<downingstreetsays>
  <downingstreetsaid ID="6606" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2009/03/05/6606" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content=" &lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly why Ed Balls was answering questions on the economy and not the Chancellor, the Prime Minister s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that Ed Balls was being interviewed about child protection. The Governor of the Bank of England had been doing media this afternoon on the subject of quantitative easing. Put that Ed Balls did comment on the subject of quantitative easing, the PMS confirmed that he had; he was asked a question and he responded to it.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Asked why the Treasury had not been commenting on this today, the PMS said that interview bids went to the Treasury and they would decide how they wanted to respond to those bids. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Ed Balls that there should have been tougher regulation, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had set out his view on regulation on numerous occasions, including when he was in Washington and he acknowledged that there were lessons to be learned from the current global financial downturn and the need to adapt regulatory structures to account for global financial flows.&lt;/p&gt; &lt;p&gt;Put that Ed Balls had said that the issue of regulation should have been addressed in the past, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had acknowledged that we took steps to establish a new regulatory regime when we set up the Financial Services Authority and given the way global finance had developed we needed to adapt those regulatory regimes and build international cooperation between them.&lt;/p&gt; 

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.number10.gov.uk//Page18522&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2009-03-05 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2009-03-05 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2009-03-05 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2009-03-05 15:45:58" post_name="economy-76" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4632" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/03/4632" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked in broad terms how the citizens' juries would work, how would the citizens be selected and what would happen to their thoughts, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the juries would usually consist of around 12 to 20 people chosen to be representative of the communities from which they came. They would deliberate for a day, or several days, and the idea would be that they would address defined questions on the basis of written evidence and hearing from witnesses. On the detail, there was no specific template and it would depend very much on the issue involved and the particular approach that the department responsible wanted to take.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the evidence would be published, the PMS replied that the specifics of each jury would be for the department to work out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the idea was that the juries' wisdom then feed through into the department, the PMS replied that the juries would deliberate and then their conclusions and feedback would become part of the policy making process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a Minister would be present at each jury, the PMS replied that the exact process and specifics would be something for the individual departments to work through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how this was different from a focus group or a commissioned poll, the PMS replied that the juries would look at specific issues, and do this in a way that was designed to feed directly into the policy making process. They would look at specific recommendations and would be tested for specific ideas. There were other means of taking a snapshot of public opinion, but this was about introducing more deliberative mechanisms directly into the policy making process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people could apply to be a part of these citizens' juries, the PMS replied that again, the process by which people would be selected would be something for the individual departments and organisers of the specific event. But the intention was for those involved in the citizens' juries to be representative of the community as a whole.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a general pool of jurors from which the juries would be selected, the PMS replied that this would not necessarily be the case. Individual departments would be taking these decisions. The key point was that the individuals involved were genuinely representative of the communities were from.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a timeframe for the larger citizens' summit, the PMS replied that obviously we would like to take this forward as quickly as was practical, but no specific dates were yet in mind. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more detail about the citizens' summit, the PMS replied that in terms of the overall approach to this new form of public consultation and deliberation, the Ministry of Justice had overall responsibly for the programme, in so far as they were responsible for taking forward the constitutional reform agenda and the measures set out in the Prime Minister's statement to the House in July. But this did not mean that they would be responsible for individual events.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had meeting with the leaders of the opposition parties on this, the PMS replied that there were well established mechanisms for the different political parties to discuss issues and parliamentary business.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any of the deliberations would be made public, the PMS replied that again this was something that would be determined by departments, and would depend on the particular issue. But as a general principal, we were looking to make the policy making process more open and transparent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was no new product here, and asked that if there was no set template to follow, how did this differ from any previous consultation, the PMS replied that the concept of a citizens' jury was not something that the Prime Minister had come up with this morning. For those who followed these matters closely, it had been used in other countries and there were ways and methods of doing this, in fact the Government had conducted citizens' juries from time to time already and there were lots of examples both internationally and domestically.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which other countries had used the idea of citizens' juries, the PMS replied that they had been used in the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we had heard these ideas before, the PMS replied that there had been citizens' juries from time to time in the past. The DTI had a citizens' jury in 2004 looking at policies to support people in balancing family and work commitments. So they had been used in this country and oversees, but clearly the Prime Minister was setting out a much more intensive process for using citizens' juries to help inform and develop the policy making process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that some say the voting system itself disengages people, and was it right to conclude that this would not be looking into electoral reform, the PMS replied that there was a long standing debate on this issue, but the Prime Minister's words spoke for themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans for citizens' juries on the EU Amending Treaty and on Iraq, the PMS replied that there would be a very detailed process of parliamentary scrutiny on the EU Amending Treaty. On Iraq obviously the list of issues that we were looking at was under consideration. But today we were setting out proposals for citizens' juries in key areas of public services, education, health, and law and order.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this idea sounded so ill thought out that it was barely worth announcing, and was done only to humiliate David Cameron by announcing the defections, the PMS replied that we were not centralisers in No10 to the point where we dictated to each individual department exactly how they were confirming the rollout of the citizens' juries. Let's see how the juries evolve before making a judgement on them. The first one would be on Thursday, so journalists would not have to wait too long. There would be opportunities to see how they act in practice. On the second point, what the Prime Minister had set out in his speech and in his Telegraph interview overnight and on the Today Programme this morning was that he wanted to lead a Government that draws on talents of all people in this country, regardless of their individual political persuasion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the idea was behind giving charities greater advocacy, the PMS replied that this was something that was set out in July. Charities clearly had an important contribution to make to public debate in this country, and this was the basis on which these new measures had been taken forward.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-03 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-03 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:58" post_name="citizens-juries" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Citizens' Juries" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4685" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4685" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Guardian story today regarding officials briefing the Government over climate change targets being &amp;quot;completely unreachable&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that the UK was committed to developing renewable energy. In the recent energy White Paper that was published, we had aimed to see renewable energy increase three-fold to 15% by 2015. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would meet targets set, the PMS said that it was no secret that these were ambitious targets, and it would be a major challenge. However, that was not only for the UK, but was for all EU member states, and people should remember that the UK was one of the few EU states that was on course the meet our Kyoto targets of cutting carbon emissions. It was now for the Commission to propose how the EU-wide target be met by all member states. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:56" post_name="climate-change" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Climate Change" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4686" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4686" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was involved in any talks about the financial markets, and was there a strategy, the PMS replied that John Hutton had responded to this yesterday. As the Prime Minster had said last week, we would not hesitate to act to ensure that the British economy remained stable, and that our prospects for continued growth were good. The view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that was expressed on Saturday was that the fundamentals of both the world economy and the British economy were sound. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what actions the Government would take, the PMS replied that any actions would be dependent on the situation. At the moment, the IMF were saying that the British and international economies were sound. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would like the Bank of England to follow the Federal Reserve and the Central European Bank in terms of bailing out financial institutions, the PMS replied that the Bank of England's independence was something that was introduced by this Government, but she was not going to comment any further on its role. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:55" post_name="stock-market" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Stock Market" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4687" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4687" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was towards the climate change protestors at Heathrow, the PMS said that it was a matter for the authorities and those who ran Heathrow with regards to disruptions. People did have the right to protest, but the Government felt that any action that disrupted the operation of Heathrow would be unacceptable. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:54" post_name="climate-change-protestors" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Climate Change Protestors" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4688" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4688" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that as Des Browne was now back from Afghanistan and back at the MOD, was there any Government concern at the rising toll in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that as Des Browne had said in his interview, the fatalities were a matter of deep regret. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that when the Defence Secretary had said that the commitment in Afghanistan was for the long term, was there any idea of how long that might be, the PMS replied that as Des Browne had said, there were 42 other countries who were represented there in Afghanistan, 37 being military efforts. The operations would be guided by both the Commanders on the ground, as well as the political security situation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that as we had taken over the control of Helmand from another nation, was there any sign that another nation might be willing to take over from us, the PMS replied that she was not going to get into speculation about the operations on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:53" post_name="afghanistan-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4689" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/06/4689" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister had held a meeting this morning with the President and Director General of the National Farmers Union (NFU) to discuss the current outbreak of Foot and Mouth disease and the issues that would arise as we went forward. The Prime Minister thanked the NFU for their close co-operation on this matter, and both parties expressed the desire for that co-operation to continue, both on this outbreak and on other rural issues in the future. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS said that during the Prime Minister's visit to Reigate, which was at the headquarters of the regional disease control centre, he met the regional operational director, as well as participating in their update meeting. The people involved were local authorities, animal health authorities, representatives from the NFU, Trading Standards representatives, Health and Safety Executive (HSE), the Health Protection Agency (HPA), RSPCA, the police and other people from DEFRA. The Prime Minister spent around 20 minutes with them, and following that, at the same place, he had a 40 minute discussion with local farmers and representatives from the south east NFU. Included in that were farmers whose farms were within the protection zone. The Prime Minister again thanked them for their co-operation, patience and understanding, and listened carefully to their concerns. It was a constructive meeting. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the results of the independent HSE report would be released, as Hilary Benn had said that it would be within 48 hours, the PMS said that her understanding was that we were expecting the HSE report sometime tomorrow. The PMS explained that there were two investigations: one was the HSE investigation which had begun on Sunday, and the other was a separate report called the Spratt Review which would look into arrangements for biosecurity around facilities handling the Foot and Mouth virus in the UK. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when Professor Spratt's review would be released, the PMS said that it would come out in August. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Spratt was commissioned, the PMS said that her understanding was that it had been commissioned very recently. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the HSE report's findings tomorrow would be interim or in depth, the PMS said that people would have to wait and see where people had got to with the investigation. &lt;br /&gt;Asked if the HSE report would be made public, the PMS said that people should check with the HSE.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why did Ministers believe that if the virus had come from the Pirbright site, it was likely to be from the commercial side, rather than the institute, the PMS replied that in advance of the HSE report, we were looking into all options and all possibilities of where the source of the outbreak had come from. As the Prime Minister had said today, the focus was on containing and controlling the disease, but at the same time, the HSE report was ongoing to look at the source of the outbreak. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the UK had banned exports from the whole country and not just from the infected areas, the PMS replied that all of this was guided by the contingency plans that were drawn up post-2001. These measures were clearly drawn up as measures that needed to be taken in the event of an outbreak.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if restrictions could be lifted in certain parts of the UK, the PMS said that all such decisions had to be guided by the science, contingency plans and investigations that were ongoing. At the moment, the focus had to be on controlling and containing the infection. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had made a great play about vaccine production on 16th July from the Meril site, and was that still the focus of the HSE report, and if not, why did he feel the need to identify that date, the PMS replied that the HSE report was always going to look into all the options. There had been facts that had come to light regarding production that had been made public, and the Prime Minister was answering questions regarding these facts. but she repeated that all options were being looked at by the HSE. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's meeting with the NFU today was his first meeting with them, the PMS replied that she understood that it was. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that several reports had highlighted concerns about funding for Pirbright, and their facilities had been described as &amp;quot;shabby&amp;quot;, and was the Prime Minister confident that Pirbright had received enough funding and the facilities were as good as they could have been, the PMS pointed out that with regards to the report, another part of the report had said that biosecurity of the site was taken extremely seriously. The PMS said that people should not get ahead of themselves in advance of the HSE report, as all options were being looked into. With regards to funding, Hilary Benn said this morning that the report had said that the site needed to be upgraded and &amp;quot;that was exactly what we were doing. We were in the process of investing with the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, the Department for Innovation, University and Skills and DEFRA were investing &amp;pound;121 million in new building facilities on that site&amp;quot;. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that flooding had been suggested as a possible reason for the outbreak, and that the virus could have been waterborne from the flooded areas, the PMS replied that they were looking at all options. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be further COBR meetings, the PMS said that there would be others, but we would brief at the appropriate times. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-06 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-06 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:58" post_name="foot-and-mouth-disease-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth Disease" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4681" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4681" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that a Times report from Brussels this morning had reported that a committee had asserted that the reform treaty was much the same as the constitution, the PMS said that our position on the treaty had been well established, the constitutional aspects of the treaty were not in this draft either in form or in content. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:54" post_name="eu-treaty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4682" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4682" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any further thoughts regarding Richard Dannatt's comments that there should be a class added to the medals given out for Afghanistan to reflect the nature of the fighting, the PMS replied that as the MOD had said yesterday, obviously the Chief of the General Staff had given his opinion on this issue. Overall, medals were a matter for all Chiefs of Staff. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:53" post_name="afghan-medals" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghan Medals" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4683" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4683" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) updated journalists on Foot and Mouth. She said that the Prime Minister was being kept informed of any developments today whilst he was up in Scotland. Officials were currently attending a COBR meeting, and there had been no confirmed cases since early last week. The Chief Vet Debby Reynolds had stressed again over the weekend the need for relentless vigilance, and had expressed her gratitude for those in farming communities. In terms of Professor Spratt's review on biosecurity, we believed that this would report towards the end of this week, but that exact timings were a matter for Professor Spratt. The same applied to the timings on the further HSE work. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put to the PMS that the National Farmers Union (NFU) had said they were very optimistic yesterday, and given that the Prime Minister was now in Scotland, was he happy about the current situation, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was being kept informed of any developments. Although there had been no confirmed cases for a few days, we obviously had to be very mindful that this was a highly virulent disease, and that preventing its spread was our absolute priority. As Debby Reynolds had said, whilst there had been no cases recently, it was relentless vigilance that was required. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:58" post_name="foot-and-mouth-disease" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth Disease" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4684" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4684" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was in his constituency whilst in Scotland, the PMS confirmed that he was working from his constituency office. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was now on holiday, the PMS replied that it was the first time that the Prime Minister had visited his constituency since he became Prime Minister. There was therefore a lot of business to do, and traditionally, the Prime Minister had often used his constituency office as an alternative location from where to do Government business from. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would have a meeting with Alex Salmond whilst he was in Scotland, the PMS said that she was not aware of any such plans, but added that the he had attended a Raith Rovers football match at the weekend. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be resuming his holiday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was up in Scotland for a few days, but that would be dependent on issues on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked had the Prime Minister arrived in Scotland and when was the last time that he was there, the PMS said that he had arrived on Friday, and this was the first visit to his constituency since he had become Prime Minister. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was intending to have another holiday, the PMS replied that as people knew, he had had a family holiday in Dorset planned, but it was disrupted. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if the Prime Minister was intending to take another holiday, the PMS replied that at the moment the Prime Minister was working up in Scotland. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it was important for people to take holidays with their families, and did he feel that he should lead by example, the PMS replied that he did think that it was important. He had had a holiday planned, but it was disrupted, and he felt that the most important thing for him was to come back and oversee the Foot and Mouth outbreak. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put by a journalist that Scotland was not a holiday, and it was not going to become a holiday, the (Scottish) Lobby Chair interrupted him and said that when people went to Scotland, it was always a holiday! &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 10:00:57" post_name="prime-minister-in-scotland" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister in Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4680" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4680" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any thought about the reports over the weekend from the US that said that the UK was beaten in Iraq and that we were now facing rising violence and a Saigon situation, the PMS replied that people should look at the response that the Basra military spokesperson Major Michael Shearer gave this morning. Major Shearer had pointed out although that there had been increased violence, that this was not surprising due to the fact that malign forces are attempting to claim responsibility for what was in fact a long established strategy in the Basra province. Therefore, our strategy remained in place, and the Basra province would pass responsibility to the Iraqi forces as had happened in three of the four areas for which the UK had responsibility. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any chance of stepping up the Army presence in the other three provinces in light of the killing of the Provincial Governor, the PMS said that whilst she was aware of the reports, she was not going to comment on them in detail at this stage. There were challenges ahead for all the Iraqi security forces, but our strategy was as set out as before. With regards to a longer-term strategy, as President Bush and the Prime Minister said at Camp David recently, we were awaiting for General Petraeus' report later in September. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:55" post_name="iraq-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4679" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4679" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister was holding a bilateral with Chancellor Merkel specifically this week, and also, was the Prime Minister back at work now, the PMS said that Chancellor Merkel would be in London on Wednesday. They would discuss a wide range of topics, specifically looking at international development issues, trade, and other issues coming out of the G8. The PMS said that they might also touch on the global economy. With regards to the Prime Minister's holiday, he had been working in his constituency, as we had established last week. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if climate change and targets would be discussed, the PMS replied that there would be a discussion of issues coming out of G8, but she could not be specific on anything else at this point. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:56" post_name="chancellor-merkel-meeting" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chancellor Merkel Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4694" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/10/4694" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether British troops should remain in Basra, after suggestions were made in the press by a British officer that troops could have been pulled out over five months ago, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that the Ministry of Defence had made the position very clear. The Government was able to hand over Basra Palace because of progress made and capability demonstrated by Iraqi security forces, particularly the army. The PMS added that Basra Palace was only handed over this month because that was when conditions were right and the Iraqi forces were ready to take over. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Patreus Report would influence the timing of the return of any more British troops, the PMS replied that Patreus had not reported yet and the Government would wait until he did so before commenting on it. The PMS said that in general terms, the Prime Minister had made clear on numerous occasions that the Government had obligations to the Iraqi people and the Iraqi government as well as the United Nations, but that any decisions to be made in relation to British troops, would be made on the basis of an assessment of the situation on the ground by military commanders.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that the Daily Telegraph article was correct and at least some of the deaths of British troops since April may have been purely political ones to maintain the Government's relationship with George Bush, the PMS said that the Ministry of Defence had made it clear that the article was not correct and the decision to hand over Basra Palace to the Iraqi security authorities was only made this month because that was when the Iraqi security forces were ready to take over responsibility. Asked what the PMS thought the Officer quoted in the articles motive was, the PMS said he had no idea.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the officer involved was incorrect in what he said, the PMS replied that it was for the military and the Ministry of Defence to provide commentary on that and they had made their position very clear.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-10 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-10 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:58" post_name="iraq-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4677" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4677" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a No10 reaction on behalf of the Prime Minister to David Cameron's recent comments about the breakdown of families, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled journalists that she was not going to respond directly to the Leader of the Opposition, and recommended that people spoke to the Labour Party.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what had been done by the Government to boost family policies, the PMS said that there was a long proven track record in terms of family policy, including tax credits, and measures lead by both DWP and DCLG. The PMS said again that she would not get into a direct response with the Leader of the Opposition and that people should speak to the Labour Party. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:58" post_name="family-values" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Family Values" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4678" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4678" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed that parts of the country were now inflicted by anarchy, the PMS replied that what both the Prime Minister and the Government as a whole would emphasise was that public protection was the top priority. With reference to knife crime, that was why the Government had introduced a new maximum sentence for carrying knives, doubled from two years to four years. More generally, we of course recognised and appreciated people's concerns about the high profile cases, especially those concerning young people. As John Denham said yesterday, however, it was also important to recognise that there had been an overall fall in the levels in crime and that people were much less likely to be a victim of crime than they were ten years ago. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had plans to look at knife crime issues this week, based on the statistics that were published yesterday, the PMS said that in terms of the statistics, the Home Office's analysis was that those particular statistics were based on an extrapolation of British Crime Survey figures, and were therefore not the most accurate. However, that was not to say that we didn't recognise there was a real issue here, and we appreciated people's concerns. The Prime Minister was kept informed of all developments, and as John Denham had said, there were tough measures that had been brought into place, and it was extremely important that those measures were used and that they were kept under review. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that John Denham had also said yesterday that the Government would look at the discounted alcohol available, and did the Prime Minister have any views on that or on raising the age at which people could buy alcohol, the PMS replied that the Government had already set out its position on changing the age at which people could buy alcohol. In terms of working with supermarkets, there was an ongoing programme through the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy which was looking to tackle that particular problem, and of course, we were fully supportive of it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had plans to enlist Army officers to tackle gang culture, especially black gangs, the PMS replied that she wouldn't respond directly to the question, as it referred to a leaked document. If people looked at the report that was published by Hazel Blears recently into the aspirations of young black men, there were a number of measures in there, including mentors. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government accepted that the increase in sentencing from two years to four years was not working and was not deterring young people from carrying knives, the PMS said that we recognised that there were specific issues here. However, overall, we also needed to recognise the fact that violent crime had gone down. With regards to what the Government had done to tackle knife crime, there had been a range of measures introduced in the Violent Crime Act 2006, including the increase of the maximum sentence and raising the age at which someone could purchase a knife from 16 to 18 years old. It also gave school staff powers to search pupils for weapons as well as creating a new offence of minding a weapon for somebody else. Again, if that weapon was a knife, the maximum sentence would also be four years. The PMS said that these were tough new measures that had been introduced, and the important thing was that they were being enforced. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared the previous Prime Minister's analysis on knife and gun crime which was that this was a localised problem that needed specific tailored responses and that it was not a blanket problem with a blanket solution, the PMS replied that we would have to be guided by police working in areas with specific problems. However, it was a range of measures that was required, rather than one approach. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans to confirm what the Home Office thought about knife crime statistics, the PMS said that the Home Office had said that the British Crime Survey did not show a statistically significant increase in the use of knives in violent incidents. 6 to 7% of all violent crime was knife-related which had remained relatively stable for several years. Until April 2007, knife related offences were not separately identified, but police now collected data on knives which would overall give us a better picture of the situation across the country. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 10:00:57" post_name="crime" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Crime" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4695" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/10/4695" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on a report claiming that the Government was considering criminalising men who paid for prostitutes, the PMS said that the Government had seen the report and it looked highly speculative. There had been no such proposals put to the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-10 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-10 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:57" post_name="prostitution" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prostitution" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4696" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/10/4696" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any comment to make on the Madeleine McCann case, the PMS said that it was an ongoing investigation and the Foreign Secretary had made clear that in relation to the support the McCann's needed in Portugal, the usual Consulate access would be provided. The PMS added it would be inappropriate to comment further.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-10 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-10 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:56" post_name="madeleine-mccann-case" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Madeleine McCann Case" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4697" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/10/4697" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister's aim to create more British jobs for British workers was a recognition that perhaps the level of migrant workers into Britain was too high, the PMS replied it was a recognition of the fact that although the country had roughly 8-900,000 people on the claimant count, there were in fact 650,000 vacancies in Britain. The PMS added that more needed to be done to match the current level of vacancies to workers who were currently claiming unemployment benefit, hence the package of measures the Prime Minister would be announcing today. This would be in relation to closer working between Job Centre Plus and the major employers through the local employer partnerships, as well as improving centres for loan parents imparticular, to get back into work. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister recognised the concerns of people who thought there were too many migrant workers, the PMS said that the Prime Minister believed immigration had had a positive effect on the British economy. The Government had moved towards the points-based system in relation to migration, which differentiates between the economic contributions made by different migrant workers. The Prime Minister would be announcing a strengthening of that system today, through the new requirement for fluency in the English language for skilled workers, but the PMS added that it was also necessary to recognise that migration needed to be responsive to the needs of the economy. Therefore the Government was not in favour of imposing a fixed numerical limit on the total number of migrants coming into the economy, because that would depend on decisions made by individuals and by employers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government had made any progress on hitting it's target of 80% employment and when that figure might be reached, the PMS said that progress was being made and employment was at record levels. The PMS suggested that for the specific figures, people should speak to the Treasury. Asked if hitting the target depended on these jobs being filled by British workers, the PMS said that it would help the Government in reaching that target, but it would depend on a whole host of factors, of which one element was Government policy.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-10 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-10 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-10 10:00:55" post_name="british-jobs" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="British Jobs" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4698" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/11/4698" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) informed journalists that Cabinet this morning included a discussion of the Draft Legislative Programme led by the Leader of the House, a report by the Home Secretary on the interim version of the Flanagan Review due to be published tomorrow, an update on Iraq from the Defence Secretary, and an update from the Chancellor on the economy and the Pre-Budget Report and Spending Review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On the Flanagan Review, Sir Ronnie Flanagan former Chief Inspector of Constabulary was leading an independent review of the police service for the Home Secretary. The review was looking at the four key issues of how we reduce bureaucracy in the police, how we make progress on neighbourhood policing, how we ensure that there is sufficient local involvement and local accountability for policing, and finally how the police service can manage its resources effectively. The interim report would be published tomorrow, focusing in particular on recommendations on reducing bureaucracy and sustaining progress on neighbourhood policing. Phase two of the report will look at local involvement and resource management, with the final report to be produced by the end of 2007. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Iraq, Des Browne updated the Cabinet on the situation in Iraq and the initial conclusions yesterday of the Petraeus Report. He reiterated, as the Prime Minister had made clear, that our position in relation to Iraq remained unchanged. We had ongoing obligations to the Iraqi Government and the United Nations, and we would fulfil those obligations. Secondly he emphasised that the approach being taken by the UK and the US was entirely consistent. And as General Petraeus made clear yesterday, and as we had been making clear throughout, for the both the UK and the US decisions on troop levels would be taken on the basis of an assessment of security conditions on the ground and the readiness of the Iraqi forces to take over security responsibility. He also reported that the handover of Basra Palace had been smooth and that the security &lt;br /&gt;situation in Basra remained stable, as had been anticipated at the time of the handover. &lt;br /&gt;The Prime Minister endorsed the Defence Secretary's update and made clear that there were three main elements to our strategy on Iraq going forward. First the need to discharge our responsibilities on security, second the need to encourage the Iraqi Government to work towards political reconciliation, and third the need to ensure that the Iraqi people have a stake in their own future, which is why for example our proposals for economic reconstruction in Basra, including a new Basra Development Agency, were so important.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-11 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-11 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4699" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/11/4699" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if he was saying that the fact that General Petraeus gave a scenario where US troops could be withdrawn by next summer, had no bearing whatsoever on the level of our troops and the possibility of withdrawing our troops, the PMS replied that the general approach that had been taken by the United States and the United Kingdom was entirely consistent. Obviously conditions in the South were different from elsewhere. We would have to make our future decisions on troop levels based on an assessment by the military of the readiness of the Iraqi security forces to take on overall responsibility for security in Basra.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any kind of assessment being done in the run up to the Prime Minister's statement next month, the PMS replied that these issues were looked at on an ongoing and rolling basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether General Petraeus' review would feed in to our thinking in any way in terms of the overall picture, the PMS replied that we were working very closely with the Americans, the Prime Minister had a lengthy discussions with President Bush yesterday in one of their regular video conferences, the Defence Secretary spoke to his opposite number yesterday as well, and obviously there was ongoing discussion at all levels. We would work very closely with them, but our decision in relation to the troops in Basra would be based on the assessment of our military of the conditions on the ground in Basra and the readiness of the Iraqi security forces to take on responsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this was the first time the Prime Minister had spoken to the President since July, the PMS replied that there was a continuous and open channel of communication at all levels between the UK and US Government. Asked again if they had spoken in August, the PMS replied that there was ongoing contact between the UK and US. Asked repeatedly if this was the first time that they had spoken since July, the PMS replied that they had a lengthy discussion at Camp David, and they had a further lengthy discussion yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who in the British Government had spoken directly with General Petraeus, the PMS replied that he did not want to comment on exactly which discussions had taken place, but there had been discussions across the board both at military and political levels between the UK and US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he expected the Prime Minister and President Bush to talk before Thursday when the President would make his statement on Iraq, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister and the President had a lengthy discussion of all of these issues yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any request from the US to stay on or to try and coordinate timings on withdrawals, the PMS replied that we acted in full consultation and full open dialogue with our US colleagues. In relation to Basra Palace for example, the US were fully consulted, there was full discussion, and they were entirely comfortable with that decision.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would have any bearing on our military commanders if the Americans said that they would like us not to make any changes for now, the PMS replied that the decision in relation to our troops in Basra would be based on an assessment by our military commanders of the situation on the ground in Basra.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's statement to the House could be expected imminently once MPs returned, the PMS replied that we did not have an exact date for that, but we would anticipate and early statement by the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to characterise yesterday's video conference between the Prime Minister and the President, the PMS replied that it was very cordial and constructive.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-11 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-11 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:57" post_name="iraq-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4700" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/11/4700" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any reaction to Wanless' thoughts about productivity in the NHS, the PMS replied that as the Wanless Report made clear, the extra resources that we had invested in health along with the reforms that had been made to the Health Service, had undoubtedly improved patient care over the past five years. Clearly there remained issues, as Wanless identified, with lifestyle diseases like obesity, but these were being looked at and taken very seriously by the Department of Health.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked specifically about Wanless' point on productivity and too much money going on pay awards for no particular comeback, and on the further point that to maintain the quality of service there would need to be significant major cash injections over the next 20 years, the PMS replied that we would have to make decisions on the amount of resources available at the time of the Spending Review next month. Clearly the National Health Service needed to ensure that they were providing the best quality care in the most efficient and cost effective way. There had been improvements in productivity, but clearly this was an ongoing process.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-11 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-11 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:56" post_name="nhs" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NHS" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4669" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/03/4669" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about John Bercow and Patrick Mercer, the PMS replied that obviously it was not for him to get into the business of talking about party political matters. In terms of the relationships between these individuals and their respective parties, clearly that was something for them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what contact the Prime Minister has had with John Bercow and Patrick Mercer, the PMS replied that he would not get into the specifics of who had spoken to whom. But clearly there had been discussions with Mr Mercer and Mr Bercow involving people in the Government in advance of this announcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister would consider someone with allegedly racist views suitable for this role, the PMS replied that Mr Mercer had a lot of expertise in the area of security, and could make a contribution to the Government and to the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was ashamed by the comments, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that Patrick Mercer was a recognised expert in security issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on Patrick Mercer's comments that David Cameron called &amp;quot;totally unacceptable&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that it was not appropriate for him to get into a discussion of what Patrick Mercer may have said in the past. The Prime Minister believed that Patrick Mercer was a recognised expert in security issues, and it was on that basis that he had been appointed.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-03 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-03 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:57" post_name="john-bercow-and-patrick-mercer-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="John Bercow and Patrick Mercer" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4701" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/11/4701" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to flesh out what Alistair Darling said to Cabinet on the Pre-Budget Report, the PMS replied that it was a general discussion, the Chancellor's main point being to emphasise the underlying strength of the British economy, particularly at this time of uncertainty in the financial markets. We were into around our 60th consecutive quarter of economic growth, employment was at record levels, and inflation was back down to 1.9%, slightly below the Government's inflation target. We had seen volatility in financial markets, and we had seen other external shocks in the past, but due to the framework for monitoring political policy put in place in 1997 and the underlying strength of the economy, we remained well placed to deal with these shocks.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Asked if there was a date for the Comprehensive Spending Review, the PMS replied that we did not have a confirmed date yet.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-11 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-11 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:55" post_name="economy-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4702" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/11/4702" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the conduct of the police investigation in Portugal, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister believed that, as the Home Secretary made clear, this was an ongoing police investigation. As and when support and help was requested from the British Police, obviously the British Police would act in a fully cooperative way. But it would be inappropriate to comment further on what was an ongoing police investigation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any sense of regret over the contacts which he had had with the McCann family, the PMS replied that the McCann Family had been provided with support through the Foreign Office in a consular way. Put that the Prime Minister had had personal contact with the family and did he regret that, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not regret his contact with the McCann family, but this was an ongoing police investigation and would be unwise to say anything more.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-11 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-11 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:54" post_name="mccann-investigation" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="McCann Investigation" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4703" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/11/4703" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about reports of a Downing Street cat, the PMS replied that Mr and Mrs Darling were living in the flat above No10 in Downing Street, he understood that they did have a cat, and that the cat had recently been brought to Downing Street. He had not seen it himself, but he understood the cat's name was Sybil.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the cat would have the run of Downing Street as Humphrey did, the PMS replied that he was not a cat owner himself, but it was his understanding that it was quite difficult to confine cats to particular areas, so one would expect to see the cat around the place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a problem with this, the PMS replied that the Prime Minster did not have a problem with this. Asked if Sarah Brown had a problem with the cat, the PMS replied that Sarah Brown did not have a problem with it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had met the cat before, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had probably met the cat before in Scotland, where the cat previously resided with the Darlings.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-11 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-11 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-11 10:00:53" post_name="downing-street-cat" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Downing Street Cat" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4704" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/12/4704" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by telling the assembled press that the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary had visited a local police station in Leicestershire that morning, where they met with local police community stakeholders and local residents to discuss neighbourhood policing and engagement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister and Home Secretary then went on to take part in a citizen's jury on crime at the Walkers Stadium in Leicestershire. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-12 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-12 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-12 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-12 10:00:58" post_name="neighbourhood-policing" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Neighbourhood Policing" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4705" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/12/4705" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The PMS went on to say that the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) had announced that a suspected case of Foot and Mouth disease had been identified in Surrey, near Chertsey. Based on the symptoms, a slaughter on suspicion of Foot and Mouth had been authorised and would take place as soon as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS emphasised that it was not a confirmed case, but a suspected case. Specific tests would be taking place and the Government hoped to have the results of those tests later today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS said that as DEFRA had announced, because the Government wanted to take all possible precautionary measures, in addition to the order to slaughter the suspected animals on the farm, an immediate 10 km temporary control zone was being set up around the site. The Prime Minister was informed of the suspected outbreak that morning, during the course of his visit. The PMS said the Prime Minister had already spoken by conference call with Hilary Benn, Debby Reynolds, the Chief Veterinary Officer and the head of the Civil Contingencies Secretariat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had cut short his visit to Leicestershire, the PMS said that he had not. Asked if all animals within the 10km zone would be slaughtered, the PMS said that it would be best if operational information came from DEFRA.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) meeting would be looking at the possible banning of all movement of animals, the PMS said that it would depend on the outcome of the test results. However, if the test results were positive, then a national movement ban would be imposed. Asked if this ban would be UK wide, the PMS said that it had been a UK wide ban previously. The PMS added that a decision would be taken once the results had come in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any way of knowing if it was a fresh leak from the Pirbright laboratory, the PMS replied that it was far too early to say.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In answer to the question of what happened within the 10km temporary control zone and would that mean a ban on movement in the area, the PMS replied that DEFRA had made an announcement and it would be best if people referred to that, as it set out exactly what the conditions were. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a summary of the announcement the PMS read out the following:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;No person shall move any susceptible animal into or out of the zone, except where the movement is through the zone without stopping or necessary to complete a journey started before the creation of the zone.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he knew how many animals would be slaughtered at this stage, the PMS said he did not have that information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how far Chertsey was from Pirbright and would the Government be making any assumptions on the matter, the PMS replied that no assumptions would be made until the test results were known. The PMS added that he did not know the exact distance between Chertsey and Pirbright.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a 21-day probation period and had this period elapsed since the last outbreak, the PMS replied that it had been more than 21 days.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-12 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-12 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-12 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-12 10:00:57" post_name="foot-and-mouth-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4666" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/05/4666" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the ten problem areas that had been identified and whether these areas were specific towns or cities, or areas within towns, the PMS said that the Home Office would release further details on the subject next week.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-05 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-05 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:54" post_name="gun-crime-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Gun Crime" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4706" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/12/4706" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any British reaction to Russia detonating a new &amp;quot;super bomb,&amp;quot; the PMS said that there was no specific reaction to the news.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought the financial system should be more cautious on how it lends money, the PMS replied that it was a matter for the Bank of England, the Treasury and the Financial Services Authority to attend to and they were working very closely on the matter.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-12 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-12 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-12 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-12 10:00:56" post_name="misc-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4707" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/13/4707" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister watched the Scotland game last night, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister spent most of yesterday evening working on issues related to the outbreak of Foot &amp;amp; Mouth Disease. He met with officials and was on the phone to Hilary Benn, the Chief Vet, and others. The television was on in the background, and the Prime Minister was able to see a bit of both games, flicking between channels, but his main preoccupation last night was dealing with the Foot &amp;amp; Mouth outbreak.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Scotland manager following the match, the PMS replied that he had left a message of congratulations to the Scottish manager, but again, his main preoccupation has been dealing with the Foot &amp;amp; Mouth outbreak. Asked what the message was, the PMS replied that it was a message of congratulations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister sent a message to Steve McClaren, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been focusing very much on the Foot &amp;amp; Mouth outbreak. He understood that a letter would be sent to Steve McClaren during the course of the day.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-13 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-13 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-13 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-13 10:00:58" post_name="scotland-match" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland Match" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4708" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/13/4708" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be an investigation into why the all clear was given, the PMS replied that as the Chief Vet had made clear, the decision on the all clear was taken on the basis of her scientific judgement. All surveillance and testing within the previous surveillance zone had been negative. The Chief Vet said last Friday that a large number of samples, over 8,000, had been taken from animals in the surveillance zone by a team over the last 2 weeks. On top of that, the tracing of animals that had left Surrey in the risk period, for other parts of the country, was also complete. All of the animals that had been examined were healthy. All of the samples had been tested and were negative for Foot &amp;amp; Mouth disease. Various independent experts had been discussing this this morning - Professor Brian Spratt of Imperial College said that he thought it was right to lift the restrictions, and Professor Hugh Pennington said that he did not think that the Government had any other choice. So this was a decision that was made on the basis of scientific evidence, it was a decision made by the Chief Vet, and if was a decision that was supported by the academic experts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people were asking why, when Professor Spratt has also said that the incubation period could last up to 50 hours, the PMS replied that Professor Spratt raised a number of possibilities in his report, but in his comments this morning he said that he thought it was right to lift the restrictions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to respond to David Cameron's suggestion that political pressure was put on the Chief Vet, the PMS replied that Hilary Benn had made the Government's position completely clear this morning, that there was absolutely no truth in that whatsoever.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for further information on the strain of the disease, the PMS replied that there was no further information on the strain. As the Prime Minister had said yesterday, intensive testing was underway, and in advance of that it would certainly be unwise for him to speculate on hypotheses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;After if the Prime Minister had spoken to any of his European counterparts on this, and whether any had expressed concern, the PMS replied that there had been contact between the Government and the European Commission on this matter, but the Government has no difficulty with any action taken by the European Commission.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who was present at COBRA and whether there would be any test results out later today, the PMS replied that it was possible that there would be further test results during the course of the day, as the Chief Vet had said yesterday. This morning's meeting was a Ministerial meeting of COBRA, chaired by the Prime Minister, and included Hilary Benn, the Chief Veterinary Officer, and other key experts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any contact between the Prime Minister and the first Minister on this, the PMS replied that at yesterday's COBRA the Scottish and Welsh Executives were involved, down the line.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Foot &amp;amp; Mouth had been ruled out in the Norfolk case yet, the PMS replied that there were tests ongoing, and a temporary control zone has been imposed. At this point we were not able to rule anything out until those tests were in, but it was not unusual, as we saw last time, for reported cases to emerge, and for them subsequently to be proved to be negative. That was the nature of the precautionary approach we were taking. Given that the Chief Vet was encouraging farmers to come forward and report any suspicions, it was not surprising that these things were happening. We would await further test results on that, but it was a pattern we saw last time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be prudent in light of this outbreak to wait longer in the future before lifting moving restrictions, the PMS replied that the key thing for the Prime Minister was that whatever action we take is taken on the best scientific advice, and the best expert advice, and that was the approach he would take.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would be happy if experts recommended lifting the ban at the same sort of periods, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not going to second guess expert and scientific opinion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any discussion over the longer term for perhaps relocating the Pirbright laboratory, the PMS replied that clearly this was a very long term decision. It was best to check what the Spratt report, and the HSE report said about that. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the time had come for the Government to apologise over Pirbright, the PMS replied that the Government had said in relation to the Pirbright outbreak, that just as we had learnt the lessons in 2001, so we would also learn any lessons from this most recent outbreak. Effluent releases from Pirbright were identified as the most likely source of the problem, but as Professor Spratt said in his report &amp;quot;I have to say this is not definitive - there is not absolute evidence that this is what occurred&amp;quot;. But he did say this was the most likely source of the trouble at Pirbright, the leakage of the effluent system and surface contamination of the soil. So there was still an element of uncertainty, as is the nature of these things, and as was acknowledged in the HSE and Spratt report in relation to the initial outbreak.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-13 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-13 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-13 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-13 10:00:57" post_name="foot-and-mouth-outbreak" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth outbreak" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4709" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/13/4709" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any comment on the Taoiseach defending his position on &amp;quot;cash for favours&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that we did not have any comment to make on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a comment on the appointment of a new Prime Minister in Russia, the PMS replied that we had no comment to make on this.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-13 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-13 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-13 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-13 10:00:56" post_name="misc-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4710" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/14/4710" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what involvement the Prime Minister had had in the Northern Rock decision, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that the Prime Minister had been kept up to date with what had been happening by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Chancellor that part of the blame for the situation lay with the United States, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had no difficulty with what the Chancellor had said, but he did not think the Chancellor was attributing blame. The Chancellor was simply saying that there was uncertainty in financial markets, which originated in the United States. The PMS added that it was an uncontroversial statement of fact. Asked if the Chancellor's words reflected the Prime Minister's view, the PMS said they did indeed reflect the view of the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister supported Northern Rock paying interim dividends, while borrowing money, the PMS responded by saying that the Prime Minister thought there was a very well established system for dealing with financial stability issues of this kind. There were tripartite arrangements in place involving the Treasury, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Bank of England and that was the correct procedure for dealing with such issues. Pressed on whether the Prime Minister supported Northern Rock paying dividends while borrowing money from taxpayers, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister believed there were established procedures for dealing with these issues. These were in place and operating in this case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Chancellor consulted the Prime Minister before he was given approval by the Bank of England on the issue, or whether the Prime Minister was told after a decision had been made, the PMS said he did not want to get into exactly what meetings took place and at what time, but the Prime Minister had been kept informed throughout the process. Asked if the Prime Minister's approval was sought on the matter, the PMS replied that it was a decision made by the Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In answer to the suggestion that other banks may be affected in the same way and how great was the concern that the situation could lead to more widespread problems, the PMS said that as the Chancellor had been making clear that morning, the FSA had judged that Northern Rock was solvent, that it exceeded its regulatory capital requirement and it had a good quality loan book. The PMS added that it was not an issue of insolvency with Northern Rock and there were facilities in place to provide support. As the Chancellor had made clear that morning, Northern Rock was the only institution that had approached the Bank of England and requested support of this kind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was glad that he wasn't Chancellor anymore, the PMS replied that when he was Chancellor, the Prime Minister had dealt with a whole series of instances of financial instability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would say to those people who had mortgages with Northern Rock, the PMS replied that what the Prime Minister would say is what the Chancellor had said that morning. The Government had set up the FSA ten years ago and they had made clear that people could carry on repaying their mortgages, that mortgages would be given in the normal way and depositors could carry on putting money into the bank. The PMS said that the FSA had looked at the books of Northern Rock and made that position clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how worried the Prime Minister was that such problems would spread to other mortgage providers, the PMS reiterated that Northern Rock was the only institution that had approached the Bank of England for assistance and it was not a solvency issue for the company. It was an issue relating to Northern Rock's liquidity and the fundamentals of the economy remained sound. The country had seen positive economic growth for 60 consecutive quarters, growth had been slightly above trend recently, inflation was back to target, employment was at a record high and unemployment was falling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a concern that although the economy might continue to perform well, this incident might have an effect on financial services, the PMS replied that a system was in place for financial regulation. It was established ten years ago involving the Treasury, the Bank of England and the independent FSA and it was recognised as being a good system. It had been tested before and there were procedures in place to deal with these issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the arrangement was at a net cost or net profit to the Government, the PMS said that there was no impact on public finances and it was part of the Bank of England's liquidity support operation. The PMS said that it was provided from the Bank of England's balance sheet, but clearly the terms of the support operation were a matter for the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was relaxed about the amount of money people were borrowing, the PMS replied that there was nothing to add to what the Chancellor had said on the matter. The fundamentals of the economy were sound, inflation was back to target, employment was at a record high, unemployment was falling and the country had had 60 consecutive quarters of growth.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-14 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-14 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4711" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/14/4711" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that the Prime Minister might be sympathetic to the idea of regionalising the system of restrictions, given that Scotland and Wales were hoping to experience the lifting of restrictions in a limited way, the PMS said the key thing to remember was that everything was guided by the scientific evidence and advice, so such matters were for the Chief Veterinary Officer (CVO) to comment on and the Prime Minister would not want to second guess that. Asked whether it was an issue that the Prime Minister would be seeking advice on, the PMS said that the CVO would no doubt be looking at a whole range of issues and it would be for her to examine such issues on the basis of the scientific facts available and make a recommendation. It was not for the Prime Minister to try and second-guess that in any way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this was in fact an issue for the Chief Veterinary officer, the PMS replied that on confirmation of the disease, the UK CVO would establish an immediate Great Britain animal movement ban. It was then for the CVO and her counterparts in the devolved administrations, to make decisions on which movements could be allowed based on an assessment of the veterinary risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that it looked like a political decision made by vets from two devolved administrations, the PMS said there was discussion between experts based on their view of the science. It was not for the Prime Minister or anyone else to intervene in the matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be saying to the Surrey farmers in his meeting with them at the headquarters of the National Farmers Union (NFU), the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be saying he fully understood the farmers concerns and he would be reassuring them that the government would be doing everything in it's power to control and eradicate this disease. The Prime Minister would be listening to any particular concerns the farmers might have.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for details on that mornings COBRA meeting, the PMS said that it was a general update meeting and if there was anything more to say the Chief Vet would make an announcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if compensation was on the agenda at the NFU meeting, the PMS said that there was already compensation for those farmers directly affected. There was this discussion previously and compensation was made available in relation to the previous outbreak in August. The PMS added that the priority for everyone at this point was to ensure all necessary steps were taken to control and eradicate the disease.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government were not vaccinating animals, the PMS said that vaccination was an option kept under review, but he again stressed that it was an issue where the Government would be guided by the science. The Government had to be open-minded and see how the situation progressed. The PMS emphasised that the Prime Minister would be guided by the best scientific evidence and advice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that there was a need to review the arrangements governing the movement restrictions, as it appeared that movement restrictions had been removed too quickly, the PMS said it was far too early to reach any conclusion of that kind. There was a need to establish the source of the most recent outbreak, but as the Government emphasised yesterday, the decision to lift the restriction zone was one that was made by the CVO on the basis of the best scientific evidence and one that had been subsequently supported by the academic community and the NFU.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-14 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-14 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:57" post_name="foot-and-mouth-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4650" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/07/4650" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a view from No.10 on the matter of the Foot and Mouth outbreak, the PMS replied that Hilary Benn would be speaking on behalf of the Government.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-07 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-07 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:55" post_name="foot-and-mouth" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4651" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/07/4651" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the disagreement between the Prime Minister and Alex Salmond on whether the correct term was Scottish Executive or Scottish Government, the PMS expressed his surprise on reading the story this morning. The PMS reiterated the position that as far as the Government was aware, there was no change in the devolution settlement. In response to the suggestion that this was a tactical creep towards Scottish independence, the PMS again said that the position on devolution had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-07 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-07 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:54" post_name="scottish-executive" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Executive" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4649" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/07/4649" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a response to the comments made by environmental groups, that decisions on nuclear power had already been made, the PMS referred back to what the Prime Minister had said in the House of Commons at Prime Ministers Questions on the 11th July 2007. The Government's preliminary view was that nuclear power had a role in providing the country's homes and businesses with the low-carbon energy it needed. The PMS went on to say that the Government would make their decision in the autumn, after and in light of the consultation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was disappointed that environmental groups had chosen to pull out of the consultation, the PMS confirmed that the Government was disappointed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was worried that the timeline would get pushed back if a legal challenge was mounted and the third consultation was put at risk, the PMS said that the whole point of a consultation was to give people an opportunity to put their views and therefore it was better to do that if you were part of the consultation. Obviously there were a lot of different views on the issue. People would put their views; the Government would take them into account and then take a decision.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-07 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-07 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:56" post_name="nuclear-energy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Nuclear Energy " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4647" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/07/4647" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to give details on the appointment of Mr Eliasch, the Prime Minister's Spokesman replied that he could confirm that the Prime Minister had appointed Johan Eliasch as a Special Representative to advise the Prime Minister on the development of financial mechanisms, to promote sustainable forestry and clean energy and to tackle climate change. The PMS said that Mr Eliasch would conduct a review, reporting to the Prime Minister, into examining financial mechanisms to promote sustainable forestry and investment in low-carbon energy sources. He would work closely with the Secretaries of State for the Environment and International Development in doing so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what qualifications Mr Eliasch would be bringing to the position, the PMS said that he had a great deal of expertise in the general area relating to climate change. Mr Eliasch had been concerned about this subject for many years and established the charity &amp;quot;Cool Earth,&amp;quot; to enable people to denote money, which could be combined together to protect the rainforest. Mr Eliasch had also devoted considerable time in recent years into researching and promoting mechanisms for international policy, such as the creation of carbon credits, to incentivise lower carbon emissions and reduce deforestation. The PMS went on to say that as a successful businessman, Mr Eliasch had particular expertise in financial mechanisms and had established expertise in this area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether there was a party political slant to the appointment, the PMS reiterated that the basis on which Mr Eliasch had been appointed had been because of his expertise in relation to climate change and deforestation. Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the way his &amp;quot;Government of all the talents&amp;quot; was shaping up, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was very happy with his Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to elaborate on the financial mechanisms in terms of forestry, the PMS said that one of the issues Mr Eliasch would no doubt want to look at was the use of carbon credits and whether they could be better used to help protect rainforests. In a sense the purpose of the review would be to examine such issues in detail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister approached Mr Eliasch, the PMS said he would not comment on private conversations between the Prime Minister and Mr Eliasch. Asked whether the position was a paid job, the PMS said that it was an unpaid position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether he expected Mr Eliasch to become a Labour Party peer, the PMS said that he would not comment on party political matters. Asked when Mr Eliasch was expected to report back to the Prime Minister, the PMS said that the expectation was that he would report back in the course of next year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked several times whether the Prime Minister had stipulated that Mr Eliasch should leave the Conservative Party in order to take up his post, the PMS said that the relationship between Mr Eliasch and the Conservative Party was a matter for him. The PMS reiterated that the basis on which the Prime Minister had appointed Mr Eliasch was for his expertise in relation to climate change and deforestation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether Mr Eliasch was approached about the position before or after he had left the Conservative Party, the PMS repeated that he would not comment on private discussions between the Prime Minister and Mr Eliasch.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-07 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-07 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:58" post_name="johan-eliasch" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Johan Eliasch" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4648" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/07/4648" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that there was a difference in opinion between the US and the UK on overall strategy and tactics in Afghanistan, the PMS said that the Government was working very closely with the US and other NATO allies in Afghanistan as part of the international effort. Asked whether the International Security Assistance Force had sufficient ground forces between them, the PMS replied that such matters were considered on an ongoing basis by the military, as people would expect. As and when the position changed, the military would provide advice and a decision would be taken, but that was not where the Government was at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was considering reinforcements and whether they were happy with troop levels at the present time, the PMS reiterated that the Government kept troop levels under constant review, as people would expect.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-07 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-07 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-07 10:00:57" post_name="afghanistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4645" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/06/4645" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a response on calls for a referendum on the subject of the EU Treaty, the PMS said that the Government's position was well known and nothing had changed.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-06 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-06 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:55" post_name="eu-treaty-referendum" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Treaty Referendum" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4646" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/06/4646" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a few words on the death of Pavarotti, the PMS said the Prime Minister thought Pavarotti was the outstanding opera singer of his generation. He had inspired many people from this generation to listen to and enjoy opera. The Prime Minister was sure that people would remember him from the glorious summer of 1990, when Pavarotti's voice became the voice of that summer.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-06 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-06 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:54" post_name="pavarotti" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pavarotti" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4643" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/06/4643" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the review on violent video games the PMS said that there would be a joint announcement from the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport later today.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-06 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-06 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:57" post_name="violent-video-games" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Violent Video Games" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4644" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/06/4644" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reaction on comments made by David Cameron on youth volunteering, the PMS said that it was not for him to respond to the Leader of the Opposition. The Government's general position on the subject was that youth volunteering was something the Prime Minister had been interested in for many years and through pre-budget reports and budgets the Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor had channelled a significant amount of research into this area. In his days as Chancellor, the Prime Minister had set up the Russell Commission, which had recommended the setting up of the youth volunteering charity, &amp;quot;V.&amp;quot; This charity was launched in May 2006 with &amp;pound;60million being made available by the Government. 200,000 volunteering places were created with one million places in total being created over five years.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-06 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-06 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:56" post_name="youth-volunteering" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Youth Volunteering" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4639" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/05/4639" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PM had been in contact with Alex Salmond about the Scottish Parliament's programme, the PMS said there was an open channel of communication between the Scottish Office and the Scottish Executive and these issues would be discussed. Put that the Scottish Executive were relaxed about calling themselves the Government, the PMS replied that he wasn't aware of any change in the devolution settlement. Asked if the Prime Minister was relaxed about further powers being devolved to the Scottish Executive, the PMS said that this would be subject to debate and there were ongoing discussions. But there were no specific proposals at this point.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-05 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-05 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:55" post_name="scottish-parliament" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Parliament" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4641" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/05/4641" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;sked whether there were any plans to change the way oil revenues were gathered the PMS said that the relevant junior Minister made clear the Government's stance on the issue yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-05 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-05 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:53" post_name="misc-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4642" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/06/4642" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Ministers Spokesman started by telling the assembled press that the Prime Minister and Ed Balls were visiting Bristol today to open a &amp;pound;24million state of the art secondary school. The school is one of 180 newly built or rebuilt projects and 36 academies opening this school year - and comes on top of 1,100 new primary, secondary or academy schools and 27,000 new and improved classrooms built since 1997.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Department for Children, Schools and Families had set up the event, which would be bringing together 40 - 50 people. The discussion was part of a wider programme of consultation for a new Children's Plan. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the people taking part had been selected, the PMS said that 40-50 people had been brought together. Those invited had been selected by a variety of methods. The school had provided a list of pupils and teaching staff who would participate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Department for Children, Schools and Families added to this with a door-to-door recruitment programme within a two-mile radius of the school itself and provided a list of community stakeholders to take part in order to make it as representative of the local community as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that the visit was no different from any other visit to a school, the PMS said that it was a very structured event. It would be deliberately representative of the local community and a series of questions would be asked about specific issues. These questions would be discussed with parents, students and community figures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what would be discussed and what would the event feed into the PMS made people aware of the Government's Children's Plan consultation. The event would be on camera enabling people to see for themselves what would be discussed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;When asked what sort of questions people could expect the PMS suggested several questions including the following; &amp;quot;How would you keep young people out of trouble?&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;What is the Government's job when it comes to supporting people and should they be doing anything else?&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who would be facilitating the event, the PMS reiterated that the DCSF were running the event and had consulted with a range of experts. The PMS went on to say that for this particular event, Opinion Leader Research (OLR) had been chosen to organise things and to pre-empt any questions on the issue, Deborah Mattison was no longer an employee of OLR and had no contractual relationship with Downing Street.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether OLR had been chosen through a completely open tendering process the PMS confirmed that they had been.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-06 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-06 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-06 10:00:58" post_name="citizens-juries-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Citizens Juries" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4638" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/05/4638" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether Government computer networks were vulnerable to computer hacking and whether there was any cross government advice on protecting critical infrastructure like computer networks the PMS said that the Government had in place procedures and mechanisms to deal with such issues. Asked whether the Prime Minister had discussed the issue with Chancellor Merkel after the Chancellor had raised the same issue with Chinese authorities, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister and Chancellor Merkel had had a general discussion about relations with China. This was focused more on global, economic and political issues arising from the EU's relationship with China rather than this particular issue. Asked if the Government had raised the issue with China, the PMS said that if there were specific concerns identified then it would be taken up, but it would be best to check with the Home Office on the specifics.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-05 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-05 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:56" post_name="computer-hacking" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Computer Hacking" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4628" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/28/4628" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet any Labour MPs who were unhappy with the Constitutional Treaty, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister kept in contact with all of his colleagues in a number of different ways. But he would not get into talking about internal Labour Party matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this was more than an internal Labour Party matter as David Cameron had renewed a call for a referendum, and rightly or wrongly it was a widely held view, the PMS replied that the specific question was about discussion within the Labour Party. On a more general point, the Prime Minister had set out his position on the Constitution many times, and that position had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this was now a Constitution, the PMS corrected himself replying that the Prime Minister had set out his position on the accusations that it might be a Constitution.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-28 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-28 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:57" post_name="eu" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4629" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/28/4629" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister made of the general claim that &amp;quot;widespread social breakdown&amp;quot; was behind the recent spate of killings, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would not accept the premise of this question, as Jack Straw, Jacqui Smith and other ministers had made clear in recent days. There were clearly particular issues relating to gun crime, and as the Prime Minister said last week any death of an 11 year old is a great tragedy. Where there was the need for new laws, they would be passed, and where there was a need for tougher enforcement, we would make sure that happened. The Prime Minister met last week with the police and relevant agencies, and there would be further discussions in the period ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to contact the family of Rhys Jones, the PMS replied that this was something that we would not normally comment on publicly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on the Scottish Executive's call for more powers in relation to gun licensing, particularly over air guns, the PMS replied that we were aware that these issues had been raised, but there was no specific reaction to give today.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-28 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-28 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:56" post_name="law-and-order" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Law and Order" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4627" comment_count="3" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/28/4627" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the assessment of the Chief of General Staff that we can expect a &amp;quot;generation of conflict&amp;quot;, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that David Miliband had answered this point clearly on the radio this morning. When it came to dealing with terrorism in particular, this was clearly a long term issue that we had to face.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Miliband had also made clear that Britain's decisions on Iraq regarding troop pullouts would be made independent of the US, and that the situation on the ground in Basra would dictate what would happen to British troops, not the situation in Baghdad, and asked if this position had the full support of the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that David Miliband was also saying that our position on Iraq had not changed. We would operate in close consultation with our allies, but we would have to take decisions based on the situation on the ground, and clearly the situation in Basra was different to the situation in other parts of Iraq. This had been our long standing position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it could work both ways, so if the situation was fine on the ground we could leave before the Americans, but could it work the other way if the Americans started scaling down and we were to stay on, the PMS replied that all of these were hypothetical questions. The key point, which the Prime Minister emphasised in his letter yesterday, was that we would take decisions based on military advice, and that military advice would relate to the capacity of the Iraqi security forces to take over responsibility for security in the Basra area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the presence of US troops would feed into the military assessment of the situation on the ground, the PMS replied that these were all issue that the military would have to look at. But this was not something for politicians to be intervening on. This was advice that had to be formulated by the military on the ground based on their assessment of what was happening in Southern Iraq.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it had been formally acknowledged that we would be leaving Basra Palace soon, the PMS replied that clearly decisions would have to be taken, but these would be taken on the basis of military advice. Once advice had been received and decisions taken, then we would make an announcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would still pull back if that meant American troops going in to replace our troops, the PMS replied that this was entering the realms of the hypothetical. We would not be getting into the business of second guessing what may or may not happen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how military advice translated into something concrete that led to a political decision, the PMS replied that the Ministry of Defence could give chapter and verse on the exact process by which all of this happens. But clearly there would need to be some considered advice put together by senior commanders.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister's last discussion with President Bush was on Iraq, the PMS replied that it would have been at Camp David. Asked if there had been any telephone calls since, the PMS replied that there had been none to his knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any result from the review into the Iraqi interpreters, the PMS replied that it was his understanding that this was still under consideration.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-28 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-28 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:58" post_name="iraq" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4630" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/28/4630" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a view from Number 10 about the best way to help stabilise the global financial markets, the PMS replied that the view from Number 10 was that the Treasury were in the lead on this. They had set out the Government's position and that was the best way to deal with these issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reaction to the Corporation Tax figures out today, the PMS replied that there was no specific reaction from us. Clearly measures were taken in the last Budget to simplify the Corporation Tax regime. Clearly action had been taken over many years to ensure that individuals and companies who should be paying tax, were paying tax. But on specifics it was better to speak to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that reports this morning show enormous growth in the ratios of earnings within certain industries, particularly hedge fund managers and private equity firms, and asked what the best was to approach this was, the PMS replied that the matter of awarding bonuses was a matter for employers rather than the Government. The City of London was a great strength for the British economy and clearly we would not want to do anything that would put this at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this was not simply a matter of economics, the PMS replied that lots had been done in terms of the reform of the tax and benefits system to improve the earnings and work incentives for people at the lower end of the income scale. And we would continue to take these forward.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-28 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-28 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:55" post_name="economy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4631" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/28/4631" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked that with no bank holiday until Boxing Day, what was Number 10's view on calls from the TUC and think-tanks for an extra Bank Holiday connected to British values, the PMS replied that clearly this was a proposal that would need to be looked at, and clearly there was bound to be support for that in certain quarters. Obviously this had to be balanced against concerns that employers had about the economic impact of holidays. But this was something that was kept under review.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-28 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-28 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-28 10:00:54" post_name="bank-holidays" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bank Holidays" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4634" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/03/4634" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what contacts the Prime Minister was having ahead of his statement to the House on Iraq, and asked about the overwatch process, the PMS replied that we stayed in close contact, as you would expect, with all of our key allies on a ongoing basis. The detailed operational basis on which overwatch would operate would be something that was very much for military commanders.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any progress reports on how the movement of troops from Basra Palace was going, the PMS replied that obviously the Prime Minister was being kept up to date and kept informed on a regular basis. But it was best to leave the public discussion of exactly how the operation was going to the Ministry of Defence and the military commanders on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to President Bush recently, the PMS replied that Mr Brown speaks to all of his key allies on a regular basis and we kept in very close contact with the United States.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-03 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-03 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:56" post_name="iraq-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4635" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/03/4635" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the trial of the nephew of Colonel Gaddafi, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to the Foreign Office on specifics. But the British Government did not, and would not seek to interfere with any independent judicial process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about reports of a minimum wage for London, the PMS replied that he did not recognise the reports.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-03 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-03 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-03 10:00:55" post_name="misc" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4636" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/05/4636" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) informed journalists about the Prime Minister launching with Douglas Alexander and others a new International Health Partnership, which would be part of a renewed global push to meet the health development millennium goals, cutting child deaths, improving maternal mortality rates and fighting major diseases. The event would aim to focus on improving health systems as a whole and not just focus on individual diseases or issues, providing better coordination between donors and developing and supporting other countries health plans.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The issue was that first of all global health assistance was quite complex, there being over 40 bilateral donors and ninety global health initiatives; second, more focus would need to be put on strong and sustainable health systems in poor countries as well as focusing on individual diseases; and thirdly poor countries often found it quite costly and time consuming to deal with so many different partners in this area. So for example in Cambodia, there were 22 different donors providing support for health through 109 separate projects.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Today's event would focus on bringing together some of the main players, such as the World Health Organisation, the World Bank, the UN, the Gates Foundation, EC, African Development Bank as well as some donor governments and commit to working better together and taking this important issue forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/output/Page13063.asp&quot;&gt;World's major diseases can be conquered - PM &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-05 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-05 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:58" post_name="international-health-partnership" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="International Health Partnership" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4637" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/05/4637" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had submitted his DNA to the DNA database the PMS replied that he wasn't aware that the Prime Minister had but he would double check if people were interested. Put whether the Prime Minister supported the idea, the PMS said he was very supportive of the DNA database, which had been very successful in tackling crime. The DNA database supplies the police with 3500 matches per month, but there were no plans to introduce a universal, compulsory or voluntary national DNA database. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that there were only two ways to go with the system, those being universality or in a sense, dropping it altogether except for people who had committed offences, the PMS said that the purpose of the DNA database is to fight crime and that would continue to be the main focus of what was trying to be achieved. The PMS went on to say that there were civil liberty concerns that needed to be taken into account as well and reiterated that there were no plans to introduce a universal DNA database. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that those civil liberties concerns were particularly potent on this issue, the PMS said that he would not characterise or weight those concerns as suggested, but confirmed that there were civil liberties concerns in regards to the issue. In response to the suggestion that the phrase &amp;quot;no plans&amp;quot; could be interpreted as the Prime Minister having sympathy for an idea, the PMS said that there would be huge logistical and bureaucratic issues to deal with alongside the civil liberties concerns. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the public might be more supportive in five or ten years the PMS replied that the issue was complex and there was bound to be a lengthy public debate on the subject, but the position was that there were no plans for a universal DNA database. The PMS said that the Prime Minister's position was to look at options that would help the fight against crime. This needed to be the focus of what the Government was doing in relation to the DNA database.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-05 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-05 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-05 10:00:57" post_name="dna-database" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="DNA Database" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4626" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4626" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any further thoughts regarding Richard Dannatt's comments that there should be a class added to the medals given out for Afghanistan to reflect the nature of the fighting, the PMS replied that as the MOD had said yesterday, obviously the Chief of the General Staff had given his opinion on this issue. Overall, medals were a matter for all Chiefs of Staff. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 12:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 12:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:53" post_name="afghan-medals-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghan Medals" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4623" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4623" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister was holding a bilateral with Chancellor Merkel specifically this week, and also, was the Prime Minister back at work now, the PMS said that Chancellor Merkel would be in London on Wednesday. They would discuss a wide range of topics, specifically looking at international development issues, trade, and other issues coming out of the G8. The PMS said that they might also touch on the global economy. With regards to the Prime Minister's holiday, he had been working in his constituency, as we had established last week. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if climate change and targets would be discussed, the PMS replied that there would be a discussion of issues coming out of G8, but she could not be specific on anything else at this point. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 12:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 12:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:56" post_name="chancellor-merkel-meeting-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chancellor Merkel Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4624" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4624" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any thought about the reports over the weekend from the US that said that the UK was beaten in Iraq and that we were now facing rising violence and a Saigon situation, the PMS replied that people should look at the response that the Basra military spokesperson Major Michael Shearer gave this morning. Major Shearer had pointed out although that there had been increased violence, that this was not surprising due to the fact that malign forces are attempting to claim responsibility for what was in fact a long established strategy in the Basra province. Therefore, our strategy remained in place, and the Basra province would pass responsibility to the Iraqi forces as had happened in three of the four areas for which the UK had responsibility. