Downing Street Says » Iraq Inquiry

Asked if the Prime Minister had written to the Chilcot inquiry yet, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would be writing to Sir John Chilcot, and the letter would be made available. The Prime Minister had taken the first opportunity to set out the position to the House of Commons, and it was entirely right that he now communicated with Sir John and the inquiry.

Asked if the Prime Minister would be apologising for misleading the Chilcot inquiry, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made it clear in the House of Commons today that in one or two years, in real terms, the budget didn’t go up, and he wanted to set out the details behind that.

Asked how the Prime Minister managed to get the figures wrong, the PMS said that budgets were complex; there was a cash budget, the outturn budget and the real terms budget. A real terms budget and a budget outturn had a number of factors involved, and when looking at a budget run there would always be operational fluctuation. It was incontrovertible that defence spending, in real terms, had risen by ten per cent since 1997.

Put that the Prime Minister had made a mistake, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had today taken the opportunity to give the House of Commons more information on the questions that had been raised regarding defence budgets. The defence budget was one of the biggest budgets in the UK Government and the broad direction and increase in defence spending had been significant over the last thirteen years. There had clearly been a couple of years where in real terms it hadn’t risen, and the Prime Minister’s letter to Sir John Chilcot would build on the back of what the Prime Minister said at the House of Commons today. The Prime Minister stated today that due to operational fluctuations and the way the money was spent, expenditure in defence had risen in cash terms every year, but in one or two years, that defence expenditure did not rise in real terms.

How did the Prime Minister become aware that he needed to give an explanation of what he said at the Chilcot inquiry, the PMS said that the Prime Minister gave the best part of six hours of evidence to the Chilcot inquiry and he wanted to make sure that there was a complete understanding of everything he said.

Asked if the Prime Minister had asked to see the figures he gave Chilcot and the ones he had given to the House of Commons today and if he chose which set of figures to use between the two, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been answering questions from the inquiry and he was now taking the opportunity to write to Sir John Chilcot about the issue.

Asked why the Prime Minister hadn’t written to Sir John Chilcot already, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had sent the letter at what he felt was the appropriate time.

Asked if the Prime Minister felt that he should go back and give more evidence, the PMS said that it was for the Chilcot inquiry to decide who they wanted to give evidence.

Asked if the Prime Minister would feel comfortable about going back, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would do whatever the inquiry asked of him, which was why he volunteered to give evidence in the first place.

Asked what the Prime Minister’s mood was today given what had happened, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was as focussed as ever and was getting on with business.

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» Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Iraq Inquiry

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