Downing Street Says » 2006

» Monday, May 8, 2006

French Prime Minister

Asked for more information about the Prime Minister's dinner with Prime Minister de Villepin later this week, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we had regular meetings with the French Prime Minister, and this was one of those.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Basra

Asked if the recent events in Basra could be seen as a message from Iran on the eve of the meeting in New York, the PMOS said that we saw it for what it was, which was a deeply regrettable incident which resulted in the deaths of five British personnel. The best place to go for an update for it was Des Browne's statement.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Foreign Prisoners

Put that the new Home Secretary had announced today that there could be "several hundred" more serious prisoners still in Britain, and was this the reason that Charles Clarke had to go, the PMOS said that in terms of the figures, there were certain strict criteria as to what came under the "serious offenders" category. We had identified 90 of those, and the rest of the 1023 figure had now taken it up to last week to 150. Secondly, in terms of an investigation why the figures had increased, the PMOS explained it was precisely because the Home Office was interrogating the figures in a more detailed way that in the past.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Pensions White Paper

Asked if the Pensions White Paper was about implementing the Turner Report, the PMOS said that people had known that our approach to the Turner Report had been one of welcome, while investigating the detail. People should wait for the detail, but our general approach had been of welcome.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Communities and Local Government

Asked if Race Relations had been moved to Ruth Kelly's department, the PMOS said that it made sense, because the title of her department was now Communities and Local Government. Communities involved relations between and within different elements of the community.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Geoff Hoon

Asked if it was ever the case that Geoff Hoon's job was ever a Secretary of State position, the PMOS said that it was not.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

» Friday, May 5, 2006

Reshuffle

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that John Prescott remained the Deputy Prime Minister, and as he had discussed with the Prime Minister twelve months ago, he would no longer hold responsibility for a department, but the Prime Minister had asked Mr. Prescott to chair a series of major Cabinet committees, as well as maintain his international work, especially with regards to China and Eastern Europe. The PMOS said that Gordon Brown remained as Chancellor, and Margaret Beckett would become the first female Foreign Secretary. David Miliband would move to DEFRA, Douglas Alexander would become Secretary of State for Transport, as well as for Scotland. Des Browne would become Secretary of State for Defence, and Jack Straw would become Leader of the House of Commons, as well as taking responsibility for issues such as the reform of the House of Lords and party funding, and Mr. Straw would chair the Cabinet Constitutional Affairs Committee. The PMOS said that this recognised both the senior role that this post had now become, and also that Mr. Straw was both very experienced and the quintessential House of Commons man.

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

Reshuffle Questions

Asked about the Deputy Prime Minister's salary, and if it would decrease in light of his responsibilities, the PMOS replied that he disagreed with the description in that Mr. Prescott would be taking on, as he already had, a heavy workload in terms of chairing Cabinet Committees. That would become even heavier, and this would therefore be full recognition of that.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

» Thursday, May 4, 2006

Peter Hain

Asked whether the Prime Minister had asked Peter Hain to offer Peter Law a peerage, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he was somewhat surprised to have to comment on this on Election Day, especially as Peter Hain had already categorically denied it. We associated ourselves with Peter Hain's remarks and fully supported what he had said. Asked whether the Prime Minister thought Peter Hain's denial was enough, the PMOS reiterated that Peter Hain's denial left no room for any doubt.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Cabinet

Asked if the Home Secretary had reported to Cabinet today, the PMOS replied that he had run over the ground, which had been covered in his statement yesterday. The Prime Minister had reiterated his point which was that this was a problem which had been there for decades, but which we were now addressing.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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» Monday, May 8, 2006

French Prime Minister

Basra

Foreign Prisoners

Pensions White Paper

Communities and Local Government

Geoff Hoon

» Friday, May 5, 2006

Reshuffle

Reshuffle Questions

» Thursday, May 4, 2006

Peter Hain

Cabinet

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