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any chance of stepping up the Army presence in the other three provinces in light of the killing of the Provincial Governor, the PMS said that whilst she was aware of the reports, she was not going to comment on them in detail at this stage. There were challenges ahead for all the Iraqi security forces, but our strategy was as set out as before. With regards to a longer-term strategy, as President Bush and the Prime Minister said at Camp David recently, we were awaiting for General Petraeus' report later in September. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 12:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 12:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:55" post_name="iraq-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4625" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4625" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that a Times report from Brussels this morning had reported that a committee had asserted that the reform treaty was much the same as the constitution, the PMS said that our position on the treaty had been well established, the constitutional aspects of the treaty were not in this draft either in form or in content. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 12:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 12:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:54" post_name="eu-treaty-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4622" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4622" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed that parts of the country were now inflicted by anarchy, the PMS replied that what both the Prime Minister and the Government as a whole would emphasise was that public protection was the top priority. With reference to knife crime, that was why the Government had introduced a new maximum sentence for carrying knives, doubled from two years to four years. More generally, we of course recognised and appreciated people's concerns about the high profile cases, especially those concerning young people. As John Denham said yesterday, however, it was also important to recognise that there had been an overall fall in the levels in crime and that people were much less likely to be a victim of crime than they were ten years ago. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had plans to look at knife crime issues this week, based on the statistics that were published yesterday, the PMS said that in terms of the statistics, the Home Office's analysis was that those particular statistics were based on an extrapolation of British Crime Survey figures, and were therefore not the most accurate. However, that was not to say that we didn't recognise there was a real issue here, and we appreciated people's concerns. The Prime Minister was kept informed of all developments, and as John Denham had said, there were tough measures that had been brought into place, and it was extremely important that those measures were used and that they were kept under review. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that John Denham had also said yesterday that the Government would look at the discounted alcohol available, and did the Prime Minister have any views on that or on raising the age at which people could buy alcohol, the PMS replied that the Government had already set out its position on changing the age at which people could buy alcohol. In terms of working with supermarkets, there was an ongoing programme through the Alcohol Harm Reduction Strategy which was looking to tackle that particular problem, and of course, we were fully supportive of it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had plans to enlist Army officers to tackle gang culture, especially black gangs, the PMS replied that she wouldn't respond directly to the question, as it referred to a leaked document. If people looked at the report that was published by Hazel Blears recently into the aspirations of young black men, there were a number of measures in there, including mentors. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government accepted that the increase in sentencing from two years to four years was not working and was not deterring young people from carrying knives, the PMS said that we recognised that there were specific issues here. However, overall, we also needed to recognise the fact that violent crime had gone down. With regards to what the Government had done to tackle knife crime, there had been a range of measures introduced in the Violent Crime Act 2006, including the increase of the maximum sentence and raising the age at which someone could purchase a knife from 16 to 18 years old. It also gave school staff powers to search pupils for weapons as well as creating a new offence of minding a weapon for somebody else. Again, if that weapon was a knife, the maximum sentence would also be four years. The PMS said that these were tough new measures that had been introduced, and the important thing was that they were being enforced. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared the previous Prime Minister's analysis on knife and gun crime which was that this was a localised problem that needed specific tailored responses and that it was not a blanket problem with a blanket solution, the PMS replied that we would have to be guided by police working in areas with specific problems. However, it was a range of measures that was required, rather than one approach. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans to confirm what the Home Office thought about knife crime statistics, the PMS said that the Home Office had said that the British Crime Survey did not show a statistically significant increase in the use of knives in violent incidents. 6 to 7% of all violent crime was knife-related which had remained relatively stable for several years. Until April 2007, knife related offences were not separately identified, but police now collected data on knives which would overall give us a better picture of the situation across the country. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 12:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 12:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:57" post_name="crime-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Crime" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4621" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/20/4621" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a No10 reaction on behalf of the Prime Minister to David Cameron's recent comments about the breakdown of families, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled journalists that she was not going to respond directly to the Leader of the Opposition, and recommended that people spoke to the Labour Party.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what had been done by the Government to boost family policies, the PMS said that there was a long proven track record in terms of family policy, including tax credits, and measures lead by both DWP and DCLG. The PMS said again that she would not get into a direct response with the Leader of the Opposition and that people should speak to the Labour Party. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-20 12:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-20 12:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-20 11:00:58" post_name="family-values-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Family Values" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4615" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4615" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) updated journalists on Foot and Mouth. She said that the Prime Minister was being kept informed of any developments today whilst he was up in Scotland. Officials were currently attending a COBR meeting, and there had been no confirmed cases since early last week. The Chief Vet Debby Reynolds had stressed again over the weekend the need for relentless vigilance, and had expressed her gratitude for those in farming communities. In terms of Professor Spratt's review on biosecurity, we believed that this would report towards the end of this week, but that exact timings were a matter for Professor Spratt. The same applied to the timings on the further HSE work. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put to the PMS that the National Farmers Union (NFU) had said they were very optimistic yesterday, and given that the Prime Minister was now in Scotland, was he happy about the current situation, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was being kept informed of any developments. Although there had been no confirmed cases for a few days, we obviously had to be very mindful that this was a highly virulent disease, and that preventing its spread was our absolute priority. As Debby Reynolds had said, whilst there had been no cases recently, it was relentless vigilance that was required. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 12:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 12:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:58" post_name="foot-and-mouth-disease-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth Disease" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4616" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4616" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was in his constituency whilst in Scotland, the PMS confirmed that he was working from his constituency office. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was now on holiday, the PMS replied that it was the first time that the Prime Minister had visited his constituency since he became Prime Minister. There was therefore a lot of business to do, and traditionally, the Prime Minister had often used his constituency office as an alternative location from where to do Government business from. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would have a meeting with Alex Salmond whilst he was in Scotland, the PMS said that she was not aware of any such plans, but added that the he had attended a Raith Rovers football match at the weekend. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be resuming his holiday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was up in Scotland for a few days, but that would be dependent on issues on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked had the Prime Minister arrived in Scotland and when was the last time that he was there, the PMS said that he had arrived on Friday, and this was the first visit to his constituency since he had become Prime Minister. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was intending to have another holiday, the PMS replied that as people knew, he had had a family holiday in Dorset planned, but it was disrupted. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if the Prime Minister was intending to take another holiday, the PMS replied that at the moment the Prime Minister was working up in Scotland. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it was important for people to take holidays with their families, and did he feel that he should lead by example, the PMS replied that he did think that it was important. He had had a holiday planned, but it was disrupted, and he felt that the most important thing for him was to come back and oversee the Foot and Mouth outbreak. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put by a journalist that Scotland was not a holiday, and it was not going to become a holiday, the (Scottish) Lobby Chair interrupted him and said that when people went to Scotland, it was always a holiday! &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 12:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 12:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:57" post_name="prime-minister-in-scotland-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister in Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4617" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4617" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Guardian story today regarding officials briefing the Government over climate change targets being &amp;quot;completely unreachable&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that the UK was committed to developing renewable energy. In the recent energy White Paper that was published, we had aimed to see renewable energy increase three-fold to 15% by 2015. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would meet targets set, the PMS said that it was no secret that these were ambitious targets, and it would be a major challenge. However, that was not only for the UK, but was for all EU member states, and people should remember that the UK was one of the few EU states that was on course the meet our Kyoto targets of cutting carbon emissions. It was now for the Commission to propose how the EU-wide target be met by all member states. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 12:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 12:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:56" post_name="climate-change-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Climate Change" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4618" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4618" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was involved in any talks about the financial markets, and was there a strategy, the PMS replied that John Hutton had responded to this yesterday. As the Prime Minster had said last week, we would not hesitate to act to ensure that the British economy remained stable, and that our prospects for continued growth were good. The view of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that was expressed on Saturday was that the fundamentals of both the world economy and the British economy were sound. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what actions the Government would take, the PMS replied that any actions would be dependent on the situation. At the moment, the IMF were saying that the British and international economies were sound. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would like the Bank of England to follow the Federal Reserve and the Central European Bank in terms of bailing out financial institutions, the PMS replied that the Bank of England's independence was something that was introduced by this Government, but she was not going to comment any further on its role. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 12:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 12:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:55" post_name="stock-market-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Stock Market" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4619" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4619" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was towards the climate change protestors at Heathrow, the PMS said that it was a matter for the authorities and those who ran Heathrow with regards to disruptions. People did have the right to protest, but the Government felt that any action that disrupted the operation of Heathrow would be unacceptable. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 12:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 12:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:54" post_name="climate-change-protestors-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Climate Change Protestors" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4620" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.haggis.disruptiveproactivity.com/briefings/2007/08/13/4620" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that as Des Browne was now back from Afghanistan and back at the MOD, was there any Government concern at the rising toll in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that as Des Browne had said in his interview, the fatalities were a matter of deep regret. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that when the Defence Secretary had said that the commitment in Afghanistan was for the long term, was there any idea of how long that might be, the PMS replied that as Des Browne had said, there were 42 other countries who were represented there in Afghanistan, 37 being military efforts. The operations would be guided by both the Commanders on the ground, as well as the political security situation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that as we had taken over the control of Helmand from another nation, was there any sign that another nation might be willing to take over from us, the PMS replied that she was not going to get into speculation about the operations on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-13 12:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-13 12:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-13 11:00:53" post_name="afghanistan-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4690" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/06/4690" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to resume his holiday, the PMS said that obviously there had been disruption to his holiday plans. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be keep updated whilst at Chequers, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be kept fully updated of all developments. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was hoping to resume his holiday in Dorset, the PMS said that he did hope to be able to have some holiday, but as the Prime Minister said yesterday, the foot and mouth outbreak was the most important thing for him at the moment. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister was due in Scotland, the PMS said that we would keep people updated. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-06 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-06 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:57" post_name="prime-ministers-holiday" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister's Holiday" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4691" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/06/4691" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reaction to Mark Malloch-Brown's comments that we should lose our place on the Security Council, the PMS replied that the FCO had issued a response to the matter. There was no question of our giving up our seat on the UN Security Council. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any conversations between the Prime Minister and Mark Malloch-Brown to clarify the situation, the PMS said that the FCO had already clarified it. Mark Malloch-Brown was not speaking in his capacity as Foreign Office Minister. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-06 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-06 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:56" post_name="security-council" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Security Council" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4692" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/06/4692" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Tony Blair had issued his resignation honours list yet, the PMS said not that she was aware of. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-06 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-06 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:55" post_name="resignation-honours-list" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Resignation Honours List" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4693" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/08/06/4693" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how many grace and favour homes had been allocated, the PMS replied that she was not aware of any updates from the last time the question was asked. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Mark Malloch-Brown received a grace and favour home, the PMS replied that as we had said before, due to the fact that Lord Malloch-Brown had come from overseas, he would have the use of a Government residence. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-08-06 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-08-06 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-08-06 15:45:54" post_name="grace-and-favour-homes" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Grace and Favour Homes" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4712" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/14/4712" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that the Prime Minister was just exploiting Margaret Thatcher, the PMS replied that he was unaware that such charges were being made. It was a meeting that was arranged following an exchange of correspondence shortly after the Prime Minister took up the position. There was then a discussion between diary secretaries over a date, a date was fixed and the meeting took place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Rob Wilson, a Conservative frontbencher, had said, &amp;quot;Gordon Brown is unscrupulous and exploiting a frail old lady,&amp;quot; the PMS said that Lady Thatcher was a distinguished former Prime Minister and it was not unusual for previous Prime Minister's to meet current Prime Minister's but he did not want to comment on that specific allegation as he was not aware of it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet Sir John Major, the PMS replied that he was sure the Prime Minister would be happy to meet any former Prime Minister. Asked if the Prime Minister would meet Tony Blair, the PMS assured the press that the Prime Minister did meet Tony Blair. Asked if there was a date set to meet John Major, the PMS said he was sure the Prime Minister met John Major from time to time and would be happy to meet him at any time. Asked if there were any plans to appoint Margaret Thatcher to a task force, the PMS said there were no such plans.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-14 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-14 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:56" post_name="baroness-thatcher" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Baroness Thatcher" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4713" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/14/4713" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Basra Province had moved back to Iraqi control and had British forces gone on to &amp;quot;overwatch&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that that wasn't the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In relation to the Prime Minister's statement on Iraq and if the term &amp;quot;the future size and strength of the force would continue to depend on conditions on the ground&amp;quot; meant conditions in the South of Iraq, the PMS replied that it was based on an assessment of the readiness of the Iraqi forces to take on security responsibilities in Basra. Asked if it was politically sustainable for United States forces to return home by Christmas, while British troops stayed in Iraq, the PMS said that the Government's decisions were based on assessments of military conditions in Southern Iraq. The American Government clearly made their decisions based on their assessment of conditions elsewhere in Iraq. The basis on which those decisions were taken would be on the basis of an assessment of the readiness of Iraqi forces to take on security and responsibility. Asked if there had been a reduction in British troop numbers, the PMS replied that there had been a gradual reduction in troop numbers.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-14 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-14 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-14 10:00:55" post_name="iraq-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4714" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/17/4714" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister backed the words of the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, the Prime Minister's Spokesman said to the assembled press that the Chancellor, the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) were the relevant authorities for dealing with this matter and they had set out the position. The Chancellor spoke on behalf of the Government in such matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what Alistair Darling meant when he said, &amp;quot;the Bank of England backs Northern Rock,&amp;quot; the PMS said that the Government's position on the matter was fairly clear and it had been set out by the Bank of England, the Treasury and the FSA. The PMS added that the position had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Bank of England would still lend financial support to Northern Rock if it had no collateral and did the support depend on this issue, the PMS said that the Bank of England had set out the position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people had not heeded warnings not to panic and could the situation cause panic in the economy as a whole, the PMS replied that as the Chancellor commented over the weekend and again this morning, the world was experiencing a period of volatility in global financial markets that had originated in the United States' sub-prime mortgage markets. It was an issue that all of the world's major economies had to deal with. The PMS noted that the UK had the right frameworks in place to steer a course of stability through the current uncertainty. The PMS went on to say that in regards to the economy, the UK was on it's 60th consecutive quarter of growth, inflation was on target, employment was at a record high and interest rates were low by historical standards. The fundamentals of the economy were sound and the UK was well placed to withstand the kind of global uncertainty seen in the recent weeks and months. The PMS said that the country had a well established framework for monetary and fiscal policy and financial regulation that had withstood a number of global shocks over the past decade, such as the Russian and Asian crisis in the late 1990's, the dotcom boom and its subsequent fallout, recession in the US and elsewhere earlier on in the current decade and the tripling of oil prices. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Sir Alan Greenspan was still an advisor to the Prime Minister and what did the Prime Minister think of Mr Greenspan's comments in the days Daily Telegraph, the PMS replied that Mr Greenspan was an advisor to the Prime Minister. The PMS added that Mr Greenspan had given his views and had been extremely praising of the British economy and the management of it over the past decade. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Mr Greenspan had said there was a grim future ahead in terms of interest rates and the housing market and did the Prime Minister take a similar view, the PMS replied that Mr Greenspan's position had been caricatured somewhat and he was actually referring in the main to the United States and the global economy. The PMS reiterated that it was inevitable in the global economy that there would be periods of uncertainty, but due to the strength of the economy and the policy framework in place in Britain, the country had been able to withstand these periods.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had given any thought to guarantee the entire deposits of people who had lodged with Northern Rock, the PMS replied that Alistair Darling had answered the question this morning and he had nothing further to add to that. The Chancellor was making clear that Northern Rock was solvent according to the FSA. Asked why anyone with &amp;pound;100,000 with Northern Rock would leave it there when the Government could only guarantee the first &amp;pound;32,000 that people deposited, the PMS replied that he was not a spokesperson for Northern Rock and all he could say was the FSA had been through the books and had stressed repeatedly that Northern Rock was solvent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if any guarantee would be given by the Government regarding customer's deposits, the PMS stated that the Government's position had not changed. The PMS reiterated that throughout, the Government had made clear, as the FSA had done, that Northern Rock was a solvent institution and the money was available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Bank of England had not communicated the facts as well as they could have done over the last few days, the PMS said that such a matter was not for the Government to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor had overruled the Governor over the decision of whether the financial facility should be made available, the PMS replied that the decision was one to be made by the Chancellor and it was made in full consultation and following advice from the Bank of England and the FSA. There were well-established procedures and these were now operating.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether there had been a change in policy by the Bank of England, the PMS replied that he didn't think there had been, but he was not a spokesperson for the Bank of England and people should address such questions to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Government knew whether Northern Rock would continue to be solvent if every depositor withdrew their money, the PMS said that this was a question for the FSA. The Chancellor had made clear that the money was available for depositors and Northern Rock was a solvent institution. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government would urge people not to take their money out of Northern Rock, the PMS replied that that was a matter for individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had received any intonations from any other banks that they might need financial assistance, the PMS again referred to the Chancellors words, that Northern Rock was the only financial institution that had approached the Bank of England for assistance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government favoured any outcome to the situation, the PMS replied that the Government did not have a particular view on the subject. Asked what &amp;quot;solvent&amp;quot; meant, the PMS replied it normally meant an institution had enough assets to cover their liabilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Cameron had said that the Government had been to blame for building up a culture of borrowing and debt, the PMS replied that it was not for him to respond specifically to any accusation made by the Leader of the Opposition. In general terms, what people had seen over the past decade was a significant increase in household assets. Total household assets were worth over &amp;pound;7.5 trillion now and household net wealth had increased by around 72% in real terms since the beginning of 1997. The PMS added that households were paying a smaller portion of their income in interest, total household sector interest payments were now 9.6% of disposable income, compared to a high of over 15% in 1990, the growth seen in total household debt was currently around the lowest seen in five years and the growth in unsecured consumer credit was the lowest in 13 years. The overall fundamentals of the economy were sound.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether people should fix the rate of their mortgage for a longer term, the PMS referred people back to the review conducted by Professor David Miles in 2003 on the subject of the Treasury. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-17 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-17 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-17 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-17 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4715" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/17/4715" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the United States had asked for British troops to increase their presence on the Iraqi border, the PMS said that along with other coalition partners, Britain had been tasked to train, mentor and support the Department for Border Enforcement, as part of the long-term aim to ensure Iraqi self-reliance. Strengthening the borders of Iraq was an enduring task that Britain had been addressing for some time and at the moment, British forces had been deployed in the border region, actively delivering support. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-17 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-17 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-17 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-17 10:00:57" post_name="iraq-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4716" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/18/4716" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) stated that the main items discussed were as follows; there was an update from the Chancellor on the situation regarding Northern Rock; an update from Hilary Benn regarding Foot and Mouth and an update from Des Browne on the situation in Iraq and a presentation from Lord Darzi on the reform of the National Health Service &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-18 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-18 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4717" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/18/4717" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The PMS stated that the Citizens' Jury event on health in the afternoon was in Birmingham. The PM, Alan Johnson and Lord Darzi were leading the biggest engagement in NHS history to discuss its future. There were nine simultaneous Citizens' Juries with regional Ministers at each venue linked by video, and involved more than one thousand members of the public, patients and staff. Lord Darzi presented to Cabinet that morning on the emerging findings from his review. The interim version of his report would be published in October with the final version expected next year. There would be particular focus at the event on improving accessibility for patients, particularly GP access; one of the issues that Lord Darzi was looking at was how other providers (third/voluntary or private sectors) could be freed up to enter the market. There would be a meeting next month with third sector providers and among those involved were Virgin, Boots, Lloyds Pharmacy, Care UK and Local Care Direct. Alan Johnson had asked Lord Darzi to include in his interim report (to be published in October) some concrete proposals on how to make Primary Care services more accessible to people in their daily lives as well as what more could be done to tackle infections in hospitals. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Citizen's juries were picked, the PMS said there were well established procedures for running the citizen's juries and the Department of Health would be happy to give details on how they were established. The intention was to ensure that these citizen's juries were adequately representative and he did not think that in relation to the other citizen's juries that had recently taken place, anyone had suggested that they weren't. There was a process for screening individuals to make sure that the people involved were genuinely cross representative.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-18 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-18 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:57" post_name="citizens-juries-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Citizen's Juries" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4718" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/18/4718" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The PMS stated that the Bank of England had this morning announced measures to inject an extra &amp;pound;4.4 billion of liquidity into the market. Financial authorities had continued to monitor the situation and remained in contact with Northern Rock. The Tri-Partite Committee of the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority (FSA) were meeting again that morning with the Chancellor, for an updated assessment of the situation. After the update to Cabinet this morning the Prime Minister and the Chancellor both reiterated two key points; firstly that the volatility seen in financial markets, which had been the origin of the events of the past few days relating to Northern Rock, was an international phenomenon originating in the United States and it was effecting all of the major economies in different ways; secondly that the question had been for the UK, how well placed was Britain to withstand shocks of this kind, and that because of the underlying strength of the economy and the framework for monetary, fiscal and regulatory policy put in place, the country was well placed to withstand such shocks just as it had withstood similar shocks over the past decade. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Bank of England had made the &amp;pound;4.4 billion available, the PMS replied that it was by the normal procedures for issuing liquidity into the money market. The PMS advised to check with them on the technical details. The PMS added that it was part of the Bank of England's ongoing open market operations and there had been an announcement that morning which the PMS offered to read out.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether this was a change of policy from what the Bank of England's Governor had raised in his memo last week, the PMS replied that the Governor had explained in his statement that in exceptional circumstances, where there was short term productivity effecting the functioning of the financial markets, temporary responses such as those were justified, but that it was best to go to the Bank of England as he was not a spokesman for them. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government thought Alistair Darling's speech had come too late the PMS replied that the action that was taken by the Chancellor yesterday afternoon was a very decisive step that made it absolutely clear to everybody that there should be no ambiguity that the Government stood fully behind the deposits in Northern Rock and that nobody should be in any doubt about what that meant. The PMS continued by saying it was a matter for individuals as to what they chose to do with their own money and it was not for the Government to comment on that; it was clear that the Government stood behind the deposits of Northern Rock as the Chancellor said yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put again that the statement came late the PMS said that obviously this was a fast moving situation; there were continuous discussions between the FSA, the Treasury and the Bank of England on what the appropriate action should be, that a decision was taken during the course of yesterday afternoon, announced immediately, and had clearly had an impact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister still had confidence in the Governor of the Bank of England, the PMS said the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Governor and had worked closely with him in his former role as Chancellor. The PMS added that the Prime Minister thought the Governor had done a very good job and was a highly regarded figure around the world.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister may be concerned that the public was losing confidence in Government promises, the PMS reiterated that decisive action was taken yesterday. It was up to the public to make their own decisions over what they wanted to do with their own money, but clearly the queues outside Northern Rock branches appeared to be less than what had been seen previously.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what had made the Government change it's mind on the guarantee of deposits, the PMS replied that it was a fast moving situation. The Chancellor, in consultation with the head of the FSA and the Governor of the Bank of England decided that further action was necessary during the course of yesterday afternoon and then took that action.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what prompted the decision, the PMS said that he did not want to ascribe it to any precise causes, but clearly the Chancellor felt it was necessary to make absolutely clear to people that there should be no ambiguity about the strength of the Government's commitment to Northern Rock. Put that it was the Chancellor's decision in consultation with the other bodies, the PMS confirmed that it had been the Chancellor's decision.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans by the Government to look at or review in any way, how deposits are insured in the future, the PMS replied that the Chief Executive of the FSA had been speaking about the subject that morning. The Treasury, the FSA and the Bank of England would want to look at all aspects of the protection system, including the compensation scheme and the range of tools available for dealing with this sort of situation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In reply to the suggestion that the Government's attitude smacked of complacency, given that the public had been queuing up outside branches of Northern Rock, the PMS replied that it was not complacent at all. The PMS added that the Government was very vigilant to the risks. There was always instability in financial markets and this had been seen over the past decade. In the face of tripling oil prices, the dotcom boom, Asian and Russian crises in the late 1990's that tipped other countries into recession, the same had not occurred in Britain. The country had faced comparable shocks and yet still achieved 60 consecutive quarters of growth. The PMS said there were no grounds for complacency and the Government would always be vigilant to any risks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Tripartite system had worked, the PMS replied that there were particular issues relating to one institution and action was taken in order to deal with that. In general, the fundamentals in the economy remained sound.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where the money was coming from to pay for the adjustments and any provisions, the PMS said it would be best to talk to the Treasury for the details. The first thing to emphasise was that Northern Rock was a solvent institution, the company did have collateral of it's own and also a large asset book in the form of it's mortgages. There were assets in Northern Rock and that was why the Government was able to make the guarantee it had. Furthermore, an assessment had to be made on the likelihood of the resources being pooled in the first place. The PMS added that in terms of the specifics, it was best to talk to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly whether compensation would extend to any other bank in similar circumstances and was there any anxiety on the Government's part about having to do the same in any repeat scenario, the PMS replied that there were clearly particular circumstances relating to Northern Rock and that's why the decision had been taken. The Chancellor had made clear that similar arrangements would be put in place if another institution found itself in similar circumstances. The PMS said there had been no approaches from any other financial institution to the Bank of England to make use of their facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Governor of the Bank of England's reappointment was a formality, the PMS said it was a fixed term appointment and when that expired a decision would be taken about what happened subsequently. The PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister thought the Governor had done a very good job and was a very highly regarded figure around the world. Asked when the Governor's term of office was up, the PMS replied that he thought it was in 2008, but the Treasury could give a definitive date.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what advice the Prime Minister would give to someone considering getting on the property ladder for the first time, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not give out financial advice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where the tripartite committee would be meeting that morning and what level of representation would be present from the FSA and the Bank of England, the PMS said the meeting would take place at the Treasury and the Deputy Governor would be attending for the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister thought the management of Northern Rock were entirely free of any blame for the institution's problems, the PMS replied that it would not be appropriate for the Prime Minister to comment on the management of individual companies and such matters were for the board of directors and the shareholders of that institution, as well as the regulatory authorities. Put that Northern Rock was now a company underwritten by the State, the PMS reiterated that it would be inappropriate to comment on the management of any individual company.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the FSA's compensation scheme was suspended, the PMS said that in the case of Northern Rock it was not necessary as there would never be a situation where members of the public would have to apply for compensation, as their deposits were guaranteed separately by the Bank of England. At the moment there was only one institution that was in such a situation and that was Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any consultation between the Prime Minister or the Chancellor and the Chief Executive of Northern Rock, the PMS replied that there had been discussions involving the Treasury, the Bank of England, the FSA and the company, but they had not involved the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-18 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-18 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:56" post_name="northern-rock-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4719" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/18/4719" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any fresh contact with any members of the McCann family, the PMS said it would not be appropriate to comment on a matter that was subject to an ongoing police investigation. Asked about the Gambling Commission's report the following day and whether people should expect the Prime Minister to give his results on his review into super casinos soon, the PMS said the Prime Minister's views on super casino's were well known but said the Government would wait until the findings of the report were known before responding to it.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-18 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-18 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-18 10:00:55" post_name="misc-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4720" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/19/4720" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reaction to the Gambling Commission's findings that seemed to show an increase in the number of problem addictions and an increase in new forms of gambling, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that DCMS had given the Government's reaction to this early today. Whilst the report showed that problem gambling only affected a small minority of people, it did remain a serious issue, and it was something that had to be addressed. DCMS were announcing today that they have asked the Gambling Commission to review the current voluntary arrangements for industry funding of gambling research, treatment, and public education.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's attitude towards super casinos, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's attitude towards super casinos was well known, and had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's attitude towards smaller casinos, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view on smaller casinos had not changed either. Asked if the Prime Minister was still in favour of them, the PMS replied that there were no proposals to make any changes in relation to the other casinos.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were not awaiting the outcome of a review on this, and when would this be due, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister said in July, the issue in relation to super casinos is whether or not this is the most effective way of meeting our regeneration objectives, one of the original purposes. The Prime Minister was obviously sceptical about that. There was ongoing work in DCLG and DCMS to look at alternative regeneration packages, and that was due to report later in the autumn.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this was purely a question of regeneration or did the Prime Minister think that gambling was somehow morally undesirable, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that problem gambling was a serious issue and was something that had to be addressed, and that was also part of the consideration in relation to what he said on super casinos in July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister told the Archbishop of Canterbury that he had a moral issue with this at their recent meeting, the PMS replied that he would not be commenting on private meetings between the Prime Minister and the Archbishop of Canterbury. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the work DCMS was doing was completely separate to today's report, or would today's report feed into it, and would it eventually effect the Prime Minister's decision, the PMS replied that there was a process ongoing in relation to the decision surrounding the super casino. Clearly today's report from the Gambling Commission was an important consideration in relation to the work that was ongoing. But nobody should be left in any doubt of what the Prime Minister's views were, as he expressed them fairly clearly in July.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-19 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-19 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:58" post_name="gambling-commission-report" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Gambling Commission Report" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4721" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/19/4721" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reaction to the Chief Constable of Cambridgeshire saying that the population statistics were extremely unreliable, the PMS replied that the Home Office had been responding to this, there was a statement from Liam Byrne. Specifically in relation to the issue of flexibility of police funding to changes in population, one of the changes that had been introduced recently to police funding in 2006-07 when multiyear settlements for the police were introduced, was to ensure that they incorporated projection for future population so that we were not just taking historical trends in population in setting the police funding formula, we were also taking into account projections of future trends.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chief Constable sounded like she was saying that the whole underlying way that the statistics were compiled was wrong, and completely off the mark, the PMS replied that these were obviously matters for the Office of National Statistics (ONS) who were responsible for compiling these statistics and projections. They had a lot of expertise in these matters and they could probably give further information into how these are compiled. From the Government's point of view we had to use the best information that was available to us from the ONS, and we had changed the funding system so that it was now forward looking and not simply backward looking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chief Constable presented the figures in such a way that people critical of immigration could use them to highlight the link between crime and immigration, and asked if this was a link the Prime Minister agreed existed, and if he had any reaction to the way the figures had been presented, the PMS replied that the Chief Constable had given her views this morning, and he would not be commenting directly on that. It was important that this was kept in context. Total crime in Cambridgeshire was on a clear downward trend - the total recorded crime figures were 85,029 in 2002-03, 79,960 in 2003-04, 73,659 in 2004-05, 66,804 in 2005-06, and 69,146 in 2006-07. This showed there had been a clear downward trend, and this also applied to violent crime and crime such as burglary as well. This was the overall context that had to be kept in mind.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-19 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-19 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:57" post_name="population-statistics" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Population Statistics" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4722" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/19/4722" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the report in the Financial Times that the Prime Minister would make a statement on Iraq troop levels in 3 weeks time, the PMS replied that it was well known that the Prime Minister would give a statement to the House when the House returned in early October.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he recognised the FT report, the PMS replied that the report looked fairly speculative to him, but the Prime Minister would make a statement on Iraq in early October, which he first announced at Camp David.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what was discussed in the Prime Minister's meeting with General Petraeus yesterday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister met with General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker, and that the meeting also involved the Foreign Secretary and the Chief of Defence Staff. They had a good meeting, and the Prime Minister was pleased to have the opportunity to hear directly from General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker to get their assessment of the security situation on the ground, and the progress being made by the coalition and the Iraqi authorities in Iraq.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on the report that the Prime Minister was close to agreement with the US on the next phase, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would update Parliament on the position relating to British Forces in Iraq, in early October. There was nothing to say in advance of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the American Ambassador to Afghanistan was in London, and was this in any way linked to the discussions with Petraeus yesterday, the PMS replied that these were separate meetings. There were no plans for him to meet the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-19 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-19 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:56" post_name="iraq-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4723" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/19/4723" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister would be coming up with an alternative to the African solution on Zimbabwe, and had there been any movement on this, the PMS replied that this was something that was kept under review. The situation in Zimbabwe was very serious. Life expectancy was down to 36, unemployment was at 80%, a quarter of the country was dependent on food aid, inflation was at 7,000% and set to double - this was a very serious situation, and one that that the Prime Minister has taken a close interest in. We would keep everyone informed as to when there was something to say on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister watched the Newsnight report on Zimbabwe last week, and was he moved by it, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had many channels for finding out what the situation was in Zimbabwe including the BBC.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been in touch with neighbouring countries such a South Africa, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had regular contact with countries in the Southern part of Africa including South Africa. He did not have to hand the last time the Prime Minister spoke to Mbeki, but they had certainly spoken at least once since he became Prime Minister, maybe more.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-19 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-19 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:55" post_name="zimbabwe" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4724" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/19/4724" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reaction to Russia suspending the EU Conventional Forces Treaty, the PMS replied that he had no specific reaction at this point.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-19 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-19 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:54" post_name="russia" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4725" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/19/4725" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about a letter that Michel Platini had written to all heads of government regarding, among other issues, letting governing bodies in football control the number of foreign players, and did the Prime Minister had a view on this, the PMS replied that he was not sure that the Prime Minister had had a chance to examine the letter with the seriousness which it deserved. No doubt the Government would consider Monsieur Platini's proposals, and then consider its response.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-19 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-19 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-19 10:00:53" post_name="platini-letter" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Platini Letter" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4726" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/21/4726" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government would consider changing the four laws that the Governor of the Bank of England had said had prevented him from doing his job, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that the Chancellor would be making a statement on the matter to the Houses of Parliament when they reconvened. Asked if the Government was sympathetic to the idea put forward by the Governor, that if he could have arranged a takeover of Northern Rock, or been able to carry out the actions of last resort covertly, a run on the bank could have been prevented, the PMS said that financial markets had become increasingly complex and fast moving and there was constant innovation. The PMS added that all of the Government's legislation was kept under constant review. The Governor had put forward a number of proposals, which were being looked at by the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it sounded like there would be new rules at some point, the PMS urged people to wait and see how the Treasury process progressed, and that this was an issue where, if there were changes made, they would have to be carried out correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether comments made in the press by the European Commissioner, stating that it was untrue that EU directives banned covert action, were true or not, the PMS said the Governor of the Bank of England was pressed on the issue yesterday and had dealt with it, so he would not be adding anything to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the phrase &amp;quot;everything was kept under review,&amp;quot; included the tripartite system, the PMS said that the Governor was referring to the four specific issues raised yesterday. Asked outright if the tripartite system was under review, the PMS said that the issue for now was to focus on restoring stability in the financial system. When asked who held the responsibility of maintaining stability in the tripartite system, the PMS replied that the Governor of the Bank of England was asked the question yesterday and could give a more in-depth answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether Treasury staff had been fully focussed on the issue of financial stability over the past year, the PMS said that everyone at the Treasury had been fully focussed on their responsibilities.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-21 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-21 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4727" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/21/4727" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about a new British motto, the PMS said it would be an interesting debate to have, but the proposal that the Government set out at the time of the constitutional reform package in July was more to do with a statement of values, which would then feed into any possible British Bill of Rights. That was the consultation that was published in July. The PMS added that the Prime Minister had no difficulties with a debate on a British motto, but the proposals were more to do with a British statement of values, a process being taken forward by the Ministry of Justice, with a view to informing any potential British Bill of Rights, should a consensus build around that.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-21 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-21 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:57" post_name="national-motto" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Motto" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4728" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/21/4728" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for an update on the comments made by the Prime Minister yesterday, the PMS said he had dealt with the issue pretty comprehensively, but added the Prime Minister's position was clear. The Prime Minister did not intend to attend the EU-Africa summit. What the Government was doing, was setting out a number of positive measures to deal with the situation in Zimbabwe, including proposing to extend the sanctions regime, calling for a UN humanitarian envoy, calling for an EU envoy and increasing bilateral humanitarian assistance to Zimbabwe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would accept another representative from Zimbabwe, as long as it wasn't Mugabe, the PMS confirmed that that was the position of the Government. However, it was a hypothetical position, as that was not the assumption that people seemed to be working on at the moment. The PMS added that the Prime Minister was not dictating to anyone else on the issue of who can and who can't go, he was just making his position clear that on the assumption that things worked out as suggested, he would not go.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify whether this was the personal position of the Prime Minister and that other representatives of the Government could go in his place, the PMS reiterated that these were issues that would have to be considered nearer the time. The Prime Minister had set out his position very clearly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if there had been any diplomatic contact with other countries to persuade them to firstly not invite Mugabe and secondly not to go if he was to be invited, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not in the business of telling other people whether they should or shouldn't attend meetings. All the Prime Minister was doing was setting out his position. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a British presence of sorts at the summit, the PMS said again that the summit was several months away and it was an issue that needed to be considered over the weeks and months ahead, depending on what happened.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-21 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-21 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:56" post_name="zimbabwe-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4729" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/21/4729" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Home Office was cooperating with the American investigation into BAE Systems and what exactly was it doing in respect to the specific requests it had had, the PMS replied that the Home Office had made it's position clear, that it was cooperating and it was a complex matter. There were a number of factors that needed to be taken into account and this was not an unprecedented length of time for the consideration of such a request. Put that it had received the request, it was dealing with it but it had yet to respond to it, the PMS replied that the Home Office had said that the request was receiving due consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had given any consideration into reopening the Serious Fraud Office investigation here, the PMS said that the position of the Government on that had been made clear in the past and that position had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-21 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-21 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:55" post_name="bae-investigation" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="BAE Investigation" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4730" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/21/4730" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government wanted nurses to retire at 60 years of age, when the aim was to raise the retirement age to 68 eventually, the PMS said that there were two separate issues here: the age when people receive the state pension, and when public sector and private sector employees retire. The PMS said that the Government was not saying that people should work until they were 68; they were simply saying that the state pension age would be 68 and that's when people became entitled to it. In terms of when people actually retire, it was a contractual matter between them and their employers. So in relation to the public sector, there were well established contractual arrangements between employees and the Government about when people should retire, as would be the case with people who work for private companies.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-21 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-21 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-21 10:00:54" post_name="age-of-retirement" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Age of Retirement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4731" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/24/4731" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's comments on Burma, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) referred to the Foreign Secretary's statement on Burma at the end of last week and said that the Government's position was that we deplored the continued repression of ordinary citizens by the Burmese regime and we were deeply concerned by reports of further acts of violence perpetrated this week by security officials against peaceful demonstrators.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-24 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-24 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-24 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-24 10:00:58" post_name="burma" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4732" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/24/4732" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was going to be involved in any COBRA meetings about Foot and Mouth/Bluetongue whilst at Party Conference, the PMS replied that was something the Government kept under review; the Prime Minister spoke to Debbie Reynolds this morning for an update on the latest situation in relation to both Foot and Mouth and Bluetongue, so although he was in Bournemouth he was still being kept fully up to date with developments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been tests carried out to determine whether the Bluetongue incident was a single case or an outbreak, it was asked if there was any indication as to when we could expect the test results. The PMS replied that DEFRA had made clear they were not anticipating anything further by way of test results during the course of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been some test results back and when it was likely to be clearer in terms of whether it was a single case or an outbreak, the PMS replied that DEFRA expected to have test results over the next few days but they were not anticipating any new results during the course of today.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-24 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-24 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-24 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-24 10:00:57" post_name="foot-and-mouthbluetongue" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foot and Mouth/Bluetongue" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4733" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/24/4733" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any response from the Zimbabwean Government or the African Union (AU) as to the Prime Minister's position, the PMS said that he was not the person to respond but that the Government had set out it's position quite clearly and there was nothing more to add to what the Prime Minister had said last week.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-24 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-24 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-24 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-24 10:00:56" post_name="zimbabwe-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4734" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/01/4734" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by telling the assembled press that Professor John Beddington would succeed Sir David King as the Government's Chief Scientific Advisor and Head of the Government Office for Science, with effect from the 1 January 2008. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-01 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-01 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-01 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-01 10:00:58" post_name="government-chief-scientific-adviser" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Government Chief Scientific Adviser " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4735" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/01/4735" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about a report on high-tech industry mentioned by the Prime Minister in his speech at the Reuters Headquarters, the PMS said that the report would be published on Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had any plans to visit the Queen this week, the PMS said that the Government did not normally comment in advance on when the Prime Minister would be meeting the Queen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that the credit turmoil was over, the PMS responded by saying that the Prime Minister had set out his views on the economy that morning. There was a more detailed speech by Alistair Darling, that set out more fully the Government's position and the PMS did not have anything to add to that.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-01 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-01 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-01 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-01 10:00:57" post_name="misc-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4736" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/02/4736" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that it had been repeatedly said that the Prime Minister would make an announcement about troop withdrawals from Iraq to Parliament first, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister will be making a full statement to Parliament at the beginning of next week. What he had set out today followed his meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister, at which the intention to withdraw troops in the numbers set out had been discussed. However, the statement at the beginning of next week will be a full statement setting out further detail and also looking at the broader picture more generally. The PMS said that understandably following the Prime Minister's meeting with the Iraqi Prime Minister, at which this very issue was discussed, it was appropriate that information should be shared in this way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there were suggestions of 2000 troops being withdrawn and that General Petraeus was unhappy about this, the PMS referred to what the Prime Minister had said today, and referred people to his statement next week, as well as the reasons set out for the decisions on troop numbers, which followed on from his meetings with the Iraqi Prime Minister and others, including General Petraeus, today.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-02 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-02 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-02 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-02 10:00:58" post_name="iraq-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4737" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/02/4737" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the timings for Lord Darzi's NHS review and the Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) had been brought forward, the PMS said that she did not believe that an announcement had been made about the timing of the CSR and, as the PMS had said yesterday, the Darzi review will be published on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when an announcement would be given on the Pre Budget Report (PBR) and CSR, the PMS replied that an announcement would be made shortly. Asked further, the PMS said she could not add anything more specific to her previous highly unspecific answer.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-02 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-02 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-02 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-02 10:00:57" post_name="nhs-reviewcsrpbr" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NHS Review/CSR/PBR " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4738" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/03/4738" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the CSR would definitely be on Monday, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that when we were in a position to make an announcement on the timing of the CSR, we would make that announcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for any specific timings for expected announcements, in particular on Health and Iraq, the PMS replied that the interim Darzi Review would be taking place tomorrow, as he had announced on Monday. When we were in a position to make an announcement on issues relating to next week, we would make an announcement.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-03 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-03 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-03 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-03 10:00:58" post_name="announcements" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Announcements" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4739" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/03/4739" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that part of the constitutional reform package that the Prime Minister had laid out was that MPs would now vote on the dissolution of Parliament, and asked if this would take place ahead of the next election, the PMS replied that clearly there was a consultation on this underway at the moment, but he did not have anything further to add to that at this point&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-03 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-03 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-03 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-03 10:00:57" post_name="constitutional-reform" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Constitutional Reform" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4740" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/03/4740" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister discussed the role of troops after withdrawal with the Iraqi Prime Minister, possibly guarding roads on the borders, the PMS replied that obviously there was a general discussion about the role of British troops in Iraq going forward, not only with the Iraqi leadership but also with the British commanders on the ground. But he would not be getting in the detail of exactly what was discussed. In terms of any specific further announcements, the Prime Minister would be making a statement to Parliament next week.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-03 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-03 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-03 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-03 10:00:56" post_name="iraq-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4741" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/04/4741" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Spending Review question could be asked, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that it could be but he would give the same answer he gave yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the thinking was that it would be difficult to do both a statement on Iraq and the Spending Review on the same day, the PMS said that there would be a statement on Iraq early next week when Parliament returns, but that he was not in a position to make any announcement or give any guidance at this point on the timing of the Pre Budget Report (PBR) and Spending Review.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-04 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-04 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-04 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-04 10:00:58" post_name="spending-review" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Spending Review" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4742" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4742" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Government's position in principle, that it was right to try and see whether or not a covert rescue operation for Northern Rock could have been launched, after the Governor of the Bank of England had told the Select Committee he had lobbied strongly for such an operation, the PMS said that the evidence session in front of the Select Committee was still ongoing and that he did not want to comment on anything that the Governor was supposed to have said without having seen it directly. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's stance was on the principal of a covert operation, the PMS said that the Government's stance was that all these issues were discussed as part of the tripartite Commission; the Governor had expressed his views that morning and that for any further response it was best to go to the Treasury once the Governor's evidence session had concluded.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Alistair Darling had, three days after the failed rescue attempt, been quoted in the Guardian suggesting market intervention was not appropriate, whilst knowing of a secret attempt to launch a rescue operation, the PMS said that it was best to talk to the Treasury about such matters. Such issues were discussed in a proper way as part of the tripartite discussions and they were the right procedures to go through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister still thought that the tripartite way of doing things was the best way forward, when it looked like different people knew different parts of the problem but were not communicating properly, the PMS said there would be plenty of time to consider the issues, but that the important issue for now was to focus on restoring stability in the financial system and that was why the tripartite authorities had acted in the way they had.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had at any time overruled the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England or if the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had ever overruled the Governor, the PMS replied that the Governor and the Bank of England had answered that question and they had made it clear that there was no political pressure. As the Governor had said, the operation carried out was designed in the Bank.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Governor of the Bank of England said he would be happy to see any exchange of letters between himself and the Chancellor, or the Prime Minister released and asked if they were to be released, the PMS said the Treasury expected the letters to be published, but people would have to check with them exactly when that would be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any ongoing review of how everything worked, the PMS said that the issue for now was to focus on restored stability in the financial system and that was what the relevant authorities were devoting their time and attention to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was to be a review in the future, the PMS repeated that the issue for now was focusing on restoring stability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) had said a few days ago that the system of deposits and insurance was going to be looked at, the PMS concurred and said that the Chairman had said that specific scheme would be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a tripartite discussion about Northern Rock being in trouble on 14th August 2007 and that the Government were slow in reacting to what was an increasingly menacing situation, the PMS said that the Governor of the Bank of England was being asked those questions as he spoke and since the Bank, along with the Treasury and the FSA, were the key players in this, it was best to let them explain the actions taken and the rationale for them. As soon as it became apparent that action needed to be taken to stop the run on Northern Rock, decisive action was taken on Monday evening, and that quite clearly had the desired effect. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had full confidence in the Governor of the Bank of England when he was against putting a lot of money into the market and whether the Prime Minister still had confidence in the Governor, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Governor of the Bank of England and had always had full confidence in him.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="northern-rock-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4743" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4743" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify whether the Prime Minister had said he would not attend if Robert Mugabe was attending, or whether he would not attend if any representative of Robert Mugabe's regime/government was present, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was saying that the assumption was that Robert Mugabe would be attending and on that basis he would not attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be different if Robert Mugabe sent a deputy or a Minister for Culture, or any other representative, the PMS said that clearly that would be a different circumstance. The issue in relation to President Mugabe was that the Government did not want to divert attention from the important issues that the EU-Africa Summit needed to address.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was only Robert Mugabe personally who would be seen as a diversion, the PMS said yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Prime Minister's plan to attend the summit, when in similar summits it was only the Presidency and the Commission who were expected to attend, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would have been expected to attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had consultations with other leaders in the European Union (EU) or African Union (AU) before taking the step on Zimbabwe, the PMS said there had been discussions with other members of the EU.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any other EU countries such as Germany would follow suit, the PMS said it was a question for them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the thinking had changed on public interventions in Zimbabwe by the UK, the PMS said that what the Prime Minister was setting out in his article in the Independent was all of the positive action that the Government was taking, to deal with the situation in Zimbabwe; the Prime Minister called for an EU envoy to deal with humanitarian issues on Zimbabwe; the Prime Minister said that the UK will raise the issue of Zimbabwe at the UN Security Council meeting next week, with a proposal for a UN envoy on Zimbabwe; he raised the possibility of extending the sanctions that related to senior members of the Zanu PF regime; he stressed that he was very supportive of the efforts of President Mbeki through the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and AU process and that the Government were announcing today &amp;pound;8 million of extra of humanitarian support. The Government set out a whole series of positive steps today in order to deal with the situation in Zimbabwe and to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was an acceptance that the quiet diplomacy track had not had the desired effect and that it was time to be more public about it, the PMS said that the Prime Minister did not want there to be any lingering uncertainty about the issue of his attendance at the EU-Africa Summit, but he also wanted to set out all the positive steps that the Government were taking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the current ban on Mugabe would prevent him from attending, the PMS said that in order for Mugabe to attend the EU would have to temporarily grant exemption to the visa ban. Asked if it had been the assumption that that could happen, the PMS said that it appeared to be the assumption; the Prime Minister was clear that the assumption was President Mugabe was attending and on that basis he would not attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any response from the AU as presumably it was up to them to choose their delegation, the PMS said that the Government had not had any response that he was aware of that morning. The PMS went on to say that the Government wanted the EU-Africa Summit to be a success and work with the AU to deal with the issues in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="eu-africa-summit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU-Africa Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4744" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4744" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that Jose Mourinho's talents could be used to help Raith Rovers, the PMS replied that Raith Rovers were currently top of their division in Scottish football under the management of John McGlynn. The PMS went on to say that the Prime Minister was a football fan and somebody who enjoyed watching Premiership games, so he knew Mourinho had a fantastic record of success, that he had made a significant contribution to British football in a short period of time and that he was also one of the great characters of the game. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PM would like to see Mourinho stay in the Premiership, the PMS said that it was a matter for Mr Mourinho and the boards of Premiership clubs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he thought John Reid's appointment at Celtic Football Club was a good thing for Scottish football, the PMS said that he was sure the Prime Minister thought John Reid had a great contribution to make as Chairman of Celtic Football Club. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="football" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4745" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/20/4745" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Government's position in principle, that it was right to try and see whether or not a covert rescue operation for Northern Rock could have been launched, after the Governor of the Bank of England had told the Select Committee he had lobbied strongly for such an operation, the PMS said that the evidence session in front of the Select Committee was still ongoing and that he did not want to comment on anything that the Governor was supposed to have said without having seen it directly. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's stance was on the principal of a covert operation, the PMS said that the Government's stance was that all these issues were discussed as part of the tripartite Commission; the Governor had expressed his views that morning and that for any further response it was best to go to the Treasury once the Governor's evidence session had concluded.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Alistair Darling had, three days after the failed rescue attempt, been quoted in the Guardian suggesting market intervention was not appropriate, whilst knowing of a secret attempt to launch a rescue operation, the PMS said that it was best to talk to the Treasury about such matters. Such issues were discussed in a proper way as part of the tripartite discussions and they were the right procedures to go through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister still thought that the tripartite way of doing things was the best way forward, when it looked like different people knew different parts of the problem but were not communicating properly, the PMS said there would be plenty of time to consider the issues, but that the important issue for now was to focus on restoring stability in the financial system and that was why the tripartite authorities had acted in the way they had.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had at any time overruled the Chancellor and the Governor of the Bank of England or if the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had ever overruled the Governor, the PMS replied that the Governor and the Bank of England had answered that question and they had made it clear that there was no political pressure. As the Governor had said, the operation carried out was designed in the Bank.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Governor of the Bank of England said he would be happy to see any exchange of letters between himself and the Chancellor, or the Prime Minister released and asked if they were to be released, the PMS said the Treasury expected the letters to be published, but people would have to check with them exactly when that would be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any ongoing review of how everything worked, the PMS said that the issue for now was to focus on restored stability in the financial system and that was what the relevant authorities were devoting their time and attention to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was to be a review in the future, the PMS repeated that the issue for now was focusing on restoring stability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority (FSA) had said a few days ago that the system of deposits and insurance was going to be looked at, the PMS concurred and said that the Chairman had said that specific scheme would be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a tripartite discussion about Northern Rock being in trouble on 14th August 2007 and that the Government were slow in reacting to what was an increasingly menacing situation, the PMS said that the Governor of the Bank of England was being asked those questions as he spoke and since the Bank, along with the Treasury and the FSA, were the key players in this, it was best to let them explain the actions taken and the rationale for them. As soon as it became apparent that action needed to be taken to stop the run on Northern Rock, decisive action was taken on Monday evening, and that quite clearly had the desired effect. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had full confidence in the Governor of the Bank of England when he was against putting a lot of money into the market and whether the Prime Minister still had confidence in the Governor, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Governor of the Bank of England and had always had full confidence in him.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-20 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-09-20 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-20 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-20 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4746" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/20/4746" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify whether the Prime Minister had said he would not attend if Robert Mugabe was attending, or whether he would not attend if any representative of Robert Mugabe's regime/government was present, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was saying that the assumption was that Robert Mugabe would be attending and on that basis he would not attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be different if Robert Mugabe sent a deputy or a Minister for Culture, or any other representative, the PMS said that clearly that would be a different circumstance. The issue in relation to President Mugabe was that the Government did not want to divert attention from the important issues that the EU-Africa Summit needed to address.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was only Robert Mugabe personally who would be seen as a diversion, the PMS said yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Prime Minister's plan to attend the summit, when in similar summits it was only the Presidency and the Commission who were expected to attend, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would have been expected to attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had consultations with other leaders in the European Union (EU) or African Union (AU) before taking the step on Zimbabwe, the PMS said there had been discussions with other members of the EU.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any other EU countries such as Germany would follow suit, the PMS said it was a question for them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the thinking had changed on public interventions in Zimbabwe by the UK, the PMS said that what the Prime Minister was setting out in his article in the Independent was all of the positive action that the Government was taking, to deal with the situation in Zimbabwe; the Prime Minister called for an EU envoy to deal with humanitarian issues on Zimbabwe; the Prime Minister said that the UK will raise the issue of Zimbabwe at the UN Security Council meeting next week, with a proposal for a UN envoy on Zimbabwe; he raised the possibility of extending the sanctions that related to senior members of the Zanu PF regime; he stressed that he was very supportive of the efforts of President Mbeki through the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and AU process and that the Government were announcing today &amp;pound;8 million of extra of humanitarian support. The Government set out a whole series of positive steps today in order to deal with the situation in Zimbabwe and to deal with the humanitarian crisis in the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was an acceptance that the quiet diplomacy track had not had the desired effect and that it was time to be more public about it, the PMS said that the Prime Minister did not want there to be any lingering uncertainty about the issue of his attendance at the EU-Africa Summit, but he also wanted to set out all the positive steps that the Government were taking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the current ban on Mugabe would prevent him from attending, the PMS said that in order for Mugabe to attend the EU would have to temporarily grant exemption to the visa ban. Asked if it had been the assumption that that could happen, the PMS said that it appeared to be the assumption; the Prime Minister was clear that the assumption was President Mugabe was attending and on that basis he would not attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any response from the AU as presumably it was up to them to choose their delegation, the PMS said that the Government had not had any response that he was aware of that morning. The PMS went on to say that the Government wanted the EU-Africa Summit to be a success and work with the AU to deal with the issues in Zimbabwe and elsewhere in Africa.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-20 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-09-20 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-20 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-20 10:00:57" post_name="eu-africa-summit-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU-Africa Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4747" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/09/20/4747" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that Jose Mourinho's talents could be used to help Raith Rovers, the PMS replied that Raith Rovers were currently top of their division in Scottish football under the management of John McGlynn. The PMS went on to say that the Prime Minister was a football fan and somebody who enjoyed watching Premiership games, so he knew Mourinho had a fantastic record of success, that he had made a significant contribution to British football in a short period of time and that he was also one of the great characters of the game. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PM would like to see Mourinho stay in the Premiership, the PMS said that it was a matter for Mr Mourinho and the boards of Premiership clubs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he thought John Reid's appointment at Celtic Football Club was a good thing for Scottish football, the PMS said that he was sure the Prime Minister thought John Reid had a great contribution to make as Chairman of Celtic Football Club. &lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-09-20 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-09-20 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-09-20 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-09-20 10:00:56" post_name="football-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4748" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/05/4748" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by telling the assembled press that the Prime Minister would be making his Statement on Iraq to the House on Monday 8th October at 3:30pm. The Chancellor would be making his CSR/PBR Statement to the House on Tuesday 9th October at the same time.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-05 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-05 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-05 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-05 10:00:58" post_name="statement-on-iraq" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Statement on Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4749" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/05/4749" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be prepared to allow an Opposition spokesman to hold pre-election talks with a senior civil servant, the PMS told the assembled press that the Prime Minister was considering that request and would reply at an appropriate time. Asked if that would be today, the PMS said that it would be at a time at which the Prime Minister felt as though it would be appropriate to respond.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-05 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-05 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-05 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-05 10:00:57" post_name="pre-election-talks" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pre-Election Talks" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4750" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/05/4750" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Pre-Budget Review (PBR) and Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) would be released as one statement the PMS said that it would be. As the Chancellor set out in July this year, the two would be set out at the same time and quoting Former Chief Secretary to the Treasury Stephen Timms, speaking in January 2007, said: &amp;quot;the spending review needs really to be by October in order that department's have the details they need for putting in place their arrangements for the new financial year.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the PBR and the CSR were being delivered against a less than optimistic financial background and therefore people might view with scepticism any increases in public spending, the PMS replied that the Chancellor would be setting out the spending plans in Parliament. A fiscal framework was in place that built in a degree of caution and prudence, in order to ensure the Government could meet their commitments. The PMS said that the Chancellor had made the point that these were testing times in the world economy at the moment, especially given what had been happening in the United States as part of the fallout from the events in the credit markets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he would accept the construct that the Chancellor was shading down growth expectation, the PMS said that he did not want to pre-empt the Chancellor's statement to Parliament next week.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-05 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-05 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-05 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-05 10:00:56" post_name="pbr-and-csr" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PBR and CSR" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4751" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/08/4751" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when troop numbers would reach a figure of 4500, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that this would happen at PIC. The Prime Minister of Iraq had said that he expected that to happen by December and that was consistent with the Government's expectation. Asked when the 500 logistics and support personnel would be deployed, the PMS replied that it was something that would happen over a period of time and there was no exact timetable for it that he was aware of. As was clear from the numbers, this would be a progressive reduction in British troop levels and alongside that, there would be 500 troops moving to a base outside of Iraq.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the 500 were not currently in theatre, the PMS said that details should be checked with the Ministry of Defence (MOD) but his understanding was that since there were troops constantly going in and coming out, it was not as simple as identifying one individual soldier and moving them somewhere else.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that after a further 1500 troops were taken out of Iraq in the spring, the remainder would be policing the Iran-Iraq border and was it at that point that an irreversible decision was made as to whether troops could go back into Basra, the PMS said that in the second stage of overwatch, the main difference was that troops would have less of a capacity to re-intervene. The PMS went on to say that this would have some implications for the number of troops involved in the security of supply routes and the protection of the Iran-Iraq border, but this would be something that would have to be discussed nearer the time. In terms of moving to the second stage, the main difference was the capacity for reintervention. The PMS reiterated that there may be some ongoing responsibilities for security of supply routes, but the detail of that would be specified and agreed nearer the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to be clear on troop numbers and if by next spring there would be a reduction to around 2500 troops, plus the 500 logistics personnel, the PMS confirmed there would be 2500 troops in Iraq with 3000 overall in the region.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many troops would be in the region at Christmas, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made very clear when he had visited Iraq, that the number of troops in Iraq would be 4500.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any prospect long-term, of going below 3000 troops in the region and was the issue being driven at all by the need for more man-power in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that Iraq was clearly separate from any decision in relation to Afghanistan. In terms of what would happen beyond the spring, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made it clear that there would be a further decision about the next phase made then.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were troops who thought they were going to Iraq but would now not be going, the PMS said that people would have to check with the MOD on this issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the figure of 500 for interpreters was roughly right, the PMS said that there had been figures quoted in that sort of region and he did not want to put a precise figure on it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government was pre-announcing something that was entirely dependent on the situation on the ground, the PMS replied that the Government had more certainty now of what conditions on the ground might be. The Iraqi Prime Minister had made a statement saying the Iraqi Government would take responsibility for security in Basra by December and this was consistent with the Government's expectation. The UK had been building up and training the numbers of Iraqi security forces, to the extent that an extra 13,000 Iraqi army forces and 15,000 police officers had been trained up in the region. The PMS reiterated that the Government could say with a lot more certainty what the expectations were over the next six months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PMS could comment on reports that there was another battle group going out to Afghanistan at almost the same time as troops coming back from Iraq, the PMS said that he did not have any information on the reports and people should check with the MOD.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that a complete draw-down was being pencilled in for the spring, as it was not possible to have less than 2500 troops in Iraq, the PMS said he did not want to pre-empt any decision made in the spring. Asked again if the next phase after 2500 troops in Iraq was complete draw-down, the PMS replied that a decision would be made in the spring and that may or may not have implications for troop numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he thought there would be 2500 British troops in Iraq by Christmas 2008, the PMS said he did not want to get into the business of speculating beyond anything that was in the statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Government could say with any confidence what the troop numbers would be next spring when the conditions were unknown, the PMS said that announcements on troop levels in Iraq had always happened step-by-step. What was being set out was what the Government expected to happen to troop levels over the next six months. In six months time there would be a further assessment, and a further decision would be taken at that point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Britain could have a viable force below 2500 troops, the PMS replied that the advice from the military was that the number of troops in Iraq would include provisions to protect them. A viable force below 2500 would depend on circumstances, but the Government would be guided by military advice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many people would be allowed to resettle in the UK, the PMS said he did not know the exact number. Asked how people would be vetted, as presumably there was a possibility of people making fraudulent claims of having worked for the British forces, the PMS replied that there would be a more detailed statement made by the Foreign Office later this week as the Prime Minister had said today. Asked if the figure would include the families of people who had worked for the British forces or not, the PMS said that people would be allowed to make an application on behalf of themselves and their families.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13456.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-08 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-08 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-08 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-08 10:00:58" post_name="iraq-12" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4752" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/08/4752" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister would make an intervention in the postal strike, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was making a general point that the Post Office was an organisation that received a significant financial subsidy from the taxpayer and therefore people would expect to have their post delivered on time. The PMS went on to say that the Prime Minister's comments were made in terms of financial support that the Government provided for the Post Office. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13456.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-08 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-08 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-08 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-08 10:00:57" post_name="postal-strike" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Postal Strike" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4753" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/09/4753" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by relaying what the Chancellor told Cabinet this morning. The Chancellor said that Britain's economy remained strong and well positioned to deal with increased global economic uncertainty. He emphasised that the Government's first priority would always be maintaining economic stability and sound public finances and that the Government would therefore take no risks with the economy or make unfunded spending or tax commitments. The Chancellor went on to say that the tough economic decisions the Government had taken meant that the country was in a strong position to continue to invest in key priorities like health, education, security and transport. He said that the spending plans and reforms set out in today's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) would help to ensure that all these public services would continue to meet the aspirations of the British people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which departments had been told their CSR outcomes already, the PMS said that, from memory, the Department for Children, Schools and Families, the Ministry of Defence, HM Treasury, Department for Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the Home Office had all been told their settlement. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to elaborate on what the Chancellor meant when he said the Government had taken 'tough economic decisions', the PMS said that the Government had taken tough economic decisions, most recently on public sector pay, for example.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what discussions there had been at Cabinet that morning about the CSR/PBR, the PMS said there had been a discussion around some of the more detailed proposals on the Pre-Budget Report (PBR), which obviously he was not able to pre-empt ahead of the statement, but it was a good discussion; the mood in Cabinet was business-like and upbeat.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any talk at Cabinet about inheritance tax, the PMS replied that it would be inappropriate for him to go into the detail of what exactly was discussed at Cabinet, as he did not want to pre-empt anything the Chancellor might say in his statement later today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any words from the Prime Minister regarding PBR, the PMS said no.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13462.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-09 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-09 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:58" post_name="csrpbr" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="CSR/PBR" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4754" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/09/4754" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any other discussions in Cabinet about recent events i.e. non-election, the PMS said that the discussion at Cabinet was about Government business; having dealt with Parliamentary business they then went on to discuss the PBR.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Europe&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any discussions in Cabinet on forthcoming business re Europe, the PMS said that obviously there had been discussions about Europe at previous Cabinets but that there was no substantive discussion about Europe this morning. He went on to say that with regard to Parliamentary business, what normally would happen was that the Chief Whip would set out what the Parliamentary votes and whipping would be for the week ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the treaty was the same as the constitution and asked if it had come up in discussion at Cabinet, the PMS said that it was not discussed this morning. He went on to say that the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee had made clear on the radio that what the report actually said was &amp;quot;what mattered was whether the new treaty produced an effect which was substantially equivalent to the Constitutional Treaty; the Committee considered that for those countries which had not requested derogations or opt-outs from the full range of agreements in the Treaty, i.e. not including the UK, it does&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chairman of the Scrutiny Committee had also said that the red lines could not be guarded, the PMS said the Prime Minister had made very clear yesterday in the press conference, his determination to secure those red lines. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if what the Prime Minister had said yesterday was decided before the Committee had come up with its conclusion, the PMS said what the Prime Minister had said yesterday still applied today; we set out our red lines; we had a number of opt-outs which derived from those red lines that meant that the Treaty as it would apply to the UK was different to the Treaty as it applied to other countries. Therefore, simply comparing one treaty with another treaty was not the right comparison in terms of what that meant for the UK because the treaty that applied to other countries was not the treaty that applied to the UK. The Prime Minister had made very clear that he was determined that we achieve our red lines and he also said yesterday that if we did not achieve them there would either be a British veto or a referendum. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any information regarding non-domicile residents in the CSR, the PMS said that it was best to wait for the statement this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken in Cabinet on PBR, the PMS said he had but that he would not be briefing on words from the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13462.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-09 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-09 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:57" post_name="cabinet-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4755" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/09/4755" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister had replied to David Cameron's letter about meeting civil servants, the PMS explained, as he had said at the time, that that issue would be dealt with at an appropriate time. No reply had been sent.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13462.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-09 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-09 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:56" post_name="letter-from-david-cameron" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Letter from David Cameron" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4756" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/09/4756" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the hospital visit that morning had involved, the PMS said that the purpose of visiting the University College London Hospital was to visit the Institute of Nuclear Medicine; the Prime Minister and Chancellor had had a short briefing and were shown the work of that institute including the first PETCT scanner in the UK, which could vastly reduce diagnosis times in cardiac and cancer problems.