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» Tuesday, March 7, 2006

Tessa Jowell

Asked that when Tessa Jowell had told Nigel Evans in a letter that her understanding was that her husband had not owned shares in a pub chain, did she mean by that that Mr. Mills had not told her, or that he had never actually owned shares, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that his understanding was the latter, but he recommended that the journalist check with the Department as he was not giving a running commentary on it.

Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Sir Nigel Crisp

Asked if the Prime Minister shared Sir Nigel Crisp's view that in terms of NHS finance, not everything had gone well, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that first and foremost the Prime Minister paid tribute to the work that Sir Nigel had done for the Health Service as a whole over the last twenty years, in particular the last five years in his current role. The esteem in which the Prime Minister held Sir Nigel was illustrated by the fact he had recommended him for a life peerage, which the Queen has graciously agreed. In terms of the next stage of reform, Sir Nigel himself recognised that was a job which involved a commitment of some five years and for his own reasons he wanted to move on.

Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Sir Nigel Crisp

Asked if Sir Nigel Crisp had now really taken "early retirement" or had he been sacked, the PMOS said there was no need to use air quotation marks with his fingers around "early retirement"! As the PMOS had said this morning, Sir Nigel had had a very distinguished career in the Health Service for 20 years, with the past 5 years being in his current role. The Prime Minister recognised that without Sir Nigel, we would not have had the reform programme as it was, and that was why as Sir Nigel took early retirement, the Prime Minister had recommended him for a life peerage. The Prime Minister did not do that lightly, as he could only recommend life peerages like this one 10 times in a Parliament. Therefore, it should give people some idea of the esteem in which the Prime Minister held Sir Nigel. In terms of Sir Nigel, as the PMOS understood it, he recognised that we were entering a new era of reform, as it was one that would take quite considerable commitment over A long period. Therefore, for his own personal reasons, Sir Nigel wanted to retire at this stage, which we understood.

Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Tessa Jowell

Asked by ITN what the Prime Minister thought of the recent coverage of Tessa Jowell, the PMOS said that in terms of ITN, taking into account their Friday night coverage of the Prime Minister's interview with Michael Parkinson and last night's report on Tessa Jowell, he wondered whether ITN had given up facts for lent. Aside from that he would leave it for others to judge.

Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Guantanamo

Asked if the Prime Minister had changed his view about Guantanamo being an anomaly to closing it down, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had always said it should be an anomaly which should be dealt with sooner rather than later. The Prime Minister had equally recognised the circumstances under which it was set up.

Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Jack Straw

Asked about Jack Straw's health, the PMOS told journalists to talk to the Foreign Office.

Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Iraq

Asked about comments by a US general which suggested that troops might be out of Iraq by 2008, the PMOS said that there were all sorts of possible scenarios. The important thing, as John Reid had made clear, was that it was conditional. The conditions were based, first and foremost on the quality and quantity of Iraq troops and how well they could cope with the security situation. They were based on the view of the Iraqi government, which was at the moment that we should stay, and it was based on the situation on the ground. All of those were important factors which had to be taken into account. There was no strict timetable, what there was was a process by which we judge the progress that we were making.

Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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