Downing Street Says » Tessa Jowell

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the timing of the publication of the Cabinet Secretary’s response had yet to be settled because time was needed to collate and copy the relevant material. He said that he would be happy to bring forward the 3.45pm press briefing were any further information to come to light before then.

Asked why "another branch of Government" had told journalists that the Cabinet Secretary’s response would be available at this morning’s briefing, the PMOS said that as he was sure people could imagine, there were all sorts of pieces of paper flying around and it was inevitable that some people might get the wrong end of the stick. He could only apologise if journalists had been misinformed.

Asked if Cabinet had discussed Tessa Jowell’s situation, the PMOS said no. It was being regarded as a completely separate matter, as was entirely appropriate.

Asked if the Cabinet Secretary would accede to a request by the Shadow Home Secretary, David Davis, to conduct a fresh inquiry into the Home Office’s actions in dealing with a request from Italian prosecutors for David Mills’s extradition, the PMOS said that these were matters which would be dealt with once the Cabinet Secretary’s response and various statements had been published. In answer to further questions about the Home Office aspect of the case, the PMOS said that the Home Office had issued a detailed rebuttal of any suggestion that it had applied anything other than the routine diplomatic protocols in relation to this matter. Mr Davis had written to the Cabinet Secretary following yesterday’s PMQs. The matters in question would be dealt with at a later stage. Asked if that meant that the Cabinet Secretary would deal with this issue separately, the PMOS said that it was up to the Cabinet Secretary to make such a decision.

Asked if Downing Street had been contacted by the Italian prosecutors, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware. He also took the opportunity to emphasise that it was important for journalists to understand that there were two separate issues here. The first related to the Ministerial Code and Tessa Jowell. The second was about the ongoing investigation in Italy. While we were able to deal with the first matter, it would be entirely wrong for us to become involved in the Italian investigation in any way. Put to him that the construction of a "wall" between the two issues would be difficult in the light of the fact that it would be hard to decide whether the Ministerial Code had been breached until a judgement had been made as to whether the money which Mr Mills had received had been a gift or not, the PMOS acknowledged the legitimacy of the question being asked. However, as he had already said, it would be easier to address such issues once the Cabinet Secretary’s response and the statements had been published.

Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister believed Tessa Jowell’s assertion that the money had not come from Prime Minister Berlusconi, the PMOS said that answering the question would mean him getting drawn into the Italian investigation which he was obviously unable to do. He reminded journalists of the importance of keeping the two issues he had outlined earlier separate. He underlined the fact that, in this country, it was important for us to observe the same standards of justice in relation to a foreign case as we would expect in a domestic case. That meant maintaining the tradition that someone was innocent unless proven guilty.

Asked how the Prime Minister felt about being used as a "referee" by Mr Mills, the PMOS said that he was unable to comment on this aspect of the case. It would seem that the material being put together by one side of the investigation was being leaked and since we did not have the whole picture – and nor did we want to become involved in the investigation – it would be unwise of him to provide any commentary. Asked to state categorically that Mr Mills was no longer "invoking" the Prime Minister’s name or the fact that his wife was a Cabinet Minister to further his legal interests, as reported in today’s Daily Mail, the PMOS repeated that he was unable to provide comment because to do so would mean him commenting on a matter which was part of an ongoing investigation, which he was not prepared to do.

Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister or other Ministers had taken any steps to talk to the Italian prosecutors to "stabilise the situation" in the light of the leaks appearing in the media, the PMOS said that he appreciated the intent behind the question inasmuch as it was clearly not the way we conducted judicial proceedings in this country. However, it wasn’t for us to comment on another country’s judicial processes.

Asked if the Prime Minister believed that "socialising" with Mr Mills, such as inviting him to Chequers, would be "appropriate or inappropriate" given the current situation, the PMOS reiterated his earlier point that someone was innocent unless proven guilty. That was the judicial standard in this country and was one we must all abide by. Asked if Mr Mills was right to suggest that he enjoyed the full support of the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that since the question was being asked as a result of leaked papers which were part of an ongoing investigation, he had no intention of becoming involved in the legal processes of another country.

Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister was already aware of the contents of the Cabinet Secretary’s response, the PMOS said that we were in the final stages of preparing for the publication of the response. That was all he could say at the moment.

Asked if the Prime Minister continued to have full confidence in Tessa Jowell, the PMOS said that as he had been saying all week, the answer to that question was yes. For the avoidance of any doubt, that was spelled

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Mr Berlusconi this week, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware. Asked when the Prime Minister had last spoken to Mr Berlusconi, the PMOS said that he couldn’t give an exact date off the top of his head. That said, the Prime Minister spoke to the Italian Prime Minister on a regular basis, as you would expect. Asked if the Prime Minister had ever discussed Mr Mills with Mr Berlusconi, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware.

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» Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Tessa Jowell

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