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13462.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-09 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-09 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:55" post_name="hospital-visit-with-alistair-darling" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Hospital Visit with Alistair Darling" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4757" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/09/4757" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister meant yesterday in regards to the postal strike when he said that the Government would not 'stand idly by', the PMS said that the Prime Minister's words should speak for themselves; this was an organisation that received a significant amount of financial subsidy from the Government/tax payer, and that it was only right that the public should expect to have their post delivered. Therefore, in the Prime Minister's view, this strike was a serious matter and he did not see any reason why this strike should be taking place. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans to directly intervene in the talks, the PMS said that at present the Government continued to urge the Post Office and the union side to reach a conclusion as soon as possible in order to minimise public disruption. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In reference to the substantial amount of subsidy, it was asked if this was a veiled threat from the Government that it would get involved, the PMS said that it was not a veiled threat about anything; he was just referring back to what the Prime Minister had said yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Royal Mail still had the monopoly on the delivering of letters up to a certain weight and class, the PMS said that the details of that should be checked with BERR. He went on to say that there had been some liberalisation in the market from 1 January this year.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13462.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-09 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-09 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:54" post_name="postal-strike-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Postal Strike" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4758" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/09/4758" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any words of support from ministers at Cabinet this morning regarding the weekend's events, the PMS said that was a political issue and that there had been PLP yesterday, which was not for him to brief on. However, as he said earlier, the mood at Cabinet this morning was business-like, determined and upbeat; they were focusing on the business of Government and the PBR.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13462.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-09 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-09 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-09 10:00:53" post_name="misc-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4759" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/10/4759" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's meeting with Barroso was a routine meeting, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said yes; Barroso was coming to see the Prime Minister ahead of the Summit and they would be discussing issues relating to next week's Summit. The Prime Minister will be reiterating the necessity of ensuring the UK secures its red lines and they will also have a wider discussion about other important issues in Europe, such as how we respond to the globalisation agenda; where we are on the trade talks and how we take things forward on climate change.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13471.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-10 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-10 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:58" post_name="barroso-meeting" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Barroso Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4760" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/10/4760" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the support the Government was prepared to give was detailed and what issues the Prime Minister had to look at re Northern Rock, the PMS said it would be more specific but that people should speak to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13471.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-10 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-10 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:57" post_name="chancellors-statement-re-northern-rock" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chancellor's Statement RE Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4761" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/10/4761" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending the rugby on Saturday, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister had no plans to go to the rugby.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the Health and Social Care Statement, the PMS replied that it would be setting out more of the detail of the health settlement that was announced yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister was doing to prepare for PMQs today, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was preparing in the normal way.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13472.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-10 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-10 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:58" post_name="misc-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4762" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/10/4762" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what topics would be discussed at the meeting with the Danish Prime Minister, the PMS replied that it would be a general discussion of the main issues relating to European matters at the moment, in particular ahead of next week's meeting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how he saw next week's meeting panning out, and would real work be taking place, or was it merely a &amp;quot;touch base&amp;quot; summit, the PMS replied that we did expect real work to take place at the Summit. He expected there would be other meetings with European leaders in the week ahead in advance of the Summit, but he would keep Lobby posted.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13472.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-10 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-10 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:57" post_name="danish-pm" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Danish PM" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4763" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/10/4763" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had given a particularly stingy settlement for Scotland out of spite towards Alex Salmond, the PMS replied that this was not the case.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Asked what they thought of this accusation, the Treasury Spokesman replied that the Scottish settlement was determined under the Barnett Formula which has existed for nearly 30 years now, and had been applied in the normal way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a pretty ferocious reaction in the Financial Times today, and asked what would the Government say to the charge that the one group missed was the fat cats, and that just about every other British business had been clobbered, the Treasury Spokesman replied that the main reform had been made to Capital Gains Tax where we were quite clear yesterday that was a simplification. Any simplification involved winners and losers, but we now had a single low rate Capital Gains Tax at 18%, one of the lowest of all our major competitors. We had stripped away all of the complexity that was there before with the number of different rates, and we thought that it was still a very competitive rate for British business, but it also offered us the advantage of greater simplicity and a more stable system going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on Inheritance Tax if we now had figures of how many people currently used nil rate discretionary trusts to gain the benefit of the equivalent to what had now been established, the Treasury Spokesman replied that we did not have any published figures on this, and that these would not necessarily be know because the nature of tax planning is that the Tax Authorities do not always know about it in advance. But we were confident of the costing. If we had not made changes to the Inheritance Tax we would have updated our forecast, and that forecast always reflected as it did for every tax, the actual instance of payments. The costing for the &amp;pound;1.4billion reflected the additional tax that we were not expecting to get because there would be universal access to the double allowance. The Treasury spokesman also pointed out that this kind of tax planning did you no good if you were already a widow or widower. The PBR inheritance tax measure was retrospective and would apply to the 3 million widows and widowers who were currently alive.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that over the last couple of years the Treasury had had many representations made on Inheritance Tax, and the response had always been that there was only a very small number of people affected by it, and asked why had we suddenly decided to do something about it, the Treasury Spokesman replied that the Government had always been clear that it had wanted action on Inheritance Tax. That was why, for example, the previous Chancellor, now Prime Minister, announced in the last Budget over-indexation of the threshold taking it up to &amp;pound;350,000. So there was nothing new about us wanting to act, at this PBR we were in a position to take action of this scale.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Opposition were claiming that there had been a &amp;pound;2billion raid on the pensions system as the capping of the second state pension had been brought forward to 2009, and there was no indication that the link to earnings would happen before 2014, and asked if this was a fair assessment, the Treasury Spokesman replied that these were essentially technical changes in the state second pension that we set out fully what we were intending to do with the Pensions White Paper last year. This implemented Turner's package of reforms, and a key part of these reforms was the recommendation that the state second pension needed to move to just a flat rate rather than earnings related. That would happen in 2013 as a result of these proposals.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13472.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-10 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-10 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-10 10:00:56" post_name="pre-budget-report" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pre-Budget Report" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4764" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/11/4764" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what had happened to the letter David Miliband had promised about the red lines, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) referred the journalist to the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's position on a referendum, and whether it was always going to be approved or vetoed, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position had been entirely consistent. On Monday he was simply making the point that we would veto a treaty that did not meet our red lines, as he made very clear today. In principal, in the Prime Minister's view, there would be a case for a referendum if the red lines were not met. But it was his intention to veto any treaty that did not secure our red lines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this meant that the referendum was a technical, almost symbolic threat, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had said this morning, if we accepted the Amending Treaty, in other words if we met all our red lines, then we would not need to put forward to the British people the idea that there should be a referendum because we had achieved the British national interest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that what the Prime Minister did not say was that if we did not meet the red lines then we wouldn't sign it anyway, so no need for a referendum, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was very explicit about this too.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was ever the option of a referendum on an unsatisfactory result, the PMS replied that the position on this had been made very clear by the Prime Minister earlier today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the European Scrutiny Committee had written to the Foreign Secretary to say that now they had had a chance to look at the redrafted documents, they were now even less happy than before, the PMS replied that he had not seen the letter the journalist was referring to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a formal signing at the Summit next week, the PMS replied that there would not be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what processes would be gone through next week, the PMS replied that his understanding of the process, and the Foreign Office could give chapter and verse on this, was that once the Treaty was agreed it then had to be translated into all of the different languages, and that would obviously take a period of time. The Treaty would then subsequently be signed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how much of the Summit would be taken up by this issue, the PMS replied that this would be very difficult to predict, best to wait until next week. As the Prime Minister and President Barroso made clear this morning, it was certainly their intention to ensure that we were able to discuss a much wider set of issues than just institutional reform, that were of crucial importance to the future of Europe. Like how we responded to globalization, like taking forward the climate change agenda, and like how we could reinvigorate the trade talks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was right to interpret President Barroso's comments this morning that he was relatively relaxed, that we would get our red lines, and that it was already a done deal, the PMS replied that he wouldn't want to interpret President Barroso's words.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister meant to suggest that there would be no British representation at all at this December's EU-Africa Summit, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister answered this question on Monday and said that there would be no senior Minister attending - that position had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would be sending a Minister of State, the PMS replied that the journalist should wait and see.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13479.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-11 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-11 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-11 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-11 15:45:58" post_name="european-union" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Union" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4765" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/11/4765" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what would happen in the second phase of Overwatch and whether or not this was something the Prime Minister and Robert Gates would discuss, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said, without going into specifics, that the Government's approach to Iraq had been characterised by a process of full consultation with the US Administration and that was something which would continue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was right to assume that British decisions had been taken with the full consent of the US and the Coalition, the PMS said that there had been full consultation with the US and other key allies and this was the position the Prime Minister had set out to the House of Commons on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13477.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-11 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-11 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:58" post_name="pm-meeting-with-us-defence-secretary" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PM Meeting with US Defence Secretary" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4766" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/11/4766" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that if the Prime Minister did not like what was concluded in the talks at Lisbon, or later Brussels, presumably that would mean that there was no need for a referendum, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made his position clear at the press conference on Monday and that there was nothing more to add.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put repeatedly that it was inconceivable that the Prime Minister would have a referendum on a treaty he had not signed and that there was no scenario in which the Prime Minister would hold a referendum, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made clear that the Government would either veto the Treaty (in which the Prime Minister would not sign it), or there would be a referendum.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly to confirm the Prime Minister's actions and clear up any misunderstanding, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had set out his very firm position at the press conference on Monday; it was his intention to secure the British red lines at the meeting in Lisbon next week; if the red lines were not secured then the Prime Minister would veto the Treaty or there would have to be a referendum.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13477.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-11 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-11 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:57" post_name="reform-treaty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Reform Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4767" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/11/4767" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that something had happened over the weekend which meant that the &amp;pound;8 million funding for Scottish farming was withdrawn, it was asked whether the Government would review its protocol of information sharing with the Scottish Government (as it was the Scottish National Party who highlighted the leaked document to the press), the PMS said that nothing had changed over the weekend; this was a compensation package that Hilary Benn announced for English farmers which was met out of Defra's existing budget and therefore the issue of Barnett consequentials did not arise in this case. If there had been, or were to be, a reserve claim and the money would come from the Treasury then there would be Barnett consequentials.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the draft for the Commons statement on Friday clearly set out separate funding for Scotland and Wales and that by Monday that had been removed, the PMS said that the position which was set out by Hilary Benn on Monday made it clear that this was a compensation package for England and came out of Defra's existing budget; obviously if we were in a position where there was a reserve claim from the Treasury then there would be Barnett consequentials and the money would go to the devolved administration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that the draft document had got into the hands of the press because civil servants in Scotland and England obviously still share information, the PMS said he did not want to comment on the specifics because he did not have any information as to how the document made it into the public domain. In general terms, obviously we would not condone any leaking of Government documents.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13477.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-11 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-11 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:56" post_name="scottish-funding" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4768" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/11/4768" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that an obsession with meeting Government targets contributed to the death of 90 people, the PMS said that Alan Johnson had made the case for the Government very clear this morning when he rejected that assertion. What has been seen is that some trusts have been successful in reducing their rates of infection significantly, so if this was a general problem, as has been suggested, then that would not explain why some trusts have been able to deal with this relatively successfully. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this particular trust (Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust) had been obsessed with Government targets, the PMS said that Alan Johnson had dealt with these questions this morning; there were clearly specific issues relating to this specific trust that needed to be addressed. As far as lessons for the rest of the National Health Service, those would clearly be learnt as Alan Johnson said this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13477.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-11 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-11 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-11 10:00:55" post_name="health-care-commission-report-on-c-difficile" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Health Care Commission Report on C Difficile" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4769" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/12/4769" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by reading out a statement to the assembled press on Burma by the Prime Minister, following the UN Security Council statement:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I applaud the leadership and responsibility shown by all members of the UN Security Council in issuing their first ever formal statement on Burma. The statement sends a powerful signal of the collective determination of the international community to stand together with the Burmese people. It is essential that we continue to work to bring an end to this crisis. The regime in Burma must now take the opportunity to begin the process of reconciliation, overseen by the UN.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any practical measures being taken, the PMS replied that the next step would be the meeting of the EU Foreign Minister's on Monday, where there would a discussion on Burma and the Foreign Secretary would be pushing for a toughening of the EU sanctions regime.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for any clues on which direction the Government would wish to toughen them, the PMS said general trade and overseas investment. Asked if this referred to France, the PMS replied that the Government did have support for this in Europe but there would be a discussion on this on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Foreign Secretary would be attending the meeting, the PMS confirmed that the Foreign Secretary would be there.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13485.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-12 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-12 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:58" post_name="burma-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4770" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/12/4770" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Put that the changes made to capital gains tax would harm small businesses and was any thought being given to rethinking the changes, the PMS replied that Andy Burnham had dealt with the issue that morning and as the Chancellor and the Chief Secretary had this morning made clear, the changes were a simplification of the regime, which left the UK with one of the lowest rates of capital gains tax in the world. Put that small businesses would still be worse off than before, the PMS replied that as with any reform, it affected different parts of the economy in different ways, but in overall terms this measure massively simplified the tax system, following calls from business for a less complex capital gains tax system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was known that it would impact badly on small businesses, the PMS said that it was known that it would be a simplification of the tax system following calls from business for a less complex capital gains tax system. Asked if it was not unintended consequences, the PMS replied that the Treasury always examined the implications of measures before decisions were taken.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13485.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-12 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-12 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:57" post_name="capital-gains-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Capital Gains Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4771" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/12/4771" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was worried by suggestions that children of primary school age were under too much stress, the PMS replied that there had been a statement released by the Minister for Children, Beverley Hughes overnight that set out the Government's position on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He went on to say that the report's author himself says that every generation has its stresses and schools themselves are safe havens and a beacon of light. The vast majority of children go to better schools, enjoy better health, live in better housing and live in more affluent households than they did ten years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS said it was true that childhood had changed and the Government was undertaking a massive nationwide consultation on the Children's Plan, talking to young people and their families about what makes for a happy, healthy and safe childhood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government accepted that it could and should have done more in the last ten years to look at children's wellbeing instead of encouraging league tables, the PMS reiterated that the vast majority of children went to better schools, enjoyed better health, lived in better housing and lived in more affluent households than they did ten years ago, so the matter had to be looked at in the round.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that children would be worse off if the Government had not improved schools and the level of affluence, the PMS replied that when looking in totality at the experience faced by children, they were in many respects in a better situation than they were ten years ago.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13485.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-12 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-12 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:56" post_name="kids-under-stress" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Kids Under Stress" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4772" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/12/4772" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to characterise how the Prime Minister viewed the current relationship between the UK Government and the Scottish Government, the PMS replied that it was businesslike.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would reply to Alex Salmond on the Foot and Mouth farming debate, the PMS replied that it was a matter for the Secretary of State.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a significant amount of taxes paid particularly from the South of England, being invested in Scotland and was there anything being done to solve the problem, the PMS replied that there were no plans to reform the Barnett Formula.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any rethinking on the sharing of information and the way in which civil servants from the British and Scottish Government's work, the PMS replied that it was something that may need to be considered, but these were matters for the Cabinet Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13485.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-12 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-12 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:55" post_name="scotland" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4773" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/12/4773" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for words of congratulation for Doris Lessing and Al Gore, the PMS said that a statement regarding Doris Lessing had been issued last night. The PMS had also congratulated Martin Evans who had won the Nobel Prize for Medicine, earlier that week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS then read out a statement from the Prime Minister, congratulating Al Gore:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I am very pleased that the Nobel Foundation has recognised the work that both Al Gore and the UN have done on climate change.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Al Gore has been inspirational in focusing attention across the globe on this key issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;The IPCC's work on the science of climate change has been vital, and they are now leading a process by which all countries will work together to tackle the effects of climate change.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13485.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-12 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-12 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:54" post_name="doris-lessing-and-al-gore" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Doris Lessing and Al Gore" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4774" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/12/4774" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Culture Secretary's visit to Battersea Arts Centre to publicise the DCMS CSR Arts settlement and whether there was any frustration that the focus had been on tax this week and not the spending being brought in by the CSR, the PMS replied that it was not particularly unusual for Secretaries of State to have meetings with stakeholders following spending review settlements. The more that people understood the settlements that were given, the better. The PMS went on to say that the PBR did a number of things. It dealt with a number of specific tax issues in an affordable way, it demonstrated how the Government could maintain its commitment to economic stability, but it also provided significant extra resources to key Government priorities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13485.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-12 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-12 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:53" post_name="comprehensive-spending-review" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Comprehensive Spending Review" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4775" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/12/4775" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was taking any interest in the settlement given to former Chief Executive of Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust, Rose Gibbs, the PMS said the Prime Minister was being kept informed, but it was really a matter for the Department of Health.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to characterise the Prime Minister's mood at the end of this week, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was determined and focussed on the business of Government. Asked if the Prime Minister would be watching sport over the weekend, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would try and find time during the course of tomorrow to watch the sport, like many other people in the country would.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13485.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-12 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-12 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-12 10:00:52" post_name="misc-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4776" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4776" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was aware of any evidence that British arms had ended up in the hands of the Burmese Government, the PMS said, re the arms embargo to Burma, that there was currently an EU arms embargo and what the Prime Minister had called for today was a review to ensure that that was properly enforced. He had also talked about beginning discussions with our partners about a wider UN arms embargo on Burma. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's friendship with Aung San Suu Kyi and whether or not the Government had had any direct contact with her, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was a great admirer of Aung San Suu Kyi; she was one of the individuals he wrote about in his book on courage. There had been contact with her family, but it was best to check the details with the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/output/Page13487.asp&quot;&gt;PM statement on Burma &lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:58" post_name="burma-statement" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma Statement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4777" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4777" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Re the Telegraph's story this morning, it was asked if the subject of transport and road prices in the Queen's speech would be different to what was expected. The PMS said that there was a certain amount of bafflement regarding the Telegraph's story this morning; the whole premise seemed to be that it was the existing Government's position that there would be legislation to be brought forward to enable a national road pricing scheme, but actually the draft legislation, which was published in May, did not include any such provision. The whole premise of the story was wrong in the sense that its depiction of the Government's existing position was not an accurate one; there had been no change in that position. What the Government wanted to see was road pricing working in local and regional pilots before making a decision about whether or not a national scheme was needed; that was no more than a re-statement of the existing policy so nothing had changed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:57" post_name="transportroad-prices" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Transport/Road prices" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4778" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4778" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why Michael Connarty was wrong when he had said that the red lines would disappear in 5 years, the PMS said that there were two separate issues and that the Foreign Office would be replying in detail to Mr Connarty's letter. One issue was in relation to the UK opt-in on justice and home affairs issues; that was indefinite. The second issue was ECJ jurisdiction over JHA issues for which there was a transitional period of 5 years before coming into effect. In a sense, what was happening was that two things were being conflated, the opt-in and the transitional arrangements. Our opt-in would always remain so we would always retain the flexibility to opt-in where we believed it was in our national interest to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify the position re Treaty negotiations, the PMS said it was the Government's view that the negotiations that had taken place and the current text that was circulating secured our red lines. However, we were not at the end of the process yet; we needed to remain vigilant and cautious, as such we would not be making any definitive statement on this until the negotiations were concluded.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was convinced that there was no need for a referendum in the sense that if the red lines were not as water-tight as he would want then he would not sign it, the PMS said that was correct. The Prime Minister had answered that point very clearly during the press conference with President Barroso last Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant there would be no referendum under any circumstances, the PMS said the Prime Minister had made clear that if the red lines were violated he would veto the Treaty; therefore any treaty he would sign-up to would be a treaty where our red lines were respected, therefore, as the Prime Minister had said, in those circumstances a referendum would not be needed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:56" post_name="eu-treaty-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4779" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4779" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government thought marriage should be recognised by the tax system, the PMS said that marriage was recognised in the tax system and always had been through Capital Gains Tax and Inheritance Tax. The Prime Minister made this very clear on the Today Programme on 11 July. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there should be further incentives for married couples, the PMS said it was not for him to pre-empt future budgets; we had strengthened the extent to which marriage was recognised in the tax system in relation to Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax. In relation to Income Tax, it has been a long-standing principal that people were taxed on an individual basis; this Government had introduced measures to recognise children in the tax system and this was the right way to deal with children and families in relation to Income Tax.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In relation to Andy Burnham, it was asked if it would be wrong to infer that there would be any changes in personal taxation i.e. Income Tax, the PMS said that the Treasury had been making clear that what Andy Burnham had been saying was nothing more than a re-statement of what the Prime Minister had already said; marriage is recognised in the tax system for Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax but in relation to Income Tax it was right that we recognise children.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was no going back to the point at which couples could transfer allowances, which had been abolished by this Government, the PMS said that what the Prime Minister had been referring to when he had been talking about recognising marriage in the tax system, was Inheritance tax and Capital Gains Tax.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:55" post_name="tax-system" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tax System" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4780" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4780" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the growing crisis in Britain's dental services, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been answering questions on this issue this morning so it was best to refer back to his words. As he and Ben Bradshaw had said, there have been significant improvements; 28 million people see an NHS dentist at least once every 2 years; there are 21,000 dentists providing NHS services (4, 000 more than in 1997), but clearly there was more to do.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:54" post_name="dental-services" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Dental Services" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4781" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4781" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's thoughts on abortion, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was asked about his thoughts on abortion during an interview with New Woman magazine last year so that was the best place to get direct words from him. His general view was that these were matters that should be guided by scientific evidence.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:53" post_name="abortion" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Abortion" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4782" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4782" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had made clear this morning that he wanted to get on with governing and asked about his vision for the future re his conference speech, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had set out his position on the future direction the country needed to take many times before and would continue to do that; he would continue to demonstrate how that was being backed up by action.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that recent events had left the Prime Minister looking 'indecisive and lacking voracity' and that that was as close as you could get to saying that he had been lying re opinion polls and the general election, the PMS said that they were party matters and the Prime Minister had answered questions on all these matters at his press conference last week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 10:00:52" post_name="misc-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4783" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4783" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had spoken to the campaigners who delivered the petition earlier that day, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that there had been a brief discussion and the Prime Minister was able to listen to some of their concerns. He pointed again to the statement the Prime Minister had issued earlier in the day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/output/Page13487.asp&quot;&gt;PM statement on Burma&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13501.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 15:45:58" post_name="burma-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4784" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4784" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about Capital Gains Tax and whether the Government had any sympathy with the idea of some kind of exemption or transitional relief for small businesses, the PMS said that the Chancellor had set out his decision on the matter in the Pre-Budget Report last week. It was a major simplification of the Capital Gains Tax regime, but for detailed questions it would probably be best to speak to the Treasury. Asked what the No. 10 view of the subject was, the PMS said that the view was that the Government had done a huge amount to help small businesses and to help the small business sector over the last ten years.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13501.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 15:45:57" post_name="capital-gains-tax-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Capital Gains Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4785" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/15/4785" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on stories suggesting the Prime Minister was considering blocking donations to local parties, the PMS replied that there was an ongoing review of these matters being undertaken by Hayden Phillips and that was how the issue was being considered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was expecting a working peers list soon, the PMS said he had not seen anything to suggest that might be the case, but he would check. Asked whether the list for Tony Blair's retirement honours had been completed, the PMS replied that he had no information on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reaction to comments made by Gisela Stewart regarding an EU referendum, the PMS replied that people knew what the Government's position was on an EU referendum and this had not changed. Asked if the Prime Minister had any reaction to Stuart's comment of him &amp;quot;lacking veracity,&amp;quot; the PMS said that Gisela Stuart had set out her views on a referendum many times before, so none of this was a great surprise. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be the only Scot cheering on England on Saturday and did he know the words to &amp;quot;Swing Low, sweet chariot,&amp;quot; the PMS replied that he would swim past that particular piece of bait.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the Digital Switchover happening on Wednesday, the PMS replied that people should check with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, but that this was the first stage of the UK's Digital TV switchover.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a Chinese-British Summit before the end of the year, the PMS said that it would not necessarily be before the end of the year. Put that the previous Prime Minister had instituted an annual summit and would it therefore be missed in 2007, the PMS said that he would check what the facts were and when and where previous summits had taken place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13501.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-15 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-15 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-15 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-15 15:45:56" post_name="misc-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4786" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/16/4786" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began the briefing by informing Lobby that at Cabinet this morning David Miliband reported back from his meeting at the General Affairs Council yesterday, and there had been a discussion of parliamentary business.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was discussion on the European Treaty, the PMS replied that David Miliband reported back from the meeting he attended yesterday which he also described fully in his interview on the Today Programme this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Cabinet had got round to discussing the shape of the Queen's Speech yet, the PMS replied that the process and discussions around the Queen's Speech were already ongoing, and &lt;a href=&quot;/output/Page12422.asp&quot;&gt;we had published the Draft Legislative Programme earlier in the year&lt;/a&gt;. The PMS also reminded journalists that a date had been set (which would obviously take away some of the fun for the Lobby in the build up to the Queen's Speech). &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13505.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-16 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-16 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-16 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-16 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4787" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/16/4787" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister said in his &lt;a href=&quot;/output/Page13500.asp&quot;&gt;tribute to Ming Campbell &lt;/a&gt;that he may continue to have a major role in public life, and asked if the Prime Minister had anything in mind, the PMS replied that his words were a general tribute.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Ming Campbell, the PMS replied she was not aware that the Prime Minister had spoken to him, but that we would not ordinarily brief on the Prime Minister's discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Ming Campbell was mentioned at Cabinet at all, the PMS replied that he was not mentioned during the part of Cabinet for which she was present.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13505.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-16 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-16 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-16 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-16 10:00:57" post_name="sir-menzies-campbell" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sir Menzies Campbell" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4788" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/16/4788" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Sir Menzies Campbell, the Prime Minister Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister had not, as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13514.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-16 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-16 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-16 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-16 15:45:58" post_name="sir-menzies-campbell-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sir Menzies Campbell" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4789" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/16/4789" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that it was a year since the collapse of Farepak and asked if there was any possible rescue package along the lines of Northern Rock, the PMS replied that clearly the circumstances relating to Northern Rock and Farepak were very different. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any possibility of compensation, the PMS replied that the position set down previously had not changed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13514.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-16 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-16 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-16 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-16 15:45:57" post_name="farepak" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Farepak" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4790" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/17/4790" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any scenario whereby the Prime Minister could sign up to a treaty in Lisbon and still put it to the people in a referendum, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister's position was clear. If the Prime Minister believed the treaty violated the red lines, then he would veto the treaty. The only treaty the Prime Minister would sign up to was one that would protect the red lines and in those circumstances the Government would not believe a referendum would be necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how optimistic the Prime Minister was of getting a deal this time round, the PMS replied that, as is well known, the current text of the treaty that had been circulating did secure the red lines, but there would be further discussions over the coming days. The Government would not be in a position to claim definitively that the red lines had been secured until there was a final agreement on the text, meaning that the Government would remain cautious.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a final agreement had to be reached at the Lisbon summit, or would there be room for further negotiations between now and December, the PMS said the expectation was that there would be political agreement on the text at the summit and it was anticipated that the document would then be translated for formal signing in December.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there were suggestions from the Scrutiny committee that the treaty was not legally watertight, and was the Government confident that it could not be torn up if someone was to challenge it, the PMS replied that the Foreign Secretary had given a very robust defence of the Government's position on the issue and made clear that in the Government's view, the red lines in the current text were watertight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any points in the latest draft that the Government would be challenging, the PMS reiterated that in the current text available, the Government believed that it's red lines had been secured and that was the key issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to what extent was the Prime Minister eager that the treaty issue was put aside eventually, so that Europe could start doing other things, and what else would he like to see Europe getting stuck into, the PMS said the Prime Minister was very strongly of the view that it was necessary to make these changes in order to enable and enlarge the European Union to function, but a lot of time had been spent on this inward looking institutional debate. Once this was concluded the focus would need to be put back onto issues that affected real people, for example, economic growth, jobs, the environment and security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if the Prime Minister had a speech or agenda he wanted to set out, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister was of the view that the focus needed to be put back onto real issues and away from the institutional debate. There would be discussion of these issues at the summit probably on Friday, if as expected, the treaty was agreed by Thursday evening. It would be a debate that the Prime Minister would be actively participating in, both at the summit and in the period beyond.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be speaking to the summit on the matter of anti-protectionism after reports had suggested he would do so, the PMS said he had not seen or would necessary recognise those reports, but clearly the Prime Minister had argued many times that a global Europe and an open Europe was needed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again what issues the Prime Minister would be raising, the PMS said he would be setting out his position on the need to take forward economic reform, the climate change debate, and the need for Europe to play a lead role on reinvigorating the trade talks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Government's view that the new treaty was distinct from the previous constitutional treaty, because a) it was an amending treaty or b) because it had the red lines included, the PMS said it was both. Firstly, it was not a constitution and the conclusions of the council in June were explicit that the constitutional concept had been abandoned and this was an amending treaty. Secondly, for the UK, the treaty that affected the country was different from the treaty that affected other countries because of the red lines and the opt-ins and opt-outs that the Government had secured.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government gave both factors equal parity, the PMS said he was not sure he would want to put weighting on them, but obviously both factors applied.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the summit would last, the PMS said that it was not for the Government to anticipate exactly how the summit would pan out and that often, unexpected things occurred at these events. The PMS again said that the Government would not be making any definitive judgements until it had seen the final text of the treaty, so one had to remain cautious.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would raise issues such as Burma or Darfur, the PMS replied that as far as he was aware those issues were not on the agenda, but there was a fairly lengthy discussion of those matters at the Foreign Minister's meeting on Monday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13524.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-17 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-17 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-17 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-17 10:00:58" post_name="europe" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4791" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/17/4791" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be taking his England shirt, the PMS replied that he had no plans to. The PMS confirmed that the Prime Minister was still going to the Rugby World Cup Final on Saturday. Asked if the Prime Minister had discussed the matter with Nelson Mandela, the PMS said not as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13524.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-17 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-17 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-17 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-17 10:00:57" post_name="misc-12" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4792" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/17/4792" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman started by drawing attention to a letter the Prime Minister had written to the Portuguese Prime Minister, in his capacity as President of the European Union, copied to all other Heads of State. The main message of the letter was about the need to move on from an inward-looking institution debate and start focusing all our efforts on the real issues facing Europe around economic growth, jobs, the environment and security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on a scale of one to ten how important the Prime Minister thought the Treaty was, the PMS said that he would not want to put a number on it; as the Prime Minister said in his letter, the Treaty is important in ensuring that the EU can function effectively. But as he also said, we have now had a long period of internal institutional debate and it was now time to move on from that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister regarded the Treaty negotiations as getting in the way of priorities or if the list of priorities was something which would be achieved as the result of negotiations, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that it was clearly necessary to amend the Treaty as a result of enlargement. Once that process was concluded it would be time to move on and start focusing all of our efforts, not on internal inward-looking institutional issues that have consumed a lot of the EU's energy in recent months and years, but on the issues that matter to real people. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's view was that there had been enough tinkering with the Treaty, the PMS said the Prime Minister had made clear that we had had a fairly long period of internal debate on these matters and we needed to get down to the nuts and bolts of economic reform in Europe in order to address some of the big issues around growth, jobs, the environment and security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant the Prime Minister did not share the views of President Sarkozy re strengthening the EU, the PMS said it was not for him to interpret what President Sarkozy said. He went on to say that the Prime Minister has a great deal of respect for President Sarkozy, has worked very closely with him and would continue to work very closely with him. All leaders acknowledged that it was important that Europe was seen to be addressing issues that mattered to real people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that there were areas of the Free Trade Agenda where Europe should take a more protective stance, the PMS said that he did not want to comment on the details of specific negotiations, but as a general principal the Prime Minister thought that free trade was a good thing and he was in favour of open markets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be discussions on Friday morning at the EU Summit re competing visions of globalisation in the EU, the PMS said that he would not characterise it in those terms, but clearly we would anticipate a discussion, which we expected would happen on Friday subject to details of the Treaty being finalised, about the general issue of how Europe responds to the challenges of Globalisation. The Prime Minister was setting out some of the issues today in that debate, which he thought should be focused on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister's letter to President Barroso was written to be provocative in Paris, the PMS replied not at all; it was written in order to set out the Prime Minister's views ahead of the Summit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was sticking to his thoughts about enlargement re Turkey, the PMS said the Government's position on Turkey was well established and unchanged.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the French Presidency was talking about trying to revive EU peacekeeping activities and asked if this was in reference to Africa, the PMS said that people should not read too much into particular references in this letter about peacekeeping.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the subject of Burma would be raised at the Summit, the PMS said that there had been a long discussion about issues relating to Burma at the Foreign Minister's meeting on Monday and that that was the main substantive discussion. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13529.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-17 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-17 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-17 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-17 15:45:58" post_name="europe-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4793" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/17/4793" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be watching any particular sport over the next few days, the PMS said he was sure the TV would be on in the background of the office for both the important football games taking place later today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13529.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-17 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-17 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-17 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-17 15:45:57" post_name="sport" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sport" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4794" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/18/4794" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press about the Prime Minister's schedule while in Lisbon. The Prime Minister was currently in a meeting of the European Socialists. Following that, he would be having bilateral meetings with Prime Minister Socrates of Portugal and Prime Minister Prodi of Italy. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS then gave a brief outline of how things stood at that current moment. As had been said earlier in the week by the Foreign Secretary, the Government's view was that the current draft of the treaty secured all the UK's red lines. The Government would be remaining cautious until the meeting had been concluded, but there had been nothing during the course of the day so far, to suggest that there had been any attempt to reopen any of the red lines. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister wrote to Prime Minister Socrates, copied to other Heads of Government yesterday, setting out his view that once the discussions on the treaty were concluded, it would be time to end this long period of inward looking institutional debate that had characterised European discussion in recent years and get the focus back onto issues that affected real people in Europe. There would be further discussion of this tomorrow. The PMS added that the International Monetary Fund had announced yesterday that forecasts for growth had been reduced in the major economies, with the IMF downgrading the forecast for the US from 2.9% to 1.9% and also downgrading growth in the G7 and Euro areas, including the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With growth slowing in the US next year, the Prime Minister's view was that it was even more important for Europe to show leadership on economic policy matters and in three areas inparticular. Firstly, by pushing ahead with the economic reforms, including a positive and coherent response to the challenges of globalisation. Secondly with Europe leading the talks on the reinvigoration of the trade deal and thirdly, strengthening cooperation in Europe, in the light of work undertaken by the Financial Stability Forum, on measures to promote stability in financial markets, inparticular, enhancing transparency in financial markets in relation to issues such as debt, risk management and other issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13557.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-18 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-18 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-18 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-18 15:45:58" post_name="pms-schedule" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PM's schedule" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4795" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/18/4795" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would have nothing to contribute, given that the Government was just waiting to see if other countries re-opened the red lines, the PMS replied that as it was clear throughout, the overwhelming priority for the Government in relation to the treaty negotiations was to secure the red lines. The Prime Minister was of the opinion that given the enlargement of Europe, the reforms of the treaty were necessary to make Europe function; he believed that the treaty secured that and most importantly secured the red lines.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would insist on a caveat in the treaty to ensure that the ECJ would not undermine the red lines in the future, the PMS said that the Foreign Secretary had made clear in front of the European Scrutiny Committee that there was no reason to believe there was any scope for the ECJ to undermine the British red lines in future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the word &amp;quot;shall&amp;quot; had been removed from the treaty, as the Foreign Secretary said it should be, the PMS replied that as far as he understood, it would be. Asked what the word had been replaced with, the PMS said it was a question of removing the word &amp;quot;shall.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the ratification process would be for the treaty, the PMS said that first of all the treaty would need to be agreed. Political agreement on the text was anticipated later today and there would then need to be a process of translating the treaty into different languages, ahead of the signing later that year. Following that, the treaty would need to be ratified by the UK Parliament in the normal way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when a political agreement could be expected, the PMS replied that it might not happen that evening as it would depend on whether other countries had issues outstanding with the treaty. The PMS added that it would be difficult to give any precise guidance, but the working session was due to finish at 8pm and one might anticipate that there would be further discussions over dinner.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what issues other countries had, the PMS said that that was not for him to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had anything to say on the comments made by President Putin and President Ahmadinejad yesterday and would the issue be raised with anyone at the summit, the PMS said he didn't anticipate any comment from the Prime Minister on the subject. The Foreign Ministers would be having a separate dinner that evening where no doubt a wide range of foreign policy issues would be discussed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought he would be damaged by refusing to take into account polls which showed that the majority of the British population wanted a referendum, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had answered different variations of the question many times before. As he had made clear, if the UK was joining the Euro, a referendum would be necessary and he was one of the first to argue that point. However, this was not a constitution and the constitutional concept had been abandoned. The red lines had been secured, it was an amending treaty and like other amending treaties that had gone before, it did not require a referendum. The Prime Minister had come to the summit to stand up for British interests and he would do that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on the specifics of parliamentary processes for the treaty, the PMS replied that such comments were a little premature at this point. The priority for the Government was to reach agreement on the treaty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had given up all hope of there being a referendum, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister would only agree to the treaty if the red lines were secured. In principle, if the red lines were not met, a case for a referendum could be made, but it would be the Prime Minister's intention to veto the treaty if the red lines were not secured.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what would be discussed at the Prime Minister's bilateral with Prime Minister Prodi, the PMS replied that it would be the first time the two had met face-to-face since the Prime Minister had taken up his position. They had known each other for many years and would want to discuss issues related to that weekend, particularly how to carry forward the debate on globalisation. It would be an opportunity to have a more general debate about UK-Italy relations and look ahead to Italy taking on the Presidency of the G7 next year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had read the treaty, the PMS replied that he was sure he had.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the text on the table and did he have any bilateral plans with the Polish President, the PMS said that the Government was content with the text. It was possible the Prime Minister would have some discussion with the Polish President during the course of the next couple of days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reaction to reports within the Labour Party regarding a change to the Capital Gains Tax measures outlined in the PBR and if the treaty was vetoed, should there be a referendum, the PMS replied that there was no reaction to the reports. The PMS added that if the treaty was vetoed, there would be no treaty to have a referendum on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13557.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-18 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-18 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-18 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-18 15:45:57" post_name="europe-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4796" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/18/4796" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;In response to the question of what the Prime Minister thought about the job cuts in the BBC, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought it was a matter for the BBC governors. Put that this was not what the Leader of the House had just said, the PMS replied that he had not seen what the Leader of the House had said, but it was the Prime Minister's view that the matter was for the BBC governors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be raising the Madelaine McCann case with the Portuguese Prime Minister, the PMS replied that it was a matter for the police and the relevant authorities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had seen the football the night before, the PMS replied that the television was on in the background so it was likely that the Prime Minister had seen parts of both games.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the question of who would be hosting the Prime Minister at the Rugby World Cup final on Saturday, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would be there as the guest of President Sarkozy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if President Mbeki and Nelson Mandela would be going to the Rugby on Saturday, the PMS said that he did not know.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13557.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-18 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-18 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-18 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-18 15:45:56" post_name="misc-13" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4797" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/22/4797" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Government's views on the issues relating to the Turkish/Iraq border, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that a statement had been made by the Foreign Secretary condemning the attacks by the PKK and sending the deepest condolences to the families of the victims.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS went on to say that the Government's general position was that the PKK was clearly trying to undermine the Turkish Government's efforts to improve the situation of people in the South-East of the country and to provoke conflict between Turkey and Iraq and damage regional stability. Turkey's allies, including the UK, admired the resilience shown in seeking to resolve the issue of Iraqi territory being used to support these attacks. The Government encouraged the Turkish Government to continue to seek a solution through dialogue with the Iraqi Government. The Government supported the continuation of those efforts and urged the Iraqi Government, with the support of the Kurdish regional Government, to take the necessary steps to prevent the use of Iraqi territory for these purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the origin of the Prime Minister's meeting with Prime Minister Erdogan was, the PMS said that it had been in the Prime Minister's diary for some time and it was not related to recent events.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would specifically tell Prime Minister Erdogan not to indulge in any incursion or invasion of Northern Iraq, the PMS replied that the Government's position was to encourage the Turkish Government to continue to seek a solution through dialogue with the Iraqi Government. Pressed on military involvement by Turkey across the border, the PMS said the Government admired the resilience that Turkey had shown in seeking to resolve the issues of Iraqi territory and it encouraged the Turkish Government to continue to seek a solution through dialogue with the Iraqi Government.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13581.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-22 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-22 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:58" post_name="turkey" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Turkey" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4798" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/22/4798" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chancellor's meeting with the business community suggested that proposals were not set in stone, the PMS replied that the Chancellor's meeting was to discuss the issues that had been raised by the business community. The Chancellor had made the position of the Government clear on this. The PMS added that for specifics it was best to speak with the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that on the one hand the Government was introducing measures that the Business Council unanimously opposed, but on the other the Prime Minister would be attending a high-profile meeting with business leaders, the PMS said that the purpose of the Business Council was to discuss long-term policy and areas and issues that would determine the long-term economic wellbeing and competitiveness of the UK. Insofar as businesses having specific issues with one policy measure announced by the PBR, people would have an opportunity to discuss it with the Chancellor this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13581.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-22 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-22 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:57" post_name="business-council" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Business Council" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4799" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/22/4799" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared President Sarkozy's view that Tony Blair would make a first class EC President, the PMS referred people back to what the Prime Minister had said on Friday in Lisbon, when he was asked the same question:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;Tony Blair would be a great candidate for any significant international job and as you know, the work that he is doing in the Middle-East is something that is of huge international importance, but I have to say that on the issue of the Presidency of the Council, there has been no discussion of this and it would be premature to have any discussion as these amending treaties have still got to be ratified by the Parliament's of the individual countries.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the Prime Minister would drag out the debate on the EU Treaty, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister intended to ensure that there was full possible scrutiny of the Treaty in Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13581.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-22 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-22 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:56" post_name="european-council" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Council" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4800" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/22/4800" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on reports that the Government would send more troops to Afghanistan due to other NATO forces being withdrawn, the PMS said that the Ministry of Defence had made clear that the Government did not recognise those reports and had no current plans to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had felt stung by soon to be published comments made by the Schools Minister in a new book, the PMS replied that he would not be making any comment at all on the book.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about reports highlighting the issue of the Government taking back money from schools that had not spent it by the end of the year, the PMS said that it would be best to talk to the Department on the specifics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a specific focus for the Prime Minister's meeting with Prime Minister Olmert, the PMS said that it had been in the diary for some time, Prime Minister Olmert was in London and they would want to take stock of where things stood in the Middle-East peace process and other regional issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13581.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-22 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-22 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-22 10:00:55" post_name="misc-14" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4801" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/22/4801" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a more specific timetable on what the Prime Minister had set out in his statement, and if all of this would happen in Parliament before the next Council, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that he did not envisage it happening before December. First the Treaty had to be translated into 27 languages, and then it would be signed sometime in December. Once that had happened, the parliamentary procedure would then start.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that he would ratify the Treaty in December at the Council, and did this not rather nullify the point of having a parliamentary discussion, the PMS replied that the Treaty would to be ratified by Parliament, so there needed to be a process of transposing the Treaty into domestic legislation to give it a UK legal basis. This was what the parliamentary process would do. The normal process of ratification would happen, but it could only be done once there was a Treaty to ratify. There was only a political declaration on the text in Lisbon, not a formal signing of the Treaty. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Treaty would be ratified by Britain once it had been approved by Parliament, the PMS replied that this was correct.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was still two possible dates when this could happen, the normal Brussels Summit or the other possible Lisbon Summit, the PMS replied that exactly when and how the physical Treaty was signed was a matter for the Presidency to decide. The general expectation was that it would happen at the Brussels European Council on the 13th December, where it would be called the Treaty of Lisbon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any move to qualified majority voting (QMV) would have to be subject to a binding vote in the House, the PMS replied that the way the so called passerelle worked (this was the provision in the Treaty that allowed movement in some areas from unanimity to QMV) was that it could only happen on an unanimous basis. Britain like any other country had to agree by unanimity for any move to QMV in the areas set out in the Treaty, but we were saying that this would not just be the Government, we would subject that to a prior vote in Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister needed to ask anything of his European partners for this, the PMS replied that as it was subject to unanimity, it was up to the UK Government how we exercised our effective veto, and we decided that before we exercise our veto we would consult Parliament and there would be a vote on it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was considering entering into the Schegen agreement, the PMS replied that we had an opt-in, nothing had changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this prior vote in the House was absolutely binding, the PMS replied that it would be. We would give our consent to further moves to QMV in the passerelle clauses in the Treaty following a prior vote in the House.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again on the timetable if all stages would be completed by Easter, the PMS replied that we would see. We were clear that there needed to be a full process of scrutiny.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been a change in the commitment not to oppose institutional change from ten years to six years, as the Prime Minister had referred to this Parliament and the next, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was also setting out, as he had done on Friday, various dates by which items of the existing Treaty would come into effect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Cameron had suggested Labour MPs should be given a free vote on this, the PMS replied that normal parliamentary procedures would apply.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many days the parliamentary process would take, the PMS replied that we did not have an estimate of the exact number of days at this point, but it would be a very full and detailed process of scrutiny.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that he was against all further institutional changes in the relationship between the EU and member states, and this presumed that it was all moving in one direction, the PMS replied that we did have a clause in the Treaty that did allow for repatriation of powers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for clarity on the passerelle, one interpretation would be that the Government already knew that it would oppose any extension to QMV, the PMS replied that clearly one would have to take a view on the individual passerelles, a lot of these QMV measures applied to relatively trivial matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about pre-approval towards QMV on ad hoc proposals, the PMS replied that it was true that the Prime Minister had put an additional constraint on the Government in terms of how it can exercise its negotiating power in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had put to colleagues at the European Council that he was opposed to further institutional changes, and asked if when he spoke to the Council he gave an indication of timescale to the opposition, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister set out his position clearly in the statement to the House. His position was very clear, and was a position reiterated by a number of other leaders at the Council.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for clarification on QMV measures that did not affect the UK, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was talking about areas in this new Treaty that extend QMV. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that presumably there might be further QMV measures relating to the Euro for example that did not effect the UK, but any area whatsoever that extends to QMV would have to be voted on in the House, the PMS replied that the passerelle did not apply to all QMV in the Treaty, only a number of specific areas where this self amending mechanism was in place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that in the Global Europe document, it says that Europe should influence the debate on how the IMF and central banks respond to global financial challenges, and asked if this was something new that the Prime Minister was pushing for, that the EU speaks with one voice on the IMF, the PMS replied that we were not proposing anything new in relation to the European Union's representation and the way that it operates at the IMF.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the President of the European Council would be &amp;quot;the servant&amp;quot; of national governments, the PMS replied that it was because he was appointed by national governments, the Council, and he chaired the meetings. But it was individual member states that had the vote who decided matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if the Prime Minister had changed his position from 2017 to eight years at the most, the PMS replied that there had been no change to the position. Nothing that the Prime Minister had said was inconsistent with what was said on Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that assuming this proceeded as the Government would like, when would the High Representative and the President of the Council be in post, the PMS replied that they would be appointed to take effect from when the Treaty would take effect, which would be January 2009. That was assuming the Treaty had been ratified by all member states by that date, bearing in mind that for example in Belgium the process had to go through 9 separate parliaments. But assuming the Treaty was ratified by the end of 2008, it would come into effect in January 2009, and these new positions would be appointed from that date.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this meant the decision on who would get the jobs would be made next year, the PMS replied that that was a reasonable assumption.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the new Commission started, the PMS replied that the new Commission would start in September 2009. One of the issues that the Prime Minister had to intervene on was to ensure that there was not a separate European Parliament process for the Higher Representative who was also a Commissioner, so that if there had been that would have effectively given the European Parliament a veto over the appointment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was at all attracted to the Liberal Democrat idea of a referendum on &amp;quot;in or out&amp;quot; of Europe, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not think this was necessary.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13582.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-22 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-22 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-22 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-22 15:45:58" post_name="europe-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4802" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4802" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by outlining the two main issues discussed at this morning's Cabinet. Firstly, there was an update from Jack Straw on the Constitutional Reform Agenda and how that was being taken forward. Secondly, there was a discussion led by Ed Balls on taking forward next steps on diplomas.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to specify what Ed Balls was announcing today, the PMS said he was announcing how the agenda was being taken forward in relation to diplomas which was one of the issues which came out of the Tomlinson review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if diplomas were to replace A-levels, the PMS said it was best to wait for the statement later today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13606.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4803" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4803" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Constitutional Reform included House of Lords reform, the PMS referred to the Prime Minister's statement on the Constitutional Reform Agenda on 3 July and said that it was much wider than just the issue of the House of Lords reform. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to characterise it as everything except House of Lords and voting, the PMS said that the House of Lords was being taken forward; there was a broad agenda of constitutional reform matters and the House of Lords was clearly part of that. There was a statement on a wide-ranging package of measures announced by the Prime Minister in July. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister's ideas highlighted in his Constitutional Reform Agenda statement on 3 July, e.g. a statement of British values/a British Bill of Rights and Duties, amounted to a British Constitution and would consider having a referendum on that, the PMS said that that was getting way ahead of ourselves; the proposals set out in July were how we could work up a British statement of values which might then be a pre-cursor for a British Bill of Rights at some point in the future should a consensus emerge around that following discussions; we needed to take this step by step.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked, to that end, if there would be anything constitutional in the Queen's speech, the PMS replied that the draft Queen's speech had stated that there would be a Constitutional Reform Bill.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Jack Straw had specified any areas where progress had been made re the Constitutional Reform Agenda, the PMS replied that progress had been made across a broad front but that it was for Jack Straw to set out the next steps, which we would expect him to do shortly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13606.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:57" post_name="constitutional-reform-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Constitutional Reform" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4804" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4804" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how concerned the Prime Minister had been that Turkey had threatened to destabilise the only stable region in Iraq, the PMS said that it was best to wait for the Prime Minister's press conference with Prime Minister Erdogan later that morning. The joint UK/US statement issued over night in Washington, following discussions between the Foreign Secretary David Miliband and Condoleezza Rice, stated the current position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Olmert would be discussing in their meeting, the PMS reminded journalists that the meeting had not taken place yet but that they would discuss a wide range of issues relating to the Middle East peace process and other regional matters, however it was best to wait until the press conference when a better account of discussions could be given.&lt;br /&gt;Asked in relation to the US/UK proposal for a meeting in Istanbul if there was a sufficient degree of urgency to prevent a Turkish incursion, the PMS replied that clearly we were treating this matter with the urgency it required; there were intensive discussions about this in Washington involving the Foreign Secretary and Condoleezza Rice; there were further meetings today with the Prime Minister of Turkey and there would be further discussions in the period ahead. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13606.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:56" post_name="turkey-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Turkey" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4805" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4805" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the country was ready for 70 million people, the PMS referred to the ONS press release that morning and pointed out that they prefaced their findings with the phrase 'if passed trends continue'. They went on to say that 'the assumptions underlying national population projections' were 'demographic trend based'; they were not forecasts so it was an extrapolation of historical trends, not a forecast, as the ONS explicitly states. The ONS did not attempt to predict the impact that future Government policies, change in economic circumstances or other factors might have on demographic behaviour; this subject needed to be looked at in that context. In relation to the general issue, the Government had set up the Migration Impact Forum (MIF), which included representatives from the police and local authorities and we would also be introducing our tough new points system to help manage migration, which would come into effect in approximately 150 days time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again how the Prime Minister felt about the figure of 70 million, whether it was a forecast or not, the PMS repeated that the Government had introduced the MIF, which included all the key bodies, in order to ensure that we could manage the impact that migration has on communities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to explain more about the MIF, the PMS said that the Home Office could give as much detail as was needed on it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13606.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:55" post_name="population-growth" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Population Growth" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4806" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4806" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the letter the Prime Minister had received from the Leader of the Opposition about the Phillips review, the PMS said that it was a party matter. There were ongoing inter-party talks chaired by Sir Hayden Phillips and there was a further meeting due to be held at the end of the month but beyond that there was nothing more to add.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13606.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:54" post_name="phillips-review" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Phillips Review" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4807" comment_count="6" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4807" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Guardian had been right to say that the Government will do a u-turn on renewable energy, the PMS said that Ministers were not planning a u-turn on any pledges to combat climate change and we were not seeking to effectively abolish the target for renewable energy, which was agreed by the European Union in the spring. Obviously there was a discussion taking place within Europe involving the Commission and Member States about the implementation of that target; meeting the target would be challenging and obviously we wanted to make sure that the system was well-designed, cost-effective and practical but it was not the case that Ministers were planning a u-turn on any of the pledges that we had made.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if it was found not to be practical the Government could not carry it out, the PMS said that we were working with the Commission and other Member States to ensure that it was implemented in a way that was practical.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if other departments had prevented the meeting of targets, the PMS said that in the last couple of months we had given consent for the world's biggest offshore wind farm in the Thames. We had also given consent for a Fullabrook wind farm in north Devon, an offshore wind farm off Teesside, the Wave Hub deep-sea socket off Cornwall, as well as having announced a feasibility study into the Severn Barrage. As such there was a very active agenda being taken forward across all Government departments in relation to renewables. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13606.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 10:00:53" post_name="renewable-energy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Renewable Energy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4808" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4808" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that both the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Olmert of Israel had talked about further sanctions on Iran in their press conference earlier that day and what would those sanctions include, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister had set out that the Government was prepared to step up sanctions, both at an EU and UN level. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This assessment would follow the report from the International Atomic Energy Agency, which was due in November. Until that point the PMS stated that she would not get into detail of the exact proposals to be considered. The PMS added that both the Prime Minister and Prime Minister Olmert were expressing their readiness to bring about further, tougher sanctions should they be required.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13610.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 15:45:58" post_name="iran" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iran" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4809" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4809" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had watched Assistant Commissioner Yates give evidence at the &amp;quot;cash-for-honours&amp;quot; inquiry to the Public Administration Committee, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had only just finished a press conference with another world leader and he would now be focussing on other matters of Government.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13610.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 15:45:57" post_name="honours-inquiry" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Honours Inquiry" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4810" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/23/4810" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister retained full confidence in Douglas Alexander as the UK General Election coordinator, following a report published today about the Scottish elections, which criticised Mr Alexander, the PMS said that the Prime Minister retained full confidence in all of his cabinet team. The Defence Secretary and Secretary of State for Scotland Des Browne would be responding to the report in the House of Commons and the PMS asked that people look at his responses to such questions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13610.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-23 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-23 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-23 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-23 15:45:56" post_name="scottish-elections" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4811" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4811" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Douglas Alexander, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister did have full confidence in Douglas Alexander.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why, the PMS replied that the Scottish Secretary Des Browne set out the Government's response yesterday to the Gould Report. As Ron Gould made clear there was &amp;quot;No intention to assign blame to individuals or institutions&amp;quot;. He also said, &amp;quot;We should not lose sight of the many positive aspects of the elections and the fact that by far the majority of the voters understood the new aspects of the process in spite of its complexities&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13616.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:58" post_name="scottish-elections-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4812" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4812" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's explanation of the state of play with foreign prisoners, and what was the Government doing to get rid them, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's general position on this was that two years ago 1,500 prisoners were deported, last year 2,500 prisoners were deported, this year so far we had deported over 3,000, and we were on track to meet the commitment to deport 4,000 foreign prisoners. This would be the largest number of foreign prisoners ever deported in any one year. We had speeded up our systems including by having dedicated prisons where we could concentrate immigration officers who work on deportation. We had signed an EU prisoner transfer agreement, which meant that prisoners would increasingly serve their sentences in their own countries. And we were also implementing country specific action plans with the countries that had the largest number of prisoners here. So we were increasing the number of foreign prisoners being deported, and we were taking action in order to facilitate that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we had deals yet with Jamaica and Nigeria, or were negotiations still ongoing, the PMS replied that negotiations were on going. For example in the past couple of weeks a high level delegation had been sent to Jamaica to push for progress with the Jamaican Government. No doubt the Prime Minister would also want to raise this personally with the Jamaican Prime Minister when they meet in the margins of the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting next month. We were making progress. We had agreements with over 100 countries, there was clearly more we need to do in order to reach agreements with other countries, but we were progressing. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many foreign prisoners remained in prisons waiting to be deported, the PMS replied that the Home Office could give the exact figures on this. As was well known, there were 11,000 prisoners in foreign jails; we were significantly increasing the rate at which prisoners were being deported from 1,500 two years ago to 2,500 last year, and to 4,000 this year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said in his Conference speech that in future very serious foreign criminals would be automatically deported, and asked how this was developing, the PMS replied that this was being taken forward in relation to non-EU citizens. The Borders Bill included provisions that meant we would be able to deport non-EU nationals automatically if they had been convicted of a crime carrying a sentence of over one year, or if they had been convicted of any of the long list of crimes specified in the Bill which included both drug and gun crimes. For EU citizens we currently consider deportation for anyone sentenced to more than 2 years, we were now saying that we would also consider people convicted of specific offences including drug and gun crimes. And for newcomers it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to argue the right of family life defence, which was the defence used in the Chindamo case. So for non-EU nationals we were legislating in order to make this happen, and for EU nationals we were saying for anyone convicted of a sentence of more than two years, or for those convicted of specific offences including drug and gun crime, we would consider them for automatic deportation. And if they fought this, we believe it will be very difficult for them to use the right of family life defence because by definition they are newcomers into the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that surely the EU prevented us from &amp;quot;kicking out&amp;quot; fellow citizens of the EU, the PMS replied that it did not, only if they could use the right of family life defence. But if they were newcomers then it would be difficult to see how they could use that defence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked was it not the case that we could not send back many non-EU citizens because of Human Rights issues, the PMS replied that they would be considered for deportation, and obviously we were looking to reach agreement with as many countries as we can in order to deport foreign citizens. For example in relation to the risk of them being subject to torture if they went back, we had recently reached agreement with Jordan, Lebanon, and Libya among other countries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on EU nationals, if they were newcomers and even if they were deported, could they not just come straight back, the PMS replied that because they were being deported, they would then serve their sentence overseas. In terms of what the Prime Minister specifically said in his Conference speech, for EU nationals, if they commit a crime, they get deported.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13616.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:57" post_name="foreign-prisoners" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Foreign Prisoners" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4813" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4813" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the meeting with Sepp Blatter and at what stage was our bid for the 2018 World Cup, the PMS replied that they would raise a wide range of issues, including discussions on the 2018 World Cup acquisitive bid among other things. The Prime Minister had made it clear that he would support a bid if the Football Association decided to go forward with a bid. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13616.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:56" post_name="sepp-blatter-meeting" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sepp Blatter Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4814" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4814" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be saying anything on reported Turkish incursions in Iraq, the PMS replied that there was nothing to add to what the Prime Minister said yesterday where he spoke at great length about this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said yesterday that he wanted a solution by diplomatic means, and Turkey were now shelling positions inside Iraq, and asked was the Prime Minister disappointed that his council had not been heard, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not disappointed that his council had not been listened to. The Turks continued to show restraint despite considerable provocation, and we continued to encourage the Turkish Government to seek a solution through dialogue with the Iraqi Government.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13616.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:55" post_name="turkeyiraq" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Turkey/Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4815" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4815" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the Business Council, the PMS replied that it would be a wide ranging meeting. Despite what was written in some of the newspapers today, the Business Council would be perfectly entitled to raise whatever they would like to raise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Capital Gains Tax would be raised, the PMS replied that he was sure members of the Business Council could raise whichever issues they wanted to raise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was ever any advice given to members not raise Capital Gains Tax, the PMS replied not to his knowledge.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13616.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 10:00:54" post_name="business-council-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Business Council" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4816" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4816" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the PM had said in the clip re his meeting with Sepp Blatter, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that he had had a very constructive meeting; we were hopeful that the FIFA Committee would allow European countries to bid for the 2018 World Cup. He also said, as he had said before, that if the Football Association were to put forward a bid for the 2018 World Cup, he would like to see the tournament come back to England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why European countries were not able to bid for the World Cup, the PMS said that the question was whether or not European countries were allowed to bid for the 2018 World Cup given the rotation system that applied; that was a decision which FIFA had not made yet, but if they were to open it up to European countries and the FA decided to bid then that would be something that the Prime Minister would very much support.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were losing the argument with FIFA that European countries should be able to bid, the PMS said that we should wait and see; the Prime Minister was hopeful that the FIFA Committee would allow European countries to make a bid for the 2018 World Cup but that was a decision they had to make on their timescale.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the FA would make a decision, the PMS said that it was a matter for them but that they hoped to clear up the situation relatively soon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:58" post_name="football-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4817" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4817" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Digby Jones had said that the business community thought the CGT changes were a terrible thing and that he would raise these concerns with Chancellor, the PMS said that he had not seen the comments and would not want to say anything about comments he had not seen. He added that the Chancellor had had a meeting on Monday with the business community where they raised their concerns.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:57" post_name="capital-gains-tax-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Capital Gains Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4818" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4818" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had anything specific to say to the Business Council or if it was a purely listening event, the PMS said it was the first meeting of the Council and there would be a discussion about some of the longer-term policy areas that would effect the future economic competitiveness of Britain.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:56" post_name="british-business-council" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="British Business Council" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4819" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4819" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the message to President Karzai would be tomorrow, the PMS said that, in relation to Afghanistan, we had always made clear our long-term commitments and there was no more to say in advance of tomorrow's meeting; there would be media afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that security would be uppermost on the agenda, it was asked whether we would send three thousand extra troops, which NATO said were needed, the PMS repeated what he had said earlier in the week; troop numbers were kept constantly under review but there were no current plans to send extra troops.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the UN had estimated that an extra battle group was needed and that we had said we would not send another battle group, the PMS said that what we had said was that we kept these issues constantly under review but we had no current plans to send extra troops. If that were to change then obviously we would make an announcement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:55" post_name="president-karzaiafghanistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Karzai/Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4820" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4820" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that the Government had accepted and apologised for mistakes that were made but was rejecting the charge made by the Gould report that mistakes were made for partisan purposes, the PMS said that the Gould report did not say that. If you looked at what the Gould report said in terms of that interpretation, what he said was that 'what was characteristic of 2007 was a notable level of party self-interest evident in Ministerial decision making, especially in regards to the timing and method of counting and design of ballot papers'. What Gould went on to say when he was explaining what that meant later in the report, was that 'it had become increasingly clear that too much political debate was associated with the design of the Scottish parliamentary and local government ballot papers. Regarding the parliamentary Scottish ballot papers, months of partisan political discussion and debate wasted valuable time which otherwise could have been used to establish a ballot paper which voters could easily understand'. That was a position that the Government accepted but what Gould was saying was that there was too much time spent on partisan political discussion rather than issues that directly effected voters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government was claiming that Gould's definition of the word partisan was discussions within and between political parties, the PMS replied that that was correct.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the report said 'partisan self-interest evident in Ministerial material making', the PMS said that Gould went on to explain what that meant; too much of the political debate was associated with the design of the Scottish parliamentary and local government ballot papers. He was not singling out any individual or institution; he was saying that, almost without exception, the voter was 'treated as an afterthought', by virtually all the other stakeholders. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that 'Ministerial decision making' meant Ministers, the PMS replied that in the process of taking those decisions too much time was devoted to discussions which were of a partisan and political nature. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Ministers were at fault, the PMS said that the Government was accepting that there were issues that Ministers had to deal with and we were accepting the call of the recommendations in the report. Douglas Alexander had made his statement about this earlier today. We were clear that Gould was not singling out any individual; he was making a more general comment. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there were only two Ministers at the Scottish Office, the PMS said that Gould had said yesterday, 'there was no intention to assign blame to individuals or institutions'. There were repeated efforts yesterday to try to get him to blame specific individuals and he did not do that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for Gould's definition of the word partisan, the PMS referred to page 48 of his report, Problem no. 1, which said, &amp;quot;too much political debate was associated over the design of the Scottish parliamentary and local government ballot papers'. