Downing Street Says » 2006

» Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Iraq

Asked whether the Prime Minister was prepared to have a debate about the withdrawal of troops, the PMOS said the Prime Minister debated the issue of Iraq any time he was asked to. The Prime Minister had debated the issue of Iraq on a constant basis. He continued to do so. He continued to do so on the floor of the House of Commons. He continued to do so when asked at his monthly press conferences. He continued to do so when asked about it by anybody. He was not afraid to put the case forward. Indeed the Government stood in a very clear position at the Election. The Prime Minister had made it clear then that he wanted to finish the job, and the Government would finish the job.

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

Iraq

Put that if the Government strategy on Iraq was correct, why did the majority of British people think that we should withdraw by the end of the year, the PMOS replied that he was not going to act as a commentator on opinion polls. What we recognised was that if the news was dominated each night by pictures of suicide bombers etc, then it would have an impact on public opinion. Equally, when a goal was being pursued of a democracy in Iraq, people had to recognise that when it was being attacked by terrorism, it was going to call for patience. What people needed to think through was what the consequences of a premature departure would be. The consequences would be that the first democratically elected Government of Iraq would collapse and that the terrorists would win. That was not in the interests of the people of Iraq who turned out in such numbers to vote for that Government, nor was it in the interests of the international community, nor this country.

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

Prince of Wales

Asked whether the Prime Minister had any concerns over the Prince of Wales's finances, the PMOS said the journalist was trying to tempt him into two no go areas as far as he was concerned. One was talking about the Royal Family and the other was talking about the Her Majesty's Treasury (HMT). He would do neither.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

Police Inquiry

Asked if there had been any contact from the Scotland Yard, the PMOS said no. Put that in the past the PMOS had said he would let journalists know if Jonathan Powell had been contacted, the PMOS said he had not said that. However, it was a very good attempt to try get him to change his ground. Jonathan Powell was a Special Adviser therefore he was a temporary Civil Servant. The PMOS said he did not talk about Civil Servants. Neither did he recognise the account put forward in today's Evening Standard. In answer to further questions, the PMOS said he would not give a running commentary on the situation.

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

» Monday, October 23, 2006

Iraq

Asked whether it was Government policy to split Iraq into three as the Foreign Secretary had said it was up to the Iraqi Government, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said we had no reason to believe the Iraqi Government wanted anything other than a unitary state, but she had simply been reflecting that Iraq was a sovereign government. The democratically elected Government of Iraq would decide what happened in Iraq. There were no signs that the Iraqi Government wanted to split the country.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Interior Ministers Meeting

Asked if John Reid's chairing of the EU meeting was a moment that could be taken to clear up the Romania and Bulgaria, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that as people knew, there had been discussions within Government, and we had said that we would make our position clear before the end of the month. We would therefore make it clear, but it was better to let the discussions take place before making any announcements.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

DNA Database

Asked whether the Prime Minister meant no limit when he said he wanted to see the maximum number of people on the DNA Database, the PMOS said yes, people who had done nothing had no reason to be afraid to be on it. This was an important tool in fighting crime. The Prime Minsiter believed that it was a tool that should be used by every police force in the country. 14 forces already did. Others should follow suit. It was important that people used all the available technology. That was why the Prime Minister also believed in the case for ID Cards. They were new tools available to fight crime and we should use them. Asked whether the Prime Minister had given his own DNA in, the PMOS said that he believed he had done so in November 1999. Asked whether other members of the Cabinet had, the PMOS said that it was a personal matter.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Deputy Prime Minister’s tour of the Far East

Asked for an agenda of the Deputy Prime Minister's trip, the PMOS said that in Japan, the Deputy Prime Minister would meet the newly elected Prime Minister, and other senior politicians from the new administration, including the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the health Minister and the Environment Minister. Mr. Prescott would also be discussing a range of issues linked to his Cabinet Committee work. In South Korea, Mr. Prescott would meet the Foreign Minister and the UN Secretary General Designate, along with other Ministers. In Malaysia, Mr. Prescott would meet the Deputy Prime Minister to discuss interfaith community issues. Mr. Prescott would be briefly visiting China to take forward to work of the China task force, following on from Prime Minister Wen's recent visit to the UK.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Police Inquiry

Asked whether the Police had contacted the Prime Minister, the PMOS said no, not that he was aware of.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Iraq

Put that General Richard Shirreff had said in an interview today that his aim was to get the security in Iraq to be "good enough", and was that Government policy as well, the PMOS rewound the clock back to April 2004, where he had first mentioned "Iraqiisation" and had laid out the strategy that we would be following. That strategy was that we would bring the security forces in Iraq to a capacity and a capability where they, as the representatives of the Sovereign Government and a democratically elected Government in Iraq, could take control of their own security. That was the strategy that we had been following since, and one that we were implementing. In terms of how that strategy worked, as we had made clear all along, the people who ultimately would decide were the democratically elected Government of Iraq.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | 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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» Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Iraq

Iraq

Prince of Wales

Police Inquiry

» Monday, October 23, 2006

Iraq

Interior Ministers Meeting

DNA Database

Deputy Prime Minister’s tour of the Far East

Police Inquiry

Iraq

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