» Tuesday, October 18, 2005Women Protesters
Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting the women protesters whose sons had been killed in Iraq, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that whilst all people who delivered a petition were free to do so, it was very unusual for the Prime Minister to meet them. Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) » Monday, October 17, 2005David Blunkett
Asked what David Blunkett's interview with Piers Morgan would contribute to the debate on welfare reform and pensions, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that was a matter for the DWP. Asked if it was wise for David Blunkett to be doing such an interview, the PMOS said it was a matter he would leave to David Blunkett and his department, it was not a matter that would detain Downing Street for long. Put to him that perhaps it would be a matter for Downing Street when we heard what came out of it the PMOS said that not only did that come under the heading of a hypothetical question but also perhaps wishful thinking on the part of the journalist. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) Iran
Asked what was the current position on Iran, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said what the Prime Minister was talking about was continuing the pressure on Iran, on both the nuclear issue and the events in Basra. The PMOS said that remained the position, and the British Government, the United States, and the E3 had a common position and that was important, and we hoped that Iran would listen to that common position. The PMOS said that as people knew, the IAEA had taken the position it had, and the matter would be discussed further at its November meeting. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) Robert Mugabe
Asked for a response to Robert Mugabe's comments comparing President Bush and the Prime Minister to Mussolini and Hitler, the PMOS said that nothing Mr Mugabe said surprised us, nor would it deflect us from our view of what was happening in Zimbabwe, which was anything other than a laughing matter. Asked if we thought it was wrong that Mr Mugabe was a guest in Rome, the PMOS said that was a matter for Rome. Put to him that we held the EU presidency, the PMOS said that last time he checked Italy was a sovereign country. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5) Retirement Age
Put to the PMOS that in Alan Johnson's interview to the Observer newspaper yesterday, he discussed raising the retirement age to 65, and did this mean the Prime Minister was "braced for a winter of strikes", the PMOS said that people should wait for the Adair Turner report to be published. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) ID Cards
Asked if there might be a ceiling cost of ID cards, the PMOS said people should wait for Charles Clarke's statement tomorrow. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) Trident
Asked where the Government stood on Trident, the PMOS said the position had not changed. There would be a decision made at some stage in this Parliament. The PMOS said the story in the Independent was wrong in that the costs were for maintaining the existing Trident and nothing else. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) Drug Use
Asked for further views about the Prime Minister's position on his own drug use/non drug use, the PMOS said that as he had said last week, the question really was about other people's contests, and it would be a mistake for not only him, but also the Government to get involved. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) Education White Paper
Asked why the Education White Paper had been delayed, the PMOS replied that this was the first false premise of the new season! It had not been delayed. Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0) » Friday, October 14, 2005Avian bird flu
On the farming and vet side the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that the Government would be clearly represented at the meeting in Brussels. The Prime Minister would get an update on that afterwards and be kept in touch with developments. On the health side there was a previously planned review of the contingency plans set to be published next week by Sir Liam Donaldson. We did not think this would change the plan radically but the review would take account of latest developments. Asked if the publication of that review meant the publications of conclusions, the PMOS said yes. The contingency plans were already published, as he understood it, in March. It was now a six-month rolling process and the next one was due on Thursday. Briefing took place at 16:00 | 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. |
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