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was aware that Douglas Alexander was going to make a statement during PMQs, the PMS said the Prime Minister had spoken to Douglas Alexander about these issues, as expected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Douglas Alexander, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Douglas Alexander had offered to resign, the PMS replied no.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:54" post_name="scottish-elections-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4821" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4821" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that, from the Prime Minister's answers at PMQs, he was sympathetic to head teachers re the retrospective nature of the proposals which were aired earlier this year, the PMS said that, as the Prime Minister had said at PMQs, we would listen to the issues raised in the consultation. The consultation was ongoing and did not finish until Friday; we could then expect quite a swift response from DCMS from that consultation. Jim Knight said yesterday, in Parliament, when asked about the claw-back of balances, 'we are consulting on that, and no decision has been made to do it. The consultation closes this Friday, and I will look to quickly make decisions and announcements, certainly in respect of some aspects. People have raised concerns particularly about the retrospective nature of some of the proposals that we consulted on, and I would like to provide some certainty on that as quickly as I possibly can'. Therefore Jim Knight had acknowledged some of the issues that had been raised in relation to the retrospective nature of some aspects of this proposal, but the consultation was still ongoing until Friday and we could expect an announcement from DCSF. The Prime Minister had made it clear that we would listen to the issues raised in consultation but also it was right that money which was allocated to schools was spent on schools, and we did not want to see ongoing accumulation of balances; we wanted to see the money allocated to schools and spent on schools.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:53" post_name="school-balances" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="School Balances" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4822" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4822" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Had there been any contact between Downing St and the Speaker's office after PMQs, the PMS said there had not been as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the loutish behaviour of his PPS, the PMS said it was best if the PPS addressed that issue.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:52" post_name="pmqs" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PMQs" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4823" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/24/4823" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that if there was no national commitment to reach the 20 per cent renewables target by 2020 it was asked why David Miliband had said last year that there would be 20 per cent target re electricity renewable supply by 2020, the PMS said that there were two separate points; one was that there was an overall EU target for renewables, which was about 20 per cent target for all power generation, essentially carbon emission; then there was a different 20 per cent target, which the UK had set, which only related to electricity generation. Therefore, the EU target was not just electricity, it covered all carbon emissions more generally, so it was a different 20 per cent to the 20 per cent David Miliband had talked about which was just electricity generation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the target would be more like 10/15 per cent, the PMS said that we should wait and see; there were discussions going on within the European Union as to how that 20 per cent overall target was allocated between the member states.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13620.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-24 16:45:51" post_date_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-24 16:45:51" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-24 15:45:51" post_name="renewables" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Renewables" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4824" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4824" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why Britain needed a Bill of Rights and how would a 21st Century Bill of Rights differ from the one introduced in the 17th Century, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that it was a subject that both the Prime Minister and the Justice Secretary would be touching on in their respective speeches later on. There was not much he could say in advance of that, just that the Government did say in July that it would be having a discussion and consultation on a Statement of British values, with a view potentially to a further consultation on a British Bill of Rights. Asked if it would be an updating of the existing bill or would the emphasis be on British values, the PMS said it was a very consultative, long-term process and people should wait until the speech and the statement had taken place, in order to have a more fruitful discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister's speech and Jack Straw's speech would cover the same subjects, the PMS replied that both would cover the general issues around the constitutional reform agenda. The Prime Minister would also be talking about general issues around liberty as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be more said in the Prime Minister's speech on the benefits of a written constitution, the PMS said that he thought the Prime Minister would touch on these general issues, but he would also be focussing on some of the more specific issues that arose out of the constitutional reform agenda and issues talked about by the Prime Minister in July, as well as some of these long-term issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13629.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:58" post_name="bill-of-rights" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bill of Rights" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4825" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4825" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when a statement on household rubbish collection could be expected, the PMS replied that it was clearly a very complex issue; there were a lot of difficult issues that needed to be considered; it was important that the right balance was struck and it would also be important to have the right mechanisms in place. Once the Government was in a position to make an announcement it would do so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Downing Street was putting the breaks on a decision being made and was the statement on the plan simply delayed or not going to be given at all, the PMS replied that there was never a decision made on there being a publication today and he had never suggested that people should anticipate any announcement when alerting the press to future Government business. It was a complex matter and the Government needed to consider the responses to the consultation. A way needed to be found to strike the right balance and that's what the Government would do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify in terms of policy whether the Government was still minded to do it, the PMS reiterated that it was a complex matter and there was a whole range of issues that needed to be looked at. When the Government was in a position to make an announcement they would do so.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13629.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:57" post_name="household-rubbish-collection" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Household Rubbish Collection" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4826" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4826" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any further comment on Turkey and Iraq, the PMS said there was nothing further to add to what the Government said yesterday. The Government was aware of the reports about the incidents inside Iraq, but these had not been verified by the Government of Iraq or by the Government of Turkey and the UK would continue to call on the Government of Turkey to seek a diplomatic solution.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13629.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:56" post_name="turkeyiraq-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Turkey/Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4827" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4827" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had spoken about burden sharing in that morning's press conference and did that mean within NATO, or also a sharing of the burden with Afghan troops and security forces, the PMS replied that he thought both were true. When the Prime Minister talked about burden sharing it was normally in relation to NATO, but clearly, as President Karzai was making clear, the Afghan Government would also like to see more training and an increasing contribution from Afghan security forces to the security situation in Afghanistan. It was a shared objective that the Government held with the Government of Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13629.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:55" post_name="afganistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afganistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4828" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4828" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister expected members of his Government to stick to the MP's honour system when claiming where their main home was, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would expect members of his Government to stick by the ministerial code.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where the Prime Minister's main home was, the PMS replied that he was sure it was in London, but he would check that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify that the London address was indeed 10 Downing Street, the PMS replied that he was as certain as he could be that that was where the Prime Minister declared his official residence.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13629.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:54" post_name="mps-expenses" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4829" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4829" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if banning the smacking of children was under review, the PMS replied that it was his understanding there had been a consultation on the subject, but on process, people should check with DCSF.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if money surpluses being taken back from schools would be retrospective, the PMS said that the subject had been covered at great length in yesterdays lobby briefing, following the Prime Minister's statement, so he did not have anything further to add to what was said yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on David Lloyd George, as he would be present at the unveiling of his new statue, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's general view if asked, would be that Lloyd George was a very distinguished war-time Prime Minister and a very distinguished reforming Chancellor of the Exchequer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13629.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 10:00:53" post_name="misc-15" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4830" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4830" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/output/Page13630.asp&quot;&gt;Read the speech in full&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the review of the right to gain entry to your home, and what we were hoping to achieve, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that as the Prime Minister said in his speech, there were currently 250 separate powers relating to the ability of various authorities to enter homes and premises. So the main purpose of the speech was to try and rationalise these different powers into a single code. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a fair assumption to think that there would be fewer reasons to enter you home after the review, the PMS replied that the intention was that there would be a greater degree of clarity about under what powers and on what basis people would be entering homes or premises.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on the 30 year rule, and did he have a figure in mind that he would like it reduced to, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not have a particular figure in mind, that was one of the reasons why he had set up this review to see if a consensus could be reached around an alternative figure. The purpose of this and one important background factor was that now we had introduced freedom of information, looking at exactly what the interaction was between the FOI rule and the 30 year rule.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister squared what he said on liberty this morning with his intention to deprive people of more of their liberty by raising the detention without charge to 50 days, the PMS replied that there was a consultation underway on this matter. The Government had set out a number of proposals in July, of which the one referred to was one possible option. The Prime Minister was trying to set out how we can ensure that we deliver on the traditional British value of liberty in a modern world, where information has changed, there was much more information about people's biometrics, and we were facing new threats from terrorism. It was about how we update a traditional view of liberty in a world where we faced very different challenges, such as in relation to terrorism, and a number of other issues that meant the challenge we faced now was different from the challenge we faced in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if modern liberty just meant less liberty, the PMS replied that was not the case, it was about making sure there were sufficient checks and balances in the system. And to ensure that they are able to respond to the challenges we faced in the 21st century.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where we were on the Bill of Rights, the PMS replied that it was not the intention of the speech to take this forward. Clearly there was a long-term debate and discussion that we would need to have, the Prime Minister initiated that in July and referred to this earlier today. The main focus today was the challenge of delivering on our values of liberty in a modern setting, with a number of very specific and concrete measures to take that forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this would be some years down the line, the PMS replied that clearly there were a number of big steps that would need to be taken before we got to that point, and this was a long term process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any suggestion in the Prime Minister's remarks on ID cards and biometrics that there might be a reconsideration of the fundamental proposition, the PMS replied that this was not his interpretation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to contextualise the speech, the PMS replied that the purpose of the speech was that the British people rightly valued the concept of liberty. It was something that had been associated with this country for many years. But we faced new challenges. The question was how do we adapt to these new challenges whilst remaining true to the British value of liberty. The Prime Minister was looking at how we update and take forward issues such as freedom of information, freedom of expression and media reporting, the right to protest and parliamentary powers, in a 21st century setting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's policy was now on ID cards, the PMS replied that the Government's policy on ID cards was the policy that had been set out many times before and had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister referred again today to the possibility of a written constitution, and asked if there would be a referendum on this, the PMS replied that we were a long way from that point. This was a question that needed to be addressed at some point in the future, but that was not really what the Prime Minister was focussing on today, it was very much an issue for the longer term.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be called a &amp;quot;Bill of Rights and Duties&amp;quot;, and did the Prime Minister recognise that to incorporate duties into a Bill of Rights was fraught to say the least, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had always been of the view that the rights agenda needed to be balanced by a responsibilities agenda. But exactly what a Bill of Rights would be called was not really an issue for today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister recognised that there were problems with this, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister recognised that as a general principal, alongside rights came responsibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Jack Straw seemed to be improvising in the Chamber, and asked why all of this was coming out today in what seemed to be a bit of a hurry with Jack Straw racing to the Chamber to tell everybody before the Prime Minister said it all outside of Parliament, the PMS replied that following the Prime Minister's statement in July a whole series of processes were initiated, mostly taken forward by the Ministry of Justice. It seemed sensible 3 months or so down the line to give Parliament and others an update as to where we were. This was a multi track, quite diverse set of issues that Jack Straw brought together in a single statement. Those announcements were made to Parliament first. The Prime Minister's speech did not include anything of a substantive nature that had not been announced by Jack Straw in Parliament. He was addressing a wider philosophical issue about the nature of liberty in the 21st century. But this was something that had been on the Prime Minister's mind for some time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on the idea of criminals benefiting from their dastardly crimes, and would there be legal aid for people to pursue these criminals through the courts, the PMS replied that this would have to be considered by the Ministry of Justice as they take this forward. The general point was that there was a consultation initiated in 2006 on making sure that crime did not pay, and obviously the Prime Minister believed very strongly in the principal that criminals should not profit from their activities. There were a number of options put forward at that time. One of them was putting payments to criminals on a statutory basis, and the other was pursuing a route through the civil courts. As part of that consultation, one of the issues that came up was concern from various media organisations that should we criminalise in the way originally proposed, that could harm investigative journalism. Clearly we would not want to do that. Whilst sticking to the very strong principal that criminals should not profit, the Prime Minister said today that we believed the most appropriate way of dealing with this was through the civil courts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that would include police payments, the PMS replied that we were mainly focussing on the media issues that had been raised, but the Ministry of Justice would have a definitive answer on that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13633.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:58" post_name="liberty-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Liberty Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4831" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4831" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reaction on Iran following Condolezza Rice's comments, the PMS replied that the Foreign Office put out a statement around lunchtime today. That set out the Government's position and we had nothing further to add.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13633.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:57" post_name="iran-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iran" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4832" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4832" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chancellor had said in the Treasury Select Committee that banks should be stopped from hiding debt on balance sheets, and asked if anything could be expected in the Queen's Speech, the PMS replied that this was something that had been said before by the Chancellor, and was also something referred to in the joint UK/French/German Statement on financial markets that we agreed in Lisbon last Friday. But in terms of specifics in terms of how this was being taken forward, journalists were best to speak to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13633.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:56" post_name="debt" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Debt" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4833" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4833" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the total bill for MPs' allowances had gone up by 5%, and asked did the Prime Minister think the public was getting value for money, the PMS replied that these were matters for Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13633.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:55" post_name="mps-allowances" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' allowances" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4834" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/25/4834" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any review of the power of the NAO or anything arising from the resignation arising from Sir John Bourn, the PMS replied that this again was something for Parliament to take forward. The PAC were responsible for the governance of the NAO, and they had announced that they would be bringing forward proposals to look at the governance of the NAO. But that was something that was very much for Parliament rather than for Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the implications were for Government spending, the PMS replied that the main implication for Government was that if they did bring forward any proposals that had legislative implications, then we would need to find legislative time for that. And Jack Straw said today that as part of the Constitutional Reform Bill we would make space for any legislative proposals that came out of the PAC review.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13633.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-25 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-25 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-25 15:45:54" post_name="national-audit-office" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Audit Office" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4835" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/26/4835" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Ed Balls had said he spent most of his time in his constituency and asked if the Prime Minister was concerned he was not committed to his job, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that that was a question for DCFS and Ed Balls' spokesman.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed Ed Balls, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought Ed Balls was a very good Cabinet Minister. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13634.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-26 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-26 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:58" post_name="ed-balls" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ed Balls" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4836" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/26/4836" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for details on the National Security Strategy; whether or not there would be a debate in the House of Commons and the country and if it would be published before Parliament, the PMS said that the expectation was that there would be a document published sometime before the end of year. We would expect it to happen while Parliament was sitting.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13634.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-26 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-26 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:57" post_name="national-security-strategy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Security Strategy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4837" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/26/4837" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for an update re the situation on detention without charge and whether or not we were waiting for an amendment on the Criminal Justice Bill, the PMS said essentially, yes. The Prime Minister made a statement regarding this in July where he set out a number of options including doubling the period up to 56 days. There was an ongoing consultation ahead of any legislation that may emerge in the next session.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a separate bill, the PMS said that in the list of Draft Bills, which were published in the Draft Queen's Speech, there was a separate Counter Terrorism Bill.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13634.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-26 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-26 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:56" post_name="detention-without-chargecriminal-justice-bill" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Detention Without Charge/Criminal Justice Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4838" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/26/4838" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what to expect from the Saudi Arabian visit next week, the PMS said that there was not much to say at this point. There was a state visit from the King of Saudi Arabia; obviously they were an important ally for us and next week would be an opportunity to take stock of bilateral issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be raising any human rights issues with the King of Saudi Arabia next week, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would be raising whatever issues he considered to be relevant and important.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had brought up the subject of human rights with President Erdogan on Tuesday, the PMS said there had been an opportunity to ask the Prime Minister questions at the press conference. He went on to say that the main issue discussed was the security situation in south-eastern Turkey.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13634.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-26 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-26 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-26 10:00:55" post_name="saudi-arabian-visit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi Arabian Visit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4839" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/29/4839" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by informing Lobby that the Prime Minister had recorded a climate change message for the International Carbon Action Partnership, which was launching today in Portugal. The scheme involved several European countries, American States and other parties. The Prime Minister recorded the message as he was unable to attend.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13642.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-29 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-29 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-29 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-29 10:00:58" post_name="climate-change-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Climate Change" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4840" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/29/4840" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any background on the rather sudden announcement that the Foreign Secretary had adopted a son and pulled out of meeting with the Saudi Foreign Minister, the PMS replied that she would not be getting into any details regarding the Foreign Secretary's personal circumstances. The Foreign Office had issued a short statement that set out the brief detail, but the meeting would go ahead today with Kim Howells in the Foreign Secretary's place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for reaction to the news this morning that Saudi Arabia had given Britain intelligence material that could have prevented the 7/7 bombings, the PMS replied that the Home Office had already issued their response to that particular issue, and we had nothing further to add to that. The UK-Saudi Arabia &amp;quot;Two Kingdoms&amp;quot; dialogue taking place today would provide us with an important opportunity to discuss a wide range of issues which would include peace and security in the Middle East, and also our joint determination to fight terrorism.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be raising the issue of human rights in Saudi Arabia with the King, the PMS replied that as we said last week when asked this question, as the meeting was not until Wednesday, we would not be getting into details. But the Prime Minister would obviously raise issues that he believed to be appropriate. Where we have had concerns in the past regarding human rights, we had made those views clear to the Saudi authorities. But equally we did have to recognise that there were important developments underway in Saudi Arabia, for example the establishment of the National Human Rights Council.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's position on the Serious Fraud Office inquiry, and whether he believed that it was still a good idea that this should have been dropped, the PMS replied that the Government's position on this issue had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was still opposed to a public inquiry on the 7/7 attacks, the PMS replied again that the Government's position on this had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Saudi King that Britain was not doing enough to fight terrorism, the PMS replied that particular issues surrounding counter-terrorism had been dealt with by the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if counter-terrorism ministers would be attending the &amp;quot;Two Kingdoms&amp;quot; dialogue, the PMS replied that we would check the exact cast list, but Kim Howells would be attending and counter-terrorism was one of the issues on the agenda.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was correct that neither the Foreign Secretary or the Saudi Foreign Minister would be attending, the PMS replied that as we had said, Kim Howells would be attending in place of David Miliband in light of the personal circumstances that had arisen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Foreign Office told the Saudis that the Foreign Secretary would not be attending, the PMS referred journalists to the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought was good about Saudi Arabia's human rights record, the PMS replied that the Government had where necessary raised concerns that we had regarding human rights. But equally we recognised that there were developments underway with the establishment of the National Human Rights Council for example. There had also been recent local council elections, and encouraging statements from the authorities that women would vote next time elections take place. So whilst we had raised concerns in the past, we did also have to recognise developments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister became aware that the Foreign Secretary would not be attending the meeting, the PMS replied that she would not be getting into details, but the Prime Minister was aware of the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Saudi Foreign Minister was not attending, the PMS replied that that question should be addressed to the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was a snub, the PMS replied that she certainly did not recognise that description of events.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Kim Howells' opposite number would be attending, the PMS replied that it was her understanding that he would be attending.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the official reason given for the Foreign Secretary not attending, the PMS replied that she did not have the statement to hand, but the Foreign Secretary was unable to attend due to personal circumstances of a happy nature. But Lobby would appreciate that it was not her position to brief on these things.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13642.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-29 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-29 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-29 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-29 10:00:57" post_name="saudi-state-visit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi State Visit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4841" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/29/4841" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Liam Byrne statement on immigration, the PMS replied that the update had been scheduled for some time, and asked Lobby to wait for the content from Liam Byrne tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with David Cameron that the numbers of immigrants was too high at the moment, the PMS replied that the Government was committed to managing migration in Britain's national interest, in that it was Government's role to set a framework that ensures that migration was both managed and to the benefit to the UK. It was vital that we take the social impact of immigration into account when making decisions, which was why we had set up the Migration Impact Forum to asses the impact on local services, and why we would be introducing the points-based system in around 140 days time. But it was important that we also recognised the economic benefits of migration. We had chosen not to go down the route of arbitrary targets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the statement would be oral or written, the PMS replied that she believed it would be a Written Ministerial Statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was still the Government's policy to oppose an annual limit on migrants, the PMS replied that the Government's policy on that issue had not changed. We were ensuring that migration was a managed process and one that continued to benefit the UK, but one that continued to take into account the impact on local services.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Home Office was privately considering that perhaps there should be some change on the policy of opposing an annual limit, the PMS replied that as she had said, the Government's position on this had not changed, what we were looking at was managed migration.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13642.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-29 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-29 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-29 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-29 10:00:56" post_name="immigration" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4842" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4842" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by referring journalists to a quote from the Prime Minister in reaction to FIFA's decision regarding the Football World Cup, opening the way for European countries to bid for the tournament in the year 2018:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I am delighted that FIFA have opened the door for the World Cup to come back to England. By 2018, it will be 52 years since England hosted the World Cup. The nation which gave football to the world deserves to have the greatest tournament back on these shores. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;With the Olympics in 2012, possibly the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the Cricket World Cup in 2019, a Football World Cup in 2018 would crown what I believe can be the greatest decade ever for British sport.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;If The FA decide to go ahead and bid for the tournament, they know they will have the full support of the Government behind them, and we will make it our mission to persuade other countries to back us in bringing the World Cup back to England.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="world-cup" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="World Cup" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4843" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4843" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be calling off his meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's meeting would go ahead as planned. As the PMS had said that morning, Saudi Arabia was one of the UK's important international partners and the Government saw the visit as being an opportunity to deepen and broaden that relationship. The Foreign Office had held their UK-Saudi Arabia Two Kingdoms dialogue today, where issues including peace and security in the Middle East and the countries shared determination to fight terrorism were raised. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whilst the Government had raised concerns with Saudi Arabia, it was also necessary to recognize the developments that were underway in that country. Asked if the meeting was not called off, would the Prime Minister raise the issue of civil liberties and human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that people would have to wait for the meeting to take place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="saudi-arabia" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi Arabia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4844" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4844" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a slightly unusual procedure for a statement to be released by the Labour Party under the name of the Immigration Minister, attacking David Cameron's speech on immigration and did the Government share the views expressed by the Labour Party, the PMS replied that she would not get into the Labour Party response. The PMS added that in the next ten minutes, Tony McNulty would respond as Government Minister at the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Liam Byrne's response was not the Government's response, the PMS said that it was done in a party political capacity, but his response stood. However, people could expect a further response from Tony McNulty this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be the same response or a different response the PMS pointed out that Tony McNulty had not given the response yet, so people would have to wait to hear what he had to say. Asked if he would disagree with the comments of Liam Byrne, the PMS said she couldn't see that being the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was because Liam Byrne was doing the Borders Bill, the PMS replied that it was correct that he had been caught up on various things today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="immigration-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4845" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4845" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had a chance to congratulate the Foreign Secretary yet, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was aware of the Foreign Secretary's good news and would be passing on his good wishes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="misc-16" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4846" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4846" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by referring journalists to a quote from the Prime Minister in reaction to FIFA's decision regarding the Football World Cup, opening the way for European countries to bid for the tournament in the year 2018:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I am delighted that FIFA have opened the door for the World Cup to come back to England. By 2018, it will be 52 years since England hosted the World Cup. The nation which gave football to the world deserves to have the greatest tournament back on these shores. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;With the Olympics in 2012, possibly the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the Cricket World Cup in 2019, a Football World Cup in 2018 would crown what I believe can be the greatest decade ever for British sport.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;If The FA decide to go ahead and bid for the tournament, they know they will have the full support of the Government behind them, and we will make it our mission to persuade other countries to back us in bringing the World Cup back to England.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="world-cup-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="World Cup" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4847" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4847" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be calling off his meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's meeting would go ahead as planned. As the PMS had said that morning, Saudi Arabia was one of the UK's important international partners and the Government saw the visit as being an opportunity to deepen and broaden that relationship. The Foreign Office had held their UK-Saudi Arabia Two Kingdoms dialogue today, where issues including peace and security in the Middle East and the countries shared determination to fight terrorism were raised. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whilst the Government had raised concerns with Saudi Arabia, it was also necessary to recognize the developments that were underway in that country. Asked if the meeting was not called off, would the Prime Minister raise the issue of civil liberties and human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that people would have to wait for the meeting to take place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="saudi-arabia-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi Arabia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4848" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4848" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a slightly unusual procedure for a statement to be released by the Labour Party under the name of the Immigration Minister, attacking David Cameron's speech on immigration and did the Government share the views expressed by the Labour Party, the PMS replied that she would not get into the Labour Party response. The PMS added that in the next ten minutes, Tony McNulty would respond as Government Minister at the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Liam Byrne's response was not the Government's response, the PMS said that it was done in a party political capacity, but his response stood. However, people could expect a further response from Tony McNulty this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be the same response or a different response the PMS pointed out that Tony McNulty had not given the response yet, so people would have to wait to hear what he had to say. Asked if he would disagree with the comments of Liam Byrne, the PMS said she couldn't see that being the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was because Liam Byrne was doing the Borders Bill, the PMS replied that it was correct that he had been caught up on various things today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="immigration-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4849" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4849" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had a chance to congratulate the Foreign Secretary yet, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was aware of the Foreign Secretary's good news and would be passing on his good wishes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="misc-17" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4850" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4850" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by referring journalists to a quote from the Prime Minister in reaction to FIFA's decision regarding the Football World Cup, opening the way for European countries to bid for the tournament in the year 2018:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I am delighted that FIFA have opened the door for the World Cup to come back to England. By 2018, it will be 52 years since England hosted the World Cup. The nation which gave football to the world deserves to have the greatest tournament back on these shores. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;With the Olympics in 2012, possibly the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the Cricket World Cup in 2019, a Football World Cup in 2018 would crown what I believe can be the greatest decade ever for British sport.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;If The FA decide to go ahead and bid for the tournament, they know they will have the full support of the Government behind them, and we will make it our mission to persuade other countries to back us in bringing the World Cup back to England.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="world-cup-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="World Cup" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4851" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4851" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be calling off his meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's meeting would go ahead as planned. As the PMS had said that morning, Saudi Arabia was one of the UK's important international partners and the Government saw the visit as being an opportunity to deepen and broaden that relationship. The Foreign Office had held their UK-Saudi Arabia Two Kingdoms dialogue today, where issues including peace and security in the Middle East and the countries shared determination to fight terrorism were raised. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whilst the Government had raised concerns with Saudi Arabia, it was also necessary to recognize the developments that were underway in that country. Asked if the meeting was not called off, would the Prime Minister raise the issue of civil liberties and human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that people would have to wait for the meeting to take place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="saudi-arabia-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi Arabia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4852" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4852" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a slightly unusual procedure for a statement to be released by the Labour Party under the name of the Immigration Minister, attacking David Cameron's speech on immigration and did the Government share the views expressed by the Labour Party, the PMS replied that she would not get into the Labour Party response. The PMS added that in the next ten minutes, Tony McNulty would respond as Government Minister at the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Liam Byrne's response was not the Government's response, the PMS said that it was done in a party political capacity, but his response stood. However, people could expect a further response from Tony McNulty this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be the same response or a different response the PMS pointed out that Tony McNulty had not given the response yet, so people would have to wait to hear what he had to say. Asked if he would disagree with the comments of Liam Byrne, the PMS said she couldn't see that being the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was because Liam Byrne was doing the Borders Bill, the PMS replied that it was correct that he had been caught up on various things today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="immigration-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4853" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/1970/01/01/4853" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had a chance to congratulate the Foreign Secretary yet, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was aware of the Foreign Secretary's good news and would be passing on his good wishes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_date_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="1970-01-01 01:00:00" post_modified_gmt="1970-01-01 00:00:00" post_name="misc-18" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4854" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/29/4854" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by referring journalists to a quote from the Prime Minister in reaction to FIFA's decision regarding the Football World Cup, opening the way for European countries to bid for the tournament in the year 2018:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I am delighted that FIFA have opened the door for the World Cup to come back to England. By 2018, it will be 52 years since England hosted the World Cup. The nation which gave football to the world deserves to have the greatest tournament back on these shores. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;With the Olympics in 2012, possibly the Commonwealth Games in 2014, the Rugby World Cup in 2015 and the Cricket World Cup in 2019, a Football World Cup in 2018 would crown what I believe can be the greatest decade ever for British sport.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;If The FA decide to go ahead and bid for the tournament, they know they will have the full support of the Government behind them, and we will make it our mission to persuade other countries to back us in bringing the World Cup back to England.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-29 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-29 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:58" post_name="world-cup-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="World Cup" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4855" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/29/4855" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be calling off his meeting with the King of Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's meeting would go ahead as planned. As the PMS had said that morning, Saudi Arabia was one of the UK's important international partners and the Government saw the visit as being an opportunity to deepen and broaden that relationship. The Foreign Office had held their UK-Saudi Arabia Two Kingdoms dialogue today, where issues including peace and security in the Middle East and the countries shared determination to fight terrorism were raised. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Whilst the Government had raised concerns with Saudi Arabia, it was also necessary to recognize the developments that were underway in that country. Asked if the meeting was not called off, would the Prime Minister raise the issue of civil liberties and human rights abuses in Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that people would have to wait for the meeting to take place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-29 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-29 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:57" post_name="saudi-arabia-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi Arabia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4856" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/29/4856" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a slightly unusual procedure for a statement to be released by the Labour Party under the name of the Immigration Minister, attacking David Cameron's speech on immigration and did the Government share the views expressed by the Labour Party, the PMS replied that she would not get into the Labour Party response. The PMS added that in the next ten minutes, Tony McNulty would respond as Government Minister at the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Liam Byrne's response was not the Government's response, the PMS said that it was done in a party political capacity, but his response stood. However, people could expect a further response from Tony McNulty this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be the same response or a different response the PMS pointed out that Tony McNulty had not given the response yet, so people would have to wait to hear what he had to say. Asked if he would disagree with the comments of Liam Byrne, the PMS said she couldn't see that being the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was because Liam Byrne was doing the Borders Bill, the PMS replied that it was correct that he had been caught up on various things today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-29 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-29 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:56" post_name="immigration-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4857" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/29/4857" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had a chance to congratulate the Foreign Secretary yet, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was aware of the Foreign Secretary's good news and would be passing on his good wishes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13648.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-29 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-29 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-29 15:45:55" post_name="misc-19" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4858" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/30/4858" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that the main item discussed at Cabinet that morning was the Queen's Speech. Asked about the contents of the speech, the PMS said that the draft of the Queen's speech set out a large number of potential Bills on which there would then be consultation, as well as consultation on the overall package itself. For the first time the Government had given an indication of what Bills were being considered and what the likely content of those Bills would be, in advance of the actual Queen's speech next week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13655.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-30 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-30 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:58" post_name="queens-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Queen's speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4859" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/30/4859" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what steps were being taken by the Government to make sure figures for the number of immigrants were correct, after the Government got its figures wrong for the number of foreign workers in the UK, the PMS replied that it was clearly a matter for the relevant departments, the DWP in this case. Once the department was alerted to this particular issue, they had taken steps to inform the public of the updated situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when minister's were first made aware the figures were wrong, the PMS said that it was best to speak to DWP on the matter. Asked when the figures for violence carried out on ethnic minorities would be published as they were expected today, the PMS replied that he didn't have any information on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was doing anything more broadly on getting migration figures into shape, the PMS replied that in relation to all of the Government's statistics, it wanted to make sure the Government operated on the best possible information. That was why reforms had been made to the statistics system with the introduction of National Statistics and the reforms that had been made to the ONS in the late 1990's. Subsequent reforms had recently been legislated on, in relation to moving towards full statutory independence for the ONS. So it was true there were steps in hand and it was the Government's intention to ensure it always had the best information in order to inform policy decisions. The PMS added that on specifics in relation to specific numbers it would probably be best to talk to the individual departments rather than to No.10.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the ONS had been complaining for four years that the migration figures were inadequate and based on tiny samples, the PMS said that it was his understanding that these were figures put together by DWP, but again in terms of specifics it was best to speak to DWP. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that a lot of local authorities had complained about migration figures in relation to their funding and were there any moves to change the way they were gathered, the PMS reiterated that it was the Government's intention to always ensure that the public sector as a whole, had the best possible information available. That was why once the situation had come to light, the Government had amended the figures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister himself was taking any steps to ensure that cross-Government, there was a review into the way in which such figures were gathered, the PMS said that when the Prime Minister was Chancellor he had taken a number of steps to improve and enhance the system for collating and publishing statistics. Asked if the Prime Minister thought anything had to be done now, the PMS replied that there were obviously issues that had arisen and these would have to be looked at. However, this was a particular issue that had arisen in relation to DWP and Peter Hain had dealt with it yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Governor of the Bank of England, Mervyn King had said that statistics were &amp;quot;hopelessly inadequate&amp;quot; and the Government did not have any statistics on migration that were accurate, the PMS said that clearly there had been an issue in relation to checking peoples records when they left the country and that was something the Government was seeking to amend by reintroducing exit controls. Put that Mervyn King was talking about people arriving as well as leaving the country, the PMS said that he did not have the full text of the Mervyn King intervention. The PMS added that it was his recollection that Mervyn King was making a more general comment about population and migration statistics and it was addressed more to the ONS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if the Prime Minister was broadly happy with how the migration figures were collated and whether he believed them to be adequate, the PMS said that the Prime Minister believed that the Government needed to have the best possible systems in place in relation to all statistics and that was why significant reforms had been made to the statistical system when he was Chancellor, in order to improve the overall reporting of statistics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be willing to fund the money to produce decent migration statistics, the PMS replied that the Government already funded the ONS and the relevant departments for their statistics. If there were particular issues that people had identified, then obviously these would need to be looked at, but the PMS was not aware that there were such issues, or that there were such requests or bids for extra funding in the system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's mood was when he was informed of the statistics, the PMS said it was fair to say that the Prime Minister was focussing on the business of Government and getting on with the job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought the Government now had the best possible system in place, the PMS replied that such things needed to be kept under constant review and where there were issues such as this arising, action had to be taken to identify the issues and then take corrective action. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a review under way of how the figures were collected, the PMS said that this had only recently come to light, DWP had announced the figures and it was for them to look at their own internal systems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that calls made by Peter Hain to inform people about the change in information last night, came through the Downing Street switchboard and had he made the calls from Downing Street, the PMS said not to his knowledge. It was a normal way of contacting people and he advised people not to read anything into it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13655.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-30 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-30 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:57" post_name="migration-figures" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Migration figures" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4860" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/30/4860" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the possibility of there being a bin tax, the PMS replied that the Government's response had not changed since he was last asked about it on Thursday. It was a complex issue, there were lots of difficult issues that needed to be considered, it was important to strike the right balance. That was why the Government had announced yesterday that there would be some pilot schemes, looking at ways in which local authorities can introduce incentives for household waste minimisation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had vetoed the idea, the PMS replied that last Thursday he had said that it was a very complex issue and would need to be considered carefully. This was at a time when it was being put to the Government that they were on the point of announcing a national charge for people putting their rubbish out. What was announced yesterday was that there would be a power introduced for some local authorities to pilot schemes in order to improver incentives for household waste minimisation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would decide on which local authorities could carry out the pilot schemes, the PMS replied that it would be up for local authorities to come forward with specific proposals, but exactly how this would be taken forward would be made clear in further announcements.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13655.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-30 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-30 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:56" post_name="bin-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bin tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4861" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/30/4861" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on what the Prime Minister would be talking to the King of Saudi Arabia about and would that include human rights violations, the PMS replied that he could not say anything in advance of the meeting. Obviously Saudi Arabia was a very important ally and one of Britain's most important international partners. The Government wanted to have a constructive relationship with the Saudi's who were an important partner in cooperation in the fight against terrorism and it was important that the UK continued to engage with them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister last visited Saudi Arabia, the PMS said he was not sure if the Prime Minister had visited Saudi Arabia but would check for people.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13655.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-30 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-30 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:55" post_name="saudi-arabia-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi Arabia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4862" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/10/30/4862" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the IOC's decision to allow a British Olympic football team, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had set out his views on such matters in the past and the position had not changed. The PMS added that he would have to check exactly what the position was, but he was sure they had been set out in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if David Miliband was at Cabinet this morning, the PMS replied that he was not at Cabinet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be wearing a white tie this evening, the PMS said that the dress code for the event was set by the Queen and the Prime Minister would abide by it. Asked if it was true that the Prime Minister had spent &amp;pound;3000 on taxpayer's money on a suit for the event, the PMS replied that he did not know but would check if people wanted him to.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13655.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-10-30 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-10-30 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-10-30 10:00:54" post_name="misc-20" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4863" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4863" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that British banks could weather the current crisis, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that Alistair Darling had been on the radio that morning speaking on the subject. As the Chancellor had said, there was concern about the extent of the exposure that some of the big American banks had. But as the Chancellor had also said, banks and many banks in this country had very strong balance sheets after years of making very good profits. Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on the subject, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the Government spokesman on economic matters and he had spoken about these matters that morning on the radio.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:58" post_name="finance" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Finance" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4864" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4864" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had had any contact with Commonwealth leaders on the subject since his telephone conversation with General Musharraf on Thursday and did he have any concerns about the situation, the PMS replied that clearly there had been contact with all levels of the Government in Pakistan, as well as with other countries to discuss the matter. As the Foreign Secretary had said on Saturday, the Government was gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan, and the Government had urged President Musharraf to restore constitutional order as soon as possible and to confirm that elections would be held on schedule in January.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any further steps were being considered, the PMS said that the Government were considering the implications for it's development and other assistance programmes in Pakistan. These things were kept under review, but the key thing from the Government's point of view was to have confirmation that elections would be held on schedule in January and the restoration of normal democratic and constitutional processes. Put that the Government expressed concern but did not condemn the emergency, the PMS replied that the Government expressed concern and reiterated the need for commitment to be reaffirmed over elections taking place in January. The Government wanted to see the normal democratic processes being restored.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister thought the position of the state of emergency helped or hindered the war on terror, the PMS said the Government wanted to see a prosperous, peaceful, secure and stable Pakistan and this was clearly in the interest not only of the people of Pakistan, but of the region and the world as a whole. The Government thought the best way of achieving that would be to restore the commitment to democratic processes and in particular the elections in January.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there were reports this morning of General Musharraf himself, being under house arrest and was that a concern for the Government, the PMS replied that the Government had seen the reports but had also seen the denial of them by President Musharraf, so the PMS would not identify any particular aspect. It was a more general concern about the fact that the Government needed to see the restoration of normal constitutional practice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had spoken to Benazir Bhuto or any other political figures, the PMS repeated that the Government was in contact with a wide range of people in Pakistan at all levels, but he did not want to comment on anyone specific. It would be best to check with the Foreign Office on specifics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a time limit on the Government considering the implications for its development and assistance programmes, the PMS advised people to wait and see how things developed. Asked to put a figure on the development aid to Pakistan, the PMS replied that he did not have that figure to hand, but he was sure DfID would have it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:57" post_name="pakistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4865" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4865" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was still convinced about the need to increase the period of time terror suspects could be kept in custody, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had set out his position on the subject in his statement to the house on the 25th July 2007 and that position had not changed. There was a case for going beyond 28 days as the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and others had said on numerous occasions and the Government was in the process of consulting on what the most appropriate method might be for doing that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Director General of MI5 was making a speech today, in which he would be warning people of the current security threat and had the Prime Minister read the speech or known about the timing of it, considering the Government could be rolling out new anti-terror legislation tomorrow, the PMS replied that the timing was entirely a matter for MI5 and was not influenced by the Government. The PMS added that he did not accept the premise of the question necessarily, that the Government would be rolling out details or coming out with new proposals tomorrow in relation to counter-terrorism. Put that there would be a bill tomorrow on the subject; the PMS said that people would have to wait and see what the Queen said. The PMS was not suggesting otherwise, but equally he was not suggesting that there would be new detailed proposals tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if talks with other party leaders had continued on the issue, the PMS said it was his understanding that there had been some discussion, but it was being very much led by the Home Secretary, so it would be best to check with the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:56" post_name="counter-terrorism" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4866" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4866" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was considering shelving the role-out of ID cards, the PMS replied that there had been no change on the Government's position on ID cards. There had been one newspaper report on Sunday and the Home Office had made clear that there was nothing to substantiate it. Asked if the report was &amp;quot;garbage,&amp;quot; the PMS said that he did not want to use such language, but the Government had been denying those suggestions quite forcefully.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on the report in the Guardian saying there was to be a review on the technology used, the PMS reiterated that the position on ID cards had not changed. The PMS added that these things were kept constantly under review as people would expect, but nothing had changed in regards to ID cards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had ordered any fresh review into the technology since he became Prime Minister, the PMS said he was not aware of any review.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:55" post_name="id-cards" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4867" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4867" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about reports on a separate immigration bill and whether the points-based system could effectively reduce the EU immigration rate by 35,000, the PMS replied that he had seen the reports, but it would be best to check with the Home Office on the specifics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on the points system again and the possibility of ending up with a system with a minimum and maximum amount in terms of migration, the PMS said the whole point of the points-based system was to put in place a framework which would help identify and give weightings to particular sectors of the economy. It was then for individuals and individual businesses to make decisions as to the exact numbers of people that would come in and out, year by year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the threshold was set at a particular level for different industries and therefore the Government was effectively imposing a cap, the PMS said it would depend on decisions being taken by individuals. The points-based system was about the weighting attached to people with specific skills, depending on an assessment of what the skills needs were for the economy. It was not about setting overall limits. Put that projections or realistic assumptions could be made about the number of people using that framework, the PMS replied that it was a different matter from suggesting that there should be an overall cap enforced, so that once the cap was reached, no further people could be let into the country, regardless of what the needs were of the economy or businesses. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether people could assume that the advisory group would make projections, the PMS replied that it would be a matter for them. For the detailed process by which they would operate, it would be best to speak to the Home Office. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:54" post_name="immigration-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4868" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4868" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government felt it could proceed with any legislation on party funding following the collapse of talks last week, the PMS said there were two distinct matters, the Government position and the Labour Party position. The PMS said he could only speak for the Government, which was trying to seek a consensus through the Hayden-Phillips process. In terms of any particular statements in relation to legislation or proposals being taking forward, it would probably be best to wait for the Queens Speech tomorrow, when a follow-up discussion could take place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:53" post_name="party-funding" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4869" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/06/4869" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by reminding Lobby that the Prime Minister had said in the House that it was our intention to extend up the age range of the statutory right to request flexible working. A Department for Business, Enterprise &amp;amp; Regulatory Reform press notice made clear that we were going to have an independent review of how the current right to request flexible working could be extended to parents of older children. The PMS emphasised that it was a review of how, not whether to extend up the age range. The review would be conducted by Imelda Walsh, the Human Resources Director of Sainsbury's. The PMS then read out some facts on flexible working. The statutory entitlement of flexible working was currently for parents of children under the age of six, and of parents with disabled children up to the age of 18. This accounted for 6.25million parents. If this was extended to parents of children under the age of nine, there would be and extra 1.4 million parents. If it was extended to parents of children under the age of 12, there would be and extra 2.6 million parents. And if it were to be extended to parents of children under the age of 17, there would be an extra 4.5 million parents. All of this was on top of the original 6.25 million.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a timescale for the review on flexible working, the PMS replied that clearly we would want this to be a consultative process, we would want this to be in consultation with business, and that was why we had chosen somebody from the corporate sector to head up this review. On exact process it was probably best to check with DBERR.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the general proposals were in terms of flexible working, and what did it allow a typical worker to do, the PMS replied that it gave people a statutory right to work flexibly. In other words, perhaps working from home, or having flexible hours for example.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the proposal would be for all parents that worked with children, the PMS replied that at the moment there was a statutory requirement that parents with children up to the age of six, plus parents with disabled children up to the age of 18, had the right to request flexible working. We were consulting on how we could extend this to parents of older children. There was already a well-established mechanism in place for parents of a particular group of children, this was about extending that to parents of older children.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the financial costs of this proposal, the PMS replied that this was something that would have to be looked at as part of the review process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was correct that with the under six proposals, employers only had a set number of reasons that they could use to refuse, the PMS replied that his understanding was that this was correct.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be penalties for employers who refused, the PMS replied that again DBERR could give the exact details. But in a sense we were not proposing a new regime. There already was a regime, so there would be a straightforward factual answer to the question that DBERR could give. We were extending the existing regime to a wider group of parents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this applied to all companies, the example of the corner shop was mentioned in Parliament, the PMS replied that the example of the corner shop was about pensions. But as he had said, this proposal was not to change the scope of the existing legislation in terms of what was covered, so this again was a straightforward question that DBERR could answer. This was about how we extended this to parents of older children, not changing the scope.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this would make the British economy more or less competitive, the PMS replied that employer groups had supported action we had taken in the past in relation to flexible working. This was something that we wanted to take forward in consultation with employer groups, and that was why we had asked somebody from the business community to lead this review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when we could expect them to come back with developments, and was there guidance on a preferred age, the PMS replied that obviously there were a number of factors that needed to be taken into account, and on the exact process it was probably best to speak to DBERR. We would look at all the issues in terms of taking a view as to what the appropriate age limit for children might be. In a way the reason we had set up this review, was to make sure that we did a cross examination of this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if the age limit was 17 then there would be huge costs, the PMS replied that this was one of the issues that would need to be looked at, and why we wanted to do this in consultation with the business community.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if it was a matter of how rather than whether, and asked what would stop the Government wanting to accept this, the PMS replied that we had done this step by step, and there were a number of factors that need taking into account in making that decision. But this Government had a good track record in relation to introducing flexible working measures step by step. We were the first Government to introduce the statutory right to flexible working. The Prime Minister, as Chancellor, on a number of Budgets and Pre-Budget reports took action for example to increase statutory maternity pay as well. This was something that we needed to do step by step.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13712.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-06 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-06 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:58" post_name="flexible-working" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Flexible Working" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4870" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/06/4870" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister would be publishing his proposals on Inheritance Tax, the PMS replied that if someone put in an FOI request then that would be looked at. But as the Prime Minister had made clear, the proposals for the reform to Inheritance Tax that was made in the Pre-Budget Report was something that was actively considered ahead of the Budget.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Tory leader had made a call for the records to be released just now, and the Prime Minister made clear that the records vindicated his version of events, and was this not a good justification to issue records now to prove that the Tory leader was absolutely wrong, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had said what he had said in the House, and we would consider the request from the opposition leader.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long this might take, the PMS replied that we had just had this request and we would consider it. Asked if we were lawfully allowed to do this, the PMS replied that if there was an FOI request, and we would have to look under the law as to what we were able to do, but if there were a request then it would be something that we would need to respond to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we could voluntarily release them, the PMS replied that he was sure the Government could publish whatever it wanted to publish. But there was a well-established mechanism of getting the information in to the public domain through the FOI process.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13712.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-06 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-06 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:57" post_name="inheritance-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Inheritance Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4871" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/06/4871" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that there was not a great deal in the Queen's Speech on counter-terrorism, the PMS replied that we had not suggested that this was the opportunity to bring forward new detailed proposals on counter-terrorism. We had said there would be a counter-terrorism Bill, but clearly there would be a process of consultation that would continue no doubt over the weeks ahead. We had always said that we wanted to take this forward in a consultative way and on a consensual basis, and that remained our intention.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13712.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-06 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-06 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:56" post_name="counter-terrorism-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter-Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4872" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/06/4872" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to flesh out what sort of things we were looking at in terms of citizenship, the PMS replied that there was not much he could say at the moment. We had asked Lord Goldsmith in July to look at a number of issues in relation to citizenship. All we were doing today was saying that we would bring forward a draft bill in order to take forward any recommendations from that process that required primary legislation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13712.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-06 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-06 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:55" post_name="immigration-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4873" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/06/4873" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Phillips Report suggested going ahead with a formula on more state funding for parties in elections, and asked if it was on the basis of the Phillips Report that the Government was proceeding, the PMS replied that a distinction need to be made between the Labour Party position and the Government position. It was not for him to talk about the Labour Party position. The Government, through the Hayden Phillips process, was trying to find a consensual solution to this. But it was for the parties to work together to find that solution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government would bring forward proposals, the PMS replied that it was the intention to bring forward proposals, but it was the intention to bring forward proposals on the basis of cooperation and consensus between the parties.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13712.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-06 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-06 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-06 15:45:54" post_name="party-funding-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4874" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4874" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that Lord Drayson would be taking leave of absence from the Government to pursue an opportunity to compete in the US Le Mans motor racing series. It was an unforeseen opportunity that had arisen from his success in coming second in this year's British GT championship. Lord Drayson was a committed motor racing fan and he had been given a unique opportunity to compete in the US Le Mans series next year, which was apparently the next step towards being able to qualify for the actual Le Mans series, which was a long-held ambition of his. The PMS went on to say that there was an exchange of letters between Lord Drayson and the Prime Minister that set this out in detail.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Lord Drayson would be replaced as Minister for Defence Equipment and Support by Baroness Ann Taylor. Lord Drayson was also jointly a Minister at the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR.) Lord Bach would be returning as a member of the Government as a Lords Whip, supporting BERR's business in the House of Lords, with Pat Mcfadden handling the regulatory brief at BERR.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that British troops had been saying that their equipment was not of a sufficient standard and was this connected to the fact that Lord Drayson had been spending too much time motor racing, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister in his letter, had set out the many achievements of Lord Drayson in Government and most people in the sector and elsewhere would accept that Lord Drayson had been a very good and very committed Minister. But because this unique opportunity had arisen and he did not think it could be combined with his Government responsibilities, Lord Drayson had decided to take a leave of absence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if taking a leave of absence meant that Lord Drayson was guaranteed to come back to his old job, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had said in his letter that he looked forward to Lord Drayson's return to Government when his leave of absence ended, but to make it clear, Ann Taylor had been appointed on a permanent basis as the new Defence Minister. Put that people did not know how long Lord Drayson would be away for, the PMS confirmed this and added that the Government was not necessarily saying he would come back to his old job, merely returning to Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the phrase &amp;quot;leave of absence,&amp;quot; referred to the House of Lords rather than the Government or did it refer to both, the PMS replied that Lord Drayson would continue to be a supporter of the Government in the House of Lords. Asked if Ann Taylor would continue to be paid as a Parliamentary Under-Secretary still, the PMS replied that she would be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord Drayson was paid while he was a Government Minister, the PMS said he was unpaid. Put that it was an extra salary now, the PMS confirmed that it would be, but added that people should bear in mind that the number of paid Minister's was the same as it was since the formation of the Government at the end of June. The reason for that was that Lord Evans had left the Government, Baroness Farrington had given up her salary and Baroness Morgan would now be paid as a Baroness in waiting rather than a Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State. What that meant was that in total, the number of paid Ministers was the same as it was at the end of June. Asked if there was any connection between the people giving up their salaries and the Lord Drayson decision, the PMS said they were separate decisions. Lord Evans had left several weeks, if not months ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord Drayson had a Government car and was he behind the wheel, the PMS said he assumed that Lord Drayson had a Government car but would not continue to do so once he had left the Government. The PMS advised people to check with the Ministry of Defence as to whether Lord Drayson drove the car or not.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13715.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:58" post_name="lord-drayson" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Drayson" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4875" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4875" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any view on how long terrorists should be held without charge, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was the Government's view, which was set out very clearly in July. Based on the trends that had been emerging in terms of the time needed to collate all of the relevant information, the Government believed that there was a case for going beyond 28 days in future. The document that the Home Office published on the 25th July 2007, set out a number of options and one of those options was to legislate to extend the current limit beyond 28 days. That was described as the Government's preferred option. The Prime Minister in his statement to the House on the 25th July, said that the Government was proposing for consultation this option, which would be an extension of the current limit of up to 28 days more, or a lesser period.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put by the BBC that Jacqui Smith was not aware of that this morning, the PMS said that Jacqui Smith did know that, but he had been given more of an opportunity to answer the question by his BBC questioner than Jacqui Smith had by hers that morning. The Government's position on the subject had not changed and it was as set out in the Home Office consultation document and the Prime Minister's statement on the 25th July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Jacqui Smith had said that she'd like to see post-charge questioning for offences other than terrorism and if that was the Government's position, what sort of offences were being considered, the PMS said that he did not think Jacqui Smith was saying anything new. Put that Jacqui Smith mentioned the figure of 58 days that morning, the PMS made clear that 58 days was a different proposal that had been put forward by Liberty and others. Jacqui Smith had been saying that there were a number of maximum dates in the public domain; one was up to 56 days, which was the Government's preferred option. The alternative was the Liberty proposal where as he understood it, the Government could declare a state of emergency and it could last for 30 days beyond the 28 days, the current extension period, which was how the figure of 58 days would be reached.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people were assured that 90 days were needed to question people and why was it now a matter of 56 days, the PMS replied that the Government was trying to find a consensual position on the subject. Clearly there was a discussion that people wanted to have, as to what the right number might be. The Government had said that there should be a maximum limit and Jacqui Smith had reiterated that this morning. In the Government's view, there was a case for going beyond 28 days, but as was said in July, the Government was consulting on a proposal that would take the maximum limit up to 56 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that all sides were talking about how the process had to be based on evidence and would any be forthcoming, the PMS said that he assumed people had read the Home Office consultation document, published in July, which had set out the increasing trends on the amount of information that was necessary to process in a number of terror cases in recent times. Put that none of the evidence specifically targeted an extra 28 days, the PMS said that it had set out and explained the complexity of some of the recent cases. The PMS offered to go through the facts and figures, but added that it was set out quite clearly in the document.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the police had asked for post-charge questioning to be extended to other non-terrorist crimes, the PMS said that he did not know the answer to that and that people should check with the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13715.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:57" post_name="counter-terrorism-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter-Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4876" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4876" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had regarded the Governor of the Bank of England's recent comments as helpful, the PMS said that he had nothing to say on the matter except that as had been said repeatedly, the Prime Minister thought that the Governor of the Bank of England was doing a first rate job. Asked if he expected the Governor to be re-appointed, the PMS replied that there would need to be a process in relation to re-appointment, but repeated that the Prime Minister thought that the Governor was doing a first rate job. Put that the Governor had pressed hard for legislation on deposit guarantees and had the Governor suggested this when the Prime Minister had been Chancellor, the PMS said he did not want to get into talking about internal Tripartite Committee discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was a rational response by Northern Rock savers to queue up and withdraw their savings during the Northern Rock crisis, the PMS replied that as the Government had made clear at the time, people were entitled to do whatever they liked with their money. These were decisions that were taken by individuals. The key point was that the Chancellor took decisive action in order to stop the run on Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13715.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:56" post_name="bank-of-england" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bank of England" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4877" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4877" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any update on inheritance tax documents being released if an FOI request was made, the PMS said that it would have to be considered and there was no update.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13715.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:55" post_name="inheritance-tax-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Inheritance Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4878" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4878" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the slogan &amp;quot;British jobs for British workers&amp;quot; would continue to be used by the Prime Minister, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought, for the reasons that he had set out in his speech to the TUC in September, that there were 600,000 vacancies in this country; there were a number of arrangements in place with Job Centre Plus which focused on British nationals and there were agreements in place with large employers to help find jobs for those people.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13715.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:54" post_name="jobs" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Jobs" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4879" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4879" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Bev Hughes had suggested in the past that flexible working should actually be extended to all workers and were the Government considering taking that course of action, as there was a risk of childless people taking the burden of people with families, the PMS said the Government wanted to take action in order to help hard-working families and it's position was set out yesterday.&lt;br /&gt;Asked if the Government would look at helping out hard-working single people in the long run, the PMS asked people to take the matter step-by-step. At the moment the Government had introduced a statutory right to legislation for parents with children under six and it was consulting on how to extend that to older children.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13715.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:53" post_name="flexible-working-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Flexible Working" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4880" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4880" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked, in relation to the situation in Pakistan, if the Prime Minister had been making enquiries and taking a direct role or if the Foreign Secretary had mainly been dealing with it, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister was obviously keeping a keen interest in the situation and had been in discussions with the Foreign Secretary in recent days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to President Bush about the situation in Pakistan and whether or not people would hear about it if he had, the PMS said that people would not necessarily hear about it but that we were in contact with the US Administration and the White House regarding this and other matters&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that Pakistan was a nuclear power, the PMS said that obviously we wanted to see a stable, prosperous and secure Pakistan, which was in the interests of not only the region but the whole world as David Miliband had been making clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what that meant in terms of security and nuclear weapons, the PMS said that we wanted to see a secure Pakistan and that that was in everybody's interest.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any enquiries regarding the subject of security, the PMS said, that as would be expected, internal Government discussions on a whole range of issues were considered, including in relation to security and other matters.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13717.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:58" post_name="pakistan-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4881" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4881" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Prime Minister's intention to reappoint the Governor of the Bank of England, the PMS said that the Governor's appointment expired in June of next year and that there would have to be a process in advance of that; this was not something that needed to be considered at this moment. As was said this morning, the Prime Minister thought that Mervyn King had been a first-rate Governor of the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the normal procedure was that the appointment of the Governor of the Bank of England was decided before Christmas, the PMS said that that was not the case. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Bank of England thought that the appointment would be made before Christmas and asked if there was any reason why the decision had been left till early next year, the PMS said that we had not decided to do anything; the appointment expired in June of next year and a decision would be taken in advance of June.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any guidance as to when a decision would be made, the PMS said he would not expect anything to happen this year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put again that the normal procedure was that an appointment was made before Christmas and asked if he could point to an occasion when the Governor had not been appointed at that time, the PMS said that he did not recognise that as the normal procedure; the previous Governor was appointed in the Pre Budget Report 2002, ahead of the June 2003 appointment, which was considered at the time to be exceptionally early and people were surprised by how early that appointment was made, but he would not want to suggest that that set any sort of precedent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was comfortable about potentially going into a financial downturn over the next 12 months with Mervyn King as the Governor, the PMS repeated that the Prime Minister believed that Mervyn King was a first-rate Governor of the Bank of England and had worked with him for many years. The PMS went on to say that he would not announce a decision on who the Governor of the Bank of England will be after June as that was a decision for the Queen, the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to take at the time. He repeated that the Prime Minister believed Mervyn King to be a first-rate Governor of the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if there was any reason not to make a decision now due to the suggested rift between the Treasury and the Bank of England, the PMS said that both the Treasury and the Bank of England had been denying any suggestion of a rift between them. The Governor's term did not expire until June next year and a decision would be taken in advance of that. He again repeated that the Prime Minister believed that the Governor had been a first-rate Governor of the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13717.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:57" post_name="bank-of-england-governor" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bank of England Governor" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4882" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4882" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was still hopeful that it would get the 56 days preferred option, the PMS said that 56 days was not the preferred option, the preferred option was to consult on an extension up to the maximum of 56 days. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be quite happy with less, the PMS said that we would want to consult and seek a consensus on an extension of up to 56 days. It was important to emphasise that the other aspect of the proposal in July was to introduce much tighter judicial and Parliamentary oversight for any potential detention beyond 28 days and that was a key part of the proposal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Legislation would include a specific figure, the PMS said that would be expected but that that was only one part of the proposal and an important part of the proposal was also the extra measures in relation to judicial and Parliamentary oversight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the argument that post-charge questioning removed the need for detention, the PMS said that it was not just the Government that didn't necessarily think post-charge questioning was sufficient; the Home Affairs Select Committee reached that conclusion as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the figure of 56 was there for any reason other than it was double 28, the PMS said it was always up to 56; in a sense 56 was the maximum of the maximum. Jacqui Smith said this morning that we would expect there to be maximum limit. Obviously there would need to be a discussion and a consensus needed to be found regarding exactly what the right number should be; there needed to be a maximum limit and in terms of initiating the consultation in July, we said that that maximum limit would be up to 56 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what could be done to change the Opposition's view on this, the PMS said we should wait and see; there had been discussions with the opposition parties and he was sure that there would be discussions in the period ahead, but it was the Government's intention to try to find a consensus. The Home Office set out the evidence in the consultation document in July and as he had said before, there had been discussions and he was sure there would be further discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the figure was determined and put repeatedly that it would have to come from the Government, the PMS said that there would have to be discussions; an initial range was already out there and we were consulting at the moment on a figure within that range. At some point a figure would have to go onto the face of the Bill and there would have to be a vote in Parliament. It was the Government's intention to find a solution to this that was consensual. The process of discussion was ongoing and had not concluded yet.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13717.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:56" post_name="56-days" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="56 Days" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4883" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4883" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government was dropping the Coroner's Reform Legislation, the PMS said that it had been in the draft Queen's speech legislation; obviously decisions had to be taken in relation to the number of bills that could be put into any Parliamentary timetable but for specifics it was best to speak to the Ministry of Justice.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13717.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:55" post_name="coronors-legislation" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Coronor's Legislation" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4884" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/07/4884" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked of there was any reason why the Home Secretary had been downgraded to a follow-up role to the Secretary of State for Justice/Lord Chancellor, the PMS said that nobody had suggested that that was the case at all. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13717.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-07 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-07 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-07 15:45:54" post_name="home-secretary" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Home Secretary" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4885" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4885" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that British banks could weather the current crisis, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that Alistair Darling had been on the radio that morning speaking on the subject. As the Chancellor had said, there was concern about the extent of the exposure that some of the big American banks had. But as the Chancellor had also said, banks and many banks in this country had very strong balance sheets after years of making very good profits. Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on the subject, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was the Government spokesman on economic matters and he had spoken about these matters that morning on the radio.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:58" post_name="finance-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Finance" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4886" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4886" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had had any contact with Commonwealth leaders on the subject since his telephone conversation with General Musharraf on Thursday and did he have any concerns about the situation, the PMS replied that clearly there had been contact with all levels of the Government in Pakistan, as well as with other countries to discuss the matter. As the Foreign Secretary had said on Saturday, the Government was gravely concerned about the situation in Pakistan, and the Government had urged President Musharraf to restore constitutional order as soon as possible and to confirm that elections would be held on schedule in January.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any further steps were being considered, the PMS said that the Government were considering the implications for it's development and other assistance programmes in Pakistan. These things were kept under review, but the key thing from the Government's point of view was to have confirmation that elections would be held on schedule in January and the restoration of normal democratic and constitutional processes. Put that the Government expressed concern but did not condemn the emergency, the PMS replied that the Government expressed concern and reiterated the need for commitment to be reaffirmed over elections taking place in January. The Government wanted to see the normal democratic processes being restored.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister thought the position of the state of emergency helped or hindered the war on terror, the PMS said the Government wanted to see a prosperous, peaceful, secure and stable Pakistan and this was clearly in the interest not only of the people of Pakistan, but of the region and the world as a whole. The Government thought the best way of achieving that would be to restore the commitment to democratic processes and in particular the elections in January.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there were reports this morning of General Musharraf himself, being under house arrest and was that a concern for the Government, the PMS replied that the Government had seen the reports but had also seen the denial of them by President Musharraf, so the PMS would not identify any particular aspect. It was a more general concern about the fact that the Government needed to see the restoration of normal constitutional practice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had spoken to Benazir Bhuto or any other political figures, the PMS repeated that the Government was in contact with a wide range of people in Pakistan at all levels, but he did not want to comment on anyone specific. It would be best to check with the Foreign Office on specifics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a time limit on the Government considering the implications for its development and assistance programmes, the PMS advised people to wait and see how things developed. Asked to put a figure on the development aid to Pakistan, the PMS replied that he did not have that figure to hand, but he was sure DfID would have it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:57" post_name="pakistan-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4887" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4887" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was still convinced about the need to increase the period of time terror suspects could be kept in custody, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had set out his position on the subject in his statement to the house on the 25th July 2007 and that position had not changed. There was a case for going beyond 28 days as the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and others had said on numerous occasions and the Government was in the process of consulting on what the most appropriate method might be for doing that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Director General of MI5 was making a speech today, in which he would be warning people of the current security threat and had the Prime Minister read the speech or known about the timing of it, considering the Government could be rolling out new anti-terror legislation tomorrow, the PMS replied that the timing was entirely a matter for MI5 and was not influenced by the Government. The PMS added that he did not accept the premise of the question necessarily, that the Government would be rolling out details or coming out with new proposals tomorrow in relation to counter-terrorism. Put that there would be a bill tomorrow on the subject; the PMS said that people would have to wait and see what the Queen said. The PMS was not suggesting otherwise, but equally he was not suggesting that there would be new detailed proposals tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if talks with other party leaders had continued on the issue, the PMS said it was his understanding that there had been some discussion, but it was being very much led by the Home Secretary, so it would be best to check with the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:56" post_name="counter-terrorism-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4888" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4888" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was considering shelving the role-out of ID cards, the PMS replied that there had been no change on the Government's position on ID cards. There had been one newspaper report on Sunday and the Home Office had made clear that there was nothing to substantiate it. Asked if the report was &amp;quot;garbage,&amp;quot; the PMS said that he did not want to use such language, but the Government had been denying those suggestions quite forcefully.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on the report in the Guardian saying there was to be a review on the technology used, the PMS reiterated that the position on ID cards had not changed. The PMS added that these things were kept constantly under review as people would expect, but nothing had changed in regards to ID cards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had ordered any fresh review into the technology since he became Prime Minister, the PMS said he was not aware of any review.