in the case of a woman refusing to pay part of her tax bill following the death of her son-in-law in Iraq, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said she knew nothing about the issue.

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

EU Finance

Asked how long the EU Council meeting was likely to go on for, the PMOS asked if the question was trying to determine how many shirts he'd packed! The PMOS said the honest answer was they were not going to have a sense of how long this summit was going to be until tomorrow afternoon. As the Prime Minister said in Paris, our assessment remained that it looked difficult. The PMOS said that the sensible, but not necessarily the easiest thing to do, was to wait and see where we were tomorrow on the financing issue. With regards the Constitution, our sense was of the growing acceptance that the sensible way forward was to have a pause for reflection. Again, however, we would listen to the discussions tonight in Brussels.

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

ID Cards

Asked why Charles Clarke was so confident that the cost of the ID cards would be nearer £93, bearing in mind the track record of government computer projects, rather than the £300 that had been projected by the LSE, the PMOS said that because there had been problems regarding certain computer systems, people should not assume therefore that there were problems with this particular system. As Charles Clarke said, the important thing was that we had not been in the position, as we had not been supplied with the figures, to be able to examine the LSE figure in detail. The figures, however, that Charles Clarke had used were the result of intensive work that was done in the Home Office. Therefore, people should not assume they were comparing like with like.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (13)

» Wednesday, June 15, 2005

EU-Common Agricultural Policy

Asked if the Government still believed, as it had stated after the CAP deal, that there had been significant progress on the issue of CAP reform, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that before 2002 CAP had absorbed something like 70% of the EU budget, it now absorbed 40% of the EU budget, so there had been progress. The Prime Minister said in the House on the 20 October 2002 that the important thing was that as a result of that outcome, enlargement remained on-track and fundamental CAP reform remained on the agenda. He hadn't said that fundamental CAP reform had been achieved, he had said it remained on the agenda. The important thing was that we had kept it on the agenda and we continued to keep it on the agenda. We didn't do that for dogmatic reasons, we do it because we believed that the current budget didn't address the needs of Europe in the 21st Century and therefore it needed to be adapted to do so. Asked if the Government still believed that France had made a dramatic shift on the issue, the PMOS said that that a drop of around 30% in the proportion of money spent on CAP was dramatic. In saying that it wasn't the completion of the process of reform. It was matter of getting what progress you could, when you could get it in an organisation which worked on a consensus, as the EU did. Anyone could stand on the sidelines and say all sorts of things, but you could only achieve progress in the EU through consensus. Asked what sort of figure we would be looking to end up at, the PMOS said that as he had said this morning, you started from an assessment of the needs of the EU and then you moved forward from that assessment. The important thing was that you didn't have an artificial figure, but a figure based on an assessment and comparison between different needs. Asked when he expected progress to be made, the PMOS said that these sorts of negotiations tended to take on a life of their own and he was sure this would be no exception. He would not give a running commentary.

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

G8 Protestors

Asked why people would not be allowed to march in protest outside the G8 summit in Gleneagles, the PMOS said that people were entitled to legitimate protest. The question was about the judgement from the police about where that could be safely done. That was a matter on which we would act on the operational advice of the police.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

Sir Gus O’Donnell

The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMOS) announced to journalists that Sir Gus O'Donnell had been appointed as Cabinet Secretary, following an internal competition, handled on the advice of Sir Andrew Turnbull, as well as input, as was normal from the first Civil Service Commissioner. The Prime Minister had agreed the shortlist, as recommended by Sir Andrew, which was Sir Nigel Crisp from the Department of Health, Sir John Gieve from the Home Office, Sir David Normington from the Department for Education and Sir Gus O'Donnell from the Treasury. They were all interviewed by the Prime Minister, before he made a final decision. Sir Andrew will retired this summer, and Sir Gus's salary would be determined by an independent renumeration committee, chaired by the chairman of the Senior Salaries Reumeration Body.

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

EU Finance

Asked if we were expecting more proposals to come out of either the Luxembourg or Brussels meetings, the PMOS said that was a matter for the Presidency. Our working assumption was that we would not receive any further proposals today, but rather that we would find out from the Council if the Presidency had new proposals to put out.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

» Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Honours Committees Chairmen

Asked where the meetings would be based, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said she did not know. Advertisements for committee members would be advertised soon.

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

EU Rebate

Asked if there were any further thoughts on Peter Mandelson's speech and his comments regarding the EU rebate, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said there were not. Mr. Mandelson was the EU Commissioner and had set out his views, as had the Prime Minister.

Asked whether we recognised that the two views were very similar, the PMS said she would not comment on what was happening in Europe today. It would be better for people to wait for comments the Prime Minister later.

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

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» Friday, June 17, 2005

G8

» Thursday, June 16, 2005

Prime Minister Summons

EU Finance

ID Cards

» Wednesday, June 15, 2005

EU-Common Agricultural Policy

G8 Protestors

Sir Gus O’Donnell

EU Finance

» Tuesday, June 14, 2005

Honours Committees Chairmen

EU Rebate

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