» Wednesday, April 19, 2006
Iran
Asked why did the Prime Minister never say "it would be nuts" to invade Iran, the PMOS replied that what the Prime Minister was indicating was to focus on the substance, rather than the process. The substance was that it was Iran that was defying the will of the UN in terms of its nuclear activity, and the President of Iran had frequently threatened the very existence of Israel, and that was where the focus should be. Equally, what the Prime Minister wanted to keep the focus on was the unanimity of the international pressure on Iran to come into compliance. In doing so, what we should not do was switch the focus from the substance of the issue to the process of trying to get Iran to comply with its international obligations. Therefore, the focus should remain on Iran's defiance of the UN and what was not just rhetoric on the part of the Iranian President.
Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)
Honours Investigation
Asked if any Downing Street officials had been questioned by the police in their investigation into allegations that honours might have been exchanged for political funding, the PMOS said that as he had said yesterday he would not be giving a running commentary on this ongoing police investigation, any more than he would on any other police investigation.
Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
» Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Peugeot
Asked to comment on the redundancies at Peugeot, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we recognised that it would be of deep concern to those involved. It was helpful however that there was a timescale, 2007, which would allow some time for people to begin the process of readjustment. As in other similar circumstances the usual agencies West Midlands Development Agency, Jobcentre Plus and others were engaged in the process of providing support and retraining opportunities. For example from the Rover package announced at the time there were now over 4000 back in work and 1300 in the supply chain had been saved.
Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)
Prime Minister interview
Asked if the Prime Minister or Jonathan Powell would be interviewed by the police, as was reported in the weekend newspapers, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that as we had said on Saturday night, the story was wrong, and that remained the case. The PMOS said that he was not going to give a running commentary on the investigation.
Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)
Police Investigation
Asked if Downing Street had heard from the Met police yet, the PMOS thanked the journalist for the kind inquiry but the answer about interview requests was no. Asked whether there had been any requests for any documents, the PMOS said that the allegation contained in the Sunday Mirror and the News of the World was so specific about the Prime Minister and Jonathan Powell and was so 100% wrong that we had thought it right to correct it.
Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Iran
Put that there had been reports over the weekend that the Prime Minister had told President Bush that if there was any military action against Iran, then the UK would not participate, the PMOS said that he was not aware of the report, therefore he would not comment on any report that he had not read. We had said consistently, as indeed had the White House, that the approach we were trying to take was a diplomatic one. The PMOS said that nobody should be in any doubt at all about the seriousness of the situation that we faced. People only had to read the comments of the Iranian President to realise the dangers that were inherent in this situation. That was why we had taken the matter to the UN, and why we had received a Presidential statement from the UN. The obligation was on Iran to address its international obligations.
Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)
NHS
Asked if the Prime Minister felt that there should be any ceiling or limit on the amount that GPs could earn, and also how long did he think people could "hold their nerve" for with regards to service reform, the PMOS replied that as the BMA made clear this morning, the number of doctors who were earning the sort of money mentioned was very small. The average salary was below £100,000. In principle, what the Prime Minister believed was that the Health Service should be judged on performance, and those working for the NHS, as elsewhere, should be judged on performance. The situation now was that GPs had not only caught up in their pay, which was a traditional problem, and it had resulted in a 68% increase in doctors in training, which was a good thing. GPs were also offering a much wider range of treatments, which were not only minor injuries etc which hospitals traditionally had to deal with, but it was also about being proactive and taking on a whole new lifestyle agenda. That in turn would result in fewer patients going to hospital.
Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
» Monday, April 10, 2006
Peers List
Asked how big the published list of peers was compared to the original list that was submitted, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that she was not going to get into details of the process. The composition of the list was as it was shown, and she was not going to give a running commentary on any of the process in making up the list.
Briefing took place at 10:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Iran
Asked if the Prime Minister was comfortable with the US position on Iran, the PMS referred journalists to what the Foreign Secretary had said yesterday. She had nothing further to add.
Briefing took place at 10:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)
BAE
Asked if the Prime Minister had had any contact with BAE regarding their stake in Airbus, the PMS said that the issue was being dealt with primarily by the company and Alan Johnson.
Briefing took place at 10:00 | 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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