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:55" post_name="id-cards-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4889" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4889" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about reports on a separate immigration bill and whether the points-based system could effectively reduce the EU immigration rate by 35,000, the PMS replied that he had seen the reports, but it would be best to check with the Home Office on the specifics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on the points system again and the possibility of ending up with a system with a minimum and maximum amount in terms of migration, the PMS said the whole point of the points-based system was to put in place a framework which would help identify and give weightings to particular sectors of the economy. It was then for individuals and individual businesses to make decisions as to the exact numbers of people that would come in and out, year by year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the threshold was set at a particular level for different industries and therefore the Government was effectively imposing a cap, the PMS said it would depend on decisions being taken by individuals. The points-based system was about the weighting attached to people with specific skills, depending on an assessment of what the skills needs were for the economy. It was not about setting overall limits. Put that projections or realistic assumptions could be made about the number of people using that framework, the PMS replied that it was a different matter from suggesting that there should be an overall cap enforced, so that once the cap was reached, no further people could be let into the country, regardless of what the needs were of the economy or businesses. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether people could assume that the advisory group would make projections, the PMS replied that it would be a matter for them. For the detailed process by which they would operate, it would be best to speak to the Home Office. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:54" post_name="immigration-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4890" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/05/4890" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government felt it could proceed with any legislation on party funding following the collapse of talks last week, the PMS said there were two distinct matters, the Government position and the Labour Party position. The PMS said he could only speak for the Government, which was trying to seek a consensus through the Hayden-Phillips process. In terms of any particular statements in relation to legislation or proposals being taking forward, it would probably be best to wait for the Queens Speech tomorrow, when a follow-up discussion could take place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13706.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-05 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-05 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-05 10:00:53" post_name="party-funding-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4891" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/08/4891" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any papers released today relating to Inheritance Tax, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMOS) replied that obviously this was a matter for the Treasury so best to check with them, but his understanding for guidance was that this was the case. They would be responding to an existing FOI request.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that he considered Inheritance Tax, and asked if he had considered Non-Doms being taxed as well before the Tories announced it, the PMS replied that we had had a long standing agenda in relation to so called Non-Dom Res. We had announced a review and a number of measures as far back as the Budget 2002, if he recalled correctly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a levy on Non-Doms had been considered, the PMS replied that again that there were a wide range of measures in relation to Non-Dom Res that had been considered and were kept under review for many years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Non-Doms had been reviewed for many years, and the conclusion reached was that there was not very much we could do, the PMS replied that this was an ongoing review, and the Treasury would have details.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a date when it was decided that something could be done to increase the levy on Non-Doms, the PMS replied that there were well established procedures for asking these questions to the Treasury. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister's answer on Tuesday struck people as somewhat mercurial, and was this explained by the fact that he knew there was a pre-existing FOI request, the PMS replied that he did not believe that the Prime Minister had any particular FOI request in mind. He was making the general point that he was very confident in his position that this measure had been actively considered ahead of the Budget in March, and had been considered for some time in advance of the Pre-Budget Report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify the Prime Minister position, and did he consider changes to Inheritance Tax but rejected them, the PMS replied that the Treasury would be releasing some material on this shortly, which would make the situation clearer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he was confident that the documents would prove that the Government planned to include this statement in the PBR, or that they proved that the Government was considering this matter, the PMS replied that it was not a question of being confident or not, it was a fact. The Prime Minister asserted that in the House of Commons on Tuesday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13719.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-08 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-08 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-08 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-08 10:00:58" post_name="inheritance-tax-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Inheritance Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4892" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/08/4892" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any response to the request for an increase in defence spending, the PMS replied that there had been quite a significant increase in defence spending. This meant that there would be an additional &amp;pound;7.7 billion over the Spending Review period by 2011. This continued the longest period of sustained real growth in planned defence spending since the 1980s. Defence spending had increased in real terms each year since 1999.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13719.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-08 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-08 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-08 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-08 10:00:57" post_name="defence-spending" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Defence Spending" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4893" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/08/4893" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what would be discussed at the meeting with the President of the Czech Republic, and would climate change come up, the PMS replied that they would discuss a wide range of issues in relation to European and other matters.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13719.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-08 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-08 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-08 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-08 10:00:56" post_name="president-of-the-czech-republic" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President of the Czech Republic" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4894" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/08/4894" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how confident the Prime Minister was that the material published by the Treasury showed unequivocally that the Government was planning to reform inheritance tax, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that the Prime Minister was very confident. It was made very clear from the document published by the Treasury today, as asserted by the Prime Minister on the floor of the House of Commons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government would say to the charge made by the Conservatives that the Chancellor had confirmed that inheritance tax was under discussion for the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) on the 20th August 2007, a day after Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne wrote an article in the Mail on Sunday, claiming they would reform inheritance tax, the PMS replied that it was clear from the document that the Treasury had been planning to reform inheritance tax, along the lines of the announcement made in the PBR, as long ago as January 2007.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the document did not make clear whether the Treasury were planning to include inheritance tax reforms in the PBR, the PMS said that he had nothing to add to what the Treasury had announced today. Those were the facts in response to the specific FOI request received by the Treasury three or four weeks ago.&lt;br /&gt;The PMS said that the document stated specifically that the Chancellor confirmed the measure was under discussion for the PBR, so there was a specific reference in the document to work in preparation for the PBR. The Chancellor had then gone on to ask officials on the 5th September to work up final proposals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Treasury document was a long refusal to answer the FOI request on grounds of public interest and why did the Treasury refuse to publicise anything when the Prime Minister so was confident about the matter in the House of Commons, the PMS replied that the document talked specifically about final proposals and made clear that there was a series of interactions between Treasury officials and Treasury Ministers on the specific proposal over a period of time. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS said that in relation to what the Treasury had released and what they hadn't released, he thought they had set out pretty comprehensively why it was considered it to be in the balance of public interest not to publish all of the documents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the documents did not make clear at what stage a decision was made on including inheritance tax in the PBR, the PMS said that the question asked of the Treasury was of any information showing when the Chancellor or officials first considered proposals on inheritance tax. That was the FOI request and that was what the Treasury had responded to.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13723.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-08 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-08 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-08 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-08 15:45:58" post_name="inheritance-tax-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Inheritance Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4895" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/09/4895" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for Downing Street's view regarding more points for higher speeds, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that he had seen this story on the front page of The Times; this was a speculative story about a forthcoming consultation document that had not yet been published in which this could be one of the options. The consultation had not been published yet and by definition consultations are consultations, not decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Transport Minister had seemed fairly keen on the idea, the PMS said that clearly there was an issue about speeding and road safety which was what was being consulted on, but that this was an option in a consultation document which had not yet been published.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister's view was that people should wait to see what the consultation document said, the PMS said that there was an issue in relation to speeding and what more could be done in relation to that. In order to deal with road safety issues, there will be a consultation, there would be a number of options, but the consultation document had not been published yet.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13727.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-09 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-09 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:58" post_name="speeding-penalties" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Speeding Penalties" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4896" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/09/4896" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for an update on the situation regarding flooding, the PMS said that there had been a first COBR meeting involving Ministers and chaired by the Prime Minister at just before 7pm yesterday; there had been a second COBR meeting chaired by the Prime Minister at 6am today with, Hilary Benn, Ed Miliband, and the Environment Agency, among others, with the Gold Command in Norfolk and Suffolk on the line, to ensure that all necessary preparations were in place ahead of the anticipated tidal surge. There would be a further Ministerial COBR meeting around lunchtime chaired by Hilary Benn. John Healey, the Floods Recovery Minister, and Barbara Follett, the regional Minister for the East of England were expected to travel to the affected areas during the course of today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for thoughts on how the emergency operation had gone, the PMS said that the emergency operation was ongoing. The Government was grateful to all of the emergency services, the local authorities and the Environment Agency for their preparedness, and importantly, to local people for pulling together and cooperating. Clearly this was an ongoing situation and although the worst had passed in terms of the peak of the tidal surge, there remained a risk of flooding so it was still important for members of the public to heed messages re keeping away from effected coasts; to be aware of the dangers from the high tides and to listen to local advice from emergency services and local councils.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about financial help, the PMS said that the situation was still at a very early stage. At the moment it was not clear what the extent of any damage was but there were well-established mechanisms in place to provide central Government assistance for the cost of any clean-ups.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the response had been appropriate given the fact that the flooding seemed to be quite limited, the PMS said that you should always be prepared and there could be no room for complacency in these situations. There were very serious warnings given by the Met Office which were acted upon by the Environment Agency. The PMS went on to stress that this was an ongoing situation, and although the worst in terms of the peak of the surge appeared to be behind us, there continued to be a risk of flooding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been lessons learnt from the summer flooding re preparations and if the Prime Minister planned to visit any of the effected areas, the PMS said that you always continue to look at your practices and procedures as faced by these different events. In relation to the Prime Minister's ongoing involvement, he was being kept informed of the situation whilst on his visit to the West Midlands and would be updated again following the COBR meeting at lunchtime. There were no current plans for him to visit the region.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13727.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-09 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-09 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:57" post_name="flooding" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Flooding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4897" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/09/4897" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister was going to be informed of the decision regarding the 2014 Commonwealth Games, the PMS said that he was not sure how exactly it would happen but he was sure that once a decision had been announced it would be communicated to the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13727.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-09 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-09 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:56" post_name="commonwealth-games" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Commonwealth Games" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4898" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/09/4898" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was alarmed at the treatment of Benazir Bhutto, the PMS said that the Government was very concerned with the developments in Pakistan this morning, which underlined the need for a rapid return to Constitutional rule.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a case to reconsider the aid given to Pakistan given the recent developments, the PMS said that the Government continued to consider the implications for all of its programmes in Pakistan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13727.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-09 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-09 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:55" post_name="pakistan-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4899" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/09/4899" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's speech on Monday would focus on Iran, the PMS said that it would be about foreign policy as is traditionally the case in the Prime Minister's annual speech at Mansion House.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13727.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-09 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-09 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:54" post_name="lord-mayors-banquet-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Mayor's Banquet Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4900" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/09/4900" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was still comfortable with Ian Blair's position, the PMS said yes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13727.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-09 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-09 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-09 10:00:53" post_name="sir-ian-blair" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sir Ian Blair" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4901" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4901" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for information regarding the Prime Minister's speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet and if there would be anything on Iran, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that it would be a wide-ranging foreign affairs speech and it would be surprising if there was not some mention of Iran; the Prime Minister had been talking yesterday about Iran during his interview on the Adam Boulton show. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the US was Britain's most important ally, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made clear on many occasions that he believed the United States was Britain's most important bi-lateral relationship. That had been the position under Prime Minister Tony Blair and that was the position under Prime Minister Gordon Brown; the position had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Admiral Fallon's comments in the Financial Times that &amp;quot;bellicose comments&amp;quot; were &amp;quot;not particularly helpful&amp;quot;, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's view was that we needed to keep up the diplomatic pressure on Iran. As he had said yesterday, there were some signs that sanctions were having an affect and we were expecting a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency shortly; if that showed that Iran was continuing to defy the international community, then we would have to consider the case for further sanctions at the UN.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be wearing white tie, the PMS said he would be wearing white tie.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister was wearing white tie tonight when he had not done so in the past, the PMS said that that was the decision he had taken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet could be an opportunity to clarify the recent misunderstandings between the US and the UK and asked to give an example of what those misunderstandings could have been, the PMS said that he did not think that there had been any misunderstandings on our part; the Prime Minister had always been very clear about the importance he attached to the relationship with the US.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the UK had been joined at the hip with the US, the PMS said the Government had made its position clear on numerous occasions in July when the issue came up; as had been said before, the Prime Minister believed that the relationship with the US was Britain's single most important bi-lateral relationship.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Prime Minister's position that Iran should unequivocally have no nuclear programme whatsoever, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's position was that Iran must comply with previous UN resolutions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would reflect, at the Lord Mayor's speech tonight, on the fact that General Musharraf implied that Britain was content with his continuing rule, the PMS said that it was the Government's view that it was vital that the constitution was restored and that other restrictions were lifted immediately. Without this the British Government would seriously doubt whether any elections could be held in free and fair conditions. Without the lifting of the restrictions that had been imposed, for example on the media and on individuals' movements, the Government seriously doubted whether any elections could be held in free and fair conditions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a Commonwealth Ministers meeting today, the PMS said that there was a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (attended by Mark Malloch-Brown). This was a preparatory, not decision-making meeting, ahead of the main meeting, which was taking place at a later stage in Kampala. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Pakistan would feature in the speech at the Lord Mayor's Banquet, the PMS said that it would be surprising if there were not some mention of Pakistan in the speech.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a possible suspension from the Commonwealth would be on the agenda, the PMS repeated that it was a preparatory meeting, not a decision-making one. The meeting was taking place today so it was best to wait until the meeting had happened and then speak to the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's reported comments re regretting having appointed Mark Malloch-Brown as foreign minister, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had full confidence in Lord Malloch-Brown.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:58" post_name="lord-mayors-banquet-speech-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Mayor's Banquet Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4902" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4902" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the conviction rate for rape was of concern, the PMS said that obviously the Government had been taking action in order to deal with victims of sexual violence offences and taken action to increase the conviction rate for rape. We now had specially trained police officers in virtually all forces, specialist rape prosecutors and had established the Sexual Assault Referral Centres in order to help victims of violent sexual offences.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if those actions had had the desired affect, the PMS said that obviously there was always more that could be done. He went on to say that it was this Government that had introduced a number of specific measures in order to help both with the victims of violent sexual offences and also to help ensure that the action could be taken to get the conviction rate up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if more should be done, the PMS repeated that you would always want to do more, in this area particularly. We had put a number of measures in place to help ensure that more convictions could be forthcoming through the training of specialist prosecutors and by having specially trained police officers in virtually all forces.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a need to address some of the wider cultural problems, for example sexual education, the PMS said that that was something we had been looking at. This Government introduced Sexual Assault Referral Centres in order to help victims of sexual violent offences. Last year the Home Office ran a campaign to raise awareness among men about the need to get consent prior to having sex.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Government accepted or disputed the claim that the UK had the lowest conviction rate in the EU for rape, the PMS said that he did not have the comparative figures to hand but repeated that there was always more that the Government would like to do in order to increase the conviction rate and we had already taken action to try to deliver that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that sentences appeared to be decreasing, the PMS said that this was a matter best addressed to the Ministry of Justice. Obviously, this was something that the Government kept continuously under review; nobody should be left in any doubt regarding the Prime Minister's view that people who commit serious offences like rape should be given serious jail terms.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:57" post_name="rape-conviction-rate" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Rape Conviction Rate" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4903" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4903" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about the piece in The Times re slogans to sum up Britain in five words, the PMS said that every time one of these stories appeared the Prime Minister showed a certain amount of bafflement as to why people suggested that this was something he advocated. The Prime Minister had never put forward any suggestion, in public or private, that we should have a British motto, so it was not clear why these stories were being written in the way that they were. What the Ministry of Justice was doing, as part of the Governance of Britain agenda, was consulting on a statement of British values, but this was something which was much more serious and wide-ranging than would be implied by a motto. It would be part of the on-going, longer-term consultation ahead of any possible British Bill of Rights and Responsibilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the mottos were useful or perhaps a little trite, the PMS repeated that a motto is not something the Prime Minister had ever advocated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked at what stage the Michael Wills meeting was at, the PMS said it was best to speak to the Ministry of Justice to get a specific answer on their process and timetable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:56" post_name="slogans" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Slogans" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4904" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4904" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister disputed the Liberty figures re detention without charge, the PMS said that every country faced its own particular circumstances and had to take decisions based on what it thought was in its own national interest. The British Government was consulting on a proposal to extend the potential limit beyond 28 days but we had emphasised throughout that any extension beyond 28 days would need to be accompanied by much stronger Parliamentary and judicial oversight.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:55" post_name="detention-without-charge" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Detention Without Charge" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4905" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4905" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's thoughts were regarding quango chiefs' pay, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had always been very keen to ensure that the taxpayer, license fee payer and any other supporter of the public purse, got the best value for money. Obviously, a lot of these organisations had to compete in competitive markets with the Private Sector. That said, it was important that those organisations that had their own separate funding streams were able to demonstrate best value for money.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:54" post_name="chiefs-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chiefs' Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4906" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4906" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about a story regarding Ed Balls working at the Smith Institute in 2004 without permission from the Treasury, the PMS said the relevant department had already responded and he had nothing to add to that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:53" post_name="ed-balls-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ed Balls" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4907" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4907" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was still full confidence in Ian Blair, the PMS said yes - there had been no change.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:52" post_name="ian-blair" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ian Blair" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4908" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4908" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was prepared to have a free vote on all aspects of the Bill, the PMS said we should wait and see what particular kinds of amendments came forward, but that no decisions had yet been taken one way or the other as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13734.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 10:00:51" post_name="embryology-bill" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4909" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4909" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began the briefing by talking Lobby through the speech the Prime Minister would be making at the Lord Mayor's Banquet later this evening. The speech started with the Prime Minister setting out some of the main new challenges that we faced in the 21st century. He talked about the new uncertainties from failed states and rogue states, the spread of terrorism, destroying the old assumption that states alone could access destructive weapons, the big changes in the world's economy, the new challenges from climate change, and some of the other cross-border challenges we faced such as pandemic flu and worldwide migration. The Prime Minister concluded from this that because the world is so connected and interdependent, we were able to contemplate a global society that empowers people. But he also concluded that a nation's self-interest would not be found in isolation, but in cooperation. So the issue was how do we best cooperate internationally to meet these global challenges? &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The paragraph that best summarised the speech was where the Prime Minister talked about his approach of hard-headed internationalism. It was internationalist because we were accepting that there were global challenges and that these needed global solutions, and that there was a strong case for cooperation in order to meet our shared interest. But it was hard-headed because it recognised that we needed to reform the international reform rules and institutions in order to deliver that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister then went on to talk about Britain's alliances, with some strong language about our relationship with America. He said &amp;quot;I have no truck with anti-Americanism in Britain or elsewhere in Europe&amp;quot;, and reiterated that our relationship with the US is our most important bilateral relationship. As he was saying over the weekend, France and Germany were looking to strengthen their relationships with the EU and that left us in the best position that we had been in for some time for Europe and America to work together to reform the international framework.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There were then three specific examples of what hard-headed internationalism might mean in practice. The first was around reconstruction, where the Prime Minister said we must give equal weight to reconstruction alongside peacekeeping at the UN and elsewhere. He also referred to the possibility of having an international standby civilian force, not a new proposal, including police and judiciary which could be deployed to rebuild civic societies. On nuclear non-proliferation he talked about the need to hold both active providers and potential users to account, saying this was about the supply side of nuclear fuel and expertise as well as the demand side. He referred to, again not a new proposal but an example of how we could regularise the supply of nuclear fuel, the idea of a nuclear fuel bank where countries that wanted to make use of nuclear fuel for civilian purposes could access nuclear fuel as long as they renounced nuclear weapons and met internationally enforced non-proliferation standards, rather than try to develop their own processed nuclear fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Iran, the Prime Minister talked about Iran having a choice, and that unless we saw positive outcomes flowing from Solana's report and the IAEA's report due later this month, we would lead in seeking tougher sanctions both at the UN and at the European Union, including in oil and gas investment. And that Iran should be in no doubt about our seriousness and purpose.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On reform of international institutions, the Prime Minister talked about reform of the Security Council and the case for countries like Japan, India, Brazil and Germany, or an African country becoming members. He also talked about the G8 becoming broadened, and the need to reform the World Bank so that it had a much greater focus on environment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Those were the main themes of the speech, there was also a paragraph on Pakistan, and he talked a little about the Middle East Peace Process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how he would define &amp;quot;hard-headed intervention&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that by hard-headed intervention we meant intervention that made a real difference on the ground. The Prime Minister gave a number of examples of that later in the speech, for example it meant having credible processes in place to ensure that reconstruction follows peacekeeping. In relation to reform of the international institutions, it ensures having mechanisms in place which make them relevant to the 21st century. In relation to sanctions in ensured having sufficiently tough sanctions in place that they make a difference to a countries behaviour.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if &amp;quot;hard-headed intervention&amp;quot; included military options and cruise missiles, and that it was striking that the speech talked a lot about sanctions building up to something and reconstruction afterwards, but not what happened in between, the PMS replied that one would never rule out military options when talking about foreign policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a UN Security Council that was more representative, more credible and more effective, included having Britain as a permanent member, the PMS replied yes it did.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Royal Navy was sending a fleet down to that part of the world, and asked if this was linked in any way, the PMS replied not as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be wearing white tie and tails tonight, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister had decided to go in white tie having worn a lounge suit to city functions as Chancellor, the PMS replied that this was the decision that the Prime Minister had made.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the menu of sanctions had not been as extensive as it might have been, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister believed that we could use whatever options we had available. There was no particular new thinking he was outlining on specific types of sanctions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister stressed several times including in his speech, his desire to seek tougher sanctions should Iran continue not to comply with its obligations, and asked if he was frustrated by China and Russia continually blocking moves in that direction, the PMS replied that we wanted to take this forward both in the European Union and at the UN. And depending on the outcome of the IAEA report, if Iran continued to defy the international community then there would need to be a further discussion at the UN. Let's see how that progressed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how this foreign policy approached differed from Tony Blair's approach, the PMS replied that he would leave the interpretation to journalists. It was not for him to interpret Tony Blair's foreign policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for details on the new sanctions the Prime Minister was proposing on Iran, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was specifically referring in his speech to oil and gas investment, something we had not done before. Asked to elaborate on this, the PMS replied that it would mean sanctions on investment in the oil and gas sector. Obviously the practical details would need to be worked out, but it we had not gone this far before from a UK perspective talking about the oil and gas sector in this way. Clearly it would have an impact on any new investment in oil and gas development from overseas in Iran. Asked if people would be prevented from investing in those areas, the PMS replied that that was a fairly general understanding of what that meant. But obviously the specific detail would be subject to negotiations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had never mentioned including oil and gas investment in relation to sanctions before, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had not mentioned it specifically before.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was considered a measure that would hit Iran hard, the PMS replied that clearly the oil and gas sector was a significant part of their economy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when was the last time the Prime Minister spoke to President Bush, the PMS replied that he did not have that information to hand, but there was regular contact between the Prime Minister and the President, and there was very regular contact at all levels between Downing Street and the White House.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that given the closeness of relations between Russia and Iran, was there any prospect of getting Russia to sign up to these new sanctions, the PMS replied that we would have to see. We were talking about UN and EU sanctions here, but we would have to see how things developed. Asked if it could be the EU without Russia, the PMS replied that there was a UN process and an EU process. Typically the EU sanctions were tougher than the UN sanctions, but we would have to see how negotiations developed over the next few weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was proposing sanctions that would be EU wide unilateral, that they would have an impact through Europe even though other countries may not do it, the PMS replied that we already had EU sanctions in relation to Iran. This would be about toughening up existing EU sanctions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were sanctions on oil and gas investment, did this mean that a company wanting to go in and drill in Iran would be told that they could not, the PMS replied that this was his understanding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to give example of the financial sector sanctions, the PMS replied that he had no specific examples, but it would not be that difficult to find them out. He was not going to set out our negotiating position over the next weeks and months, we were setting out the sectors where we thought that sanctions could be extended.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how these measures were such a big stick, the PMS replied that it would obviously have an impact on the economy of Iran. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the danger was that non-signatories would get the contracts, the PMS replied that it was the case at the moment that we had tougher EU sanctions than UN sanctions, but we were trying to move everything step by step.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if the Russians and the Chinese did not sign, then surely they would be the first to pile in and start drilling, the PMS replied that we did have the discussions at the UN, and let's see how they developed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to what extent the British oil and gas companies and banks have operations already in Iran, and would this effect their future operations, the PMS replied that he did not have that information to hand, and was sure that the Financial Times could find out that information themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked was there not a danger that slapping sanctions on oil and gas development would make Iran more dependent on their nuclear programme, the PMS replied that this was not the case as we were also looking to take action in relation to the supply of nuclear fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where was the incentive, the PMS replied that if they wanted to continue to defy the rule of the international community then they would pay an ever greater price.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this approach was therefore all stick and no carrot, the PMS replied that the incentive might be for example in relation to the ideas about a nuclear fuel bank, where responsible states may in the future be able to get access to processed nuclear fuel for civic purposes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if when talking about sanctions on investments did this mean new investments, the PMS replied that it said what it said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what an enrichment bond was, the PMS replied that he was sure a Google search on &amp;quot;enrichment bond&amp;quot; would give a much more coherent answer than he could give.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Saudis came with a particular proposal about Iran being able to access a nuclear fuel bank in Switzerland, the PMS replied that the Saudi proposal was not dissimilar to this, the Prime Minister was speaking in quite general terms, there were a number of specific proposals of which one was an enrichment bond, and one was a nuclear fuel bank. There were a number of different ways in which this might be done. The Prime Minister here was using this as an example of how we needed to take action not only on the demand side in relation to potential users, but on the supply side as well in terms of how these countries get access to nuclear fuel and expertise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had made any assessment of the likely impact on domestic oil and gas prices, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that this was about dealing with nuclear proliferation potentially in Iran. This was a very serious issue for the world economy. Asked if this was worth paying more than $100 a barrel, the PMS replied that no one was saying that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister said that Iran has a choice, and asked if this was a &amp;quot;comply or else&amp;quot; type message, the PMS replied that this was about the next stage of increasing diplomatic pressure on Iran. We had the IAEA report coming out quite soon, which would assess Iran's progress against commitments entered into in relation to the UN. If it was clear that they continue to defy the international community then we would have to move things to the next stage in the UN.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the idea of a nuclear fuel bank were to take off, where would we build the nuclear power stations, the PMS replied that he was not an expert on processing nuclear fuel. There were a number of detailed proposals already out there, the Prime Minister here was making reference in general terms to these proposals around nuclear fuel banks. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if military action was still an option, the PMS replied every time the Prime Minister had been asked this he had said that nothing was ruled out, but we were continuing to pursue a diplomatic route, and there were signs that sanctions were having an effect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for examples of situations where the standby civilian force could be sent, and would they need some sort of military protection, the PMS replied that we were not denying they would need military protection. The standby civilian force would need to work alongside and be conceived at the same time as the UN Security Council or the African Union for example gave its endorsement to any peacekeeping forces. Examples of where this might be used - Darfur would be an obvious one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we envisaged Britain making a contribution to such a force, the PMS replied that Britain was always prepared to play its role in contributing to international peace and stability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the speech talked about a new network of change makers, and asked who were they, and should journalists Google them as well, the PMS replied that one of the points that the Prime Minister made was that in this new global society, developments were no longer shaped solely by international countries working together through international cooperation, but through a whole new range of global networks that globalisation and change had facilitated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the title of the speech &amp;quot;Hard-Headed Internationalism&amp;quot; and did this mean that we should work more closely with the UN and that we would not go to war unless there was international agreement on issues as important as this, or was it still a &amp;quot;pick and mix&amp;quot; approach, the PMS replied that it said that we would continue to work with the international institutions, but the international institutions need reforming and need to be reformed in order to make them more relevant for the 21st century.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13737.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 15:45:58" post_name="pms-lord-mayors-banquet-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PM's Lord Mayor's Banquet Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4910" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4910" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any disappointment from the Prime Minister at a report today in Geneva by the International Campaign to Ban Landmines, which ranked the UK among 12 countries along with Chad and Mozambique who were likely to miss the 2009 deadline to clear all landmines from their territories, and was this a concern, the PMS replied that he did not have any information on this, best to check with the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13737.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 15:45:57" post_name="landmines" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Landmines" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4911" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/12/4911" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's position on Pakistan and possible suspension from the Commonwealth, the PMS replied that the clearest exposition of the Prime Minister's position on Pakistan was the one that he would deliver this evening in his speech.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13737.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-12 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-12 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-12 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-12 15:45:56" post_name="pakistan-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4912" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/13/4912" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what Jacqui Smith's explanation to the House of Commons would be, the PMS said that one of the accusations that had been made was that she had not given an explanation to the House, so it was best for her to give that explanation to the House first rather than for him to say it at the press briefing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that her position was untenable, the PMS replied by saying that it was clear that when the issue arose and was identified in the Home Office, action was taken to deal with illegal workers in the Security Industry Authority (SIA), which meant that from July this year all new applicants were granted a license only if they were entitled to seek work in the UK. In addition, Ministers ordered checks on all existing license holders and these would be completed before the end of the year. In regards to questions about internal processes within the Home Office, it was for the Home Secretary to explain to the House of Commons later that afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied with Jacqui Smith's conduct in relation to this issue, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had spoken to the Home Secretary and he was satisfied with the explanation that had been given, but repeated that it was for Jacqui Smith to give her explanation to the House of Commons at 3.30pm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that some of the 5000 cases had already been dealt with or if they were still here, the PMS said that it was best to speak to the Home Office for details and went on to say that there were two issues. There was an issue about the flow, which officials had been dealing with since July; new applicants had been granted a license only if they were entitled to seek work in the UK, which was a specific requirement placed by the SIA on employers. It was the employer's responsibility, first and foremost to ensure that their workers had the correct employment status. Secondly, Ministers ordered checks on all the existing license holders; this was an ongoing process, with the completion of the review by the end of the year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the requirement had always been there, the PMS repeated that there was a requirement on employers. In addition the Government was strengthening the regulatory framework by explicitly making it a requirement of registered companies in the security industry, regulated by the SIA, to make sure that those checks happened. The PMS went on to say that it was best to check with the Home Office on the details, but his understanding was that from July, the regulatory framework was strengthened to ensure that there was an explicit requirement, in relation to responsibilities to the SIA, to make sure that these checks were undertaken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly when the Prime Minister knew about the situation if Jacqui Smith knew in July, the PMS that he would not get into internal Government processes and discussions, that was not something that was normally done. Jacqui Smith would deal with the procedural issues in her statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when and how the Prime Minister had spoken to Jacqui Smith, the PMS said that he did not want to get into what discussions happened when and where but that the Prime Minister had discussed the situation with Jacqui Smith.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Home Secretary, the PMS said yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any enquiry underway at the Home Office as to how the documents had leaked, the PMS said it was best to speak to the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again about the SIA requirements, the PMS said that the Home Office could give the details, but his understanding was that the SIA imposed a number of requirements on firms in the security industry, checks that needed to be made before somebody was employed, for example, does a person have a criminal record. In July, they added to the list of those explicit checks that needed to be undertaken, employment status, which of course, companies in the security industry should have been undertaking anyway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the leaked emails implied that there was not much intention of the situation ever being made public, the PMS said that he was not going to discuss Home Office handling plans and that these were matters which he was sure would be dealt with by Jacqui Smith in her statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied that security arrangements were safe enough, the PMS said that when the issue came to light in July action was taken by the Home Office, both to deal with the flow of new employees and to deal with the existing stock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's policy was on announcing issues that were of public interest and was it ok for a department to take action which could be constituted as cover-up, the PMS said that that was a slightly loaded question and that the reasons for the decisions the Home Office took would be set out in Jacqui Smith's statement to Parliament. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again what the Prime Minister's policy was, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's policy was that significant policy announcements should be made to Parliament. Obviously it was for individual departments to make specific decisions in relation to their own area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was of the view that something that would concern the public like this should be made public immediately, the PMS repeated that it was for the Home Office to discuss the rationale for individual decisions that were taken in their department and that was what Jacqui Smith would be doing in her statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any steps taken to see whether the same thing could happen in other industries, the PMS said that obviously the Government wanted to ensure that those who were here working were legally entitled to work. He was sure that the Home Office could explain exactly what they were doing across the board.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reminder as to what the Prime Minister's view was on the use of spin and &amp;quot;burying bad news&amp;quot;, the PMS said that it was the Prime Minister's general view, as he had said before, that significant announcements should be made to Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied with the fact that we would not know whether or not the 5000 cases had been checked until the end of December, the PMS said that that was potentially a large number of people so it would take time to go through and check them all. He repeated that it would be best to wait for Jacqui Smith's statement for a fuller and more detailed explanation on that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In reference to a story in the Sunday Mirror, it was asked when the Prime Minister became aware that somebody who had been protecting him was an illegal immigrant, the PMS said that it seemed to be an unsubstantiated story. It was the Metropolitan Police who were responsible for the Prime Minister's security. They took whatever steps were necessary to make sure the Prime Minister was secure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the issue was raised at Cabinet this morning, the PMS said no.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Jacqui Smith volunteered to make the statement or if it was suggested to her by the Prime Minister, the PMS repeated that he did not want to get into a discussion about who said what to who and that Jacqui Smith would have no difficulty making a statement to the House of Commons on a matter like this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked, hypothetically, if it wasn't the case that if you couldn't check somebody's immigration status, that every other check would fall down, by definition that they were not registered as being in this country, the PMS said that it was best to talk to the Home Office for details.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13751.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-13 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-13 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:58" post_name="immigration-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4913" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/13/4913" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister last spoke to General Musharraf, the PMS said that he wasn't sure of the exact date but they spoke before the state of emergency was discussed. There had been regular contact with the Pakistan Government at all levels on an almost daily basis.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13751.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-13 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-13 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:57" post_name="general-musharraf" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="General Musharraf" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4914" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/13/4914" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about Jack Dromey's criticism of British jobs for British workers, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was very comfortable with his explanation for British jobs for British workers, most recently set out in his interview at the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13751.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-13 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-13 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:56" post_name="jack-dromey" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Jack Dromey" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4915" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/13/4915" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was thinking about stopping some shops selling alcohol at certain times, the PMS said that there were a number of different reviews underway; the BCMS expected to complete an evaluation of the impact of the Licensing Act by the end of this year. The evaluation was looking at every aspect of the Act, from crime and disorder and sales of alcohol to children to cutting red tape and A &amp;amp; E studies such as the one carried out by Cardiff University. There was also a Home Office review looking at the impact of the licensing regime on crime and disorder - we expected that to report in the New Year. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13751.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-13 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-13 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-13 10:00:55" post_name="alcohol" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Alcohol" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4916" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/13/4916" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by informing Lobby of the security reviews that would be published tomorrow, and the Prime Minister's statement to the House.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the two security reviews would be published before the Prime Minister's statement tomorrow, the PMS replied that the assumption was that the Prime Minister would lay the reviews in the House simultaneously. With the Lord West Review it would just be the main conclusions that would be published, as parts were obviously security sensitive. Essentially the point of tomorrow's statement was to give an update following the Prime Minister's statement in July on security. So tomorrow statement would be quite wide ranging and would cover these two aspects in particular. For guidance it was best not to get too excited about anything new coming on 28 days or anything in that territory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked exactly what would be published, because of the sensitivity of the subject matter, the PMS replied that his understanding was that certainly the conclusions of the West Review would be published in the form of a Written Ministerial Statement. His understanding was that the O'Donnell Review would be published in full, but he would check. Certainly there would be new things to say coming out of both of the reviews that the Prime Minister would update the House on tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if both the reviews had been discussed in Cabinet this morning, or within the relevant Cabinet Committees, the PMS replied that they had been discussed within Government with the relevant Ministers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a bit more flavour on the PM's statement tomorrow, the PMS replied that the best thing to do was look back at the sorts of territory the Prime Minister covered in his July statement. It was essentially an update on that with a number of new elements to it including where we were following Lord West's work and following Sir Gus O'Donnell's work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reminder of the genesis of Lord West's report, the PMS replied that the context was that this was set up after the failed terror attacks in London and in Glasgow. At the time we said that we did not want to rush into any conclusions that were not properly thought through. So Lord West, a great expert on security matters, was asked to do a piece of work over a period of time looking at issues relating to security in crowded pieces and the political infrastructure. That piece of work has now concluded.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this would mean looking at nightclubs, and airports for example, the PMS replied that we should wait for the statement tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13753.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-13 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-13 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-13 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-13 15:45:58" post_name="security-statement" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Security Statement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4917" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/13/4917" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a written statement from Ruth Kelly tomorrow on airlines, the PMS replied that this was a possibility, but best to check with the department.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for any comment on the report in the FT this morning that the Chancellor was being updated on the difficulty of getting through Heathrow for business leaders, the PMS replied that this was one for the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13753.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-13 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-13 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-13 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-13 15:45:57" post_name="misc-21" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4918" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/14/4918" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in his Security Minister to make his own statements and judgements, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that yes he did.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what happened then between Lord West going on the Today Programme when he said that he still needed to be fully convinced that we absolutely need more than 28 days, and a statement released by the Home Office later this morning where he said that we needed to legislate now so that we had the powers in place if we need them, the PMS replied that Lord West's statement, the second one referred to, spoke for itself. Lord West also said on the Today Programme that one can build up a very good case and rationalise it. There might well be a case, particularly if there are multiple attacks at the same time, which would go beyond that i.e. 28 days, and Lord Carlile mentioned that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord West decided himself to make the second statement, the PMS replied that Lord West thought it was necessary to make sure that his position was properly understood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to what extent the Prime Minister played a role in getting Lord West to change his mind, the PMS replied that he was not sure that Lord West had changed his mind. Lord West had made his position clear in his statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Lord West did meet with the Prime Minister after his interview, the PMS replied that he was at the breakfast meeting this morning with the Prime Minister as the TV footage showed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister discussed his comments, the PMS replied that he was not going to discuss discussions between the Prime Minister and other Ministers. Lord West had made his position quite clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was our position that there was no contradiction between Lord West's words at 08:20 and his words at 09:50, the PMS replied that his 09:50 statement made his position quite clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked therefore was it our position that Lord West's earlier statement was a slip or that he changed his mind, the PMS replied that Lord West set out his views quite clearly in his second statement. On the Today Programme he did refer to that fact that there had been a number of cases that had gone right up to the 28 day limit. And he did say that one could build a very good reason and rational for extending the case beyond that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Lord West did not seem to think the case was fully established, the PMS replied that clearly extending beyond 28 days was a serious matter, and we needed to convince Parliament and the public of the case for that. That was why the Prime Minister was keen to ensure that should we extend the terror detention limit beyond 28 days that there would be tighter parliamentary and judicial oversight. That was included in the proposals that we set out on the summer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that the Prime Minister still needed to be convinced that we absolutely needed an extension beyond 28 days, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position was the Government's position, that there was a case for extending beyond 28 days for the reasons set out in the document the Home Office published in July. But any extension beyond 28 days would have to be accompanied by stronger judicial and parliamentary oversight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had persuaded Lord West or presented him with new evidence, the PMS replied that Lord West made clear his position in his second statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Lord West said in his statement that it would be &amp;quot;dreadful&amp;quot; if we could not change the laws, and asked if this was the Prime Minister's position, the PMS replied that we had set out our position in July, and made clear at the time that there was a case for going beyond 28 days. There were good reasons for this, and they were set out in the Home Office document in July. But this was a consultative process and we wanted to find a consensual solution to this. Any extension beyond 28 days did need to be accompanied by stronger judicial and parliamentary oversight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it we had not gone a bit further than this in recent weeks to the point that we were saying there would be an increase to between 28 and 56 days, and the only question was how big the increase would be, the PMS replied that the position had not changed. We had set out a number of options, and that the Government's preferred option was extending beyond 28 days, as long as it was accompanied by the additional measure on parliamentary and judicial oversight as set out in the document.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the way Lord West was treated was destined to destroy his credibility, the PMS replied that this was not the case at all. Lord West had made his position quite clear. He was a great expert on security, and his words spoke for themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if was our position that Lord West misspoke in his Today Programme interview, or that he failed to articulate what he wanted to articulate, the PMS replied that Lord West set out his position clearly in his second statement. And on his Today Programme interview, he made a number of points on why there was a case for moving beyond 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that if he was happy with his Today interview, why was there the need to issue subsequent statements, the PMS replied that Lord West had issued a subsequent statement, and he had made his position quite clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to deny that there was any attempt by No10 or the Prime Minister to persuade the Security Minister to issue another statement, the PMS replied that Lord West had made his position quite clear. He went out and made his statement, and his words spoke for themselves.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone had reminding him of what collective responsibility meant for a Minister, the PMS replied that there was no need to, Lord West had gone out and made his position perfectly clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if when Ministers joined Government from outside bodies, did they receive any training or induction, the PMS replied that Lord West was a very experienced individual, former First Sea Lord, Former Chief of Defence Intelligence, and had a lot of experience in dealing with the media in his previous military capacity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord West would be giving any more interviews today, the PMS replied that he was not aware of any plans.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be covering &amp;quot;hearts and minds&amp;quot; in his statement, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be covering that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13760.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-14 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-14 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:58" post_name="security" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Security" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4919" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/14/4919" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on the e-borders Raytheon bid, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to the Home Office on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it seemed to have been announced not in Parliament or on a regulatory news service, but in the Sun, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a leak from Downing Street, the PMS replied that it was not as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a leak inquiry, the PMS replied only if a leak inquiry was considered necessary. But it was best to speak to the Home Office on this as they were responsible for the e-borders contract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be announced today, the PMS replied that it was best to wait and see.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Home Office had been briefing on this last night, and if that was the case, would there be a leak inquiry, the PMS replied that he did not know if that was the case. He had no information to suggest that this was the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that when the Prime Minister took over in June there was a very clear message that Parliament would always be told first, and there has been a long history of Government announcing contracts either to Parliament or to the Stock Exchange, the PMS replied that an assertion had been put to him which at this point he had no evidence to substantiate. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if there would be having a leak inquiry, the PMS replied that we would have to look into this.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13760.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-14 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-14 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:57" post_name="e-borders" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="E-Borders" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4920" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/14/4920" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that General Musharraf had said he would not resign, although he considered it, and that any election would be held under emergency powers, and asked for a reaction, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister and David Miliband set out the Government's position earlier this week. The Commonwealth position, which we fully supported, called for the restoration of the constitution, the immediate release of detainees, removal of curbs on the media and rapid moves towards creation of free and fair elections.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Musharraf's comments did not seem to fall in line with that, the PMS replied that the Commonwealth had called for restoration of the constitution, and for rapid moves towards the creation of conditions for free and fair elections.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we still regarded Musharraf as an ally in the war against terror, the PMS replied that the internal issues in relation to Pakistan in terms of how they choose their leader was up to them. Our position was that we wanted to see constitutional processes restored and free and fair elections. But we did take our relationship with Pakistan very seriously.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13760.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-14 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-14 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:56" post_name="pakistan-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4921" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/14/4921" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the piece in the Guardian today on British jobs for British workers in the Premier League, and asked if there was anything that the Government could do, the PMS replied that this was clearly a matter for the football authorities. There were discussions that took place between the Government and the football authorities on a number of issues, but primarily this was something for them. The Prime Minister did think that football was a powerful force for social integration. The Prime Minister has supported the Kickz project, which was a good example of how football could be a force for social integration. But the Premier League and UEFA rules were a matter for the authorities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that presumably non-EU players would have to be licensed in some way to play for the clubs, the PMS replied that they would be subject to the relevant immigration laws.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it was a good idea that there was a large number of foreigners in British football both from inside the EU and outside, the PMS replied that he had never heard the Prime Minister express a view on that subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why Downing Street was worried about foreign players in the Premier League, and what did this have to do with Government, the PMS replied that these were issues that are raised by the football authorities when they have occasional meetings with representatives of the Government. But the Prime Minister's view was that football is a powerful force for social integration and did play a wider social role. Therefore he is keen to support projects like the Kickz project which gets young people off the streets and involved in team sports in some of our deprived communities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13760.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-14 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-14 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:55" post_name="british-footballers" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="British Footballers" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4922" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/14/4922" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the former Prime Minister Tony Blair was seeing President Bush next week, and asked if he would be having talks with the Prime Minister before he goes, and was there a role he could play, the PMS replied that the former Prime Minister was the Quartet's representative on the Middle East Peace Process. The Prime Minister talked occasionally to his predecessor as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Mr Blair was helping smooth relations with America, the PMS replied that Mr Blair was the Quartet's representative on the Middle East Peace Process.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13760.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-14 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-14 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-14 10:00:54" post_name="middle-east-envoy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Middle East Envoy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4923" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/14/4923" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was ordering or advising that extra barriers/barricades be put up in certain places to stop car bombs, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS), replied that it depended on who owned them as to whether or not the responsibility fell to the Government or the private sector. There would be a process of consultation with the relevant organisations and further updated and more tailored advice given to specific organisations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there presumably would not be any money to help them do it, the PMS said that there were Government resources in terms of providing more tailored and specific advice. Obviously the security of individual buildings was the responsibility of the people who owned them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the time frame would be in terms of bag searches at railway stations, the PMS said that people should wait and see. One of the conclusions of what Lord West had said that these things had to be looked at on a case by case basis and clearly we were not going to pre-announce exactly which buildings we were talking about or what would happen. Part of what today was about was preparing the public for the possibility that they may start to see some changes in the physical layout of buildings where people gather.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant there would be checks at railway stations, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had raised that as a possibility in his statement today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that was something which the Government could compel people to do or just something to be advised, the PMS said that the police had certain powers and that they were central to this process. The police and the relevant people in the Home Office would be working in close consultation with the companies involved to discuss with them what their specific security requirements might be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be security guards at every station checking every bag before people boarded their trains, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had said that that may be necessary in certain circumstances where it was judged so by the police and the security experts.&lt;br /&gt;Asked if any advice had been taken from any foreign agencies in terms of best practise, the PMS said that it was best to speak to the Home Office to find out what exactly they had done.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the situation was one where people would be stopped randomly or if specific intelligence would be used, the PMS said these were operational decisions that would need to be taken by the experts. Lord West was emphasising, as was the Prime Minister, that we did not want to unnecessarily inconvenience the travelling public; it was worth noting that, as part of the statement today, we made an announcement on relaxing the one bag rule because in relation to airports it had been possible, due to the new technology around screening, to make it easier for the travelling public. We were not being overly prescriptive in saying there was a specific model in terms of how to do this but what we were saying was that there would be a more systematic approach to looking at critical buildings, for example, the 250 busiest railway stations referred to in the statement, and more tailored advice and consultation from the police and the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who would be responsible for physically doing this, the PMS said that the security of individual buildings was the responsibility of the owners of those buildings but clearly there was a wider public safety interest and that was why the Government was increasing its efforts to supply more and more tailored advice to individual companies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the &amp;quot;new unit&amp;quot; mentioned in the Prime Minister's statement would be called and what it would do specifically, the PMS said that he did not have that information to hand but that his understanding was that that was something which was already in train and that he would make sure the journalist got a specific answer to the question.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would have to be the companies themselves who would pay for the equipment, security guards etc, and conduct the operation, the PMS said that one of the examples was working with architects to make sure the additional security measures were factored in at an early stage of building and design in order to ensure that this was done in the most cost effective way. It would be through sensible planning and building on the experience of things where the Government already worked quite closely with organisations, for example sports or other large visitor attractions, that progress could be made. It was something we would want to do in as an efficient a way as possible. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that could not be done, for example, with the 250 busiest railway stations, the PMS said that they would have to be gone through systematically and look at which of those were most at threat, prioritise within that and then take any action which the relevant authorities felt were necessary. Something like road layout, for example, might be the responsibility of the local authorities; there were a number of different agencies involved.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be the operating companies responsible for those railway stations who would have to pay for any extra work done, the PMS said that it depended on what we were talking about; if it was the road network outside, then that might be owned by the local authority. It was difficult to give a specific answer because each circumstance would be different. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government anticipated any cost to the Government on these security measures, the PMS said that we were saying that we were increasing the number of security advisors, for example. If there was anything that the Government needed to do then clearly that would need to be looked at and paid for in relation to the Government's own buildings, if that was what the question was implying.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister said to Lord West to persuade him to change his mind about 28 days, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had dealt with this at Prime Minister's Questions today. Lord West was not saying anything in his second statement today which he hadn't said back in July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why Lord West said what he did in his first statement, the PMS said that that was a question for Lord West's spokesman. Lord West had set out his position quite clearly in his second statement today, which was completely consistent with what he had said previously.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Government would explain why a Minister in such an important position had to make three statements to clarify what he meant, the PMS said that, as he had said in the morning press briefing, Lord West said in his 8.10am Today programme interview that he did think that there was an increasing trend towards more complex cases in relation to the terrorist detention issue. Lord West said, as part of his interview, &amp;quot;You know one can build up a very good reason and rationale that it, [i.e. the extension beyond 28 days] there might well be a case, particularly if there are multiple, multiple attacks at the same time, which will go beyond that and Lord Carlile mentioned that.&amp;quot; This was entirely consistent with what he said later on in the morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord West would be appearing on programmes like the Today programme again, the PMS said he was sure he would.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister felt that this was an occupational hazard for appointing non-politicians, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that Lord West was a very good Minister; he had a lot of expertise which he was bringing to bear, for example, in his report today and that he was a great attribute to the Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister wanted to move Lord West to defence procurement, the PMS said that he was not aware of that and had not seen that report.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13763.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-14 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-14 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-14 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-14 15:45:58" post_name="security-statement-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Security Statement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4924" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/15/4924" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Guardian seemed to suggest this morning that there was the possibility of EU countries doing more collectively on defence and that there would be a review of this, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said it was best to speak to the Foreign Office for an interpretation of David Miliband's speech. His understanding was that he had been talking about European Member States doing more in relation to, for example, burden sharing in Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the &amp;quot;model power&amp;quot; discussed in David Miliband's speech was the European Union as a whole rather than a group of individual states, the PMS said he thought that David Miliband had been talking, specifically in relation to defence, more about individual countries doing more in terms of burden sharing in Afghanistan, to give an example; he specifically refered to that in his speech.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what was wrong with a European army intervening in somewhere like Darfur, the PMS said that we did have EU peacekeeping forces in Chad, for example, and in the Congo, but obviously defence matters were matters for Member States. Member States could cooperate, for example, in relation to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Miliband was setting up Europe as an entity as opposed to NATO by saying Europe had shared values, the PMS said that he did not think that was what David Miliband was doing. Members of the European Union did have shared values, as did members of NATO, and those values were pretty much the same, as far as the PMS could tell.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on this, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's view was that there had been no change in terms of the Government's position in relation to EU defence matters or in terms of the relationship between the European Union and NATO.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's position was in relation to EU defence matters, the PMS said that it was the same position which had been set out in endless white papers and official statements over the years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the EU defence capability review was, the PMS said he did not recognise what the journalist was referring to - there had been no reference to such a thing in David Miliband's speech.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that, in theory, there were similarities between the EU and NATO's rapid reaction force, the PMS agreed and said that EU peacekeeping troops, where appropriate, had gone into action, for example, in Chad, the Congo and elsewhere. The position in relation to EU and NATO had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Miliband should be encouraging European Union states to bolster the NATO effort, the PMS said that that was what he thought David Miliband had been doing in his speech.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the speech was seen in advance by the Prime Minister, the PMS said that, as would be expected, if the Foreign Secretary was giving a major speech on foreign policy, of course he would discuss that with the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13775.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-15 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-15 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:58" post_name="david-miliband-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="David Miliband Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4925" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/15/4925" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord Carlile had been right in thinking that there would be decisions from the Home Office regarding terror detention in the next 48 hours, the PMS said no.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how far away such decisions and announcements were, the PMS said people should wait and see, but as he had said this morning, there needed to be further consideration of the options and we were not yet in the position to put forward any new proposals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was surprise regarding Liberty's suggestion that the Government had not fully understood their position, the PMS said that he was not sure if that was what Liberty had said. The Government wanted to work with Liberty and with all of the major interests, including the opposition parties, to find a consensual approach to this; we were not going about this in an antagonistic way; we wanted to do this on a consensual and cooperative basis by talking to and working with people to find a solution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that both David Davis and Liberty were saying that the Government was misrepresenting where they were coming from, the PMS said it was not for him to comment on what David Davis was saying; there would be further discussions with the opposition parties in the coming weeks and we would have to see where that would get us to.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13775.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-15 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-15 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:57" post_name="terror-detention" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Terror Detention" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4926" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/15/4926" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was accepted that the Government was scaling back the involvement of the private sector in the health service, the PMS said we would not accept that; the policy on the role of the private sector in the health sector remained the same. We were totally committed to using the independent sector where it represented value for money.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it did not represent value for money, the PMS repeated that the policy had not changed and we were committed to using the independent sector, but as in all Government decisions in relation to Government money, it had to represent value for money.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13775.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-15 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-15 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:56" post_name="private-sector-and-health" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Private Sector and Health" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4927" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/15/4927" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a good or bad thing that the immigration statistics showed that more people were coming and more people were leaving, the PMS said that Hazel Blears had said something on behalf of the Government and that was what the position was. Net migration levels had fallen for the second consecutive year.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13775.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-15 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-15 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-15 15:45:55" post_name="immigration-statistics" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration Statistics" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4928" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/15/4928" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what evidence there was to extend the detention period to 56 days, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that as we set our in our July document, there was evidence to suggest increasing trends in the length of time that it was necessary in order to question people in complex terrorist case, to make a case for extending the terror detention limit beyond 28 days. But as we also said in the July document, and had been saying consistently, we did make clear that one of the options on which we were consulting was that there would be additional safeguards for any period of pre-charge detention over 28 days including an application of each period of 7 days beyond 28 days to be approved by the Director of Public Prosecutions before being decided by a high court judge, the Home Secretary to notify Parliament of any extension beyond 28 days as soon as practicable after the extension had been granted with a requirement to provide a further statement to Parliament on the individual case, and an option for the House to scrutinise and debate this, an annual Parliamentary debate with the powers being subject to annual review as now, and the Independent Reviewer of Terrorism Legislation to report on the operation of the pre-charge detention powers in order to form that parliamentary debate. It had always been the Government's view that there was a case for considering extending the pre-charge detention period beyond 28 days. But in order to do that there would need to be a number of safeguards put in place. First that each application is considered on a case by case period, and is only extended for fixed periods of time, secondly that there is stronger judicial oversight, and thirdly that there was stronger parliamentary oversight. And finally to ensure that you can't keep extending it for periods of seven days indefinitely, it would be subject a maximum limit. That was what we were consulting on, that had been the position since July, and that remained the position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that firstly option one in the Home Office document did not refer to fixed period of time, secondly that there was no mention of Home Secretary approval so that was a new safeguard, and thirdly there was no suggestion before that option one and option three could be somehow merged, the PMS replied that we were always clear that this was a consultation on a series of proposals. Four options were put out, clearly there would have to be detailed discussion and consideration on the specifics of these proposals. We did say that there would be a role for the Home Secretary in notifying Parliament of any extension beyond 28 days. In relation to the Liberty proposal referred to, it was interesting that Liberty and others did seem to be accepting that there were circumstances for which it is acceptable for the pre-charge detention period to be longer than 28 days. So if you accepted that as a principal, which some now did, the question is what are the safeguards that need to be put in place in order to enable that. Now the Prime Minister happens to think, and he said yesterday, that declaring a state of emergency in order to deal with what could be a small number of individual case might be seen as a bit of an over reaction. So the question was is there a better way of putting in place the protections you need in order to deliver on what appears to be some consensus around the suggestions that there are circumstances in which it is necessary to hold people for longer than 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were confirming that one of the options the Government was considering was picking up some of those structures that currently exist under a range of powers under the Civil Contingencies Act, and cherry-picking the best bits namely a shorter period of time under which this could take place or extra safeguards for example, and including that into option one, the PMS replied that he was not confirming anything beyond what was set out in the July document, because that was the Government's stated position. But there was a consultation on this, there were a number of options, and all of this needed to be looked at in detail. The key point was that if there was an acceptance of the need to go beyond 28 days in particular circumstances, then did we have the right safeguards in place. That was what the consultation was about.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the status was of the latest set of proposals that have emerged from the Home Office, the PMS replied that at the moment the Government's position was that set out in July. That included a number of options that we were consulting on. We said at the time that our preferred option was the option explained earlier. Clearly there was ongoing consideration in light of the consultation. Asked if this was the conclusion of the consultation, the PMS replied that it was not.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister said in his statement that he thought there was now a consensus on questioning post-charge, and asked what he thought that consensus was, the PMS replied that consensus was that there was a case for extending the period of post-charge questioning. Asked for how long, the PMS replied that he did not have the information to hand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were saying that basically nothing had happened except that the continuing process of consultation was going on, and that today's reports of a new formula were incorrect, the PMS replied PMS replied that we had set out a number of options in our consultation document in July. As far as he could tell on the basis of what was reported on the BBC this morning, that seemed to be broadly consistent with the options we set out in July, i.e. there is an acceptance that there is a case for going beyond 28 days, there was a need for strongly judicial oversight, a need for stronger parliamentary oversight, but there is a need for a maximum limit so that people could not be held for ever longer periods. But we wanted to do this in a way that did not necessarily mean that you had to invoke a state of emergency if you wanted to hold a handful of people for a slightly longer period of time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were within days of an update on the consultation, the PMS replied that he would not want to put an exact timetable on it, but there would need to be further discussion with the opposition parties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a consensus among police forces, the PMS replied that the journalist would need to speak to the police forces.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the BBC was reporting this morning that some powers from option three could be brought across into option one, and this was not the Government's position, the PMS referred journalists to what the Prime Minister had said yesterday. The key element in option three in order to make this happen without legislative change, was that emergency powers would be evoked under the 2004 Civil Contingencies Act. The Prime Minister said yesterday that he did not believe that it would be a good thing for a terrorist group to be given the oxygen of publicity by having us declare a state of emergency in order to investigate it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we therefore wanted new powers without calling a state of emergency, the PMS replied that there was an ongoing consultation, and we had set out a number of options. A lot of the subsequent debate had been focussed very much on the figure, but actually looking at the July document it was clear that a lot of the safeguards that were being referred to this morning were actually being set out in our option one.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Home Secretary's approval of an extension beyond 28 days was new, the PMS replied that option one did say that the Home Secretary would have to notify parliament in relation to each case with the possibility of a parliamentary debate on that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anything untrue in the BBC report this morning, the PMS replied that he thought the BBC's report did not seem to be that much more than going back over a lot of the options that were set out in the consultation document in July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the report could be classed as the outcome of a spin operation, the PMS that he had no idea - but it was certainly not the outcome of a Downing Street spin operation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we thought there was an emerging consensus that we could discuss going beyond 28 days, and discuss what safeguards, the PMS replied that Liberty and others did seem to accept that there were circumstances in which it was necessary to hold people beyond 28 days. So if we could accept that as a matter of principal, we were then into a technical detailed discussion of about exactly what was the legal mechanism and what are the safeguards that needed to be in place in order to deliver that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we thought the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats accepted that principal, the PMS replied that it was not for him to comment on the positions taken by the opposition parties. But Liberty for example had accepted that there were circumstances beyond which it may be necessary to hold people beyond 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Liberty's position was not so much that they thought this was all right, as we have these powers so that we don't ignore these powers, and they said there were circumstances when this could be done for example under national emergency, and that we would like to edge the powers back from being a national emergency, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said yesterday that declaring a state of emergency in order to deal with a small number of individual cases, may be considered to be a bit of an over reaction. So the question was, if you were accepting that there were circumstances in which it may be necessary to go beyond 28 days, was there a better way of achieving this in a way that satisfies peoples concerns about individual liberty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the importance of the Civil Contingencies Act was that it was designed to comply with the framework necessary to get the UK a temporary derogation from the European Convention on Human Rights, the PMS replied that the Home Office could give a definitive answer on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who apart from Liberty were part of this consensus, the PMS replied that it was not for him to comment on the position taken by the opposition parties, but Liberty had quite an important role to play in this debate.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13774.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-15 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-15 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-15 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-15 10:00:58" post_name="pre-charge-detention-period" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pre-charge Detention Period" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4929" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/15/4929" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Sir Gus O'Donnell had been given evidence to the Public Administration Select Committee and it had been reported that he said that the police should not have started their investigation in to cash for honours without checking whether the law would really allow prosecutions in the first place, and asked if this was Downing Street's view, the PMS replied that he had not seen the evidence, and even if he had he would not be commenting on that matter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13774.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-15 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-15 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-15 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-15 10:00:57" post_name="police-inquiry" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Inquiry" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4930" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/15/4930" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister was asked yesterday whether he could give an assurance that the loan and the interest on the loan would be repaid by 2010, and asked if we expected the loan and the interest to be paid by the buyer of Northern Rock, the PMS replied that we had nothing to add to the Prime Minister's words yesterday. For detail check with the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister did not answer the question yesterday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said all he had to say on the subject of Northern Rock yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13774.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-15 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-15 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-15 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-15 10:00:56" post_name="northern-rock-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4931" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/16/4931" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Briefing from the Prime Minister's Spokesman on: Gun and Gang Crime, Opium growth in Afghanistan, Pre-Briefs/Speeches and David Miliband Speech and Pre-charge Detention&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;/output/Page746.asp&quot;&gt;Downing Street press briefings explained&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13790.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-16 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-16 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:58" post_name="afternoon-press-briefing-from-16-november-2007" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afternoon press briefing from 16 November 2007" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4932" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/16/4932" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for details on who would be at the regional meeting re gun and gang crime, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that it would be attended by police, local agencies and people in the local community.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13790.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-16 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-16 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:57" post_name="gun-and-gang-crime" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Gun and Gang Crime" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4933" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/16/4933" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Government's policy to destroy crops, the PMS said it was part of the Government's strategy in Afghanistan to deal with the opium issue. In terms of forward planning, the Prime Minister had said that he would be making a statement to the House of Commons on Afghanistan issues generally, and that would happen within the next couple of weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the idea of paying farmers money, the PMS said it was best to wait until the Prime Minister had given his statement to the House of Commons for any announcements on that subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Americans had been pushing the British to do more to destroy crops and asked what the Prime Minister's view was, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's view was that we had to work closely with communities in terms of dealing with this problem. It was best to go to the Foreign Office for the definitive position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was opposed to aerial spraying, the PMS said that you had to consider all of the options, but it was important that we worked alongside local communities to find a solution to the problem involved in opium growing in Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was agreement with Lord Malloch-Brown that the only people who agreed with aerial spraying were the Americans, the PMS said that he had not seen that particular comment from Lord Malloch-Brown.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would consider the case for licensing the opium trade, the PMS said, as he had said before, the Prime Minister would report to the House of Commons on the Government's future strategy in Afghanistan in the next few weeks.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13790.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-16 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-16 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:56" post_name="opium-growth-in-afghanistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Opium growth in Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4934" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/16/4934" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if pre-briefs to the press regarding a speech should reflect the content of the speech, the PMS said yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was concern regarding discrepancies between pre-briefs on a speech and the content of the final speech, the PMS said that that was not something for him to comment on and furthermore it was something he would not want to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister spoke to the Foreign Secretary before he made his speech, the PMS said that the Prime Minister spoke to the Foreign Secretary on an almost daily basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister spoke to the Foreign Secretary about the speech he gave yesterday, the PMS repeated what he had said yesterday, which was that if the Foreign Secretary was giving a major speech on foreign policy then of course that would be discussed with the Prime Minister just as the Prime Minister spoke, at great length and on many occasions, to the Foreign Secretary ahead of his speech on foreign policy on Monday (12 November).&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had specifically asked David Miliband to remove passages from his speech, the PMS said that the content of the Foreign Secretary's speech was a matter for the Foreign Secretary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the PMS had just said it was a matter for both of them, the PMS said that in terms of the substance of the policy measures which were announced, obviously that was something which was discussed between the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary but how exactly the Foreign Secretary chose to express that was a matter for him.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13790.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-16 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-16 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:55" post_name="pre-briefsspeeches-and-david-miliband-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pre-Briefs/Speeches and David Miliband Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4935" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/16/4935" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any discussions going on at the Home Office today regarding putting proposals forward on pre-charge detention, the PMS said that he was sure there discussions going on at the Home Office about all sorts of issues every day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13790.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-16 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-16 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-16 15:45:54" post_name="pre-charge-detention" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pre-charge Detention" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4936" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/19/4936" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Treasury had said spoken today of a possible residual reliability to the tax payer and that the only way the Government could get its money back would be to call in the secured loan and bankrupt Northern Rock, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that he thought that quite a few assumptions had been made in order to reach that final proposition. The Treasury made their statement this morning; this was a highly market-sensitive matter and the Chancellor would make a statement to the House of Commons this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13793.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-19 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-19 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4937" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/19/4937" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Tessa Jowell and James Purnell announcement was about, the PMS said that it was best to check with DCMS. It was an announcement on sports legacy so it sounded like it was something to do with the legacy from the Olympics but it was best to check with DCMS.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13793.