Downing Street Says » 2006

» Thursday, February 16, 2006

Prime Minister’s visit to Germany

Asked for further details about the reasons for the Prime Minister's visit to Germany tonight, as they had spoken quite a few times on the phone, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that Chancellor Merkel and ourselves were very keen to maintain regular contact, not only at official level, but also at the level of Chancellor and Prime Minister. People would see that this was a routine process. Secondly, inevitably, Chancellor Merkel's first visit to London was in the immediate aftermath of her becoming Chancellor, as well as being in the run-up to the European Council, so EU Council business had dominated. There would be continued discussions of EU matters, but other issues had since come to the fore, not least Iran, which would be a dominant issue. The PMOS said other issues likely to be discussed were also the election of Hamas, amongst others. There would be a fair degree of emphasis on the international perspective.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

ISTC Meeting

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister and Patricia Hewitt had met with NHS Independent Sector Treatment (ISTC) Providers this morning. The purpose of the meeting had been to highlight the Providers' role in improving healthcare, slashing waiting lists, increasing diversity and choice for patients, and sharing and spreading knowledge from the private to the public sector. Waiting lists were currently at their lowest level since records had begun, not least because the Independent Sector Providers had provided around a quarter of a million operations and scans for NHS patients. NHS Treatment Centres had also provided around another quarter of a million treatments to date. The PMOS reminded journalists that many had doubted that the programme would succeed when it had been launched, predicting that "it was the end of the NHS as we know it". Today's meeting was about showing that ISTC Providers were a vital part of the NHS.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

CSR

Asked for further clarification about Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), and why was it discussed at Cabinet, the PMOS said that we had a fundamental review coming up, and therefore, it was setting the parameters for that review. It had already been discussed in Cabinet, and this was just a further development of that discussion. The discussion also was about agreeing the parameters of how it would work, and our relationship with the Treasury and other departments.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

DC Oake

Asked why no medal was being awarded to DC Stephen Oake, who had been murdered during a police raid on a flat in Manchester in 2003, the PMOS said that it would be wrong of him to comment on individual nominations for gallantry awards, just as it would be wrong of him to comment on nominations for the bi-annual conferral of Honours. He reminded journalists of the process for receiving a gallantry award: Chief Constables submitted nominations to the Home Office. These were considered on their merits, with professional advice coming from Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary (HMIC). Recommendations then went to the George Cross Committee in the Cabinet Office, comprising officials, not politicians. That Committee would then put forward its recommendations, which the Prime Minister would formally submit to HM Queen. There was no input into the process from the Prime Minister.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (6)

Terrorism Bill

Asked if the Prime Minister was intending to proscribe radical Islamic organisations which were currently allowed to exist, the PMOS pointed out that the Bill had not yet completed its passage through Parliament. Once that had been done, the Home Office would need to identify the implications and apply the various measures where necessary.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Smoking

Asked when the Prime Minister was expecting a smoking ban to be introduced, the PMOS said that the Bill had yet to complete its journey through Parliament. As he had said yesterday, once that had been done there would be no delay in its implementation. Asked if the Chancellor had suggested that there should be a delay, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any such proposal. Questioned as to when the implementation of the Bill might be expected, the PMOS referred journalists to the Department of Health for a response.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

Sudan-Darfur

Asked if there were any proposals on what to do next to deal with the situation in Darfur, the PMOS said that the Foreign Secretary had made a speech about Darfur earlier this week in Nigeria in which he had urged the parties in the dispute to speed up their negotiations. He had also urged the UN to increase its role. The International Development Secretary, Hilary Benn, was also closely involved in the process and would announce details of his continuing involvement shortly.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Lords Reform

Asked if Cabinet had discussed the issue of Lords reform today, the PMOS said no. Questioned about Baroness Amos's opinions, the PMOS said that Baroness Amos had expressed her views. That was a matter for her. Asked if the Prime Minister had lost his appetite for Lords reform, the PMOS said that discussions about the issue were continuing.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

» Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Glorification of Terror

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that the Prime Minister had wanted Parliament to send a clear signal of its determination to counter terrorism and send a clear signal not only to the courts and the police but also to those who would try to incite or encourage terrorism either directly or indirectly. The Prime Minister believed that the vote this afternoon had sent that very clear signal, not just of the Government's but also the country's determination to do everything it could to counter terrorism. He also recognised that at the start of this week people, quite rightly, were saying that Parliament had to make some difficult decisions this week. It had to make difficult decisions on ID cards, it had to try to resolve the issue of smoking and make a difficult decision on terrorism. He believed that Parliament had made those necessary hard decisions and made them in the right way. This was evidence of a parliamentary democracy working at its best.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Glorification of Terror

Asked if the Prime Minister was likely to use the phrase "it is better to lose and do the right thing than to win and do the wrong thing" during PMQs this afternoon, when asked about the forthcoming legislation on the glorification of terror, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that as he had said yesterday, the important thing was to focus on the substance of the issue. The substance of the issue was whether glorification gave you an additional weapon to counter terrorism. If you looked at the UN Security Council Resolution passed in September 2005, it spoke of the need to counter glorification as well as incitement. If you looked at the kinds of loop-holes which were exploited by defendants in such cases, it was clear that there was a loop-hole in terms of the glorification aspect. If you looked at how the Bill had been amended as it had come out of the House of Lords, glorification had been removed, it would not apply to what was written on placards, for instance praising the 7/7 bombers, and those kinds of issues. Also the amended Bill didn't deal with those who associated themselves with terrorist groups. There were still problems with the Bill as it emerged from the House of Lords. To summarise the Prime Minister's view, he believed that Parliament should be sending a clear signal to the courts, the Police, and to those who would in any way condone terrorism, that we did not believe that was acceptable. That was what it boiled down to. As the Home Secretary underlined this morning, this was a matter which was crucial for the entire Government, because we believed that there was a need to send a clear signal as a Government.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | 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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» Thursday, February 16, 2006

Prime Minister’s visit to Germany

ISTC Meeting

CSR

DC Oake

Terrorism Bill

Smoking

Sudan-Darfur

Lords Reform

» Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Glorification of Terror

Glorification of Terror

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