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-19 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-19 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:57" post_name="sports-legacy-annoucement" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sports Legacy Annoucement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4938" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/19/4938" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it had been confirmed that the Prime Minister was looking to offer a job to Fiona Phillips, the PMS said that we would not comment on individuals and referred journalists back to previous statements that had been made by the Prime Minister where he had said that he would welcome all good men and women of talent who wanted to make a contribution to public life. The PMS said he would not get into commenting on every single individual name that came up in the future.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13793.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-19 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-19 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:56" post_name="fiona-phillips" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Fiona Phillips" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4939" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/19/4939" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's speech on the environment was a response to the report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the PMS said that he did not think it was a specific response to that. The Prime Minister responded on behalf of the Government on Saturday specifically to the IPCC report. The speech today was the first major speech the Prime Minister will have given as Prime Minister on the environment. What people were seeing was the Prime Minister going through issue by issue, comprehensively setting his views on some of the big issues of the day. Today he was talking about the environment; last week he gave a major speech on foreign policy; the week before he was talking about education; the week before that he was talking about Liberty and the Governance of Britain. He was setting out, across the piece in a comprehensive step-by-step way, what he saw as the future direction on a range of important policy matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the short-term and long-term goals, the PMS said that Hilary Benn had answered that specific question this morning; obviously we needed to set out what we thought our long-term objectives were but we also needed to set out some examples of the sort of practical steps that may have to be taken to deliver on that year by year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we were missing our targets, the PMS said that what the Prime Minister was doing today was seeing out a series of longer-term objectives and setting out a comprehensive strategy as to how we might deliver on those.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13793.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-19 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-19 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:55" post_name="environment-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Environment Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4940" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/19/4940" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was considering allowing a free vote on the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, the PMS said that the position was that this was a Government Bill and would be treated as such.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13793.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-19 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-19 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:54" post_name="human-fertilisation-and-embryology-bill" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4941" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/19/4941" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was going to be at the England v Croatia game on Wednesday, the PMS said that there were no current plans.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why that was, as he had gone to the Scotland game at the weekend, the PMS said that the Prime Minister could not go to every match but obviously these things were kept under review. The PMS went on to say that some people had argued that the Prime Minister had not necessarily been the best of omens so far but he would let others make that judgement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13793.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-19 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-19 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-19 10:00:53" post_name="football-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4942" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/19/4942" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by highlighting a number of points from the Prime Minister's speech on the environment. Firstly, the Prime Minister referred to asking the Committee on Climate Change whether we should go beyond the 60% target for 2050, he went on to say that our own domestic targets should be tightened up to 80%. Later in the speech the Prime Minister referred to plastic bags as an illustration as kind of smaller behavioural changes that may be necessary. He then referred to the Government convening a forum of the supermarkets to urgently assess together how and how quickly this reduction could be achieved. We had a joint initiative with the French to persuade the European Commission to include environmentally friendly products on the list of products eligible for a lower rate of VAT. So one of the options that may be considered, if we could get the Commission to agree, might be a lower rate of VAT on alternative products to single use plastic bags.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on the last point if any contacts had been made with the Commission, the PMS replied that we already had in general terms lobbied back in July to extend the range of products that are eligible for a lower rate of VAT to include environmentally friendly products.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about increasing the amount of electricity generated from renewable sources, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did emphasise in his speech the growing importance of renewable energy in the future. Clearly there would need to be a European process for deciding what the Prime Minister described as &amp;quot;our fair share&amp;quot; of the 20% European target, and that was something we expected in the new year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was quite so enthusiastic about renewables, why was the renewable energy strategy not coming out until spring 2009, the PMS replied that clearly this was a very big and wide ranging set of issues that needed to be looked at across Government. He would check as to why there were any particular reasons for that timetable, but the Prime Minister was signalling the importance of renewable energy going forward and indicating the types of things the Government might do in order to encourage it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the whole tenor of the speech was one of urgency, yet it comes to a grinding halt on page 15 where it said we will launch a consultation next year, the PMS replied that if we were talking about a significant expansion of wind farms for example, obviously as the Prime Minister recognised in the speech, this did raise issues for local communities and others that needed to be looked at. But nobody should be in any doubt about the significance the Prime Minister attached to this particular strategy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about wind farms and local communities benefiting from the economic opportunities they created, and was the idea that you could get cheaper electricity if you had a wind farm in your community for example, the PMS replied that these were the sorts of issues that might be explored.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would be looking to ban plastic bags, the PMS replied that at the moment we were talking about working with the supermarkets and trying to make progress on a voluntary basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about a report published today on the potential economic benefits to green technology, the PMS replied that he would chase this up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when talking about &amp;quot;Britain's fair share&amp;quot; if we had a figure in mind, the PMS replied that we would have to see what the European Commission came up with.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that surely we would be advocating a figure, and would not just go there and wait to be told, the PMS replied that the process would be that the European Commission proposes a figure which would then be agreed in the relevant council.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were saying that if France, Germany and Italy for example could provide 19% of the energy produced in Europe by renewables, we could get away with the rest, the PMS replied that we started from a position where we have a very low rate of renewable energy production in this country. This was something that the Commission would take into account in any deliberations, as they have said. The Prime Minister was setting out quite clearly his determination to ensure that renewables become a significant component of Britain's energy production in the future.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13801.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-19 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-19 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-19 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-19 15:45:58" post_name="pms-environment-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PM's Environment Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4943" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/20/4943" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began the briefing with a brief readout from this morning's Cabinet meeting. There was a discussion on skills and welfare led by Peter Hain and John Denham, in the general context of the long term challenges that need to be met in order to face the future needs of the country and to meet people's rising aspirations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Northern Rock was discussed at Cabinet, the PMS replied that it was not.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Counter Terrorism Bill was raised at Cabinet, the PMS replied that again, this was not discussed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anything else was discussed, the PMS replied that there was a further discussion on public health protection.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if &amp;quot;British jobs for British workers&amp;quot; was brought up during the discussion on skills, the PMS replied that this issue was not discussed specifically.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13812.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-20 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-20 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4944" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/20/4944" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Cabinet had discussed the position the Prime Minister would be taking at CHOGM, particularly over Zimbabwe and Pakistan, the PMS replied that this was not discussed at Cabinet this morning, but obviously there had been ongoing discussions in advance of CHOGM. Regarding developments in Pakistan, the Government's position remained the same, that we expect a restoration of constitutional order as soon as possible in order for there to be free and fair elections.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would support the suspension of Pakistan from the Commonwealth, the PMS replied that we should wait until we get to such a position arises before speculating on that. But the Government had already welcomed action taken by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG), and the statement that they issued earlier this month.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this statement was discussed at Cabinet, the PMS replied that the statement was discussed and agreed at a meeting on 12th November that was attended by government ministers. Pakistan was something that was being discussed widely amongst relevant government ministers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13812.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-20 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-20 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:57" post_name="chogmpakistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="CHOGM/Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4945" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/20/4945" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any details of how Lord Darzi came to the rescue in the House of Lords last night with his heart massage, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been briefed on what had happened in the Lords last night, but journalists would need to speak to Lord Darzi's office to get the full account. Obviously we were relieved that the Lord in question was now recovering. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13812.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-20 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-20 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:56" post_name="lord-darzi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Darzi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4946" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/20/4946" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending the football tomorrow night, the PMS replied that diary for tomorrow was still to be finalised. The Prime Minister had been invited by the FA, but a final decision had not been taken. Tomorrow evening there would be a lot of preparation in advance of CHOGM, particularly on Pakistan, but that we would keep journalists updated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the refereeing performance of the Scotland game, the PMS replied that she was not the right person to ask that question. Surprisingly it was not something that she had discussed with the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if she would ask the Prime Minister on behalf of the Lobby, the PMS said, no, she didn't think she would.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13812.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-20 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-20 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-20 10:00:55" post_name="football-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4947" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/20/4947" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister was first told about the situation at HMRC and if the Chancellor at any stage offered to resign, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by explaining to journalists that as the Chancellor's statement was ongoing it was difficult to comment on any specifics around this issue. However, she could confirm that the Prime Minister was informed once the Chancellor had been informed i.e. the Chancellor told the Prime Minister straight away. The Chancellor was going into the chronology of events in his statement. In answer to the second question, no.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again if the Chancellor had offered to resign, the PMS said it was her understanding that the Chancellor had not offered to resign.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been told on 10 November, the PMS replied that the answer to that question and other specifics on chronology were being set out in the statement by the Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the HMRC problem was discussed in Cabinet this morning, the PMS said that Cabinet was informed that a statement of this nature would be made today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that they did not discuss Northern Rock at Cabinet, the PMS said that that was correct.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for specifics on what was discussed at Cabinet regarding HMRC, the PMS made it clear that she was not going to add anything to what she had already said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Chancellor, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in other Treasury Ministers, the PMS replied yes; the Prime Minister had full confidence in his full Government team.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister regretted that Paul Gray had to resign, the PMS said that matters regarding Paul Gray and HMRC were being dealt with at that moment in the House of Commons and it would therefore be inappropriate for her to comment further.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Chancellor had not offered to resign, the PMS said that she was not a spokesperson for the Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the HMRC situation, the PMS said that obviously the Government and the Prime Minister took the protection of personal data, in whatever form, extremely seriously and that was why the Prime Minister fully supported the actions that would be set out by the Chancellor in terms of HMRC particularly, but also why he had undertaken measures to strengthen public information protection. The PMS went on to remind people about the Prime Minister's Liberty speech last month in which he asked the Information Commissioner to carry out a review of the framework in the UK to ensure the security of personal data. This was an issue which the Prime Minister considered to be very important. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister and Paul Gray were at Remembrance Day a day after the 10 November and that the Prime Minister presumably knew at that point, it was asked if they discussed the matter, the PMS said she would have to make enquiries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what Paul Gray's package would be, the PMS said that those details would be set out by the Cabinet Office in due course.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was seeking any further resignations from HMRC as the Chancellor had clearly identified people who had breached procedures, the PMS said that it was not for her to get into HMRC personnel issues; journalists had the statement from the Chancellor. She did not think there was any further information on that aspect of the issue that she could point people towards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on what grounds the decision was taken not to make the situation public, the PMS said that those decisions and the chronology of those decisions were being dealt with in the House of Commons at that moment but that she understood that this was frustrating for journalists.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was a bit surprising that the PMS could not tell journalists about this statement in advance and that that implied that a fairly last minute decision was taken to make the statement today, the PMS said that she had not been in a position to tell journalists that this was happening this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether that meant that the PMS did not know, the PMS repeated that at this morning's lobby she was not in a position to tell people that it would be happening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Paul Gray had signalled that he was intending to resign before and that presumably this could not have been a last minute decision, the PMS said that she was not going to get into any of those types of discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to assume that the Prime Minister was party to the decision when to make this announcement, the PMS said that as you would expect with all major Government business, the Prime Minister's office was consulted and kept informed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13817.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-20 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-20 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-20 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-20 15:45:58" post_name="hmrc" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="HMRC" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4948" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/21/4948" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor had been correct when he said that the situation at HMRC had nothing to do with elements such as merging the departments, cutting jobs and the IT system used, the PMS reminded journalists that the National Audit Office (NAO) recognised in a report in February 2007 that where headcount reductions had been made, HMRC's performance had not been adversely affected, and in some areas had improved substantially. In addition, the Adjudicator for HMRC, Dame Barbara Mills, said in her 2006/7 annual report that there was nothing to suggest that the merger of the two former departments had so far had a negative impact on HMRC customers. As the Chancellor had also said, there was of course an independent review being established, being led by the Chairman of Price Waterhouse Coopers to look at HMRC's data handling procedures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if, in this case, Ministers were taking the blame for what had happened, the PMS said that this particular case was about an individual breaching procedures not about failure in the procedures as such. As he had said, there would be an independent review, undertaken by the Chairman of Price Waterhouse Coopers, looking at HMRC's data handling procedures. The Chancellor was very clear yesterday that what we were talking about was a breach of procedures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if the procedures were designed correctly then they could not be breached, the PMS said that clearly they had been breached and, as the Chancellor had also said, it was clearly unacceptable that they had been breached in this way. Again, we were talking about a breach of procedures as a result of the actions of one individual, but on the wider point, there would be an independent review looking at HMRC's date handling procedures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that one individual acted completely alone, the PMS said that he was not in a position to comment on the specifics; the Chancellor had provided information to the House of Commons yesterday and that was the authoritative account of what had happened, but no doubt there would be further investigations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the same junior official who had been involved in the three reported breaches of security, the PMS said he was sure somebody would know the answer but he did not have that information to hand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would now look at the question of Government databases and how many people had access to them, the PMS said that the Government was looking at this wider issue which was why the Prime Minister announced, in his Liberty speech a couple of weeks ago, that he had asked the Information Commissioner and the Director of the Welcome trust Professor Mark Walport, to carry out a review of the framework in the UK to ensure the security of personal data. The review will look at Government departments as well as other organisations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that the events at HMRC had in no way undermined the case for Identity cards, the PMS said that the case for Identity cards remained the same; obviously in the design process they were factoring in security measures, as would be expected. Biometrics, such as fingerprints, would link a person securely and reliably to his or her unique identity, which meant that it should become much more difficult to misuse another person's identity, even if the full details of his or her biographical information were known.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how junior the civil servant involved in the case was, the PMS said he was not in a position to make any comments about individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had such a thing in mind as extra powers and resources to carry out spot checks on Government departments, which the Information Commissioner had called for today, the PMS said that that was something the Government would need to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was certain that the situation at HMRC had not been handled by a more senior official, the PMS said that the Chancellor had set out the information on this during his statement to the House of Commons yesterday. The PMS said he was not in a position to comment on specific individuals in relation to this case, but as he had said, an independent review on HMRC databases had been initiated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the NAO request for the details had itself been out of order, the PMS said that questions about NAO procedures were best directed to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the NAO should have alerted HMRC to the fact that they had not received the discs, the PMS repeated that questions about NAO procedures were best directed to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that these were questions about procedures between NAO and HMRC, the PMS said that the issues relating to HMRC were being looked at and that would no doubt form part of the independent review that was now underway. He repeated that questions relating to the NAO's role in the events were best directed towards them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government could give any assurance that HMRC had not successfully been sending discs full of personal data to people who had been asking for it, the PMS replied that there were established procedures in relation to the treatment of data which were not adhered to in this particular case, and again referred journalists to the wider review of data security issues that was being conducted at HMRC.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the KPMG inquiry would look for and report other incidences of breaching of data handling procedure, the PMS said it was looking at the wider issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the vagueness of the language used in regards to the KPMG report suggested that what actually happened and how many times things had gone wrong would not necessarily be looked at, the PMS said that the KPMG report was not a report into this particular case, it was about HMRC security processes and procedures for data handling, which would suggest that the report was looking at the wider set of issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the three cases of security breaches and allegations of further ones would be grouped together and looked at, the PMS said that that was something which would have to be considered by the reviewer. He repeated that the review was not about this particular case at HMRC, it was about wider issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a reason why banks were not informed of what had happened at the same time as the police, the PMS said that his understanding was that the banks were told shortly after the police were informed but obviously the first priority was to inform the police from which subsequent action was then taken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any update on the police inquiry into the loss of the discs, the PMS said no, not from us.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Ministers were getting regular reports from the Metropolitan Police and Northumbria Police, the PMS said that it was best to check with the Treasury on exactly what information they were getting from the police and how frequently they were getting that information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this was just a breach of civil service rules and procedures or if there was any possibility of criminal charges, the PMS replied that that was a matter which the Information Commissioner, who was responsible for enforcing the Data Protection Act, would no doubt need to look into. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13820.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-21 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-21 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-21 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-21 10:00:58" post_name="hmrc-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="HMRC" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4949" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/21/4949" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was going to Wembley this evening, the PMS said no; the Prime Minister would be preparing for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, which was dealing with, among other things, the issue of Pakistan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13820.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-21 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-21 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-21 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-21 10:00:57" post_name="football-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4950" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/21/4950" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had outlined any specific proposals on alcohol at the seminar this morning, the PMS said that they had had a good seminar with alcohol retailers and manufacturers and enforcement agencies this morning. The purpose of the seminar was to tell the alcohol industry the action the Government was taking over the coming months to tackle binge drinking, to help people drink sensibly and to discuss what more they could do. The Prime Minister summed up the meeting by saying that he thought it was clear that the solution lay beyond the stream of individual measures; it was about creating a cultural shift and having local coordination, better education and enforcement and individuals taking personal responsibility. It was not just about small individual measures, it was about looking at the issue in a much wider context.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister made any suggestions to the drinks industry regarding what more he would like them to do or might ask them to do, the PMS said that the Government clearly had concerns about underage drinking and the importance of dealing with this issue was emphasised at the seminar. We were already taking action on a number of fronts more generally on alcohol, not least the review of the Licensing Act, which would report early next year. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the cultural shift should be and whether it implied that we did not need any more revisions of the law, the PMS said that we were not saying we did not need any more revisions of the law and that we were reviewing the licensing laws. It was about more joint work at local levels; having better coordination; better education and better enforcement of existing laws.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13820.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-21 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-21 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-21 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-21 10:00:56" post_name="alcohol-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Alcohol" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4951" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/21/4951" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the person responsible for the HMRC blunder had resigned today, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that he had no information on it. He would check with HMRC as it was one of their employees, but he was not in a position to confirm it. Asked if there was only one person involved, the PMS replied that people should wait until the review had taken place. That would be the point when the facts could be established. Asked whether the Government was still committed to the introduction of ID cards, the PMS said that the Government's position on ID cards had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to explain why in August, the Lords Science and Technology Committee's recommendation that the Information Committee be given more powers to carry out spot checks on security guards was refused, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had announced today, the Government would be taking forward the suggestion. Asked why it had taken so long, the PMS said that the Government always kept procedures and policies under review and the decision had been taken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that it would apply to the public sector and would it also apply to the private sector, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's words were the Prime Minister's words. Asked if it was a conscious decision to only mention the public sector the PMS replied that that is what the Prime Minister had said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he would accept that the Prime Minister's apology was a unique occasion, the PMS replied that, for example, the Prime Minister had said previously that he had regretted the decision on the 75p pensions increase.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would consider making it a criminal offence to negligently leave sensitive material lying around and would it also reconsider the amount of information kept on databases after agreeing in principle to ID cards, the PMS reiterated that the Government's position on ID cards had not changed. If the Information Commissioner put forward such recommendations, they would have to be looked at. The PMS added that the Prime Minister had said what he wanted to say on the matter today and if there were any other proposals put forward then obviously they would need to be considered over the appropriate time-scale. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a dispute between the NAO and the HMRC on what kind of information was requested, after the NAO had denied there was any such dispute, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had said in the House, all of this would be covered in great detail as part of the review that has been launched today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Karen Buck had said that there shouldn't be any movement on ID cards until the review had finished and did the Prime Minister agree with that, the PMS reiterated the Government's stance on ID cards had not changed and added that ID cards would include biometric information which would involve a significant amount of security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In answer to the suggestion that the banks had denied that they needed more time on the issue, the PMS replied that HMRC had contacted the banks; the banks then required some information. A series of exchanges between the banks and HMRC then ensued in order to ensure appropriate measures were in place. The Chancellor was then in a position to make his announcement. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the banks were told on Monday of this week, the PMS said that they had been told on Friday of last week. There had been a meeting between HMRC and the major banks on Friday 16th November.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many calls the HMRC helpline had been receiving, the PMS replied that he did not have that information. Put that the best course of action would have been to go public on the matter from the start so that everyone could immediately check their bank accounts, the PMS replied that the best course of action was for the Chancellor to conduct an internal HMRC investigation, which he did; the Chancellor then had to contact the police and the major banks. Once it was decided that it was a prudent moment to make the announcement, the announcement was made.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that anyone who was a child benefit recipient who was the victim of fraud would be compensated and wouldn't that include people who were victims of fraud but not because of the loss of the discs, the PMS replied that as a general point, anyone who was a victim of identity fraud was covered by the banking code. The Prime Minister was clearly referring to identity fraud arising from the loss of these discs. Put that it was not the Government who would be compensating people, it would be the banking system, the PMS reiterated that there were provisions in the banking code, which would ensure that such people were adequately compensated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would pick up the tab if the banks laid the blame with the Government, the PMS replied that it was not known if that was the situation. There or may not be such discussions in the future, but the key point was that in relation to individuals who were affected by the situation, there were provisions in place to make sure they were compensated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who picked up the bill for credit checks, the PMS said he did not know, but the Treasury would be able to supply an answer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13828.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-21 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-21 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:58" post_name="hmrc-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="HMRC" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4952" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/21/4952" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister's comments on reforming institutions included the Commonwealth, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought the Commonwealth was a good network, which brought together a unique and diverse group of countries. He would be looking forward to having a good discussion in the next couple of days. Asked whether the Prime Minister would like to see the Commonwealth have more power over its members, the PMS said that there were other international institutions that one would not wish to duplicate, which performed a range of functions in an effective way.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13828.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-21 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-21 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:57" post_name="commonwealth" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Commonwealth" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4953" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/21/4953" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the former Attorney Generals comments regarding the custody of terror suspects, stating there was no evidence to go beyond 28 days detention, the PMS replied that the Government's position was set out in July and it remained the same. The PMS did not wish to comment on the former Attorney General's comments directly but said that as set out in the Home Office consultation document published in July, there was a case for considering extending beyond 28 days, as long as there were appropriate judiciary and parliamentary safeguards in place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13828.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-21 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-21 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:56" post_name="counter-terrorism-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4954" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/21/4954" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister said the Barnett formula was based on the needs of each part of the UK when it wasn't, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was referring to Wales and Northern Ireland. Put that it was not based on need but on population, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not signalling any change in the Government's position on the Barnett formula.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13828.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-21 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-21 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-21 15:45:55" post_name="misc-22" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4955" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/22/4955" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by briefing the Lobby on the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) and Pakistan. This morning there had been a Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) meeting to discuss Pakistan, the Foreign Secretary had given a response to this, and there would be a further meeting this afternoon where they would make further decisions on Pakistan. Once that second meeting had happened, a recommendation would then be put forward. The Prime Minister's statement on this set out his approach, the fact that he spoke to President Musarraf last night, and that the key to this issue was working with President Musarraf in order to encourage him to fulfil his commitments to reverse the extraordinary measures that had been put in place, and to meet the recommendations that were put forward by CMAG in their statement on the 12th November. And in doing that to maintain the shared values of the Commonwealth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There was potential bite in this Heads of Government meeting because of the fact that it was taking place in advance of Bali and in advance of further talks on world trade. Some of the key players, India, Canada, South Africa, Australia would be together at an important time, so we hoped that this meeting will see movement forward on those issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister has set out his five main aims for this CHOGM meeting: &lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;The first being on pro-growth development and looking for an early WTO deal, his particular focus would be on trade with President Mbeki and Prime Minister Singh attending the meeting&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The second would be on education and increasing access to education throughout the developing world&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The third was conflict resolution, and the PMS referred journalists to the Prime Minister's recent foreign policy speech. He was pushing forward the idea that a UN Security Council resolution looking for peace, also contained within it measures to build in stabilisation and reconciliation&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Fourthly tackling extremism, the Commonwealth was a forum for looking to mobilise free society&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;And fifthly looking for action to promote low carbon growth and tackling climate change.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister supported Rwanda's application to join the Commonwealth, the PMS replied that these were decisions that would be taken by the Commonwealth as a whole. But we were supportive of some of these proposals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how we squared the Prime Minister's fifth aim with building a new runway at Heathrow, the PMS replied that on climate change it was not just one country's activities, but many decisions that needed to be taken on an international basis. In the consultation that Ruth Kelly had put forward today we were clear that as part of our international efforts to cut aviation carbon footprint, we were leading negotiations to include aviation in the European emissions trading scheme.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13845.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-22 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-22 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:58" post_name="chogm" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="CHOGM" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4956" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/22/4956" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Guardian was reporting that documents would be published today on data loss and asked if this was true, the PMS replied that any further queries regarding process at HMRC and the ongoing investigation should be referred to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied with the statements made by Alistair Darling in the House about the fact that this was a junior official and that no senior levels had been involved, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had set out his position on this and the Chancellor's statement at PMQs yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was aware of the suggestion that it was not just a junior official involved, the PMS replied that as we said yesterday when asked similar questions, there was an ongoing investigation, and it was important that this takes place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was not also important that MPs were given the correct facts, the PMS replied &amp;quot;absolutely&amp;quot;, and she had nothing to add to what the Prime Minister said on this issue yesterday. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister said yesterday that there was a dispute between the NAO version of events and the HMRC version of events, and asked to confirm what the Prime Minister was referring to, the PMS replied that again we were asked this yesterday, and the Prime Minister's words spoke for themselves. Again all of these things would be looked at in the review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Government was hiding behind the review, the PMS disagreed and replied that it was inappropriate to discuss the issues subject to the review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government had said today that there were &amp;quot;some errors&amp;quot;, and asked if that was correct and could we be more specific, the PMS replied that she would not be getting into any further discussion of the individual allegations or reports that were being put out. It would be inappropriate to do so when this was being looked into.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we had gone halfway to talking about it as the Government had said that there had been errors, the PMS replied that she had nothing to add to what had already been said on this by the Chancellor and the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Sir Gus O'Donnell's check across departments had officially begun, the PMS replied that she would find out from the Cabinet Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, when they spoke about his, were confident that they had seen all of the exchanges between the NAO and HMRC, the PMS replied that she had nothing to add to what had already been said about this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reminder of the inquiries, the PMS replied that the review that was set up last month chaired by Mark Walport of the Wellcome Trust, and the Information Commissioner, were looking at the security of personal data in general. And there would also be a review conducted by the chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers into HMRC itself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what exactly the PricewaterhouseCoopers review would look into, the PMS replied that again we answered questions on this yesterday, but the review would look into the processes and the procedures that are in place at HRMC.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this incident would be included, the PMS replied that all aspects would be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people wanted to know &amp;quot;where the bodies were&amp;quot; in this case, was it a junior official, was it a senior official, and were the Chancellor and Prime Minister's words with hindsight as accurate as they would wish them to be, the PMS replied that the review into HMRC procedures, as you would expect, would look into all the issues. She had nothing to add to what the Prime Minister and Chancellor had said on this issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the PricewaterhouseCoopers review was ordered, the PMS replied that she would check the exact date it was established, but the Prime Minister had obviously referred to it in PMQs yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people whose bank details had gone missing wanted to know whose fault it was, and asked if they would know that at the end of the review, the PMS replied that she was not going to pre-empt the outcome of the review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for copies of the remits of the review, the PMS referred people to HMT.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for exactly what the Gus O'Donnell review would look at, as he was commissioned to carry out the capability reviews in the summer of all departments, and did these reviews cover security, and if not why not, the PMS replied that the Cabinet Secretary had now been asked to look specifically at data retention in departments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that surely security should have been part of a departmental capability review, the PMS replied that this was going to be a specific review looking at this issue on its own.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the total number of officials who had resigned so far over this, the PMS replied that as journalists knew, Paul Gray had offered his resignation, which had been accepted. Any other issues regarding HMRC personnel should be referred to them. She had nothing to add to the position as it stands.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the status was of the review into ID cards, the PMS replied that this was something that was ongoing, but again as we said yesterday, the Government's position on ID cards remains unchanged.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to guarantee that ID cards would be introduced on schedule for foreign nationals next year despite the problems with data over the last few days, the PMS replied that this question had been answered by Government Minister's over the last couple of days and the Government's position on ID cards remains unchanged.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked specifically about the ID cards timetable, the PMS replied that the timetable was part of the policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government had said the banks had asked for a delay before the announcement on the missing data was made, but the banks had said they categorically did not ask for that delay, the PMS replied that she was not going to get into any of these issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put again that banks have denied asking for a delay and asked if the Government stood by its earlier statement, the PMS replied that she had nothing to add to what the Chancellor said on this issue at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if to the best of her knowledge, was every statement that the Chancellor and Prime Minister had given accurate and did we doubt the accuracy of any of the statements, the PMS replied that she had nothing to add to any of the statements that had been made either by the Chancellor or the Prime Minister, and no, of course not.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we had any reason to doubt the account given by the Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, the PMS replied that she was not going to conduct the review sitting here, or comment on what individuals were saying.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a case for a proper external inquiry into this incident as it was of such magnitude, the PMS replied that the HMRC issue was being thoroughly investigated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who they were being investigated by, the PMS replied that they were being investigated by the people already set out earlier in the briefing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was then some consideration being given to an external inquiry, the PMS replied that she had given no indication of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were plans to publish these reviews, the PMS said people should check with the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with John McCall that now was the time to show some leadership and some iron, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister set out very clearly his view on the serious nature of this issue yesterday in PMQs. And the fact was that measures were being put in place to thoroughly investigate this and to ensure that everything is done to prevent such a thing arising again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we knew when an interim report from the Chairman of PWC would be, the PMS replied that it was not for her to decide.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Information Commissioner's report was being written before this incident happened, the PMS replied that this was correct. But a separate review had been established, led by PricewaterhouseCoopers to look at HMRC's data handling processes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was in the remit of the PricewaterhouseCoopers report to look at the wisdom of merging Revenue and Customs, the PMS replied that this again had been dealt with in previous lobbies but that this would not fall within their remit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13845.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-22 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-22 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:57" post_name="data-protection" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Data Protection" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4957" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/22/4957" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what Pakistan needed to do to avoid being suspended from the Commonwealth, and where would the bar be set, the PMS replied that the bar was set by the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group. They have called for the restoration of the constitution, President Musharraf to step down as military commander, immediate release of detainees, the removal of curbs on the media, and a rapid move towards the creation of conditions for a free and fare election. These were the specifics, and would determine their decision at their meeting later today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the process of suspending Pakistan, if it happened, would happen at this meeting over the weekend, or would the weekend end with an ultimatum, the PMS replied that any suspension would happen fairly immediately, i.e. Pakistan would not be able to attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the practical ramifications of suspension were in terms of aid, the PMS replied that on aid we obviously had close connections and were considering the implications of our development and other assistance programmes for Pakistan. We already had contingency plans, though DfID, that come into play during the state of emergency. So that was already ongoing. In terms of the actual ramifications for the country in general, obviously the Commonwealth was a body that brings together important global issues such as those set out already, and with this came benefits.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify that there was consideration of Britain's aid to Pakistan being in jeopardy, the PMS replied that this was not what she said. There would be implications for our development and other assistance programmes, i.e. the practicalities of those being delivered and how they should be delivered during a state of emergency.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13845.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-22 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-22 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:56" post_name="pakistan-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4958" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/22/4958" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister watched the game last night and what did he make of the result, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did watch some of the match, although which particular sections she was not sure. He like everybody else though that last night's result was very disappointing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister secretly went to Wembley, as Steve McClaren was looking for somebody else to blame, the PMS replied that the statement on Pakistan revealed what the Prime Minister was doing last night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the &amp;pound;2.5million pay-off for McLaren, the PMS replied that these were matters for the FA.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the opportunity next summer to have a home international tournament, the PMS replied that she had nothing to say on that at this stage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was right that the man at the top should be sacked when things went disastrously wrong, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that those were matters for the FA.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister though that rugby was a far better game than football, the PMS replied that she had no idea, but thought that this was the end of the Lobby briefing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13845.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-22 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-22 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-22 10:00:55" post_name="football-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4959" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/23/4959" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by running through the details of the Prime Minister's day. The Prime Minister had attended the 1st Session at CHOGM and paid a visit to St Peters primary school for a prize giving and a community discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Regarding education, DfID would today announce a &amp;pound;106million package of support for education in Nigeria. This would help seven million children into school and would help build 4000 classrooms. The objective was to help more and more children attend and stay in primary schools.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Later today the Prime Minister would return to the retreat, where there would be a wide-ranging agenda with CHOGM leaders. The Prime Minister would then have a general discussion about issues he wanted to focus on, such as education, trade and climate change.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13853.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-23 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-23 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:58" post_name="chogm-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="CHOGM" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4960" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/23/4960" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the timing of the former defence chiefs comments, the PMS told the assembled press that he would let the Prime Minister's that he had just made comments speak for themselves. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put repeatedly that the Prime Minister should divide the Ministerial roles of Des Browne, the PMS responded by saying that Des Browne had given a comprehensive answer to that question on the Today programme. Des Browne had said that nobody could identify anything that he wasn't doing as Defence Secretary that he should be doing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned at all that the defence chiefs were directing their criticism personally at him, for not having sufficient regard for their concerns, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister had answered the question directly himself. The Prime Minister had a huge amount of regard for the armed forces and he knew that they did a fantastic job. The PMS added that the Prime Minister was determined that the armed forces got what they needed and this was why the Government had committed themselves to an extra &amp;pound;7.7billion for the Ministry of Defence in the last spending report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Lord Gilbert had commented on SKY that Des Browne's response had made the situation worse by not taking into consideration what the original criticism was, the PMS replied that he had not seen the comments made by Lord Gilbert and therefore would not be commenting on them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had any intention of meeting the former defence chiefs, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had met with the former defence chiefs when they were serving in The Army. The PMS went on to say that the Prime Minister had a very good relationship with the current Defence Chief and he was sure that would continue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the question of whether the defence chiefs had made any of their comments to the Prime Minister in person, the PMS said that he did not want to comment on internal discussions that may have taken place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had suggested in his television clip that there was a conflict between military funding and public service spending, the PMS said he would dispute that. The PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister was determined to ensure that the military had the resources they needed. The figures were increasing in real terms and there had been the longest period of continuous real term growth since the 1980's&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the suggestion that spending was below inflation, the PMS said that spending was above inflation and in addition, if there was any operational spending resulting from activity in Iraq and Afghanistan it would be over and above the CSR settlement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the former Chief of Defence did not have a case, the PMS replied that that was not for him to comment on. There had been sustained real term increase and in addition there was significant operational requirement in Iraq and Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13853.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-23 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-23 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:57" post_name="defence-spending-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Defence Spending" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4961" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/23/4961" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a comment on the progress made by President Mbeki on Zimbabwe, the PMS replied that he was sure Zimbabwe would be an issue that was discussed throughout the course of the weekend. In terms of what President Mbeki was doing, the Government welcomed the mediation initiative. The PMS added that the Government hoped that should agreement be reached, it was then delivered upon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was sceptical about success in the matter, the PMS repeated that the Government welcomed the initiative and thought President Mbeki was making good progress.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to give an idea of what the initiative was, the PMS replied that it was about moving Zimbabwe to a situation where there could be a return to proper democracy. Asked if this was based on brokering a deal between Zanu PF and the MDC, the PMS replied that it did.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13853.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-23 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-23 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:56" post_name="zimbabwe-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4962" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/23/4962" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Australia and Canada had resisted strong language on climate change, the PMS said that all countries would need to come to an agreement that would meet the scale of the challenge.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13853.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-23 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-23 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-23 10:00:55" post_name="climate-change-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Climate Change" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4963" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/26/4963" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by giving details of the welfare reform section of the Prime Minister's speech to the CBI National Conference. The idea he said was the intention to move towards a system whereby people who were able to work but were on benefits should be engaged in some form of training, in order to prepare them for work. There were a number of measures being announced this morning that moved the system in that general direction. Firstly, there would be a new skills health-check, for jobseekers allowance (JSA) claimants and new incapacity benefit (IB) claimants, six months after they had started claiming. This would be a new mandatory skills check. For those on jobseekers allowance, the Government would pilot making any subsequent training mandatory for claimants after six months, so that tougher conditionality was in place in order to encourage training in relation to JSA and IB.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Government would also reform the 16 hours rule, which currently meant people on JSA and IB lost benefit entitlement if they were studying or training for more than 16 hours per week. This would be reformed in order to remove the disincentive built in for people on benefit to train.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Government would also make some reforms to incapacity benefit. As well as the mandatory skills check for new claimants of incapacity benefit, the Government would also role out the Pathways To Work programme, a programme of intensive support for new recipients of incapacity benefit. This would be rolled out to existing claimants as well, so there would be a new requirement on those receiving incapacity benefit, under the age of 25, to go into the Pathways To Work programme and for example be required to attend work-focussed interviews.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In an environment where the Government knew that the number of unskilled jobs available in Britain was going to fall dramatically over the next decade, it was therefore important that those people who were on benefit, were given much stronger incentives and support to get the skills necessary to prepare for the workforce of the next decade.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what would happen if people on JSA did not take up mandatory training, the PMS replied that people would lose their benefit entitlement. It would be a requirement of receiving JSA in these pilot schemes, that people would move on to mandatory training. Asked where the five and a half million unskilled jobs would disappear from, the PMS said that there had been a report that was published in the PBR 2006 by Lord Leitch, which gave a very detailed analysis of likely trends in employment and the skills composition of the workforce up to 2020. The PMS said that this would be the best place to look for the detailed analysis people were looking for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the pilot schemes would last for and was the intention to role it out on a national scale, the PMS replied that clearly the Government would not be piloting something if there wasn't a general desire to move in that direction. It would be a big step and it was a complex area. Every individual had different needs so there might be different ways in which it could be done. The point of the pilots was to examine how this might be done in practice. The PMS added that it was actually quite common in this area to pilot schemes of this kind, before they are rolled out nationwide.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the pilots were starting, the PMS replied that people should check with DWP, but the Government would try to do it as soon as it was practical.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13857.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-26 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-26 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:58" post_name="welfare-reform" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Welfare Reform" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4964" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/26/4964" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had anything extra to say to road haulers and if not was he ready and planning for blockades, the PMS replied that it was important to bear in mind that even after the planned changes in fuel duty over the next year or so, by 2010, the main fuel duty rate would be 11% lower in real terms than they were in 1999. It was also important to recognise that the planned increase in fuel duty from next April was part of a revenue neutral budget package that involved cuts in the basic rate of income tax. Asked if there were contingency plans for blockades, the PMS said that the Government made contingency plans about all sorts of things all of the time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13857.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-26 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-26 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:57" post_name="road-haulage" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Road Haulage" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4965" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/26/4965" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly on the subject of Labour Party funding, the PMS advised people that it would be best to direct such enquiries to the Labour Party.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13857.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-26 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-26 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:56" post_name="party-funding-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4966" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/26/4966" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the proposed Virgin deal to buy Northern Rock, the PMS said that as the Treasury had been making clear, this was still an early point in the process. In any case, Northern Rock - not the Treasury, was leading on this, negotiations were still taking place and it was not the confirmed bid. The PMS said the Chancellor had set out three priorities for any resolution of the Northern Rock issue in his statement last week. Firstly, the need to protect the taxpayer, secondly, the need to protect depositors and thirdly, the need to ensure wider financial stability. The Treasury had been making clear that they backed the Virgin bid on the grounds that it met those three principles, but the PMS stressed that it was an ongoing commercial negotiation that was still at an early stage.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13857.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-26 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-26 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:55" post_name="northern-rock-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4967" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/26/4967" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Independent had carried a story on Saturday that the Government had been offered a rainforest in Guyana and would it be taking up the offer, the PMS asked to get back to people on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was still committed to the amendment on gay hate crime in the immigration bill, the PMS replied that he was not aware of any particular issue with it, but he would have to check.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13857.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-26 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-26 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-26 10:00:54" post_name="misc-23" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4968" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/26/4968" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister, in his CBI speech today, had flagged up changes to Capital Gains Tax (CGT) by saying that he would listen to peoples' concerns, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that he did not think the Prime Minister had said anything in his speech today that he had not said before or anything that changed policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that meant there would be no change to CGT at all, the PMS said the Prime Minister's words spoke for themselves but that tax was a matter for the Treasury and the Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister's words could have been understood as meaning that there would be some sort of changes to CGT, the PMS repeated that tax matters were a matter for the Treasury and the Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister meant when he said, 'we will continue to listen and discuss with you the representations', the PMS referred journalists to the PBR document where it said, 'HMRC have today published further details of the Reform package i.e. CGT and will immediately begin discussion on implementation with interested parties'; this did not seem inconsistent with what the Prime Minister had said today, what the Chancellor had said, or what anybody else had said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that meant people should not expect anything this week to change or reform, the PMS said that he would not pre-empt anything the Chancellor may or may not do; this was entirely a matter for the Chancellor and the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13860.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-26 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-26 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-26 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-26 15:45:58" post_name="capital-gains-tax-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Capital Gains Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4969" comment_count="3" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/26/4969" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if, to the PMS's knowledge, Mr Abrahams had ever featured in the honours system, the PMS said he had no information regarding that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Mr Abrahams was known to the Prime Minister at all, the PMS said that he had not asked the Prime Minister, but that it was a Labour Party funding matter and this particular line of questioning was best directed at the Labour Party.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13860.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-26 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-26 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-26 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-26 15:45:57" post_name="party-funding-david-abrahams" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding - David Abrahams" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4970" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/27/4970" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what steps the Government was taking to free the teacher in Sudan, and asked to clear up whether there had in fact been any official contact, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that as the Prime Minister had said this morning, the Embassy was giving all appropriate consular assistance to Ms Gibbons. His information was that Embassy officials visited her yesterday and the Foreign Office had been in touch with her next of kin.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was being reported that they had not had access, the PMS replied that the information he had from the Foreign Office was that Embassy officials visited her yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would allow this teacher to be whipped, the PMS replied that as he had said the Embassy had been in contact, and they had also been in contact with the Sudanese Police Authorities, and the Sudanese Government to clarify the situation. But we understood that she has not yet been charged with any offence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any circumstances in which the Prime Minister would intervene, the PMS replied that again, we understood that she had not been charged with any offence. The Embassy was in contact with the Sudanese Police Authorities and the Sudanese Government to clarify the situation. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13868.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-27 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-27 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:58" post_name="sudan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sudan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4971" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/27/4971" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to be clear whether the Prime Minister had full confidence in Harriet Harman, the PMS replied that there should be no ambiguity about this - the Prime Minister had full confidence in Harriet Harman.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been in touch with Baroness Jay, or did he plan to speak to her, the PMS replied that we would not normally talk about particular conversations the Prime Minister may or may not have had.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was at all concerned that some of his Ministers knew there was a proxy system going on, the PMS replied that this was a Labour Party funding question, and therefore a matter for the Labour Party.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to establish exactly where we were in relation to the Bill on party funding, the PMS replied that the Hayden Philips process had broken down at the end of October, we had said that it was the Government's intention to bring forward proposals on the regulation of party funding, but we were not in a position to say more about what that might involve or the timetable at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was still the Government's wish that this would be done with some degree of consensus with the opposition, or was it a case of going it alone now, the PMS replied that it had always been the Government's position to establish some form of consensus.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he could characterise the Prime Minister's mood in terms of how he reacted to the news on Saturday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's mood was that issues like this do arise. He had had to deal with this, the loss of the CDs last week, he had had to deal with floods, terror threats, foot and mouth, and everything else. The question was how did you respond to that. Secondly he was determined to continue to keep focused on some of the longer term changes that he wanted to see made in policy areas such as welfare reform, environmental policy, skills and training, and all the other issues that he set out yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister must at least find it frustrating that things like this must distract everybody from those issues, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had said this morning, issues like this do arise, and they have to be dealt with. It was his determination that they were dealt with, and it was also his determination to keep focused on the long term priorities and the long term changes that needed to be made.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had made any enquiries from his Ministers as to whether there was any conflict of interest over planning issues, the PMS replied that obviously the Prime Minister would expect his Ministers to deal with all of these matters in the appropriate way. But he did not think there was any evidence to suggest that anybody had not done that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why then had Hazel Blears told MPs that she would look into this planning application, the PMS replied that he had only just heard this and had no more information on that matter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13868.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-27 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-27 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:57" post_name="party-funding-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4972" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/27/4972" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was covered at Cabinet this morning, the PMS replied that Cabinet had a discussion of data management issue in light of the events of last week with contributions from Alistair Darling and Gus O'Donnell on the review that he was conducting. There was also a general discussion around where we were on counter-terrorism and security matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if ID cards came up, the PMS replied that it was a wide-ranging discussion. But the Prime Minister's position on ID cards was that ID cards were an important way of protecting people's identity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if ID cards and the database that went with it were on track, or would they be delayed now, the PMS replied that you could make the opposite argument. You could argue that in a world where lots of private sector organisations had lots of information about individuals and therefore there was the potential for data fraud, this strengthened the argument for ID cards as it enabled people to protect their own identity because they were biometric.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if 28 day detention was discussed at Cabinet, the PMS replied that he did not want to get into the specifics of exactly what was discussed, except to say that it was a wide ranging discussion on counter-terrorism and security matters.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13868.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-27 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-27 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:56" post_name="cabinet-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4973" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/27/4973" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chancellor today seemed to suggest that there was still room and time for changes to CGT proposals, and asked to clarify the position, the PMS replied that the position was absolutely clear, exactly as set out at the time of the PBR. The Government put forward a number of proposals and HMRC and the Treasury, as set out in the PBR document, would immediately begin discussion on implementation with interested parties. So there was a consultation ongoing on detailed implementation, which the Prime Minister referred to yesterday, and the Chancellor had referred to today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the mood music around the Chancellor seemed to indicate that he was listening and discussing the possibility of changing, the PMS replied that there was a consultation underway, as we had said at the time of the PBR, on the detailed implementation of the proposals.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13868.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-27 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-27 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-27 15:45:55" post_name="capital-gains-tax-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Capital Gains Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4974" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/28/4974" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by reading some words from the Prime Minister in response to General Musharraf stepping down as Chief of the Army Staff:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I welcome the decision by President Musharraf to step down formally as Chief of Pakistan's Army. This is an important part of the process that President Musharraf has told me he wants to take to rapidly restore constitutional order. We understand the threat to Pakistan's peace and security. But I have urged President Musharraf to use the normal democratic processes to respond. Meeting last week in Kampala Commonwealth leaders set out the conditions that must be fulfilled if Pakistan is to be restored to its rightful place in the Commonwealth. Most importantly, it is essential that preparations are now put in place for free and fair elections to be held in January, with a level playing field for all political parties.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any direct contact between the Prime Minister and President Musharraf since CHOGM, the PMS replied that they spoke last Wednesday, and there was a further brief discussion following the CHOGM decision. Obviously there was regular contact at all levels with the Pakistan Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what contact there had been since the weekend, the PMS replied that there was a brief discussion following the Commonwealth decision.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13872.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-28 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-28 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-28 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-28 10:00:58" post_name="pakistan-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4975" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/28/4975" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister knew that Jon Mendelsohn knew about David Abraham's covert donations, the PMS replied that this was a question about Labour Party funding, and was not for him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister spoke yesterday about unlawful acts that had been committed, and asked if he was satisfied that no Cabinet Ministers were aware of unlawful acts being committed, the PMS replied that again this was a question that was in the context of Labour Party funding. The Prime Minister did say yesterday that there was a Labour Party review of these matters, and he also said that he was sure the Electoral Commission would be looking into these matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet with or speak to Harriet Harman or Jon Mendelsohn today, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister spoke to his Government colleagues on a regular basis as would be expected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Jon Mendelsohn had security pass for No10, or a desk or a telephone in No10, the PMS replied that he did not know the answer to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Police or the CPS had been in touch with Downing Street, the PMS replied that they had not as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister did not know until the Mail on Sunday contacted Government about David Abraham's covert donations, and asked if he was satisfied that the only other people related to the Government who knew were Peter Watt, Baroness Jay and Jon Mendelsohn, the PMS replied again that this was a matter about Labour Party funding, and there was a Labour Party inquiry under way looking at all of this to establish the facts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it could be arranged for a Labour Party Spokesman to attend Lobby to answer these questions, the PMS replied that this was something the Chairman of Lobby may wish to take up with the Labour Party.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied that the Labour Party itself and the Electoral Commission were equipped to carry out the kind of investigation that would clear up any doubts, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister spoke at length about this yesterday, he answered lots of questions about it, and he had nothing further to add.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister still had full confidence in Harriet Harman, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to what extent the Prime Minister's normal daily business had been deflected by questions like these, the PMS replied that it was the nature of being Prime Minister that you had to deal with events as they arose, but he was also determined to ensure that he kept his focus on the long term changes necessary for the country. He gave examples of this in his speech to the CBI on Monday, and tomorrow he would be making a big speech on the Thames Gateway and the long term development and change that was happening there.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13872.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-28 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-28 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-28 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-28 10:00:57" post_name="party-funding-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4976" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/28/4976" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any progress on the Sudanese situation, the PMS replied that it was best to keep in touch with the Foreign Office for exact details of where we were. Consular officials were able to visit her on Monday, and he understood they would be visiting her again today. In addition Lord Malloch-Brown spoke to the Sudanese Ambassador yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been in touch personally, the PMS replied that at Ministerial level Lord Malloch-Brown had been in contact with the Sudanese Ambassador.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13872.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-28 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-28 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-28 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-28 10:00:56" post_name="sudan-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sudan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4977" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/28/4977" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by telling the assembled press that he could confirm there would be no UK Minister at the EU/Africa summit, on the assumption that Mr Mugabe would attend. Should Mr Mugabe attend, the Prime Minister would be asking Baroness Valerie Amos to represent him. Baroness Amos knew the individuals and the issues very well as a former Foreign Office Africa Minister and DfID Secretary of State.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government's stance had changed on the matter at all, the PMS said that the Government had previously said that no senior Minister would be attending if Mr Mugabe was.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what position Baroness Amos currently held and was she a candidate for a UN post at all, the PMS replied that she was currently a member of the House of Lords. Asked if Baroness Amos was still a candidate for a UN job, the PMS replied that she was not.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what Baroness Amos's status was, the PMS said that she had been appointed as representative of the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13877.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-28 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-28 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:58" post_name="euafrica-summit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU/Africa Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4978" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/28/4978" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;On the charging of British teacher Gillian Gibbons in Sudan, the PMS said that the Government was surprised and disappointed by this development and the Foreign Secretary would summon as a matter of urgency the Sudanese Ambassador to discuss the matter further.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether he thought the Sudanese Government was letting the Government's sanctions on Darfur influence them, the PMS said that there wasn't any reason to suggest that that might be the case. The Sudanese Government would have to be taken at their word. It was a judicial matter relating to this individual, but the Government was surprised and disappointed and the Foreign Secretary would be summoning the Sudanese Ambassador.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government's comments were rudderless and could a stronger sense of how the Prime Minister felt about the matter be given, the PMS replied that the news had only been received in the last half an hour. The PMS reiterated that the Government was disappointed and the first step was to summon the Sudanese Ambassador, in order to get a clear explanation for the rationale behind the charges and a sense of what the next steps might be. The Government would consider its response in the light of that. Asked what the response might be, the PMS advised that we had to wait until an official explanation had been given by the Sudanese Government and then the Government would consider what further steps might be necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether there were any circumstances by which the Government would allow the woman in question to be whipped in public, the PMS repeated that the first thing to do was to establish what the rationale for the arrest was. Once the Foreign Secretary had met the Sudanese Ambassador, the Government would consider what further steps or representations might be necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government's response both yesterday and today had been very measured and was there a fear of provoking the Sudanese Government, the PMS said the Government would hear the explanation and get a better sense officially of what the next steps were from the Sudanese Government. The Government would then consider what further action or steps it might need to take.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this would be an issue at the EU/Africa summit, the PMS advised people to wait and see what the situation was at the time of the summit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13877.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-28 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-28 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:57" post_name="sudan-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sudan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4979" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/28/4979" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought the police should be informed, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought, as he had made clear on numerous occasions in the House, that this was a matter for the Electoral Commission who are reviewing the matter. Asked whether the Prime Minister thought it was a matter for the Electoral Commission due to a fixed procedure or just because he thought it was the appropriate way, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought it was the role of the Electoral Commission to examine matters of this kind and that's what they were doing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any contact from the police, the PMS said that as far as he was aware, there hadn't been any contact.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been involved in the NEC meeting that afternoon, the PMS said he would check, but not as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Lord Triesman about his knowledge of the matter, the PMS replied that the question fell into the category of a political matter as well as private discussions held by the Prime Minister so he was not able to answer the question. Asked if the Prime Minister still had confidence in Lord Triesman, the PMS replied that he clearly did.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13877.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-28 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-28 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:56" post_name="donations" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Donations" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4980" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/28/4980" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had mentioned that a document would be released rounding up the ideas that had been expressed at a meeting last week and was there anything that could be added to this, the PMS replied that there was not much to be added at this point. The key thing would be the review of the licensing laws, which would be issued in the New Year. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13877.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-28 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-28 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-28 15:45:55" post_name="binge-drinking" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Binge Drinking" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4981" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4981" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) started by giving an update on the situation in Sudan. The Foreign Secretary had summoned the Sudanese ambassador today and that meeting would take place at noon. The Prime Minister, who was taking a close interest in this situation, had spoken to Ms Gibbons' family that morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had tried to contact any of the Sudanese authorities, the PMS replied that, as he had already said, we were in contact with the Sudanese Government through our embassy in Khartoum and David Miliband was speaking to the Sudanese ambassador today. We would consider what further steps might be necessary in the light of the meeting with the ambassador today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the attitude was to countries which adopted the Sharia law, the PMS said that our general position was that it was not for us to comment on whether other countries' laws were correct or not, just as we would not expect other countries to comment on our laws.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that meant there was not a problem, the PMS repeated that, in general, we do not comment on other countries' laws but obviously if there were specific individual cases where we thought there might be some issues then it was important, as in this case, to establish what the facts were and what the next steps should be. Consular cases were dealt with on an individual basis and when British subjects went to foreign countries they were subject to the laws of those countries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what it was that was being protested against if that was our position, the PMS said that what needed to be understood was exactly what the rationale was in this particular case i.e. why Ms Gibbons had been charged, and to get a clearer understanding of what the next steps might be. We would consider our response in light of those things.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this seemed to be a clear case of potential violation of human rights, the PMS said that people should wait and see what would happen rather than speculating about what might happen. Ms Gibbons had been charged, she was in court today, we had summoned the Sudanese ambassador so that we could get a clearer explanation of the circumstances surrounding the charge. Once we had that explanation we would then consider what the next steps we might take would be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Sudanese Government were suggesting this morning that they could not interfere in the judicial system and asked what could be achieved if that was the position, the PMS said that people should wait and see how things progress; the first step was to establish exactly what the rationale was for Ms Gibbons being charged and to get a clearer sense from them of how things could progress. Once that had happened we could consider what further steps might be necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister had said to Ms Gibbons' family and if there was a view that this was a politically motivated charge, the PMS replied that, in regards to the latter question, we had summoned the Sudanese ambassador to make sure that we got a clearer official explanation from them surrounding the circumstances of this particular individual case. In regards to the first question, the PMS said he did not want to get into what exactly the Prime Minister said to the family, except simply to reassure them that all possible assistance would be made available. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any concern that this incident might have an impact on community relations in this country, the PMS said that he had noted that a number of Muslim groups had come out this morning reacting to the situation; it was important that we did more, at this stage, to establish what the facts were before we moved to any further stage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked more broadly on human rights policy, the PMS said we had a general human rights position as well as a general principal that individual countries were sovereign and established their own laws. However, clearly each individual case was different so you had to look at each one according to its own particular circumstances which was what we were doing with this case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that each individual case was different depending on the politics and international laws of the country e.g. Saudi Arabia be-headed people but we did not take sanctions against them, the PMS said that this was not about Saudi Arabia, it was about Sudan; people were getting ahead of themselves and we should take things step by step and see how things developed. We would see the Sudanese Ambassador and hear what he had to say and take it from there.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly which member(s) of Ms Gibbons' family the Prime Minister had spoken to, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had spoken to one close family member but did not want to get into exactly which member of the family it was.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government had waited until now to summon the Sudanese ambassador, the PMS said that a number of steps had been taken when Ms Gibbons was first detained; Lord Malloch-Brown spoke to the Sudanese ambassador earlier in the week following Ms Gibbons' detention and the embassy in Khartoum had been in touch with the Sudanese Government. Once Ms Gibbons had been charged, we then escalated to the next level by calling in the Sudanese ambassador and that meeting was taking place at noon today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the British Government was satisfied that Ms Gibbons was being treated well, if it was confident in the transparency of the Sudanese legal system and what the next step was, the PMS said we should take things step by step and wait to see how things developed. We should wait and see what the explanation would be from the Sudanese ambassador and then take things from there. In terms of Ms Gibbons' position, there had been a number of consular visits to her and the Prime Minister was determined to ensure that full consular assistance continued to be made available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was happy that Ms Gibbons was being held in reasonable conditions, the PMS said that she was being held in detention in Sudan and those were the circumstances in which she was having to be detained. All we could do was ensure that she got all the consular assistance available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was alarmed by some of the language being used by some Islamic groups in Sudan saying she should die, the PMS repeated that we needed to get clearer explanations from the Sudanese Government on the circumstances surrounding the charge and the court appearance today. Those were the sorts of issues the Foreign Secretary would discuss with the Sudanese ambassador. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was right to assume that the Foreign Secretary had called the Sudanese ambassador to protest, the PMS said it was right to assume that we were trying to get a clearer understanding of what the circumstances were and of what the next steps might be and consider our response subsequently. Obviously, it was not an everyday occurrence for the Foreign Secretary to call in an ambassador in relation to a specific case. The purpose of the meeting was to get a clearer understanding of what the facts were and a clearer sense of what the way forward was.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any concern that the Sudanese Ambassador might not be speaking with the full voice of the Sudanese Government, the PMS said he would leave that to greater experts on Sudanese internal politics; he was the ambassador and therefore the ambassador we would be dealing with. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord Malloch-Brown would be attending the meeting between the Foreign Secretary and the Sudanese ambassador, the PMS said his understanding was that it was just the Foreign Secretary going but it was for the Foreign Office to decide and it was best to check with them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13896.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 10:00:58" post_name="sudangillian-gibbons" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sudan/Gillian Gibbons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4982" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4982" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister, the Government or the Cabinet Secretary had taken any legal steps at this stage, the PMS replied not as far as he knew but that these were matters relating to the Labour Party. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if was the Prime Minister's view that it was best if he knew nothing of party funding so as to never be compromised by it or if he needed to keep a very close eye on it, the PMS said that if that was a question about how the Prime Minister managed his relationship with the Labour Party then it was a political question and best directed to the party.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how important it was for the Prime Minister to clean up politics, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had spoken in length about this on Monday and yesterday at Prime Minister's Questions and there was nothing more he could usefully add.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was correct that there was a revised Ministerial Code, the PMS said that we had made some revisions to the Ministerial Code in July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if someone was involved in an alleged breach of that code then the Cabinet Secretary would trigger the procedures regarding breaches, the PMS said that that was correct.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13896.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 10:00:57" post_name="funding" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4983" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4983" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for feedback from the Foreign Secretary's meeting with the Sudanese Ambassador, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that a statement had been released earlier today and it would be best if the Foreign Office do any further briefing on the meeting, rather than No.10. The Government was awaiting the outcome of the court case, which was expected later on today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13935.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:58" post_name="sudan-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sudan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4984" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4984" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was confident that this was a problem for just that particular court or were there concerns that there could be similar problems elsewhere, the PMS replied that it was a particular issue relating to Leeds Magistrate Court. As Jack Straw had said, he had asked the Chief Inspector of the Courts Administration to work with the chief inspectors of the Constabulary and the Crown Prosecution Service, to conduct a thorough review into what had happened.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how concerned the Government was about the fact that people who should have been issued with warrants weren't, the PMS said that obviously it was a matter of concern and that was why Jack Straw had taken action to establish what the full facts were and instigate the review.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13935.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:57" post_name="leeds-magistrates" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Leeds Magistrates" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4985" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4985" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the scrutiny committee were convinced that the rules of the House require, in the wake of their report, a debate on the treaty before the Prime Minister signs it, the PMS replied that he had not seen the comments.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13935.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:56" post_name="european-reform-treaty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Reform Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4986" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4986" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was concerned that further credit had been given to Northern Rock, the PMS replied that the Chancellor and others had made the situation in relation to Northern Rock clear on numerous occasions. There was a process of sale of Northern Rock underway, with Virgin having emerged as the preferred bidder. As people would also know, the lending was secured against Northern Rock's assets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister was 100 per cent confident of getting it all back, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's position was that he was supporting the Chancellor's efforts to secure a sale of Northern Rock. Negotiations were underway on that front. The Prime Minister and Chancellor had made the position clear. Asked if he was confident that Northern Rock's assets were worth what they had said they were worth, the PMS replied that it was not for him to make those judgements. The Treasury had made their position clear, as had the Bank of England on numerous occasion, so he would let them speak on such matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the nationalisation of Northern Rock was still a fallback option, the PMS replied that it would be best to raise such questions with the Treasury. As people knew, the position at the moment was that there was a preferred bidder; negotiations were underway which were commercial and market sensitive and the PMS did not think it appropriate to comment further in view of that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13935.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:55" post_name="northern-rock-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4987" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4987" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Governor of the Bank of England, that the UK was in for an uncomfortable period financially, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was speaking at length about the world economy at the weekend and gave a number of interviews. These were testing times for the World economy as a result of the instability in the financial markets that originated in the sub-prime mortgage market in the US. Clearly no country could insulate itself from the ups and downs of the world economy, but because of the framework that the Government had put in place, it was the view of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor that the country remained well placed to withstand shocks of this kind, just as the UK had withstood the Asian crisis, the Russian crisis, the recession in the US, the dotcom bubble, the tripling of oil prices and all of the other economic shocks that had hit the UK economy over the last decade. The country had continued to enjoy continuous growth while other countries had suffered negative growth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would give a categorical assurance that house prices were not 30% over-valued, the PMS said that what the Prime Minister could give an assurance on was that he, working with the Chancellor, would do everything that was necessary in order to steer a course of stability during these uncertain times for the world economy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13935.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:54" post_name="uk-economy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="UK Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4988" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4988" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had received a letter of apology from HMRC, the PMS replied that he would not normally comment on the Prime Minister's personal financial affairs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had had an interim report back yet, the PMS asked people to check the exact timings with the Treasury. The Government was expecting an interim report from Keiran Poynter, the Chair of PWC soon. Mr Poynter was conducting the review of data security and this particular matter in HMRC. Asked if the review would be published and whether the Treasury had seen it, the PMS replied that it was his understanding that the Treasury had not seen it. The PMS added that he did not know if it would be published and advised people to check with the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13935.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:53" post_name="hmrc-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="HMRC" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4989" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/29/4989" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the police decided to investigate the matter, would the Prime Minister suspend the internal inquiries going on, the PMS said that it was entirely a party matter. Asked if there was a police investigation, would the Cabinet Secretary be the person to liaise with them, the PMS replied that we would cross that bridge if we came to it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would give his full backing to Harriet Harman, the PMS said that he would. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13935.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-29 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-29 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-29 15:45:52" post_name="donations-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Donations" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4990" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/30/4990" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister would characterise his relationship with Harriet Harman, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister was fully focused on the business of government and had made clear that he was keen that all the issues regarding party political donations were investigated thoroughly. He was fully supportive of the Leader of the House. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any contact with the Metropolitan Police, the PMS replied no and reminded journalists that the investigation had not yet started.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put repeatedly that the last time there was an issue with party funding the lobby journalists were not kept fully informed and asked if journalists could be actively informed when something occurs, the PMS said that she did not want to go back over old ground but she did remember very clear reasons as to why the last situation was handled in the way it was. She went on to remind journalists that this was a party political issue. The PMS also said that she could not imagine a situation where it would not be the case that lobby were informed regarding the Prime Minister's contact with the police. She was sure that there would be discussions between No 10 officials and the Chairman of the lobby in due course regarding these processes. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had taken any legal advice, the PMS replied no. As she had said, the investigation was yet to begin but the Prime Minister had been very clear that he welcomed any further investigations into this issue and would ensure complete cooperation throughout. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Jon Mendelsohn had a desk at No 10, the PMS said no, he did not have the use of any official resources.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13936.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-30 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-11-30 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-30 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-30 10:00:58" post_name="party-funding-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4991" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/11/30/4991" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Foreign Office accepted that Gillian Gibbons must serve a further ten days in jail, the PMS said that, as was known, the Foreign Secretary met with the Sudanese ambassador again last night and expressed in the strongest terms our concern regarding the continued detention of Gillian Gibbons; we were doing all we could do ensure her release. There was intense activity ongoing but it was not helpful for the PMS to get into the detail of that at the moment. The Prime Minister had spoken to the close family member of Ms Gibbons' again last night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for an indication of what the Prime Minister said, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would have set out our concerns and also the fact that we were doing all we could to ensure her release.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any further contacts planned with Sudan, the PMS said there was ongoing contact at many levels and that we would keep journalists updated as to whether there were any further meetings planned for the Foreign Secretary.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13936.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-11-30 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-11-30 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-11-30 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-11-30 10:00:57" post_name="sudan-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sudan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4992" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4992" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) started by highlighting the Prime Minister's statement and the words he recorded whilst at the Royal Marsden Hospital, regarding Gillian Gibbons' release. The PMS read out the Prime Minister's statement;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;'I was delighted and relieved to hear the news that Gillian Gibbons is to be freed. Common sense has prevailed. She will be released into the care of our embassy in Khartoum after what must have been a difficult ordeal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Through the course of Ms Gibbons' detention I was glad to see Muslim support groups across the UK express strong support for her case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;I applaud the particular efforts of Lord Ahmed and Baroness Warsi in securing her freedom. I am also grateful to our officials for all their work behind the scenes.'&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS also told journalists that the Prime Minister had spoken to Ms Gibbons' family again that morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any details of the logistics concerning Gillian Gibbons' return, the PMS replied, no, not at this stage but obviously we were focused on getting her back to the UK safely.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was expected to meet with Ms Gibbons following her return to the UK, the PMS said that that would be kept under review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister had said to Ms Gibbon's family this morning, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had expressed his delight and relief that Ms Gibbons was to be released and informed the family of the work that had been going on behind the scenes in order to secure her release.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any contact between the Prime Minister and his counterpart in Sudan, the PMS replied no.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Foreign Office was going to change its advice to visitors to Sudan given this case, it was made clear to journalists that the travel advice was changed after the accusations were first made.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that advice should reflect the on going situation rather than an individual case, the PMS said that the Foreign Office advice reflected all manner of things to make sure that the British public got the best advice possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this case would in any way affect the Prime Minister's position regarding Darfur, the PMS said no; this was an isolated consular incident and the position on Darfur remained the same. There were ongoing processes in both the EU and the UN in terms of bringing about resolution and peace to that area and we remained committed to that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:58" post_name="sudan-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sudan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4993" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4993" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's reactions to the elections in Russia, the PMS said the final results were yet to come through but that the Foreign Office had made their position clear this morning. It was vital that the Russian Central Election Commission urgently investigated all allegations of electoral abuses.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:57" post_name="russia-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4994" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4994" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about the Chief Executive of the Environment Agency's comments, on a Dispatches programme to be aired tonight, warning insurance companies to stop giving cover to people in certain circumstances, the PMS said that she had not yet seen the Dispatches programme but that the Department for Communities and Local Government would be able to respond. She went on to say that the Prime Minister, at the reception this evening, would be thanking people personally for their efforts in dealing and coping so heroically with the challenges they faced over the summer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:56" post_name="flood-heroes-reception" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Flood Heroes Reception" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4995" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4995" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government was not going to meet its 2010 target on reducing child poverty, the PMS said that the Government remained absolutely committed to the promise which had been made in halving child poverty by 2010, on the way to eradicating it by 2020. We obviously recognised that this was an ambitious target but it was right that it should be so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government recognised that it was not going to meet the target, the PMS said that we had recognised that the policy was challenging but it was right that it should be so and we were fully committed to maintaining the levels which had been set out.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:55" post_name="child-poverty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Child Poverty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4996" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4996" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was still intending on making a statement to Parliament on Afghanistan, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had learned from his experience over the Iraq statement regarding statements being made to the House of Commons first, the PMS said that journalists would be kept up to date on any travel plans at the appropriate time but there was nothing to point to at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:54" post_name="afghanistan-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4997" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4997" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was supporting Lord Ashdown as a potential international representative for Afghanistan, the PMS replied that the appointment was ultimately a decision for the UN Secretary General and she would not speculate on individuals being mentioned at this stage.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:53" post_name="lord-ashdown" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Ashdown" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4998" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4998" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the fact that the Prime Minister was sending a government representative to the EU African Summit compromised his former position, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position remained exactly the same and it was felt that Baroness Amos was the correct representation for the Prime Minister on this occasion. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:52" post_name="eu-african-summit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU African Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="4999" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/4999" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;When asked about the Barnett Formula, the appointment of the chair of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and old people's care, the PMS said that she would return to journalists with answers to their respective questions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13953.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 10:00:51" post_name="misc-24" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5000" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5000" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press about that morning's Cabinet meeting. The main item on the agenda was a discussion of the Children's Plan, based on a presentation by Ed Balls, ahead of publication next week. There was an update by Des Browne on the Nimrod report, published this afternoon. There were also updates by Jack Straw on prisons and party funding and updates from David Miliband on Kosovo and Iran.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what Jack Straw had said on prisons, the PMS said it had been a general update. The Government had a prison building programme in place that it was determined to implement and take through. Asked why there was a need for an update if nothing had changed, the PMS said it was not uncommon for the Cabinet to be updated and have discussions around issues that were live policy agendas.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5001" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5001" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any proposals or indications of direction on party funding, the PMS replied that it had not been a particularly detailed discussion in Cabinet, but more of an update following the Prime Minister's speech on Saturday and ahead of the debate this afternoon. Asked if there was any discussion of the reform of trade union funding, the PMS reiterated that it was a general discussion and told the press that it was his understanding that Jack Straw would be speaking on the subject in the House.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Peter Hain or Harriet Harman had spoken in Cabinet, the PMS said that he did not want to get in to who had been speaking. Asked if Jack Straw had said anything about further talks on an inter-party basis, the PMS replied that without getting into what was actually said, the Government had made clear that it wanted to take it forward on a consultative basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the question of whether the Prime Minister had contacted the police in regards to party donations, the PMS replied that the question he would answer on the subject would be whether or not the Prime Minister had been interviewed by police, which he hadn't. All other questions had been covered by what the Prime Minister had said in his letter to the police, that it would not be helpful to provide a running commentary on the subject.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister retained full confidence in Peter Hain and Harriet Harman, the PMS said the Prime Minister retained full confidence in both. Asked if the Prime Minister retained confidence in Wendy Alexander, the PMS replied that she was not a member of the Government, so therefore it was not for him to comment on her position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:57" post_name="party-funding-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5002" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5002" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked on the make-up of the discussions in Cabinet on Iran and whether they included the American Intelligence report, the PMS said the discussions had touched on that. In general, the Government's position was that it needed to examine the detail of the report, but in overall terms the Government believed that the report confirmed that it was right to be concerned about Iran seeking to develop nuclear weapons. It also showed that the sanction programme and international pressure had had some effect. It also shows that the intent was there and the risk of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon remained a very serious issue. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As people knew, Iran's civilian uranium enrichment programme was continuing and once a country mastered the technology to enrich uranium for use for civilian purposes, it could readily use the same technology to produce weapons grade uranium. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS went on to say that the degree of engagement that there has been with both the EU Solana process and the IAEA process had not been as full as the Government would have liked. It would continue to discuss the matter with its key international allies and the Government would be looking for further discussion at the UN in the weeks ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the American Intelligence report had surprised the Government, the PMS said that the detail was being examined and the Government was in close contact with the Americans. The real issue over recent months had been the civilian uranium enrichment programme and the potential that that holds for using the same technology to produce weapons grade uranium.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he was making a distinction between the prospect of the Iranian's acquiring a bomb and the Iranian enrichment programme for civilian purposes and were the Iranian's still a threat, the PMS replied that they were still a threat because of the potential for the civilian nuclear programme, which is based on uranium enrichment to use the same technology to produce weapons grade uranium. Put that you could forgive the public for not knowing who to believe anymore given that the Americans were now saying that the Iranian's had not been pursuing a nuclear bomb for four years, the PMS said that there were different issues here. There was the issue that was addressed directly by the American report, which certainly did show that the intent was there and that the risk of Iran acquiring a nuclear weapon remained a very serious problem. There was also the issue of the civilian programme and the potential that that holds for the same technology to be used to produce weapons grade Uranium.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government's bottom line was that it did not want Iran to have a civilian nuclear programme, the PMS repeated that the issue was not civilian nuclear power as such; it was the extent to which the technology used for civilian nuclear power could also be used to produce weapons grade uranium. That was what the IAEA and EU processes were designed to address and the Government had not seen as full cooperation as it would like from Iran, in respect to both those processes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:56" post_name="iran-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iran" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5003" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5003" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a comment on reports that the Government was looking to cut the Defence budget by &amp;pound;15billion, the PMS said that he thought it was a strange report. The Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) only concluded less than two months ago, which involved yet further years of real-terms increases in the Defence Budget. The budget was set up to 2010/2011. Asked if he would comment on possible reductions after 2010/2011, the PMS said the Prime Minister had talked consistently about his support for the armed forces and we had also seen over the last decade, successive CSR's, which had resulted in real-terms increases in the Defence budget. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Defence budget would be enough to guarantee all projects going ahead as planned, the PMS replied that the Ministry of Defence had to make long-term plans. The Government had already set, what by any respects, was a long-term budget, for the MOD and they had had their budget set for the next four years. Asked if tough choices would have to be made involving postponing or scrapping projects, the PMS replied that he was not sure he would accept the premise of the question. The PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister was determined to ensure that the armed forces got the resources they needed to do the job they were asked to do.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:55" post_name="defence-spending-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Defence Spending" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5004" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5004" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on the temporary workers regulations being concluded in Brussels and did he think they would go through, the PMS said that there was an ongoing negotiation and discussion on the subject. The Government's position was that it was looking for an agreement that struck an appropriate balance between protecting workers, but without putting their jobs at risk. Put that the Government had been quoted as saying that it believed the regulations would cost 250,000 jobs if they went through, the PMS said it was not something he recognised. Asked for an estimate, the PMS said he did not have one and it depended on what was agreed. It was a very complex dossier and a number of countries had issues with it. The PMS said it had been under discussion for some time and the key for the Government was to strike the right balance between protecting the interests of workers while also ensuring that the flexible labour market in the UK was not put at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a final decision would be reached tomorrow, the PMS reiterated that it was a complex negotiation and it was not only the UK that had issues with the dossier. Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken about the issue with other Heads of Government, the PMS said the Prime Minister spoke to other Heads of Government about a whole range of issues all the time, as people would expect. Asked if the Government had a red line on the subject, the PMS replied that there was a negotiation that was ongoing and he did not think that it would be sensible to have that negotiation in public.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government could raise the issue at the EU Summit, the PMS said that would be a matter for the Presidency. Asked who the other countries were that had issues with the dossier, the PMS said that he did not want to be the person naming other countries, but he was sure people could easily determine that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:54" post_name="temporary-workers-regulations" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Temporary Workers Regulations" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5005" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5005" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked on the nature of the Cabinet discussions on Kosovo, the PMS said that it was a brief update on where we were. The deadline for the discussions between Kosovo and Serbia concluded next Monday. There was a well-established EU process led by the former Finnish Prime Minister Mr Ahtisaari, that the Government was fully supportive of, so he advised people to see how things developed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:53" post_name="kosovo" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Kosovo" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5006" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5006" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be commenting on the conduct of the Russian elections and would there be a review of Russia's participation in the G8, the PMS said that he thought the Foreign Office had issued a comment yesterday in relation to the Russian election which would be made available to people. The PMS added that he was not aware of any review underway in terms of the G8.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 10:00:52" post_name="russian-elections" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russian Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5007" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/03/5007" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify whether Wendy Alexander had offered to resign over the weekend, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that it was not for him to answer questions on Wendy Alexander as she had no Government position, she was a Labour Party officer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lobby would be informed if the Prime Minister were to talk to the police inquiry, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister said in his letter to Commander Mawer, it was important that the police were able to proceed with their inquiries, without a running commentary, but obviously if the Prime Minister were to be interviewed, we would inform people of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a suggestion that the Prime Minister would go ahead with party funding legislation whether he gets a consensus or not, the PMS replied that the Government's position remained that we wanted to see a consensus on party funding. And as the Prime Minister said on Saturday, Jack Straw would be leading consultations on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Cameron's words suggested that he was not about to fall in with the deal, and asked if the Prime Minister would go ahead without a consensus, the PMS referred journalists back to what the Prime Minister said on Saturday where he made clear that Jack Straw would now be consulting on the best way forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the timescale for this, the PMS replied that he was not in the position to confirm any timetable, but the Prime Minister did say &amp;quot;quickly&amp;quot;. Let's see how things develop.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why we needed to legislate for new things when the problem was with existing laws, the PMS replied that there was a lot of history behind this, but the Prime Minister had said on numerous occasions in the last week that there was a need to make further reforms to party funding, and he had set out the rationale for that himself. The Government's position is that it is our intention to bring forward proposals relating to party funding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that the timetable had dramatically increased in the last couple of months, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did say today that he wanted to bring forward proposals quickly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he accepted David Cameron's view that this was all a smokescreen, the PMS replied that he did not want to comment specifically on what David Cameron had said on this matter. But the Government had been talking for some time about the need to bring forward proposals in relation to reforming party funding, we had indicated that at the time of the Queen's Speech. The Hayden Phillips process had been under way for some time, that had broken down, but as the Prime Minister said on Saturday, he would like to see that process reinvigorated and Jack Straw would take the process forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had come to a view on whether there needed to be more state funding for political parties, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had answered this question earlier, and it was best to look back at his words.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's thinking on this was any different to Hayden Phillips', and did he have any differences with Hayden Phillips proposals, the PMS repaid that he needed to be careful over the distinction between the Government's position and the Labour Party's position, so it was best to refer back to the Prime Minister's words on Saturday where he referred specifically to this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that his vision of more state funding was somewhat difficult to sell to the public, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister answered a question on this earlier today where he seemed to be signalling the opposite. The Prime Minister's words should speak for themselves, but in general he was strongly of the view that there was a need for further reform of party funding, he was keen to take this process forward in a consultative way, and that was why Jack Straw would be taking this forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister did not rule out extra state funding or a cap on donations, and asked was not the only way to make sure to seek to dramatically limit spending on elections, the PMS replied that all of this had to be looked at as part of the debate on party funding. They had been round this particular course several times in relation to the previous Hayden Phillips proposals. These were matters for the parties to consider, and we just had to see how these things developed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13964.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-03 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-03 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-03 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-03 15:45:58" post_name="party-funding-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5008" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5008" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about Britain's current slide in the world league tables for both maths and English, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) confirmed that this question was referring to the Results from the Programme for International Student Assessment in 2006 and replied that in general we continued to perform significantly above the international average for scientific literacy and around the average for reading and mathematical literacy. The national curriculum tests and GCSE results told us that standards were continuing to rise slowly but steadily across the board. In relation to this particular report, as DCSF had said, many countries were grouped quite closely together in terms of their results. For example, in science, 6 other countries nominally ahead of us were what the report classed as 'not significantly different' from us in performance. Similar things were happening in the reading table. What mattered was what was happening to overall standards and our national curriculum tests and GCSEs told us that standards were continuing to rise slowly but steadily across the board. Of course we would always want to do more and there was always scope for improvement but we were significantly above the national average for scientific literacy and around the average for reading and mathematics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government should be more humble now that things were going in the wrong direction, the PMS repeated that of course you could always do more, as Ed Balls and DCSF were saying. There was no room for complacency but our own national curriculum and GCSE results told us that standards were rising.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13978.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:58" post_name="programme-for-international-student-assessment" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Programme for International Student Assessment" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5009" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5009" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the reaction to the video issued by the kidnappers of five Britons aired by Al Arabiya television demanding Britain to leave Iraq and put that there was some talk of a COBR meeting, the PMS said that he was not aware of anything at Ministerial level regarding COBR. The Foreign Office had issued a statement on the footage which the PMS reiterated; we had seen the media broadcast of the footage; we condemned the publication of the video which served only to add to the distress of the men's families and friends. It was our long-established policy not to comment on such footage and we encouraged others not to speculate, as that would be unhelpful and distressing for the families concerned.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13978.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:57" post_name="iraq-hostages-video" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq Hostages Video" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5010" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5010" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had talked to President Bush regarding the latest report from the US about Iran's nuclear ambitions, the PMS said that we were in very close contact with the American administration and the White House at all levels. David Miliband had done a very full interview on this subject at lunchtime and that was the most authoritative statement of the Government's position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13978.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:56" post_name="us-report-re-iran" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="US Report re Iran" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5011" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5011" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a discussion at Cabinet about party funding and legislation, the PMS repeated what he had said in the morning press briefing; there was a brief update from Jack Straw on party funding which was more of a factual update, reiterating some of the points from the Prime Minister's speech on Saturday, and ahead of the debate this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13978.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:55" post_name="party-funding-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5012" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/04/5012" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's reaction regarding the Nimrod report was, the PMS said that Des Browne was giving a statement on behalf of the Government at that moment and it was best to wait for that to finish.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been suggestions that the aircraft used was too old, the PMS said that this was a particular incident and Des Browne was setting out, in a highly detailed manner, the exact details of circumstances surrounding the tragic event. It was best to wait for Des Browne to make that statement to Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13978.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-04 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-04 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-04 15:45:54" post_name="nimrod-report" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Nimrod Report" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5013" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5013" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would discuss with the Romanian Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said it would be a fairly wide-ranging discussion, taking stock of the live items on the EU agenda.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be much on migration, the PMS said he would not expect too much on that front.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that they would presumably discuss Kosovo, the PMS repeated that it would be quite a wide-ranging discussion but it would be surprising if Kosovo did not come up.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13984.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 10:00:58" post_name="romanian-prime-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Romanian Prime Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5014" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5014" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the Financial Service Authority (FSA) announcement on the housing market, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was obviously very supportive of the independence of the FSA and that their statements spoke for themselves.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13984.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 10:00:57" post_name="housing-market" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Housing Market" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5015" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5015" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the story in the Guardian was right about Lord Ashdown becoming super-envoy to Afghanistan and when a decision would be made, the PMS replied that ultimately this was a decision for the UN Secretary General to make, no doubt in consultation with key allies, but we were not at that point at the moment. It was difficult to say when a decision would be announced but the PMS said he would anticipate something in the not too distant future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on Lord Ashdown and his work in other fields, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought Lord Ashdown served with distinction in the Balkans but we were not going to get into the business of commenting on individuals in relation to this specific appointment at this point in time. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13984.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 10:00:56" post_name="lord-ashdown-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Ashdown" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5016" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5016" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending the EU Summit in Lisbon, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that a decision had not been made as yet. The Prime Minister hoped to go to Lisbon but the Liaison Committee was also scheduled for the same day, so it was being looked into as to whether it was possible to combine the two.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what time the Treaty would be signed in Lisbon, the PMS replied that it was slightly variable at the moment and the Government was seeing if it would be possible to accommodate the Prime Minister. However, there were twenty-six other Heads of Government that would also have to be accommodated. The PMS added that the Prime Minister hoped to go, but the Liaison Committee was a very important occasion for the Prime Minister and that had been scheduled for that morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister actually wanted to go and could an assurance be given that this wasn't a way of avoiding putting his signature on the Treaty, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister did want to go. The Prime Minister negotiated the Treaty, he was the Head of Government and he would take full responsibility for that. The PMS said that there had been several precedents for Heads of Government not signing such Treaties, but he advised people not to read anything into it in terms of the Prime Minister's position in relation to the Treaty at all. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government would have negotiated with the Liaison Committee on timing and would have known the time of the signing of the Treaty, the PMS said that there had been a lot of uncertainty about exactly what the process would be for the signing ceremony. For example, there had been some suggestion that it may have been signed at the EU/Africa Summit. Asked that given the Prime Minister had said that he would not go to the EU/Africa Summit and was this not further evidence that he did not want to be there, the PMS said that this was not the case at all, as it was possible that Mr Mugabe may not have gone to the EU/Africa Summit. The Government's position was that they would not go to the EU/Africa Summit if Mr Mugabe was going, but obviously if Mr Mugabe had chosen not to go, or it had been decided on his behalf that he shouldn't go, then the Prime Minister would have gone and there could have been an opportunity to sign the Treaty there.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to give the most recent precedent of a British Prime Minister not signing a Treaty, the PMS said that Robin Cook signed the Nice Treaty in 2001, Dougie Henderson signed the Amsterdam Treaty in 1997, Francis Maude as well as Douglas Hurd signed the Maastricht Treaty in 1992 and it was Lady Chalker who signed the Single European Act. So there had been quite a lot of precedents for people other than the Prime Minister signing European Treaties, so people should not read anything into it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if those precedents occurred when other Heads of Government were not signing Treaties, the PMS replied that he did not have that level of detail to hand, but noted that Baroness Chalker wasn't even a Cabinet Minister when she signed it and that was also the case for Francis Maude, so it wouldn't necessarily be with their direct equivalents either. As a general principle, whoever signs the Treaty, signs it on behalf of the Government; the Prime Minister was the Head of the Government and he would take full responsibility for the content of the Treaty, as he negotiated the fine detail of it in Lisbon in October.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister did not go, would it be the Foreign Secretary who attended, the PMS said that in the past it had tended to be Foreign Minister's who had been the next port of call. At the moment it was still hoped that it would be the Prime Minister. Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was a good Treaty, the PMS replied that he did and that's why he agreed to it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:58" post_name="eu-summit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5017" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5017" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a comment on the Temporary Workers Bill in Brussels, the PMS said that there was a meeting taking place at the Employment Council in Brussels today and John Hutton was there for the UK. The meeting was happening at that moment and discussions were ongoing so it would be best for people to stay in touch with what was happening in Brussels.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:57" post_name="temporary-workers" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Temporary Workers" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5018" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5018" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the new appointment and why it had taken so long, the PMS said that as people would have seen, Sir Christopher Kelly, a very distinguished former Permanent Secretary and civil servant who had served Government's of both parties had been appointed as the new Commissioner. The process was overseen by the Independent Commissioner for Public Appointments who had followed very detailed guidance for the appointment of this individual. The appointment panel was made up of Sir Gus O'Donnell plus a member of staff at the Committee, who gave advice to the Prime Minister; the advice was given on Monday and an announcement was made today. The PMS added that it was a very thorough process, which had taken time. The previous Prime Minister had not thought it appropriate for him to make the appointment when Sir Alistair Graham's term of office ended, so there had been a gap. The new Prime Minister had kick-started the process in July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Alastair Graham's description of the process had been dithering incompetence, the PMS said that there had been a very thorough process, on the basis of an appointment panel that had included the Cabinet Secretary and was overseen by the Independent Commissioner for Public Appointments.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:56" post_name="committee-on-standards-in-public-life" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Committee on Standards in Public Life" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5019" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5019" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to confirm that today's announcement was new money and new places, the PMS said he could confirm that, as Jack Straw had made clear in his statement. Asked why it had taken a review to build new prisons, the PMS said that a review was needed to look at it in a coherent and long-term way, looking at both the demand and supply side together. Asked where the money would be coming from if not the CSR, the PMS said that the CSR only went up to 2011, so we were talking about the period after the CSR settlement. The PMS said that his understanding of it was that the Government was pre-committing money from the next spending review.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:55" post_name="prisons" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prisons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5020" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5020" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be discussing with his Romanian counterpart, the PMS said that the Romanian Prime Minister was in London and it was an opportunity for them to discuss live European policy issues that were around at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:54" post_name="romanian-prime-minister-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Romanian Prime Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5021" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5021" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on Charles Clarke's interview in the Standard, the PMS said he did not want to discuss details of private conversations between the Prime Minister and his Labour Party colleagues. The Prime Minister believed that Charles Clarke was a distinguished and experienced former Minister who had much to offer public life in the future. The Prime Minister would welcome all people of talent committed to public service to support the work of the Government. Put that Charles Clarke could become the envoy for returnees, the PMS repeated that he would not get into specifics of private conversations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:53" post_name="charles-clarke" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Charles Clarke" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5022" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/05/5022" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if he agreed with the Liberal Democrats that sending Valerie Amos to the EU/Africa Summit in place of the Prime Minister diluted his position, the PMS said he did not think it diluted the Prime Minister's position at all. The Prime Minister's position was that he would not be sending a Minister but he had never said that Britain would not be represented.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page13988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-05 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-05 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-05 15:45:52" post_name="eu-africa-summit-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Africa Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5023" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5023" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the figure 42 was plucked out of the ether, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that we were not plucking anything out of the ether as suggested. We were putting in place stronger safeguards around circumstances where an extension beyond 28 days might be necessary, that was the key point to focus on in relation to today's proposals. The Government had always said that there should be a maximum limit, so obviously a view needed to be taken at some point as to what that maximum limit should be, and people would have different views on that. But the key point in relation to today's proposals was not to get too fixated on the number, but to focus more on the safeguards around the circumstances where it may be necessary to detain people for more that 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked again why 42 days, the PMS replied that if there was an acceptance of the principle that there had to be a maximum limit, then you had to accept at some point you have to take a view as to what that number should be. At the moment that number was 28 days. We have said that in the circumstances set out by the Home Secretary today, it may be necessary to detain people beyond that. There would be 7 day extensions with judicial oversights, and the Home Secretary had taken the view that two 7 day extensions seemed appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was just because 42 was halfway between 28 and 56, the PMS replied that we had always looked at this on the basis of extensions a week at a time, and this was two 7 day extensions. But again, if you accepted that there needed to be a maximum figure, and most people did accept that, then obviously we could go round and round in circles discussing what that figure is. The key thing in relation to today's announcement was the additional safeguards that the Home Secretary was putting in place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this meant that the figure was still up in the air, the PMS replied that the Government had always said that 56 was the maximum of what the maximum might be. We had listened to the concerns that had been raised, but again if you accepted that there should be a maximum, you had to take a view as to what that maximum might be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to accept that one of the considerations was the simple politics of what we could get through, the PMS replied that obviously we had to listen to people's concerns. We had always said that we wanted to do this in a consensual way. But again, it was best not to get too fixated about the number in respect to this proposal today, the key thing was the additional safeguards that we were putting in place, and the reassurances that we were putting in place that a strong case would have to be made in exceptional circumstances, for time limited periods, in order to hold people beyond 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that if those political pressures were not there, would the Government have preferred to go higher than 42 days, the PMS replied that it was the Government's position that you had to get public and parliamentary support for what we were trying to do in relation to an issue like this. The public would want to be reassured that where the Government was taking exceptional powers in exceptional circumstances, there were the appropriate safeguards in place. That was why we had always said that we wanted to do this in as consensual way as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how this fitted in with the Emergency Powers that allowed the extension beyond 28 days, the PMS replied that there had been support in some quarters for using the Emergency Powers Act, but the Government happened to think that declaring a state of emergency may be a rather extreme step in order to deal with what may be a handful of cases. We were trying to take on some of the features of that proposal, essentially that the Home Secretary on the basis of a report from the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) and the police, would have to declare that circumstances were such that it was permissible for someone to be held for more than 28 days. So in some sense, we were trying to take on some of the key features of that proposal, but do it in a way without having to take the extreme step of declaring a national state of emergency in order to deal with what might be a small number of terror suspects.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if in the hypothetical situation where you reached that 42 day limit, would the emergency powers still be available, the PMS replied that journalists should check that point with the Home Office, but nobody was suggesting that this was being proposed here.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which was the most important safeguard, the PMS replied that there were a number of important safeguards. The first was that should it be felt necessary that people would need to be held for more than 28 days, the Home Secretary would act only on the basis of a joint report from the DPP and the police, so clearly there would need to be strong and compelling evidence for that. Secondly the Home Secretary would then have to provide a statement to Parliament within two days, and there would subsequently be a vote in Parliament. In addition in relation to individual cases, a judge would have to approve each seven day extension. So it was the combination of the role of the DPP and the police in setting out the case for moving beyond 28 days, the stronger role for Parliament, and the judicial oversight.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the vote in Parliament was just window dressing as theoretically the vote could be held more than two weeks after the deadline for charging or releasing someone, the PMS replied that there would have to be statement to Parliament within two days, and there would then have to be a vote in Parliament in order to approval the emergency situation that we would be in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that someone could be held for 28 days, before we said we wanted the powers, then hold the vote, the PMS replied that what we were talking about here was a situation that was potentially fast moving and unpredictable. Clearly Parliament had to approve this overall framework, so there had to be parliamentary approval before we got to the circumstances whereby the Home Secretary could make those decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what would happen if it was 1st August during recess, and would Parliament be recalled, the PMS replied that Jacqui Smith answered this point this morning in her briefing. Obviously it would depend on the circumstances. If it was necessary for Parliament to be recalled, then Parliament would be recalled.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Parliament would therefore have to be recalled before the powers could be used, as you couldn't make a statement to Parliament or have a vote, and asked would Parliament be recalled before the powers were used, or could they be used without any Parliamentary involved until they returned, the PMS replied that what we were proposing was pretty clear in the document. There would have to be a vote in Parliament within 30 days of the powers being authorised.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Parliament would therefore be recalled to deal with any terrorist held in detention, the PMS replied that the alternative proposal would be to declare a state of emergency, which would also require the recall of Parliament among other things. So clearly we were only talking about exceptional circumstances. The norm would be where we were now, but if the situation were to arise, and the evidence suggested that there was increasing trends towards greater complexity in these cases that suggested that it was a situation that could well arise, then it was right that we had provisions in place to enable us to deal with that if necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone in the Cabinet or the Attorney General had raised any protests about this, the PMS replied that there was a general discussion of the broad principles of this issue at Cabinet last week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if everyone was signed up, the PMS replied that this was the Government's position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the previous Attorney General has said he would have resigned from the last Government had their proposals gone through, the PMS replied that this was the Government's position and was supported by members of the Government. And it was his understanding that the Attorney General had been involved in the policy development process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why there was this potential delay before Parliament got the vote, why not just say the statement had to be followed by a vote within two days, the PMS replied that what we would be dealing with would be exceptional and fast moving circumstances. We were saying that he vote would have to be up to 30 days, not necessarily at 30 days, so there was scope for it to happen sooner. But clearly when dealing with complex terrorist cases some degree of flexibility may be necessary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how it would be possible to have a debate during an ongoing police inquiry, the PMS replied that the debate would be had around the general circumstances that enabled the Home Secretary to reach the decision that it was necessary to hold people for more than 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Home Secretary would surely say that it was an individual case and therefore would be unable to go into details, the PMS replied that all of this was hypothetical. The key thing was that we were putting in place additional parliamentary safeguards that were not there at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if proposals related to individual cases, so if there were 14 arrests for example would there have to be 14 parliamentary votes, or could these be all taken at once, the PMS replied that the position was as set out in the document. We were talking about a strictly limited period of time, and in response to a specific operational situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant they would all be lumped together, the PMS replied that the Home Secretary would say that we were now in circumstances whereby it may be necessary to detain people for more than 28 days, on the basis of a report. Individual cases would then be subject to judicial oversight and approval from a judge on each seven day extension.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that under the same invocation of powers, more people could be arrested later on, the PMS replied that we were trying to incorporate some aspects of the state of emergency proposal which would operate in the way suggested. But in a way that did not involve declaring a national state of emergency with everything that was associated with that. In a sense we thought there was merit in the Liberty proposal, but we were trying to do it in a way that was more finely tuned, and did not mean that we needed to take sweeping emergency powers to deal with a handful of cases. This could only be done on the basis of a joint report from the DPP and the police setting out the case. The Home Secretary could not just decide that this is what we were going to do. There had to be a compelling case made by the DPP and the police as to why it was necessary to invoke the powers that enabled people to be held for more than 28 days. We were not going to get into a discussion about exactly what those circumstances might be, because we did not know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would want to use these powers against Al Qaeda, the PMS replied again that this would depend entirely on what the circumstances were at the time. It was difficult to get into hypotheticals. The key thing was that we could only act once we had a report from the DPP and the police setting out why it was necessary. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this report would only be instigated when we reached somewhere near 28 days, or could the report come earlier, the PMS replied that it would obviously depend on the circumstances. What we were talking about was the necessary powers in order to extend 28 days, so you would not need to do this up to 28 days, but we could not describe every possible circumstance that may arise in the future. We were only talking about what was necessary in order to hold people beyond 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was confident that a debate in Parliament would not be used by lawyers to claim that their client's case had been prejudiced in some way, and had we received assurances from our legal officers, the PMS replied that he was sure the Home Office would have consulted and taken legal advice on whatever they considered to be necessary. The specifics would be best raised with them. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the current DPP now back these proposals, the PMS replied that this was a matter for the current DPP.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the current DPP had said that he was opposed to going beyond 28 days, the PMS replied that the current DPP had said that up to now it was not necessary to hold people beyond 28 days, and that was the case. But the DPP had a central role in this, and the DPP would have to be persuaded of the case for moving beyond 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the DPP had been involved in discussions, the PMS replied that it was his understanding that the DPP had been involved in discussions, and he had a central role in determining whether or not it would be appropriate to move beyond 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anybody outside the Government who actually thought this was a good idea, the PMS gave examples of Lord Carlile the independent terrorist expert, the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, and Ken Jones the Head of ACPO.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why there was no statement on this given the sensitivities and the Prime Minister's emphasis on telling Parliament first, the PMS replied that it was put out in a written statement this morning. The news actually broke ahead of this, there were discussions with the opposition parties yesterday because we thought it was necessary to consult ahead of time. In those circumstances it is quite difficult to control the exact manner in which the news gets out. But Jacqui Smith had put out a written statement this morning, and he was not aware that the opposition parties had objected to that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14005.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:58" post_name="pre-charge-detention-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pre-charge Detention" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5024" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5024" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was still confident that the economy was &amp;quot;tickety-boo&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position was that no country can insulate itself from the ups and downs of the world economy. The key thing was whether or not the framework and policies were in place to steer a course of stability through what are uncertain times for the world economy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had confidence in the Monetary Policy Committee decisions, the PMS replied that as Chancellor and as Prime Minister, he was always prepared to back whatever decisions the Monetary Policy Committee felt it appropriate to make. But those were decisions for them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14005.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:57" post_name="economy-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5025" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5025" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister could be appearing before the Liaison Committee and go to Lisbon, the PMS replied since yesterday the Liaison Committee had announced that they will be bringing forward the start of the hearing. This was a sign that we were doing everything we could to enable the Prime Minister to be at Lisbon for some, if not all, of the ceremony and lunch. But journalists should not read anything into this whatsoever, there were lots of precedents where people other than the Prime Minister had signed these treaties. He was the Head of Government, he negotiated the treaty, and he took full responsibility for its content.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put again that the Prime Minister would miss the signing ceremony, the PMS replied that there were still discussions with the Portuguese Presidency about the exact arrangements, so let's see how that developed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be the only Head of Government not to attend the signing of the Treaty, the PMS replied that he only spoke on behalf of the British Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how these frightening summonses from the Liaison Committee come about, the PMS replied that Liaison Committee was the senior parliamentary committee and therefore it had to be treated very seriously, and with a very high degree of respect. As he was explaining yesterday, there had been quite a lot of uncertainty about when exactly the Treaty would be signed, the possibility it could be signed at the EU-Africa Summit, but our attendance at that depended on whether Mr Mugabe was there, and there was the possibility that it could have been signed in Brussels rather than Lisbon. So we were trying to juggle a number of balls simultaneously.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who suggested the date and time of the Liaison Committee, the PMS replied that he did not have that information to hand, but did not want to get into the discussion of who said what when. We were doing everything we could, as was shown by the fact that the Liaison Committee had agreed to change the timing of their hearing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister did not attend, would his fellow European chums not think he was snubbing them, the PMS replied not at all. There were lots of precedents for people other than the Head of Government signing treaties - Robin Cook signed the Amsterdam Treaty, Douglas Henderson signed the Nice Treaty, Douglas Hurd and Francis Maude signed the Maastricht Treaty, and Baroness Chalker signed the Single European Act. So there had been instances where people who were not even Cabinet Ministers had signed these treaties. Nobody got too excited about it then.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we had not asked the Liaison Committee to move the date, the PMS replied again that there was a lot of uncertainty about when the Treaty signing was happening, we also had to agree a date with the Liaison Committee and had to do this simultaneously. It was not straight forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Liaison Committee took precedent over Lisbon, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had to attend the Liaison Committee. The Liaison Committee was the senior UK parliamentary committee.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was entirely up to the Prime Minister whether he appeared before the Liaison Committee or not, the PMS replied that given the emphasis that he had placed on the importance of Parliament and parliamentary accountability, it would not send a particularly good signal for him not to respond to the Liaison Committee's summons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we had taken any steps to ensure that our European partners were aware of the fundamental importance of the Liaison Committee, the PMS replied that our European partners were fully aware of the difficulties we were facing, and were a lot less bothered about it than the Lobby were.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14005.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:56" post_name="eu-treaty-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5026" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5026" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how many times the Prime Minister had spoken to Wendy Alexander this week, the PMS replied that this fell into the category of both private conversations and Labour Party matters, and therefore he would not comment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's take was on Dave Hartnett's assertion yesterday that the lost CDs were part of a system failures, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was asked this question yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14005.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 10:00:55" post_name="misc-25" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5027" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5027" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Talent Challenge was and where it would be held, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that it was something being organised by Business in the Community. The Talent Challenge was about how to harness the talent of every individual in the country and it was something that Business in the Community, under it's new chair, Sir Stuart Rose of Marks and Spencer's was very supportive of, as was the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14007.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:58" post_name="talent-challenge" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Talent Challenge" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5028" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5028" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to explain why 42-day detention was better than any other amount of time, the PMS said that he was happy to go through the issue again following that morning's detailed discussion on the subject if people wanted him to. At which point, the question was withdrawn.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was confident of it getting through Parliament, the PMS replied that it was the Government's intention to do this on a consultative and consensual basis. Obviously with any legislation the Government brought forward, it was done so on the anticipation that it would get through Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14007.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:57" post_name="pre-charge-detention-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pre-charge Detention" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5029" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5029" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Ben Bradshaw said in the Commons that afternoon that the Government was considering legislation on cut-price alcohol and how could you legislate against that unless a minimum price was brought in, the PMS said that he was not aware of the exact context in which Ben Bradshaw had made those remarks, so he would not want to comment on them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a report on drinking being published shortly, the PMS replied that the key thing was the review of the licensing laws that was due in the New Year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that some alcohol was being sold at too low a price, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that these were ultimately decisions taken by commercial organisations, but as was raised at the summit on alcohol, there were clearly some issues around enforcement on sellers to those under the legal age for example, that might need to be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14007.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:56" post_name="alcohol-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Alcohol" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5030" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/06/5030" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any news on the EU Summit, the PMS said that we were in exactly the same place in terms of scheduling, as we were this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14007.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-06 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-06 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-06 15:45:55" post_name="lisbon" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lisbon" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5031" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/07/5031" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) started by updating journalists on the Chinese Foreign Minister's visit to London yesterday when he met with David Miliband and had a pre-arranged meeting with Simon McDonald (the Prime Minister's Foreign Policy Advisor), which the Prime Minister dropped in on for approximately 20 - 30 minutes. At this meeting they discussed a variety of things including the Prime Minister's visit to China in the new year; the situations in Darfur and Burma and the proposals the Prime Minister set out in his Mansion House speech on the form of international institutions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chinese supported the proposals Britain was putting to the UN next week re measures against Iran, the PMS replied that we should wait and see; there would have to be a discussion of the situation regarding Iran next week. The Chinese had been supportive in the past; obviously we wanted to do this on a multi-lateral basis, so we should wait and see how things developed over the coming week. As had been increasingly clear following the report from the US earlier this week, it remained the case that the situation regarding Iran remained serious.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the issue of Chinese industrial espionage came up, the PMS said he was not aware that that had come up in the Prime Minister's meeting with the Chinese Foreign Minister and it was best to check with the Foreign Office to see if it came up at any other meeting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister saw the Government's relationship with China as more like the relationship France was pursuing or Germany's more stand-offish relationship, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was focussing on what Britain's relationship with China was, rather than trying to come up with a relative ranking. The Prime Minister believed that Britain should have a strong relationship with China. Insofar as there were human rights issues, these would be raised in the appropriate way, but the Prime Minister had always said, as Chancellor and now Prime Minister that the UK's relationship with China needed to be a strong one; we shared a number of common interests and China was a key international partner.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14034.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-07 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-07 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:58" post_name="chinese-foreign-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chinese Foreign Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5032" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/07/5032" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why there was no Downing Street Christmas tree, the PMS replied that there was a Downing Street Christmas tree; it had been put up that morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14034.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-07 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-07 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:57" post_name="dowing-street-christmas-tree" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Dowing Street Christmas Tree" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5033" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/07/5033" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister thought it was not necessary to go and sign the Reform Treaty in person, the PMS replied that we had made no such decision; as he had said endlessly at numerous lobby briefings, it was the Prime Minister's hope to be able to go but we had logistical issues around the timing of the Liaison Committee. There were lots of precedents for people other than the Prime Minister signing European treaties; one should be under no doubt at all that whoever signed the treaty was fully supported by the Prime Minister. He negotiated it, it would be signed on behalf of the Government, of which he was the head and he took full responsibility for it. It would be unwise at this point to conclude that he was not going to be able to go there to sign it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly about the timing of the signing of the Treaty and whether or not it could be signed earlier in the day, the PMS said that if people really wanted to go over these issues again he would be more than happy to, but he felt as though all lines of potential questioning had been exhausted. The committee had already kindly agreed to move the timing of their hearing by bringing it forward an hour; we were in continuous discussion with the Portuguese presidency re arrangements. This would be resolved in an appropriate way ahead of the summit next week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14034.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-07 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-07 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:56" post_name="reform-treaty-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Reform Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5034" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/07/5034" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that two of the country's biggest supermarkets were fixing the price of milk, the PMS replied that it was often forgotten that it was the Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor, who brought forward very significant reforms, in conjunction with Patricia Hewitt (then Secretary of State for DTI), regarding the competition regime; it was this Government that introduced the independence of the Competition Commission and it was the Prime Minister, when Chancellor, who had introduced the independence of the Bank of England. That had happened in 2001 and as a result of that we had seen, not commenting on specific cases, competition policy with more edge, with benefits for consumers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that in this case fines would be paid and that the Prime Minister must have a view, the PMS replied that we would not normally comment on individual decisions taken by other independent bodies like, for example, the Bank of England; we would not comment on individual companies and specific decisions taken by them, but this was a good example of the new framework operating in practice.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14034.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-07 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-07 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:55" post_name="supermarket-pricing-fixing" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Supermarket Pricing Fixing" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5035" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/07/5035" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been upset with President Barroso's comments regarding the EU Africa summit, the PMS said one should not draw that conclusion. The Prime Minister had made his position very clear regarding the reasons why he did not feel as though it was appropriate for him as the British Prime Minister to attend this summit given that Mr Mugabe was attending. That said, we did want the summit to be a success; we were participating in the summit, although not at Ministerial level; Baroness Amos was representing the Prime Minister and she had been talking about what the British Government was hoping to achieve from this summit on the radio this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14034.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-07 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-07 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:54" post_name="president-barroso" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Barroso" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5036" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/07/5036" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what would be on the agenda for the Prime Minister's meeting with the Italian Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the discussions would be wide-ranging; obviously there was the Lisbon summit next week where we were expecting a discussion about the European response to globalisation. Other live European and international policy issues would be covered, such as Kosovo. It would be a wide-ranging and fairly informal occasion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why there was no press conference, the PMS replied that it was a private lunch at Chequers so that imposed some restraints on what could be done in relation to media. On this occasion they wanted to have something a bit more informal, out of the spotlight; an opportunity to have a slightly longer and informal discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Prime Minister Prodi was having a press conference at Heathrow, the PMS said that that was an issue for Prime Minister Prodi. There was no particular significance in regards to not having a press conference; as had been stated, this was an informal lunch at Chequers. The Prime Minister had an excellent relationship with Prime Minister Prodi, which went back many years; they had worked very closely together when the Prime Minister was Chancellor and Prime Minister Prodi was at the European Commission. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14034.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-07 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-07 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:53" post_name="prime-minister-prodi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister Prodi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5037" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/07/5037" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was time to consider cutting the entitlement to free English lessons, the PMS replied that if it was a specific departmental issue, then it would be best to raise it with the department. In general the Prime Minister was very supportive of the principle that people coming into the UK should integrate and learn the language of this country.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14034.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-07 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-07 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-07 15:45:52" post_name="english-lessons" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="English Lessons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5038" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/10/5038" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be attending the EU Summit in Lisbon, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that there had been no update since Friday, which in turn hadn't been much of an update from Thursday. The difficulties surrounding the timing of the event had already been set out and a definitive answer had not yet been reached. Asked if the Prime Minister was unlikely to go, the PMS replied that there were certain difficulties in trying to go to both the summit and the Liaison Committee but that people should not read anything into the possibility of the Prime Minister not attending the EU Summit. The Prime Minister as Head of Government negotiated the treaty and would want to sign up to it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the Prime Minister would be before the Liaison Committee, the PMS said it was a matter for the Liaison Committee but from recollection, it would be for a minimum of two hours. Put that the Liaison Committee were being inflexible, the PMS replied that she wouldn't agree with that characterisation of the Liaison Committee.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14044.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-10 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-10 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-10 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-10 15:45:58" post_name="eu-summit-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5039" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/10/5039" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify the nature and scale of the divisions within Government over the issue of people having lost their pensions through no fault of their own, the PMS replied that she did not recognise the description of the situation on pensions. There was an examination underway into the most effective way to compensate and benefit those who had lost their pensions. It was being taken forward by Actuary Andrew Young, whose findings would be considered carefully and an announcement would be made in due course. There was a need that everyone in Government recognised, to balance the desire to provide as much help as possible, with the Government's duty to the taxpayer. The PMS reminded people that the Government had already allocated large sums of money to people who had lost their pensions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14044.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-10 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-10 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-10 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-10 15:45:57" post_name="pensions" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pensions" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5040" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/10/5040" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a date for the National Security Bill and was it likely to be in this session of Parliament or after Christmas, the PMS said that people would have to wait and see but as much notice as possible would be given on timings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the picture of the former Prime Minister was likely to be put up on the staircase at No10, the PMS said that she did not have an answer to the question, as she was not sure how long such things traditionally took.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for details on the paper being published by Peter Hain on Thursday on welfare reform, the PMS replied that it was an update of the situation and further implementation. Asked for an update on Peter Hain's welfare, the PMS said he was fine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any visits from the police, the PMS said that he hadn't. The Government would let people know if the Prime Minister had been interviewed but also, we needed to respect what the Prime Minister had set out in his letter to the police, about allowing the investigation to continue without a constant commentary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that a report published today on Farepak had revealed that people who had lost &amp;pound;40m this time last year would not get compensation before Christmas this year and could the PMS confirm that, the PMS replied that she was not in a position to confirm the reports, but the Government had spoken previously on the issue and she referred people back to that position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14044.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-10 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-10 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-10 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-10 15:45:56" post_name="misc-26" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5041" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5041" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Keith Vaz has claimed that at least 10 Ministers are rebelling over police pay, and asked if we recognised that picture, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that this was not a picture that he recognised. On the more general issues, the Home Secretary answered a lot of questions on this earlier today, and set out the Government's position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14053.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:58" post_name="police-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5042" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5042" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to set out what will happen on Thursday, the PMS replied that as he said this morning, the Liaison Committee would start at 9am, moved forward from 10am, and we would expect that to last around two and a half hours. The Prime Minister would then fly straight to Lisbon. It was anticipated that he would be there in time for some of the lunch and he would also have a meeting with the Portuguese Prime Minister Mr Socrates, and it was expected that he may have some other bilaterals as well ahead of the Council on Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was correct that the Prime Minister would sign the Treaty, but would not be filmed signing it, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would not be able to make it in time for the signing ceremony, but he would sign the Treaty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would not have looked better if the Prime Minister was there for the signing, the PMS replied that he had lost count of the number of times that we had been round this. As he had said, there were lots of precedents of people other than the Prime Minister signing treaties, and nobody then suggested that the then Prime Minister was in any way equivocal about the treaty. We had even had people that were not Cabinet Ministers sign treaties. The Prime Minister was going to sign this. He was the Prime Minister, he negotiated the Treaty, he thought it was a good Treaty for Britain, it will help streamline a lot of the EU processes following enlargement, we secured our red lines, and he stood fully behind it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14053.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:57" post_name="europe-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5043" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5043" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Home Secretary had seemed to indicate this morning that she would await the final publication of the Home Affairs Select Committee before drafting the Terrorism Bill, and asked if there was still room for manoeuvre on 42 days, the PMS replied that the Home Secretary was not setting out anything that was different from the previous position, which was that the Government was in a process of consultation on this. We had not yet published the Counter-Terrorism Bill, we would anticipate that happening in the new year, so clearly there was an ongoing consultation. But she was also saying that the key thing about the initial set of proposals, and in particular this latest set of proposals, was to focus not so much on the number of days, but rather on all the additional safeguards put in place should somebody be held for longer than 28 days. It was certainly the Prime Minister's view that the differences between the various people participating in this debate were quite a lot less than was being made out. In practice it was not clear that the differences between the various people were at this point that significant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Liberty had just issued a statement to say that it was &amp;quot;baloney&amp;quot; for the Home Secretary to suggest that the Government had moved much closer to Liberty's position, the PMS replied that he did not want to start commenting on individual organisations, but the proposals that a number of organisations had been advocating was one whereby there might be circumstances where it might be necessary to hold people for more than 28 days. Now some people had been suggesting that in order to enable that to happen we would call a state of emergency. What the proposals last week were trying to do was incorporate some of the spirit of that to accept that the circumstances in which it would be necessary to hold people for more than 28 days would have to be demonstrably exceptional and temporary, but to do that in a way that did not go as far as calling a full state of emergency. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify that we were still against the Civil Contingencies Act being the potential framework for an agreement, the PMS replied that the proposals that had been set out incorporated some of the key principals of those people that had been advocating the use of the Civil Contingencies Act. There was a lot of on the record material from the Home Secretary and the Prime Minister as to why the Government thought that declaring a state of emergency in order to deal with a small handful of cases might be unnecessary. It was about trying to accept some of the principals that underlie that proposal without having to go that far.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people should not expect that when the Bill was published it would be 35 days not 42, the PMS replied that as he had said before, people should not get too preoccupied by the number of days. What was important was the safeguards. But if you accepted that there needed to be a maximum limit and that you could not hold people indefinitely, then you had to take a view of what the appropriate number of days might be.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14053.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:56" post_name="counter-terrorism-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5044" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5044" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked that given the significance of the Russian elections and the immunity that was given to the Russian Parliament, had we given up all hope of extradition of Mr Lugovoi, the PMS replied that our position on this remained unchanged. This was a dreadful crime that was committed in the centre of London, which could have put thousands of people at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we realistically expected extradition in this case, the PMS replied that we would continue to pursue justice.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14053.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 15:45:55" post_name="russia-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5045" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5045" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by giving the assembled press a brief rundown of what was discussed at Cabinet. First of all there was a discussion on Europe, ahead of the EC meeting on Friday and there was also a discussion on where we were with Iraq and Afghanistan, following the visits to Afghanistan by the Prime Minister and the Defence Minister yesterday, ahead of the Prime Minister's statement to the House on Afghanistan tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14052.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5046" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5046" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked who would be attending the EU Summit in Lisbon, the PMS said that he could confirm that the Prime Minister would be attending on Thursday. Due to the timing of the Liaison Committee, the Prime Minister would be unable to attend the actual signing ceremony, but he would attend some of the lunch with other leaders and he would sign the Treaty while he was there. The PMS added that the Prime Minister would be having a meeting with Prime Minister Socrates of Portugal and the PMS anticipated that there would also be meetings with other leaders ahead of the Council meeting on Friday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the lack of the Prime Minister's presence at the signing ceremony would send out a certain signal, the PMS explained to journalists who had not been present for recent lobby briefings, that we had been round this course many times, but he was happy to go round it again, if that's what people wanted. As had been said before, there had been some uncertainty about the exact date as to when the Treaty would be signed. The PMS explained that the Liaison Committee had been agreed for the 13th December and we had done everything we could to accommodate the Prime Minister's travel plans to Lisbon. The Liaison Committee very kindly agreed to bring forward the timing of their hearing from 10am to 9am, as was announced last week, so that the Prime Minister could be in Lisbon for as much of the day as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone would be signing on behalf of the Prime Minister, the PMS said that as he understood it, the signing ceremony would be attended by Heads of Government and Foreign Ministers, so David Miliband would be there. Both Foreign Ministers and Heads of Government would sign the treaty, so the Prime Minister would be signing it later on when he got there. Asked if David Miliband would be signing the Treaty at the ceremony, or whether the Prime Minister would be signing it later, the PMS said that he was not sure what the exact arrangements were for exactly when pen goes to paper, but both would be signing the treaty. That was the arrangement for this particular treaty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be signing the treaty in public, the PMS said that no one should be in any doubt as to whether or not the Prime Minister would have signed the treaty. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the scheduling had been a complete mess-up, the PMS said he wouldn't characterise it in that way. As he had said, there was a lot of uncertainty about exactly when the treaty would be signed. There had been some suggestion that it might have been signed at the EU Africa Summit at some point, but obviously attendance of that was conditional on the actions of Mr Mugabe, who was not the most predictable of people. There was also some possibility that it could have been signed at Brussels; so there were a number of balls that had to be juggled simultaneously, as well as having to arrange a time for the Liaison Committee. The most important thing, regardless of who signed it, who was at what ceremony, when or how it happened, was that this was a treaty negotiated by the Prime Minister and he thought it was a good treaty for Britain. We had secured our red lines and it would help streamline the functions of an enlarged Union. It was something the Prime Minister stood fully behind and took full responsibility for.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14052.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:57" post_name="lisbon-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lisbon" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5047" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5047" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any key issues on the agenda for Brussels, the PMS replied that the key issue for the Government was that for the last couple of years there had been an introspective period in Europe and once the treaty had been signed the important thing was to move on to the issues that really mattered to individuals and businesses and also to Europe's standing in the world. The main focus was likely to be how to take forward the globalisation agenda within Europe and how Europe could best respond to that. The PMS added that it was anticipated that there would be some discussion on the live foreign policy issues at the moment, particularly Kosovo and Iran.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14052.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:56" post_name="ec-meeting-brussels" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EC Meeting, Brussels" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5048" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/11/5048" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the Prime Minister's visit to China in January, the PMS said that in terms of visits, everything was kept under review. The Prime Minister had said that he would visit China and India in January and more details would become available soon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14052.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-11 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-11 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-11 10:00:55" post_name="china-visit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="China Visit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5049" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5049" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) started by telling journalists that the Prime Minister had signed the Treaty and was expected to have bilateral meetings with EU leaders afterwards, including Prime Minister Socrates, but was unable to confirm any others in advance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister was limited to the number of leaders he could meet with as many of them had left, the PMS said we would have to wait and see who he was able to meet this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to do any media after his meeting with Prime Minister Socrates, the PMS said he was planning on doing a clip this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's mood was as he signed the Treaty, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was obviously very pleased to be able to sign the Treaty; it was something he had negotiated and believed it to be a good treaty.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14063.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:58" post_name="eu-reform-treaty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Reform Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5050" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5050" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the mood was after the Liaison Committee and asked if it was something the Prime Minister would want to do again, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had expressed his thanks to the members of the Liaison Committee and his warm seasonal greetings expressed his views on the issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the intention to carry on with the Liaison Committees every 6 months, the PMS said she certainly had no information that would suggest otherwise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had received the Poynter Review, the PMS said that, in terms of the publication of the interim reviews from Kieran Poynter, obviously it would be dealt with in due course; she was not going to get into a commentary of what papers the Prime Minister had seen but obviously, as was said at the time, the findings of that review would be made public.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the interim report would be made public, the PMS said the findings of the report would be made public; normal processes would apply.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14063.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:57" post_name="liaison-committee" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Liaison Committee" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5051" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5051" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reaction to the reports on Counter Terrorism, the PMS said that it was appropriate that the Home Secretary had already issued a short written statement on the Select Committee's report welcoming the expression of their view that the current pre-charge detention limit may prove inadequate in the future.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14063.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:56" post_name="counter-terrorism-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5052" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5052" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said this morning that there was no room for manoeuvre regarding Police pay and that that was a rather difficult way to start a negotiation, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had set out the fact that these were difficult decisions and they were difficult decisions that people weren't necessarily comfortable with at the time, but that they needed to be taken and we needed to keep the bigger picture regarding our economy, stability and inflation in mind. The PMS had nothing to add to what the Prime Minister had said as he had been very clear.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14063.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:55" post_name="police-pay-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5053" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5053" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Lord Ashdown was any nearer being appointed to a UN role, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that she would not speculate on individuals at this stage, as this was an appointment for the UN Secretary General to make. It was stated at Lobby that morning that an appointment of somebody into the discussed role could be expected shortly but not imminently. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long imminent was, the PMS told journalists that she would leave that for them to determine and would not be able to give any further guidance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14057.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:58" post_name="lord-ashdown-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Ashdown" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5054" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5054" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for an update on the Prime Minister's plans for tomorrow once he got to Lisbon, the PMS replied that it was anticipated that the Prime Minister would be able to attend some of the lunch and would then sign the treaty. If there was any time for bilateral meetings, they would happen after that point. Asked what time the lunch was scheduled to start, the PMS said that it would start at some point after 1pm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be footage of the Prime Minister signing the treaty, the PMS replied that she would be very surprised if there wasn't photographic evidence of the occasion.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14057.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:57" post_name="lisbon-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lisbon" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5055" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5055" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said in PMQ's that there would be an announcement in the next few days on a financial assistance scheme for pensioners and what did the term &amp;quot;in the next few days&amp;quot; mean, the PMS explained that it would indeed be in the next few days. Asked if it would be an oral statement, the PMS said she would come back to people with what the exact plans would be.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14057.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 15:45:56" post_name="pensions-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pensions" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5056" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5056" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the reports this morning that the British Government had given the go ahead for Afghan President Hamid Karzai to undertake talks with the Taliban, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister was giving his statement regarding Afghanistan at 12.30pm but added that, to make things clear, there was no question of the British Government weakening its resolve to support the Afghanistan Government in its efforts to defeat the Taliban and everything that they stand for. As part of the coalition, we were winning the battle against the Taliban and isolating the leadership of the Taliban; we were not negotiating with them. We supported the ongoing effort by the Afghanistan Government to encourage disaffected Afghanistanis into the mainstream, as President Karzai had referred to in his press conference on Monday, but as he had also said, only if they renounced violence and accepted the Afghan constitution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the announcement of Lord Ashdown as super-envoy to Afghanistan was imminent, the PMS said that it was a matter for the UN Secretary General but that he would expect an announcement shortly, not necessarily imminently. He went on the say that it was not for him to make announcements on behalf of the UN Secretary General and it was not something the Prime Minister would announce.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14056.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:58" post_name="afghanistan-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5057" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5057" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was felt that southern Iraq was being handed over whilst in a stable state, the PMS said that, as the Prime Minister had been saying at the weekend, we had seen a reduction of approximately 90% in violent incidents against British troops in Basra since September. At the time of the move of British troops from Basra Palace to the airport base in Basra, it was widely predicted that there would be an increase in the insurgency and violence but that had clearly not happened. As such, we were in a position to handover security responsibility to the Iraqis shortly, and we were able to do that from a position where violence against British troops had been falling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that once the handover of Basra had happened things there would get worse, the PMS repeated that that had been the prediction made once we had moved our troops out of Basra Palace and that that had not materialised. This was a decision that had been taken by the Iraqi Government in consultation with us and the Americans.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government were happy with how we had left Maysan Province, the PMS said that we were happy with the decisions we had taken to strengthen security forces and train more army and police officers in Iraq so that the Iraqis themselves could take increasing responsibility for their own security.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14056.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:57" post_name="iraq-13" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5058" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5058" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the report that the Russian Government had ordered the British Council to close down its two offices outside Moscow, the PMS said that the British Council's activities in Russia were fully compliant with both Russian and international law. Under the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (1963) and the 1994 UK/Russia Cultural Agreement, the Council was fully entitled to operate in Russia, both in Moscow and elsewhere. The British Council engaged in a broad and hugely popular range of activities across Russia, which directly benefited hundreds of thousands of Russians and we, the Council and their Russian partner organisations had every intention that these programmes would continue. We were looking to the Russian Government to honour their obligations under the 1994 Agreement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was bothered by the fact that Russia had pulled out of the European Arms treaty, the PMS said that we would have to look at exactly what they had said and consider our response.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was confident that Britain's power supplies were secure, the PMS replied that these were primarily commercial matters; there were longstanding agreements in place in relation to our power supplies and that he was not aware that we had any reason to believe that this was an issue at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14056.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:56" post_name="russia-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5059" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5059" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had received any representation from backbench delegations or Ministerial colleagues about Police pay, the PMS replied that we received representations about all sorts of matters all of the time; as the Home Secretary had been saying, we were very grateful for the hard work which Police Officers carried out everyday but we also had a responsibility to ensure that pay settlements in the public sector were affordable and consistent with wider Government pay policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Home Secretary's decision, the PMS replied that of course he did.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that had not been made clear, the PMS said that he was making it clear now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister saw this as a key test of his own wider policy on public sector pay, the PMS replied that clearly this had been a tighter public sector pay round than we had seen in previous years. It was important that the Government made its contribution to controlling inflation, to enable the Bank of England to keep interest rates as low as possible at this difficult time in the world economy. Of course, difficult decisions had been taken across the public sector, but, as with the tough decisions the Prime Minister had taken in the past which were not necessarily universally welcomed at the time, such decisions had led to a greater stability in the British economy; a much stronger economy; more jobs; lower inflation; lower interest rates and a rise in prosperity. The Prime Minister would continue to take the right long term decisions for the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister regretted letting the cost of housing get so high, the PMS said that the Prime Minister completely stood by decisions that had been made in relation to the inflation target and he had always said that he stood by decisions taken by the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be willing to go to court if the Police did strike, the PMS said that we were not at that point yet but that the Home Secretary had made clear that we had a responsibility to ensure that pay settlements were affordable and consistent with Government pay policy across the board. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Police said they were an exception to the rule as they did not have the right to strike and asked if the Government thought their case was exceptional in that sense, the PMS said that the Government's position was to ensure that public sector pay settlements were consistent across the board and the Police had seen some substantial increases in pay over the last 10 years, as the Home Secretary had pointed out yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14056.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:55" post_name="police-paypublic-sector-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Pay/Public Sector Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5060" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/12/5060" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be cameras at the signing of the EU Reform Treaty, the PMS replied that, as we had made clear throughout, there would be no ambiguity about whether or not the Prime Minister had signed the treaty and he had no difficulty with being photographed or filmed. The PMS went on to say that the Prime Minster considered the fact that he was signing the treaty three hours after the other leaders to be a complete fuss about nothing. The Prime Minister had a responsibility to both Parliament and the European Union and he took both those responsibilities very seriously and we had found a way of meeting our commitments to both.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we had ever asked the Liaison Committee to reschedule to another day, the PMS replied that he had always resisted the temptation to get into the details of exactly what was said to who and when, but we were very clear that the date of the Liaison Committee was agreed some time before the date of the signing event in Lisbon was put to us and we made every effort to ensure that we could move the timing of the Liaison Committee to accommodate both events. In the end we were successful in moving the timing of the Liaison Committee forward by one hour. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about what the Germans were proposing regarding the European flag and anthem and whether or not Britain would sign that declaration, the PMS replied that this declaration was separate from the treaty so there was no question of the treaty being reopened in any way or this declaration having any legal status or being in any way binding; this was a declaration, as we understood, that would be signed by a number of member states, certainly not all member states, and would not be signed by Britain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why it would not be signed by Britain as all it said was that we accepted there was a European flag and anthem, the PMS replied that we did not think it was necessary to sign a declaration in order to make that point. Our existing position was as had been laid down in various treaties over the years; we were not convinced that it was necessary to sign a new declaration in relation to that. We thought that the focus over the next few days on Europe should not be about institutional matters, which had preoccupied much of Europe's time in recent years. We should be focusing on issues that mattered to real people in Europe and where Europe could make a real difference to its businesses and individuals. We wanted to see the focus on how Europe responded to globalisation, climate change and foreign policy challenges, not to enter into a lengthy discussion about flags and anthems.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what we saw as the main business in Brussels, the PMS replied that the main business would be primarily around the globalisation agenda and how that would be taken forward. We would also anticipate some discussion on some of the wider foreign policy issues, in particular Kosovo and Iran.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14056.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-12 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-12 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-12 10:00:54" post_name="lisbon-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lisbon" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5061" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/14/5061" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by giving details to the assembled press about the main issues the Prime Minister would be focussing on in Brussels. The PMS said we were anticipating a declaration from the European Union on globalisation. The main outstanding issue on that particular subject in advance of this morning's meeting was the exact language that would be used around future institutional reform. The Government's position, which had a high degree of support, was that there should be no further institutional reform for the foreseeable future. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second issue was the terms of reference for the Reflection Group. The PMS said that we were hopeful that the remit for the main challenges for Europe, up until 2030, could be agreed on. The main issue for the Government had been to ensure that the focus was on responding to the bigger issues, such as the challenges of globalisation and climate change within the institutional framework set out in the Lisbon Treaty.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The third issue was that the Prime Minister was keen to have some discussion of global economic issues, particularly after the central bank intervention earlier this week and the continuing instability in the global economy, originating in the United States. The two foreign policy issues that were expected to be discussed in a substantive way were Kosovo and Iran. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he expected the Prime Minister to make any proposals on global economic issues, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position on globalisation was well known. The Government had published a paper yesterday that set out a number of proposals in advance of the Prime Minister's appearance at the Liaison Committee. The PMS added that we did need to push ahead with structural reform in Europe, we did need to continue to push ahead with completion of the single market in Europe and we did need to maintain an outward looking Europe, with Europe not only leading the way in terms of finding solutions to the current global financial instability, but also taking a lead in the successful inclusion of the Doha Trade Round. These were the sorts of issues where Europe could show leadership, where at this uncertain time for the world economy, Europe could play a role in pushing forward measures to promote stability and growth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that all the European leaders seemed to be wearing matching lapel badges at the photo-call that morning except the Prime Minister and could the PMS tell journalists what these signified and why the Prime Minister was not wearing his, the PMS said he had no idea and even if he did, he would have no intention of answering that question. Asked why not, as it made the Prime Minister look like the odd man out again, the PMS said that he thought the journalist was taking this rather trivial matter to absurd extremes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the statement was going to say there would be no institutional change for ten years, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not say that explicitly in October. The current treaty was not implemented in its full form until 2017 and Europe clearly needed a lengthy period of stability in the institutional framework. The Government's position was that if you put an explicit date on it, there was a risk that momentum would be created for a new treaty from that particular date. So there were arguments for and against having a specific date involved when talking about how to define the term &amp;quot;foreseeable future&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was aware that he was alleged to have caused genuine offence to the EU by arriving late for the signing of the treaty, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had a good relationship with President Barosso and had known him for many years. The Prime Minister had had a meeting with the Portuguese President yesterday and there would be further discussions today. The most important thing was to keep the focus on the substance, with the substance of today being the focus on issues such as globalisation, Iran and Kosovo. These were all issues where Britain was right at the heart and in many cases leading the European debate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had not made a major European speech since taking up the position and were there any plans for the Prime Minister to come to Brussels and make any kind of speech in the near future, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been a senior member of the British Cabinet for the last ten years, over which time he had given countless speeches on Europe. The Prime Minister's views on Europe were therefore well known and there would be plenty of opportunities to strengthen the relationship with President Barosso and others in the EC.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what kind of issues the Government wanted to see in the remit for the Reflections Group, the PMS said that the Government did not think it necessary for the group to reopen the question of institutional reform, nor were we anticipating much focus on defence issues. The main issue was to look ahead over the next 20 or 30 years and look at the challenges that would come from globalisation, climate change and migration flows. These kinds of issues were what European people and European businesses really cared about.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who would be in the group and would there be any British representatives included, the PMS replied that the main discussion would be around the remit and it was possible that there may be an outcome in terms of a chairman for the group, but further names should not be anticipated. The PMS added that the Government would like to see British representation in this group and it was something we were pushing for. However, the Government was not anticipating the whole composition of the group being finalised today. Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the coverage of his arrival in Lisbon, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister's view was that it was a complete fuss about nothing and the most important thing was that we focus on the real issues that really matter to the people of Europe and that's what would be discussed today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what contact the Prime Minister had had with President Sarkozy last night and today, the PMS said they were both at the meeting today and they knew each other very well, so he was sure they would be discussing things in the margins of the meeting during the course of the day.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the bill implementing the treaty could be amended, the PMS replied that obviously the treaty would have to be ratified in Parliament. The legislation that was passed needed to be consistent with the Government's obligations to ratify the bill. The Government was confident that the bill would get through Parliament, but there needed to be a proper parliamentary debate on all aspects of it. However many days were given to debate the treaty, it was important that there was a proper and thorough process of parliamentary scrutiny.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister felt it necessary to return to Downing Street last night when most of the other leaders went straight to Brussels, the PMS said he had no idea what other leaders did and what their rationale was for doing that. The Prime Minister was in Lisbon to sign the treaty and was there until roughly 6pm. He had a long meeting with Prime Minister Socrates, he came back to Downing Street and then travelled to Brussels this morning. The PMS said he was unaware of any EU business that the Prime Minister had been absent from.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be holding a press conference to discuss his appearance at the Lisbon Summit, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had spoken to the media last night and would be happy to reiterate his views on it at any time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which leaders the Prime Minster had spoken to so far, the PMS said the Prime Minister had certainly seen Bertie Ahern and he was sure there would be more informal meetings today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14066.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-14 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-14 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:58" post_name="brussels" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Brussels" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5062" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/14/5062" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be pushing for the EU to recognise Kosovan independence, the PMS said that the Government's position, which was increasingly the position of the EU, was that we would like some form of supervised independence for Kosovo. As people would know, there was now increasing understanding across the EU that the Troika process had not created the consensus that was anticipated and the present situation was unsustainable. Therefore, the sooner we could find a managed solution the better. There were proposals from the Ahtisaari Group, which the UK were supportive of, for a form of supervised independence and that's what the Government believed was the most constructive way forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the question of whether the EU could implement the Ahtisaari proposals without a mandate from the Security Council, the PMS said that it was hoped that this would be under a UN mandate of some form and there would be discussions in the Security Council during the course of next week. There were likely to be further discussions in the New Year, so we would take stock of the situation following that. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to what extent was the UK trying to get unity around support for the idea of Kosovan independence in the New Year, the PMS said that what the Government was trying to get unity around was the idea of supervised independence, a concept set out by Ahtisaari. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the PMS thought Serbia's reaction and views would be to the Government's stance on Kosovo, journalists were informed that the Government was very keen to see the Western Balkans integrated back into the European family, but as with any country that seeks to be included in the Union, there were criteria that had to be met. In terms of Serbia, there would have to a resolution on the outstanding issues from the Balkan War. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14066.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-14 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-14 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:57" post_name="kosovo-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Kosovo" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5063" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/14/5063" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for an outline on the kind of language people could expect concerning Iran, the PMS replied that there would be discussion of that today. The key thing to look out for was how things would be taken forward in the UN. We were expecting further discussions in the UN and the Government was pushing for a third resolution and further measures.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14066.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-14 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-14 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:56" post_name="iran-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iran" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5064" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/14/5064" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government accepted that the private sale process had run its course, the PMS replied that he would not accept the premise of the question. Negotiations with Virgin and Olivant were still ongoing. The Government's preferred position was a private sale, but of course as the Chancellor had said, nothing would be ruled out. The principles that had guided the Government's approach to Northern Rock, were set out by the Chancellor in his House of Commons statement a couple of weeks ago and the key priorities were around protection of depositors, protection of the taxpayer's interest and the impact on wider financial stability.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14066.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-14 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-14 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:55" post_name="northern-rock-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5065" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/14/5065" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when and where Hilary Benn would be saying something on the outcome of the Bali climate change talks, the PMS replied that he did not know the exact timings. The talks were taking place some way ahead in terms of the time zone and it was the Government's understanding that talks were still ongoing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14066.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-14 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-14 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-14 10:00:54" post_name="climate-change-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Climate Change" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5066" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/17/5066" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the new measures re data security related to Government or just to HMRC, the PMS said that they related to Government; the O'Donnell review was about looking at all departments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone was expected to resign today, the PMS replied that he had not heard any suggestion that anyone would be resigning today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the recommendations regarding data would have immediate effect, the PMS said we should wait and see.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the missing discs had been found, the PMS said that the Chancellor would be updating people on the situation regarding the discs in his statement this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the O'Donnell and Poynter reports were both interim reports, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14069.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-17 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-17 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:58" post_name="data-security" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Data Security" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5067" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/17/5067" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the situation in Pakistan regarding the escape of Rashid Rauf and whether or not the Prime Minister had been speaking to Pakistani authorities, the PMS said that the High Commission in Islamabad was in close touch with the Pakistani authorities about the escape; the High Commissioner spoke yesterday to the Interim Interior Minister of Pakistan and assured that Rauf's recapture was a priory and that they had set up an inquiry into how the escape had happened.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14069.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-17 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-17 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:57" post_name="pakistan-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="&lt;br /&gt;Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5068" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/17/5068" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister's morale was, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's morale was very good, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14069.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-17 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-17 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:56" post_name="prime-ministers-morale" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister's Morale" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5069" comment_count="5" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/17/5069" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was recognised that the Treasury and the Chancellor were looking to gain more control of the way crises were dealt with and that there should be a clear chain of command rather than a battle of command between the Treasury, the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and the Bank of England, the PMS said, as the Chancellor had done, that we would not come forward with any proposals in this area until the Treasury Select Committee, which was also looking at the matter, had completed its investigation, (expected in the New Year). The Chancellor was also appearing before the Treasury Select Committee in the New Year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that the Prime Minister was determined that the tripartite structure that he put in place would not change, the PMS said that the Chancellor had already said that we were looking at the operation of the tripartite system, as were the Treasury Select Committee, and that, as the Chancellor had also said, he intended to wait for the Treasury Select Committee to report first; he would not bring forward any of his proposals until we had heard what the Treasury Select Committee had to say on the matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that in that case there was a distinction between the operation of the structure and looking at the structure, the PMS referred journalists to what the Chancellor had previously said that there was no question of any distinction between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor on this; they were on exactly the same page.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were on the same page as the Bank of England, the PMS said that the Treasury and the Bank of England were working extremely closely together on this and all other relevant matters, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14069.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-17 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-17 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:55" post_name="tripartite-structure" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tripartite Structure" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5070" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/12/17/5070" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were disappointed that it appeared that the Governor of the Bank of England had been briefing Irwin Stelzer of the Sunday Times, the PMS said that he was not aware that that was what the Bank of England were saying, in fact, the Bank had been pouring cold water on some of those suggestions over the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Mervyn King and Irwin Stelzer had had lunch last week, the PMS said that that was a matter for the Bank but that the Bank had been denying the suggestions contained in the Sunday Times report yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where we were in terms of the re-appointment of the Governor of the Bank of England, the PMS replied that, as we had always said, the normal process would run its course.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Mervyn King, the PMS replied that of course the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Governor of the Bank of England whom he believed was and is performing a first-rate job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor also had full confidence in Mervyn King, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14069.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-12-17 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-12-17 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2007-12-17 10:00:54" post_name="governor-of-the-bank-of-england" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Governor Of The Bank Of England" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5071" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5071" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by saying a few words on the Prime Minister's health speech. In addition to the information given out that morning on screening, there were two further aspects of the speech that he would draw people's attention to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The first of these was further action being taken to overcome failure in the NHS and driving up performance, as part of the ongoing reform agenda. During 2008, Alan Johnson would be bringing new proposals for dealing with failure in the NHS.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As people knew, the Government was already legislating in the current Health and Social Care Bill, to give new powers to the Care Quality Commission, to impose fines and close down wards in the case of poor performance. The Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Health wanted to go further, for example making it easier for strategic health authorities to remove the boards of failing hospitals and replacing the management, to give greater freedoms to foundation trusts to take over the management of underperforming hospitals and to give new powers to primary care trusts to take action against underperforming or failing primary care services, including GP services.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second aspect was taking forward some of the themes from this morning, for instance how the Government would be taking forward what's known as the &amp;quot;active patient agenda.&amp;quot; This meant giving people more choice and more support over how they themselves can help manage their long-term conditions. Technology had made this increasingly possible and to take a very simple example at one end of the spectrum, in some parts of the country, asthma sufferers got text messages to tell them when pollen levels were high, which has had a big impact on asthma attacks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;At the other end of the spectrum, people with quite complex heart conditions were having technology placed in their homes to help monitor their conditions and that is then monitored by clinicians in hospitals, who can then intervene if something looks awry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Government would be bringing forward a patients prospectus during the course of this year that would set out how the Government would extend to the 15 million patients with a chronic or long-term condition, access to a choice of active patient or care-at-home options, which is clinically appropriate to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the specific measures mentioned in the speech would only apply to England rather than Britain, the PMS replied that health was a devolved matter, so these measures related to England.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14180.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:58" post_name="health-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Health Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5072" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5072" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the energy announcements on Thursday, the PMS said that it would include the decision of whether or not to go ahead with the next generation of nuclear power stations. Asked what else would be included, the PMS said that it would probably be best to wait for the announcement. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would come in the form of a statement and would Cabinet be discussing the issue tomorrow, the PMS replied that that was his anticipation. Put that this would be the decision to go ahead with nuclear power, the PMS replied that a consultation had been undertaken; that consultation had now concluded and the Government would need to make a decision in the light of that consultation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on the Guardian article claiming that the tax-payer may have to foot the bill for decommissioning power stations, the PMS said that we had always been clear on nuclear power, that if the Government did decide that new nuclear power should be an option, then owners and operators of the new nuclear power stations would have to set aside funds to cover the full costs of decommissioning. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Government had always been clear that the full share of costs of long-term management and disposal of waste should fall on the operators. As a general principle, of course there were costs associated with decommissioning nuclear waste and clearly, it was right that those costs were borne by the operators and that had always been the Government's position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that one of the problems of nuclear power was the fact that companies could not see any medium-term return on investment, the PMS replied that these were commercial decisions that would have to be taken by commercial operators. At the moment, we were still in the realms of the hypothetical, because the Government had not yet made any announcement in relation to nuclear power.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked specifically about the word &amp;quot;share&amp;quot; in relation to the cost of decommissioning, the PMS said for detailed questions such as this, it would be best to speak to the department and wait for the announcement on Thursday. Asked if a full share meant the full costs, the PMS again asked people to check with the department. The full share was what the Government was saying in relation to the long-term management and disposal of waste, and the full cost was what the Government was saying in relation to decommissioning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on the Scottish Government's decision to go against any new nuclear power stations, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's general view was that we do have to take some difficult decisions about the future energy security of our country. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14180.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:57" post_name="nuclear-power" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Nuclear Power" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5073" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5073" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared the Chancellor's concerns about energy prices, the PMS said that the Government's view in general was that we do have a competitive market for energy prices in this country and that price changes were commercial decisions. However, Minister's were concerned, the Prime Minister as well as the Chancellor, about the effects of price rises and the effect they could have on businesses and vulnerable customers in particular. In the Chancellor's role as guardian of macro-economic stability, it was only right that he should seek an assessment from OFGEM of recent developments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with how the energy market was functioning, the PMS said that these were matters for the regulator.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14180.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:56" post_name="energy-prices" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Energy Prices" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5074" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5074" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when people could expect the public pay review settlement, the PMS said that he was not in a position at the moment to make any announcement on that. However the Prime Minister made his views on the matter very clear yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any message to give the new England manager, who starts his job today, the PMS replied that he had nothing particular to say on it, but he would check with the Prime Minister and get back to people this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be supporting England or Scotland when they play each other in the Rugby Six Nations, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had always said when he'd been asked this question in the past, that if England played Scotland, he would support Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14180.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 10:00:55" post_name="misc-27" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5075" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5075" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by informing Lobby that the Prime Minister attended a meeting earlier today held by David Miliband and Douglas Alexander with senior members of the British-Pakistani community. The purpose of the meeting was to hear directly from them the issues surrounding the current situation in Pakistan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where the meeting took place, the PMS replied that the meeting took place in the Foreign Office. Asked if any MPs attended, the PMS replied that the exact cast list could be checked with the Foreign Office, but it was his understanding Sadiq Khan MP was invited.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the possibility of &amp;quot;no-go areas&amp;quot; in the UK was discussed, the PMS replied that they were mainly talking about the situation in Pakistan and the work that was being done behind the scenes to help restore stability and democracy in Pakistan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who was briefing who, or was it just a pooling of information, the PMS replied that it was an opportunity for the Foreign Secretary, the Prime Minister and Douglas Alexander to explain to them what the British Government had been doing to help behind the scenes, but also to hear their views as to what they thought about the situation in Pakistan and possible solutions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what kind of people were invited, the PMS replied that people should check with the Foreign Office, but the invite list included the Muslim Council of Britain, the British Muslim Forum, Islamic Relief, Progressive British Muslims, so it was a fairly representative of the British Pakistani community.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14183.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:58" post_name="pakistan-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5076" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5076" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on the new Chief of Strategy, when did the Prime Minister first meet him, and did he know him well, the PMS replied that the press notice largely spoke for itself. As the Prime Minister said, Stephen Carter was somebody of huge talents and experience who would be a welcome addition to the Downing Street team. The Prime Minister had obviously known by reputation Stephen Carter, they met fairly recently and the Prime Minister was impressed and has invited him to join his team.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many Special Advisors the Prime Minister now had, the PMS replied that he did not know that figure off the top of his head.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had only recently met Stephen Carter fairly recently, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had known him by reputation for some time. They met recently, and obviously Stephen Carter was somebody who was held in high regards in the public and private sectors and in the business community and in Whitehall.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister was now appointing a Chief of Strategy, and asked what had been wrong with the strategy from June 27th, the PMS replied that it was not for him to comment on that kind of thing. Obviously organisations evolved and new people come in - that was a normal procedure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why did the Prime Minister now, seven months in, felt the need to appoint a Chief of Strategy, the PMS replied that again in any organisation, organisations evolve. Stephen Carter was a man held in very high regard, he would be a very welcome addition to the team and he will strengthen the team on the political side.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what his salary would be, the PMS replied that his salary would be consistent with the pay bands for Special Advisors, which were a matter for public record. Asked to clarify which pay band he would fall into, the PMS replied that Stephen Carter would be paid within the band that goes up to the highest possible ceiling. The Cabinet Office would be able to tell you the maximum amount that a special advisor could be paid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he would be more a Jonathan Powell figure, or more of an Alastair Campbell figure, the PMS replied that he was neither, he was a Stephen Carter figure. There were no Orders in Council, he did not have powers to instruct Civil Servants. This was an evolutionary change, and there had been no change in the relationship between Special Advisors and Civil Servants.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Stephen Carter was not a member of the Labour Party, the PMS replied that this was not a question for him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if evolutionary meant that this would be the first in a series of appointments, the PMS replied that in any organisation things change over time. As and when we had any other announcements to make, we would make them. But we were not making any other announcements today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where or when the Prime Minister bumped into him, the PMS replied that he would not characterise it in quite those terms, but he was not going to get into a discussion about private conversations the Prime Minister had had. Stephen Carter was somebody that was well known in Whitehall and within the business community, and his reputation went before him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Stephen Carter would sit on Cabinet, the PMS replied that he would attend Cabinet meetings as an observer in the same way that other people in Downing Street did. Asked if he would speak, the PMS replied that he would be an observer and would not have a seat at the Cabinet table. Asked if there could be any occasions when he could speak, the PMS replied again that he did not have a seat at the Cabinet table, he would be seated along with a number of others from Downing Street.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he would have any influence on the Prime Minister's diary, on who he should and should not see for example, the PMS replied that the Principal Private Secretary and Chief of Staff, who was a Civil Servant, was responsible for managing Government business within Downing Street, and this would stay the same.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14183.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:57" post_name="chief-of-strategy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chief of Strategy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5077" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5077" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a message of support for the new England football manager, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had written to Mr Capello to wish him well. Asked for a copy of the letter, the PMS replied that we did not usually disclose the Prime Minister's private correspondence&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14183.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:56" post_name="fabio-capello" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Fabio Capello" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5078" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5078" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more detail on how people would be targeted for screening, would there for example be a letter going out to every man over sixty, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was the Prime Minister, he was not the Secretary of State for Health and he was not the Chief Executive of the NHS. Questions on operational detail would be clarified by the Department of Health shortly, when they set out their detailed plans for the national vascular screening programme.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14183.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:55" post_name="health" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Health" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5079" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/07/5079" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government felt the need to crackdown on strikes in the Prison Service, the PMS replied that we would have to wait for Jack Straw's statement to the House of Commons later today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14183.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-07 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-07 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-07 15:45:54" post_name="prison-service" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prison Service" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5080" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/08/5080" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister retained full confidence in Peter Hain, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister retained full confidence in all his Cabinet colleagues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had seen Peter Hain recently, the PMS replied that she was not aware of any 1-1 meetings.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was aware that Peter Hain accepted &amp;pound;5,000 from a company that offered 125% mortgages, the PMS replied that questions regarding party donations were not for her to answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that a company offering 125% loans was good news, the PMS replied that she was not going to get drawn into discussing party donations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14199.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-08 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-08 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:58" post_name="party-funding-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5081" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/08/5081" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a read out from Cabinet, the PMS replied that Cabinet lasted around an hour and fifteen minutes. The main item for discussion was nuclear and energy issues, a very good discussion with many interventions from members of the Cabinet. As the Prime Minister indicated there would be a broad wide ranging statement from John Hutton on Thursday. The second issue discussed was public sector pay, led by the Chancellor as he talked about in the press conference, on multi-year pay deals for different parts of the public sector in line with those of Civil Service and Departments. There was also an update from the Foreign Secretary regarding the situations in Kenya and Pakistan. Again both of those were alluded to by the Prime Minister in his press conference earlier today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who the enthusiastic supporters were for the public sector having multi-year pay deals, the PMS replied that she was not going to get into the negotiations, but the Prime Minister had set out that there had been a range of interest expressed, and individual departments were expected to be speaking to their stakeholders and employees regarding these deals in the coming days and weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister seemed to imply that the workforce was crying out for these changes, the PMS replied that there had been a wide range of voices talking about this - with interest in the stability that such deals would bring about both for departments in their planning but also for individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Government wished for this to kick in, would it be in time for the next pay round, the PMS replied that it would be wrong to pre-empt exactly when things would start, but she thought we could expect a fairly brisk set of discussions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this three year deal had been characterised by some as the return to the social contract, and asked if we had any comment on that, the PMS replied that she was not going to get into how people would describe what was being proposed. As was discussed at length during the press conference, we were aiming to inject the sort of stability and ease of planning that came about with longer term pay deals which we had seen demonstrated through the departments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone in Cabinet stood up to oppose a new generation of nuclear power stations, the PMS replied not that she was aware of.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this meant there was unanimous support for a new generation of nuclear power stations, the PMS replied she was not going to get into the precise details of discussions, but that John Hutton would be very clearly setting out the Government's position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14199.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-08 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-08 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:57" post_name="cabinet-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5082" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/08/5082" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the National Year of Reading, the PMS replied that the National Year of Reading was launched today in Downing Street with Ed Balls and it was a nationwide campaign to promote the power of reading to change the lives of individuals and community. It involved local authorities, libraries, schools, voluntary organisations, and many others. At the launch this morning school children, authors and stake holders attended, including the authors Tony Parsons, Michael Morpugo, Jacqueline Wilson and William Boyd.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what books the Prime Minister was recommending, the PMS replied that there was not a recommended reading list, but as everyone knew the Prime Minister was an avid reader of many works.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14199.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-08 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-08 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:56" post_name="national-year-of-reading" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Year of Reading" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5083" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/08/5083" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was dismayed by statistics showing that the number of nights in which prisoners had been held in police cells rather than prisons had risen from 4,600 last year to well over 60,00 in 2007, the PMS replied that obviously we were aware of the statistics put out today by the Ministry of Justice reflecting the use of Operation Safeguard, using police cells as prison accommodation. This was something that was being actively looked at the moment by the National Offender Management Service. However the PMS reminded journalists that Lord Carter had published his report before Christmas setting out the Government's plans for building new Titan prisons and other large expansions to prison accommodation capacity over the next few years, which we obviously hoped would alleviate the current situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's contingency plan was for dealing with a mass walkout of the Prison Service, and would they look to call on the police, the PMS replied that any operational matter like that would be dealt with should that become necessary. Jack Straw set out in his statement yesterday the measures we were putting in place to ensure continuity in the Prison Service and public safety.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14199.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-08 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-08 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:55" post_name="prison-places" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prison Places" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5084" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/08/5084" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Home Secretary would be making her statement on knives as mentioned at the press conference this morning, the PMS replied that it was best to touch base with the Home Office on the details. We had a violent behaviour strategy due to be published fairly shortly, and she believed that the Home Secretary would be in the North West in the next few days where this would be discussed further.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for details of meetings with President Sarkozy, Chancellor Merkel, and Prime Minister Prodi, and would it be a summit or separate bilaterals, the PMS replied that they would all be meeting together in Downing Street later this month.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14199.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-08 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-08 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-08 15:45:54" post_name="misc-28" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5085" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5085" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the proposed meeting between the Prime Minister and the leaders of Italy, Germany and France, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that we were not in a position to confirm a date yet, but it would be later that month. Asked if Italy had confirmed its attendance, the PMS said that it was his understanding that Italy had been invited as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a preliminary Finance Minister's meeting of the major European countries beforehand, the PMS said it was his understanding that that was the case, but people should check with the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14210.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:58" post_name="meeting-of-european-leaders" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Meeting of European Leader's" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5086" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5086" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details about the Prime Minister's meeting with David Beckham last night, the PMS said that it was a private meeting. The Prime Minister would be visiting the David Beckham Academy on Thursday and the main purpose of the meeting was for them to discuss the visit. Asked how he would characterise the visit, the PMS replied that the general position of the Prime Minister was that he thought football could play a constructive role for many young people, particularly in poorer areas, to help with community integration, to help in relation to fitness and to encourage people to improve their diets. This was the general background as to why the Prime Minister thought projects such as the David Beckham Academy were a good thing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a preferred Premier League team, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not expressed one to him and as people knew, the Prime Minister was a Raith Rovers supporter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14210.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:57" post_name="david-beckham" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="David Beckham" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5087" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5087" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government intended to reclassify Cannabis, the PMS replied that the Government's position was that there was an independent review by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs that was ongoing. The review had not yet reported, so the Government was waiting for the outcome of that review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Blasphemy&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to whether the Government had a position on Blasphemy, the PMS said that the Government's position was that it fully understood the case set out by those who wished to abolish the offence of blasphemy. In particular, following the decision of the High Court in December, that the Theatres Act 1968 and the Broadcasting Act 1990 prevented the prosecution of a theatre or the BBC for blasphemous libel. However, the Government believed it was necessary to consult with churches, particularly the Anglican Church, before coming to a final decision and that was what the Government was now doing. Subject to that, the Government would consider to move amendments in the House of Lords.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was going to be a Government Whip on the subject tonight, the PMS reiterated that the Government's position was that there needed to be further consultation, particularly with the Anglican Church and only when that consultation had taken place would the Government consider moving amendments in the House of Lords. Asked if MP's would have a free vote, the PMS replied that it was not a free vote today. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that MP's could be whipped to vote a certain way tonight only for the Government to try and reverse the outcome of the vote at a later date, the PMS said that he thought it was right to have a proper process. The amendment was put down recently, following the High Court's decision in December. It was right that there was a proper consultation before there was any change in the legislation. The Government was not proposing a change in the law today; what it was proposing was that there needed to be a proper consultation. Subject to that, the Government would consider moving amendments in the House of Lords&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14210.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:56" post_name="cannabis" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5088" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5088" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Alan Johnson had said that the deep cleaning of hospitals was a gesture rather than something that was effective against superbugs such as MRSA and in view of that, was it still the Government's intention to press on with what seemed to be a rather costly gesture, the PMS replied that he was not sure that was exactly how the Government would characterise the policy. Of course it was the Government's intention to push ahead with deep cleaning, which had been welcomed by the Chief Medical Officer and the Chief Nursing Officer. This was an integral part of the Government's strategy of improving cleanliness in hospitals. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed that cleanliness was good in it's own right, but as far as superbugs were concerned, it was not particularly effective, the PMS replied that it was part of an overall strategy of dealing with superbugs and of course we would expect it to have an impact, which was why it was being done.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14210.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 10:00:55" post_name="hospital-deep-cleaning" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Hospital Deep Cleaning" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5089" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5089" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been contacted by the police on party funding, the PMS replied that as he had said before, the question we would answer on this, to be consistent, was &amp;quot;Has the Prime Minister been interviewed by the police?&amp;quot; And the answer to that question was no. Asked if journalists would be told when he was interviewed, the PMS replied that we would tell Lobby if the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was an assumption that we expected the Prime Minister to be interviewed, the PMS replied that he had no information on the police investigation, but if it were the case that the Prime Minister were interviewed then we would let Lobby know. Asked if we would let them know on the same day, the PMS replied that we would let Lobby know as soon as practicable afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy to cooperate with the investigation, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made that absolutely clear in the letter that he sent to Commander Mawer in November.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14211.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:58" post_name="party-funding-12" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5090" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5090" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Keith Vaz was right to say that the Prime Minister was leaving himself &amp;quot;wriggle-room&amp;quot; over the implementation of ID cards, the PMS replied that the position on ID cards had not changed. All the Prime Minister was doing today, as on the Marr programme and in the Observer at the weekend, was just setting out what the existing policy was.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the most recent timetable for implementation was still going to be adhered to, the PMS replied that there had been no change in policy or timetable in relation to ID cards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Home Office website said very specifically that there would be compulsory identity cards after a vote in Parliament, and asked if it was still the Prime Minister's view that identity cards would be compulsory subject to that vote, the PMS replied that it was the Government's position that there would need to be a vote in Parliament before we had compulsory ID cards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be timetabling such a vote, the PMS replied that at the moment the situation had not arisen. We were introducing ID cards for foreign nationals, at some point in the future there would be a vote in Parliament as to whether or not there should be compulsory ID cards for everybody. But the position was set out very clearly in the Strategic Action Plan for the National Identity Scheme that was published in December 2006. That was the most up to date position of the Government, and that remained the position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the confusion had been caused by the Prime Minister saying that this was the policy, but it was a matter for Parliament to decide after we had looked at the voluntary system in place, which seemed to leave doubt, the PMS replied that by definition the vote in Parliament would happen after identity cards had been introduced for foreign nationals. So no doubt one of the factors taken into account by Members of Parliament when voting would be the implementation of the ID card scheme up to that point. Just so everyone was clear, every time he had heard the Prime Minister talk about ID cards either publicly or privately, the formulation that he had been using in recent days had been the formulation he had used.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the suggestion that the rolling out to foreign nationals this year would be a pilot for rolling out to UK citizens on a voluntary basis from 2009 was wrong, and that the rolling out to UK nationals was not dependent on the success of rolling out to foreign nationals, the PMS replied the position on this had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Public Sector Pay&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans for further consultations with other public sector workers, the PMS replied that there would be further discussions with other public sectors, but it would not be sensible for those negotiations to be conducted in public. The Chancellor and the Prime Minister yesterday set out the direction for future policy and it was now a matter for individual departments, depending on their own particular circumstances, to decide how best to take this forward in their sector.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would be expecting individual departments to be contacting the relevant unions involved to set out the plans, the PMS replied that we would expect individual departments to take a view as to whether or not multi-year deals would be appropriate in their sector.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we were therefore not expecting this to happen for all public sector workers, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister said yesterday, clearly there might be circumstances in which it would not be appropriate. But it was the intention that multi-year deals should be more prevalent in the public sector, that was the nature of the Chancellor's intervention at Cabinet yesterday and his letter round Cabinet, and the messages that both he and the Prime Minister were setting out yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked in what forum those discussions would take place, as most of public sector pay discussions were done third hand by review bodies for example, the PMS replied that we were obviously talking about a very large number of people, it was a large section of the economy, it was very complex, and arrangement would be different in each sector. But there were lots of circumstances where departments were dealing direct with unions as well as the relevant pay review bodies.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14211.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:57" post_name="id-cards-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5091" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5091" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were getting recommendations on MP's pay tomorrow, and did we recognise the figures that were run by the BBC at lunchtime, the PMS replied that the was obviously a lot of speculation around this, and there had been some speculation in on of the Sunday newspapers before Christmas as well. But for guidance he was not aware of any plans for a public announcement on this tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister had not published these figures before, the PMS replied that we would be bringing them forward at the appropriate time, once all of the proper procedures had been followed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if was correct that we had already received recommendations, and it was for us to publish them, the PMS replied that this was correct.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14211.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:56" post_name="mps-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5092" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/09/5092" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reason why the meeting in London with the leaders of France, Germany and Italy had been moved back to the end of January, the PMS replied that he thought it was entirely down to diary issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we thought that Italy had been annoyed by not being invited in the first place, the PMS replied that Italy had been invited. There had certainly been discussions with the Italians about this, and the Italians had been invited.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Italy had been reticent in confirming its attendance, the PMS replied that again as he understood it was a diary issue, Italy were keen to attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on the former Prime Minister becoming the new President of the EU, the PMS replied that it was best to refer to the most recent statement from the Prime Minister at the press conference he gave at the Lisbon Summit last year, which would be on the No10 website.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14211.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-09 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-09 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-09 15:45:55" post_name="european-leaders-meeting" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Leaders Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5093" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5093" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was approaching sovereign wealth funds to see if they wanted to buy Northern Rock, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that, at the request of the Northern Rock board, the tripartite committee had asked Goldman Sachs to determine the optimal financing package for the sale of the company as part of the goal to resolve the situation as quickly and efficiently as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that included sovereign wealth funds, the PMS replied that that would be a matter for Goldman Sachs.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock-12" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5094" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5094" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if appointments taken up by former Prime Minister Tony Blair were subject to the usual form of approval, the PMS replied yes; Section 7.25 of the Ministerial Code set out the procedures for Ministers, which would include the ex-Prime Minister; Ministers must seek advice from the Independent Advisory Committee on any appointments or employment that they wish to take up within two years of leaving office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that was a civil service committee or an independent committee, the PMS replied that it was the Independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments and that the Cabinet Office could give details.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that there were no sanctions, the PMS replied that the Cabinet Office would give chapter and verse on process and procedure. The procedures were set out clearly in the Ministerial Code and those were the procedures people followed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that had been the process Tony Blair had followed, the PMS said that it was not for him to answer that question, it was a matter for the Cabinet Office. However, for guidance, the understanding was that Tony Blair had followed those procedures.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:57" post_name="tony-blair" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tony Blair" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5095" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5095" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police, the PMS said no, he had not.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:56" post_name="police-interview" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Interview" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5096" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5096" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Daily Mail had published a story claiming that arrests related to the donations investigation were imminent, the PMS said that that was not something journalists would expect him to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:55" post_name="donations-investigation" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Donations Investigation" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5097" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5097" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was alarmed by stories that some British personnel had been given contaminated blood, the PMS replied that of course this was a very serious matter and the Ministry of Defence were taking it very seriously. There had been a response from the MoD this morning explaining what action they were taking.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:54" post_name="blood-contamination" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Blood Contamination" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5098" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5098" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister and the New Zealand Prime Minister would be discussing at their meeting, the PMS replied that they knew each other quite well and had met quite a few times before; they would be discussing, among other issues, Pakistan, Burma and the climate change agenda.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:53" post_name="new-zealand-prime-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="New Zealand Prime Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5099" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5099" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be responding to President Bush's statement on the Middle East, the PMS replied that he had no specific response today but that obviously we had always made very clear that we very much welcomed this initiative from President Bush and we fully supported it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was still backing a two state solution, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:52" post_name="president-bush-statement" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Bush Statement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5100" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5100" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Government's position not to back a particular candidate in the US elections, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made his position clear that he would not intervene in the US democratic process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about David Lamy's piece in the Mirror this morning, the PMS said that he did not remember seeing anything in the Mirror but that David Lamy had been speaking yesterday in a personal capacity and any comments made were in a personal capacity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:51" post_name="us-elections" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="US Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5101" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5101" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister still had confidence in Peter Hain, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14232.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 11:00:50" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 11:00:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 10:00:50" post_name="peter-hain" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Hain" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5102" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5102" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Government paying for the disposal of nuclear waste, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that John Hutton had been quite clear on this during the course of the day. The Government had no intention of subsidising new nuclear facilities, but the White Paper made clear that in extreme situations, in an emergency for example, then obviously it was the Government's responsibility to intervene and deal with that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this was only in the case of a nuclear accident, the PMS replied that it was not specified exactly what those circumstances would be, but clearly in extreme circumstances it would fall to the Government to intervene. But John Hutton had been making very clear today that there was no intention of the tax payer subsidising new nuclear facilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that communities, subject to the White Paper being published, who put themselves forward to host disposal sites would be eligible for a package of benefits, the PMS replied that it was best to check the detail with the department, but it was his understanding that the Government took responsibility for legacy waste, and that BERR had been making clear at their press conference this afternoon that in the future there may be some shared facility for legacy waste and new waste. In that sense the Government would take responsibility of its share of the costs in relation to legacy waste.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14236.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:58" post_name="energy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Energy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5103" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5103" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that this would be the last time that MP's decide their own pay, and asked what system the Prime Minister favoured, the PMS replied that this was all subject to a review as Harriet Harman announced at Business Questions earlier today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the review would be published next Wednesday, the PMS replied that there were two separate reviews here - The Senior Salaries Review relating to 2007 pay would be published on Wednesday, and separately at some point there would be a review that would deal with the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the review would be subject to a vote in the House, the PMS replied that it would depend on exactly what was recommended. The general expectation was that any change would require primary legislation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who would carry out this review, the PMS replied that we had asked, and he understood that he had accepted, Sir John Baker, the current but soon to be retiring Chair of the Senior Salaries Review Body.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that MPs would be given a vote on whether they would be allowed to vote on their own pay rises, the PMS replied that if there were to be any change in the system, then it was reasonable to anticipate that a change would require primary legislation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the MPs failed to heed what the Prime Minister has said on the current round, and did accept the SSRB recommendation then there was nothing the government could do about that, the PMS replied that it was a free vote by convention, but the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government made clear his position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14236.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:57" post_name="mps-pay-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5104" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5104" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was informed in advance of the former Prime Minister taking the job in a bank, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not informed by the Committee in advance, along with normal convention. And he was not involved in the Cabinet Office process, and independent process - the normal convention when it comes to serving Prime Ministers in relation to jobs taken by ex-Prime Ministers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was informed by the ex-Prime Minister, the PMS replied that he did not know the answer to this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how often the Prime Minister spoke to Tony Blair, and how often did they speak, the PMS replied that he did not want to go into the detail, but they spoke on a regular basis, not least because of the very good work Mr Blair was doing in relation to the Middle East Peace Process.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14236.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:56" post_name="tony-blair-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tony Blair" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5105" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/10/5105" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police yet, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had not been interviewed by the police.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PMS would inform journalists if any other members of the Cabinet were to be interviewed by the police, the PMS replied that he was spokesman to the Prime Minister, he was not a spokesman to individual Cabinet Ministers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone from No10 had been in contact with the police as part of this inquiry, the PMS replied that when the inquiry was launched, the Prime Minister wrote to Commander Mawer of the Metropolitan Police, and said that we would not be commenting publicly because we wanted to give the police space to conduct their investigation properly. The only exception to that was that we would confirm if the Prime Minister had been interviewed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14236.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-10 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-10 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-10 15:45:55" post_name="party-funding-13" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Party Funding" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5106" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/01/11/5106" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by giving the assembled press more details on the Citizen's Jury taking place in Leeds. It would mark the final stage in the consultation on carer's, launched by the Prime Minister in June.

The consultation had seen more than 13,000 hits on the relevant website and carer's had contributed towards 1700 new ideas. The event will play host to 80 carer's, members of the Prime Minister's Standing Commission on Carer's, the Secretary of State for Health and the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Care Services. The event was jointly hosted by Carer's UK and chaired by their Chief Executive Imelda Redmond.
&lt;p style=&quot;float: right&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14245.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-11 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-11 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-12 12:41:46" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-12 11:41:46" post_name="citizens-jury" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Citizen's Jury" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5107" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/01/11/5107" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Peter Hain in the last 24 hours, the PMS replied that we did not brief on individual conversations that the Prime Minister had had with his Cabinet colleagues.

Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Peter Hain, the PMS said yes. Asked who was responsible for donations to Mr Hain's campaign, the PMS replied that this was a matter being looked into by the relevant bodies, but as people knew it would be inappropriate for her to comment on party donations.

Put repeatedly that if Mr Hain had breached the Parliamentary rules, it would come under the Ministerial Code, the PMS said it was not for her to make those judgements and that she had nothing to add to what she had already said on this issue. Asked if the Prime Minister was happy that a person in charge of a major spending department was being accused at the very least of financial incompetence, the PMS reiterated that all of these matters were being looked into by the relevant bodies.

Put that there was a new structure for possible breaches of the Ministerial Code, brought into effect as one of the new constitutional innovations by the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that she believed there was a measure related to this in the Governance of Britain document that was published in the summer and she would get back to the journalist with the details.

Asked if someone was looking into whether Mr Hain had breached the Ministerial Code, the PMS said she had no information on that subject. Asked if the Prime Minister would be concerned if the Work and Pensions Secretary had endorsed companies that had made donations to his campaign, the PMS replied that that was a hypothetical question and related to party donations.

Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that Peter Hain could continue doing his job while this issue was being dealt with, the PMS repeated that the Prime Minister had full confidence in Peter Hain.

Asked if there were any plans for the Prime Minister to have a meeting with Mr Hain in the near future, the PMS said that there wasn't any that she was aware of and we wouldn't necessarily brief on meetings that the Prime Minister had with his individual Cabinet colleagues.
&lt;p style=&quot;float: right&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14245.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-11 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-11 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-12 12:41:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-12 11:41:56" post_name="donations-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Donations" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5108" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/01/11/5108" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the building of two aircraft carriers in his constituency not going ahead for some months due to Ministry of Defence budget cuts, the PMS said that the MOD had responded to the story this morning, saying there was no suggestion that the programme would not go ahead. The CSR settlement allowed the MOD to proceed with two new aircraft carriers, which would be the largest ships ever operated by the Royal Navy. The legal steps that needed to take place before that happened were also well under way, so there was no suggestion that the programme would not go ahead.

Asked if there would however be a delay in the programme, the PMS said there was nothing in the MOD's response to suggest that.
&lt;p style=&quot;float: right&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14245.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-11 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-11 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-12 12:42:05" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-12 11:42:05" post_name="aircraft-carriers" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Aircraft Carriers" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5109" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5109" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government had decided to ratify the Human Trafficking convention now, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that it was best to speak to the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:58" post_name="human-trafficking" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Human Trafficking" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5110" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5110" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked where we were in relation to the Goldman Sachs' report, the PMS replied that it was best to check with the Treasury. More generally, the Treasury was continuing to work hard to find a solution that protects the interests of the taxpayers, the depositors and maintains wider financial stability. As he was saying this morning, all options remained under consideration, but as the Chancellor said in an interview this morning, a private sale continues to remain the preferred option.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's position was on the shareholders, and did he feel that they merited some sort of protection, the PMS replied that this was a situation that arose because of the particular business model that the management of Northern Rock chose to adopt. That was the reason they got into the difficulty they did following the consequences of what happened in the US financial markets. We had also said that our objectives were to protect the interests of taxpayers, depositors, and to maintain our financial stability.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:57" post_name="northern-rock-13" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5111" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5111" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the public sector unions had just agreed an annual pay claim for the public sector of 6% a year, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made his views on public sector pay very clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the 6% figure, the PMS replied that we would not be having a negotiation in public. The Prime Minister had consistently emphasised the importance that he, the Chancellor, and the Government as a whole attach to pay discipline in the public sector.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:56" post_name="public-sector-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Public Sector Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5112" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5112" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had made any attempts to satisfy himself as Leader of the Labour Party by speaking to Peter Hain about the funding of his Deputy Leadership campaign, the PMS replied that this was not a question for him to answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if they could assume that the Prime Minister retained full confidence in Peter Hain as a Minister, the PMS replied &amp;quot;yes&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy and had full confidence in a Minister who was in charge of one of the biggest spending departments in the country, who he acknowledges himself takes his eye if the ball, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister commented on this in his interview with the Sun this morning, and he had nothing further to add to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if bearing in mind the Prime Minister's view on ministerial conduct, would it be fair to say that any Minister who breaches any law would have to go, the PMS replied that he could see where he was being led, but he was not going to get into hypothetical questions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:55" post_name="peter-hain-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Hain" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5113" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5113" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was at all concerned about the Offender Management Scheme, in light of the case of the pensioner who had been a victim of someone who had been under normal supervision, the PMS replied that obviously this was a matter for concern, but the Ministry of Justice had issued a statement on this.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:54" post_name="offender-management-scheme" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Offender Management Scheme" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5114" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5114" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Schools Bill and the idea that teachers would be asked not to push A Levels, the PMS replied that the second reading debate was taking place at the moment. DCSF were making clear that the clause in the Bill was not about promoting one form of qualification over another, it was about ensuring that pupils had the best possible information available on all the available options.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was found that teachers were promoting A Levels and neglecting diplomas, would we be cross, the PMS replied that as he had said, the objective of the clause in the Bill was to make sure that pupils had all of the available information about all of the options. And it was then up to the individual pupils to make their own choices, obviously in discussion with their parents and teachers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:53" post_name="schools-bill" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Schools Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5115" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5115" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was meeting any backbench MPs to discuss MPs pay, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister met backbench on a regular basis, he had a weekly meeting of the Parliamentary Committee where a whole range of topical subjects came up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister found helpful interventions today by the Leader of the Conservative Party and the Leader of the Liberal Democrat on MPs' pay and pensions, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister made his views on that very clear last week and obviously he would welcome any moves towards a consensus on this matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view about suggestions today that MPs' final salary pension schemes should be replaced to come more in line with the private sector, the PMS replied that he had not had a chance to ask him yet.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:52" post_name="mps-pay-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5116" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5116" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was distressed by figures announced today showing that France had overtaken Britain as the fifth largest economy, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had said in his speech this morning, over the last ten years the British economy had grown by 28% between 1997 and 2006 compared with 21% in France, 10% in Japan, 13% in Italy, and 14% in Germany. So this was more to do with short-term fluctuations in exchange rates than underlying growth rates.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14260.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 16:45:51" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 16:45:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 15:45:51" post_name="economy-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5117" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5117" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Peter Hain, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister's views on Peter Hain were quite clear; of course he had full confidence in Peter Hain. As he had said in his interview with the Sun, Peter Hain was a great Minister and was doing a good job pushing forward welfare reform.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's comments re waiting for the Electoral Commission's findings, the PMS said that enquiries were ongoing and all the Prime Minister was saying was that he was not going to pre-empt the outcome of those enquiries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Peter Hain had already admitted that he had done something wrong, it was asked what degree of criticism the Prime Minister was prepared to accept, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had set out his views on Peter Hain's performance as a minister; he thought he was doing a good job. The PMS added that he would not get into hypotheticals as to what reports that had not yet reported may, or may not say; we would have to wait and see and not get ahead of ourselves.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14259.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:58" post_name="peter-hain-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Hain" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5118" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5118" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the current status of the HMRC missing data and party funding reports, the PMS replied that, regarding party funding, there was a process ongoing which was being led by Jack Straw. Regarding the HMRC data loss report, there was an interim report from Mr Pointer before Christmas and the final report was due for publication sometime this spring. He added that it was best to double check with the Treasury to see if they could give a more precise timetable than that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the police enquiry into party funding, the PMS said that that was not something he was going to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been questioned by police regarding party funding, the PMS replied no.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14259.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:57" post_name="reports" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Reports" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5119" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5119" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that nationalisation of Northern Rock was now inevitable and if so what his message to shareholders would be, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's and the Government's views on Northern Rock were well-known and had been stated many times by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor. Obviously we had always made clear that, in terms of Northern Rock's future, all options were on the table including nationalisation but, as the Chancellor had been saying this morning on BBC Radio Scotland, it remained the Government's position that we would like to see a private sector solution and that was what the Treasury were continuing to work towards. However, naturally, contingency arrangements were being put in place for a whole range of options, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14259.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:56" post_name="northern-rock-14" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5120" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5120" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had an opinion on Tony Blair becoming the President of the EU Council of Ministers, the PMS said that he had been asked about that in Lisbon in October, and would refer journalists back to his words then when he said that Tony Blair would be a great candidate for any significant international job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had discussed this with Tony Blair, the PMS replied that journalists would not expect him to get into private conversations but emphasised that these were still early days in terms of the process for selecting the future president.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought there should be any restrictions on the jobs past Prime Ministers could accept, the PMS said that there was a process for governing the future arrangements for employment of previous ministers and that was the Business Advisory Committee; it was an independent process; it was run by the Cabinet Office and the Prime Minister thought that was the right process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any conversations with Tony Blair about anything since last July, the PMS replied that, as we had often said, the Prime Minister and Tony Blair spoke on a regular basis but that journalists would not expect us to comment on the nature or content of those conversations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Tony Blair had been back to No 10, the PMS said that the Prime Minister and Tony Blair had had a number of meetings as well as telephone conversations but he was not going to get into the specifics.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14259.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:55" post_name="tony-blair-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tony Blair" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5121" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/14/5121" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's message was on what was practically the eve of the report on MP pay, the PMS said that the message was the message that the Prime Minister had given on the Andrew Marr programme and that Harriet Harman gave in the House of Commons on Thursday, which was that everybody in the public sector was subject to a tight wage round this year; we had had to take some difficult decisions relating to police, nurses, prison officers and other groups in the public sector, but it had been necessary to do that in order to keep inflation under control, and because we had kept inflation under control the Bank of England had been able to reduce interest rates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to give a talk to MPs, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made his views on this subject clear.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14259.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-14 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-14 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-14 10:00:54" post_name="mps-pay-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5122" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5122" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) started by telling the journalists that there were two main items discussed at Cabinet. Firstly, there was a general discussion on the economy led by the Chancellor; this included a brief update on the situation regarding Northern Rock. There was then a more general, more thematic discussion around the issue of how the Government could better promote opportunities in society and what individual departments were doing on that front.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any expression of support for Peter Hain from his colleagues during Cabinet, the PMS replied that the issue of party funding did not come up but that the Prime Minister had made his position clear in relation to Peter Hain over recent days. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Peter Hain attended Cabinet, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a bilateral with Peter Hain before or after Cabinet, the PMS replied that journalists did not expect him to comment on the Prime Minister's private meetings with Cabinet colleagues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Ministers would have been notified in advance about the themed discussion at Cabinet, the PMS said yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what sort of discussion it was, the PMS replied that it was a brainstorming session. The Prime Minister was very keen on promoting wider thematic discussion in Cabinet and today was a good example of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about any ideas that came out of the discussion, the PMS said that he did not want to get into the specifics on what was discussed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the discussion lasted, the PMS replied approximately 45 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14270.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5123" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5123" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was said at Cabinet regarding Northern Rock, the PMS said that this issue was discussed in the context of a much wider discussion about the economy and the economic situation, lead by the Chancellor. It was a brief update; the Chancellor reminded Cabinet colleagues that the situation relating to Northern Rock arose originally because of the particular business model that Northern Rock was adopting; that Northern Rock had no 'Pan B when the market turned against them; that the Government had to intervene in order to stop contagion and that that intervention was successful in stopping contagion to other parts of the financial sector. The Chancellor also said that we continued to explore all options, including nationalisation, because to rule out any option at this point would be, in the view if the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, irresponsible. The Chancellor made many of these points regarding Northern Rock in his speech this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any idea when a decision would be made regarding Northern Rock, the PMS replied that there was a very thorough process of exploration of options underway; of course it was right that, in relation to a matter of this scale and significance, all options were properly explored. Insofar as particular announcements on timing, we would let people know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any disquiet at Cabinet about the nationalisation of Northern Rock, the PMS replied that there was not really that much of a discussion about Northern Rock; the discussion was more about the general economic situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's attitude was regarding big hedge funds, based overseas, buying up shares, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's general position in relation to Northern Rock, as he mad made very clear, was that the priorities for the Government were to ensure that we protected the interest of tax payers, depositors and savers in the economy and that action was taken in order to promote wider financial stability. It was on the basis of these objectives that the Government would take action in relation to Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any view on the Cayman Islands hedge funds, the PMS said that there was nothing that he could add which would be any more helpful. He repeated that the priority was to protect the interest of taxpayers, depositors and savers and the stability of the wider financial system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on the meeting of Northern Rock shareholders today, the PMS said that that was a matter for the shareholders and the board of Northern Rock. The Government had set out its position very clearly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Chancellor's tone was regarding the economy in general, the PMS said that his general tone was that we were facing a difficult period in the world economy at the moment, originating from what happened in US financial markets, but that in Britain we were well placed to withstand this global uncertainty as long as we continued to make the right long-term decisions. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14270.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:57" post_name="northern-rock-15" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5124" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5124" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the latest friendly fire story, the PMS said that it was best to check with the Ministry of Defence on the exact circumstances surrounding the story and that, until we had a clear understanding of the exact circumstances, we would not be able to comment further.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14270.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:56" post_name="friendly-fire-story" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Friendly Fire Story" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5125" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5125" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister wanted pay to stay under the inflation target, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had said that he wanted settlements that were consistent with meeting our inflation target and that were affordable within departmental spending plans, but also, that we wanted to see an increasing move towards multi-year pay settlements in the public sector. That was why the Prime Minister would welcome what is a fair and balanced settlement for teachers, over three years, which would help lock in economic stability in the years ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the police might have had a better deal if their pay rise had been over three years, the PMS said that obviously it was not for him to pre-empt negotiations. In relation to last year, we had to take some very difficult decisions and we had to stage a number of public sector pay settlements, including the police. That was because, this time last year, we were facing a situation where by inflation was close to and, in some months, went above our inflation target. Therefore, we had to take some particularly tough action last year in order to get inflation under control. Inflation was now back under control but obviously one always had to be vigilant; we were close to the 2% inflation target and that was the situation at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that unions argued that the measure of inflation was critical when negotiating a pay deal and asked what the Prime Minister's position was on that, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position was that our inflation target was based on the Consumer Price Index, which was the internationally recognised measure regarding inflation, and was consistent with what was used in the US, areas whose currency was the Euro and some other major economies. We had seen a settlement today, in relation to teachers, which was consistent with meeting our inflation target.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14270.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:55" post_name="teachers-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Teacher's Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5126" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5126" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's views regarding plans, promoted by Wendy Alexander, to support greater powers for Scottish Parliament, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought it was a good thing that the respective parties in Scotland were having a debate about this issue but that he would want to wait for the outcome of those discussions before commenting further.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was meeting with Wendy Alexander, the PMS replied that we would not normally comment on the Prime Minister's private engagements.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14270.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 10:00:54" post_name="scottish-parliament-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Parliament" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5127" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5127" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any views on the future, regarding MPs continuing to have the right to vote on their own pay, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the Leader of the House had made a statement on this towards the end of last week; she had set out that she was setting up a review which would look into the mechanism by which MPs' pay was determined in the future and whether that would include MPs voting on their own pay. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that therefore meant there would be a review of the whole thing with a view to stripping the right for MPs to vote, the PMS replied that we should not pre-empt the outcome of the review and referred journalists back to what Harriet Harman had said and the lobby briefing last Thursday afternoon for details of the process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that MPs would presumably be able to vote on proposals from the Government, the PMS referred to what was said on this last week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14275.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:58" post_name="mps-pay-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5128" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5128" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was going to be spending any more time on the Northern Rock issue in the next 48 hours, the PMS said that, as had been said at the lobby briefing this morning, this was something which was discussed as part of a wider discussion on economic stability at this morning's Cabinet. There were no other meetings the PMS could point journalists towards, but it was of course, something the Prime Minister and the Chancellor were fully engaged in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anything that the Prime Minister may want to say to shareholders to reassure them, the PMS said that we had gone into some detail earlier about the Government's position and the need to protect taxpayers, depositors and mortgage holders, as well as the fact that all options were still being looked at.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14275.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:57" post_name="northern-rock-16" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5129" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5129" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if, after the 3 year settlement on teachers' pay, the Government was likely to review their decision on police pay, the PMS said that people should not get drawn into comparing the two; the police award was for 2007 and the teachers' award was a Government 3 year forward looking public sector pay award, covering the period from September 2008 to August 2011. As we had said, we wanted public sector pay deals to be in line with the Government's meeting its inflation target, which we believed the teachers' pay deal had done, as Ed Balls had set out that morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that MP's would ask why they should accept 1.9% when teachers have got 2.45%, the PMS said that individual bodies would of course make their own cases, but the Prime Minister had been very clear on his view regarding MPs and the process going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why there was 2.45% for teachers and only 1.9% for police, the PMS said that she did not have the details of the full negotiations but the relevant departments would be able to talk through the deals that were on the table.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14275.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:56" post_name="public-sector-pay-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Public Sector Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5130" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/15/5130" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a meeting with Peter Hain after Cabinet this morning, the PMS replied that she would not get into discussing the Prime Minister's individual meetings with Cabinet members.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14275.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-15 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-15 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-15 15:45:55" post_name="peter-hain-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Hain" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5131" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/16/5131" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by informing Lobby that the Written Ministerial Statement had just been laid giving the Government response to the Review Body on Senior Salaries Report on Parliamentary Pay, Pensions &amp;amp; Allowances. We had also published copies of the report. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The key points were:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;The recommendation for 2007/08 was for an increase of 2.56% and then for future years linked to the increase of the base pay of senior civil servants plus &amp;pound;650.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;The Governments response to this was that we were proposing to stage the increase for 2007/08 so that the total increase for 2007/08 would be 1.9% in line with the Government's broader public sector pay policy for that year.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;With respect to future years we were saying that this should all be subject to the report being undertaken by Sir John Baker on the mechanism for setting the Government pay.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;Obviously the staging of MP's pay also applied to Ministerial salaries which would go up by 2007/08.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;With respect to pensions, the Senior Salary Review Body had recommended that future holders of the offices of Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Commons Speaker were covered by the parliamentary pension and severance arrangements that applied to Secretaries of State rather than pension arrangements that applied now. At the moment the Prime Minister, Lord Chancellor and Commons Speaker have their own separate pension arrangements, and they were saying that for future holders of those offices, their recommendation was that effectively these schemes should be abolished and that holders of these posts should be subject to the same pension arrangements as other Secretaries of State. The Government accepted this recommendation with respect to Prime Ministers and Lord Chancellors, and in addition the current Prime Minister and current Lord Chancellor had decided that this would also apply to them. The Government did not propose to implement this recommendation with respect to future Commons Speakers as it considered the position of the Speaker to be substantially different to that of a Prime Minister or Lord Chancellor.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what this meant in monetary terms for the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, the PMS replied that he did not have those figures to hand.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any resolution of the ongoing disagreement between the last Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, and the Prime Minister about pensions in the light of all this, the PMS replied that his understanding was that the situation had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was also correct that what the current Lord Chancellor had agreed was what the Prime Minister would like to do to Lord Falconer, the PMS replied that this was a fair interpretation of the position. The key point was that it was consistent with previous statements from the Government when there was a reform of the position of Lord Chancellor in 2003.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Speaker had been consulted on this, the PMS replied that the Speaker had been consulted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were effectively saying that the Prime Minister and the Lord Chancellor would be taking a pension cut, the PMS replied that it would depend on all sorts of factors such as length of service for example.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it also affected when it cut in as the Prime Ministerial pension cut in as soon as they left office, the PMS replied that whatever the current rules were for Secretaries of State, that would apply in future to the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this was pretty significant as Tony Blair for example has ten years of pension at &amp;pound;65k a year, whereas a future Prime Minister retiring at the equivalent age would have to wait until they were 65, the PMS replied that whatever the rules were for existing Secretaries of State would in future apply to the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister was potentially foregoing quite a substantial sum of money, the PMS replied that if it was the recommendation of the Senior Salary Review body that this should apply to future Prime Ministers, it was in his gift for that to apply to current holders of the post as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why he has decided that this, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister accepted the principal set out by the Senior Salaries Review Body for the reasons set out in their report that it should apply to future Prime Ministers. And if it applies to future Prime Ministers, and he is still in post, then he thinks it should apply to him as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how we would find out the details of what this meant in monetary terms, the PMS replied that Lobby should check with the Cabinet Office. But much depended on his length of service.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any difference between the approach to pay compared to the approach to MPs' pensions, whereas we were holding down the rise in pay to 1.9%, MPs were being assured that they would get protection at 2.8% on their pensions, the PMS replied that to be honest he thought this was a bit of a red herring. The pension provision applied to your salary at the end of the financial year, which was true for everyone in the public sector. Since we were staging the increase, by the end of the financial year your salary was the same as what it would have been had we not staged it. That was true of everyone in the public sector, so was a position that was applied consistently across the board.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the SSRB also recommended that consideration should be given to ending the current pension arrangements for MPs, and asked if the Prime Minister supported this, the PMS replied that on that the Prime Minister thought this was a matter for the House to decide.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government's view was that the overall pensions scheme should be more lucrative for MPs to compensate to the cap on their pay, or would it be staying much the same, and the same for allowances as staff allowances had been increased from 3 to 3.5, the PMS replied that the position was as set out and he did not have anything further to add to that. Nobody was suggesting any linkage between a decision made in relation to one year in relation to the staging of pay, and the wider package of recommendations set out here. It was not a trade off between one or the other.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what difference the pension package was likely to make, and were most MPs likely to end up with a more or less rewarding pension, the PMS replied that it would entirely depend on their individual circumstances. But it was best to check with Cabinet Office what this would mean for typical MPs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if MPs would be whipped on this, and would they vote on the Prime Minister's pension arrangements as well as their own salaries, the PMS replied that he did not know whether the Prime Minister's pension would be subject to a vote. With respect to the pay increase, it would be a free vote but the Prime Minister had made his position very clear on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how a cap would work, the PMS replied that detailed questions on this should be put to the Cabinet Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that for the financial year 2007/08 the calculation for the SSRB's recommendation ended up with the same final figure of &amp;pound;61,820 both under the Government's proposal and the SSRB proposal, but there was a figure in the SSRB proposal of 0.66% already in payment, and was this already in their pay packets, the PMS replied that he thought this correct. The key point was that the total amount of income an MP would receive over the year would have been 2.56% higher under the SSRB proposal. Under our proposal it was 1.9% higher, even though it was the same figure at the end because it was staged.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister thought the SSRB was right on pension arrangements for the Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor, the PMS replied that the reason was set out in some detail in the SSRB's report, and the Prime Minister accepted their reasoning and analysis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister consulted the Leader of the Opposition on the pension arrangements for future Prime Ministers, the PMS replied that these were Government proposals we were setting out. How the other parties reacted was obviously a matter for them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the proposal put before the House would include the proposal to change the way in which MPs' pay is decided, the PMS replied that this was not the case as it was subject to a review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when this would come to a conclusion, the PMS replied that it would be sometime later this year.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14293.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-16 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-16 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-16 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-16 15:45:58" post_name="senior-salaries-review-body" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Senior Salaries Review Body" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5132" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/16/5132" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister saying he would look again at the rules around bail, and what he had in mind, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was just saying that what had happened was a tragic situation in relation to the case mentioned. And if there were any issues that arose in relation to Government policy then of course we would look at them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had received the report from the Communities Department on casinos, the PMS replied that we would not normal comment on internal governmental business. Asked when we were expected to hear from this review, the PMS replied that we should expect to hear something in the next month or two.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any rethinking going on about Britain's entry to the Euro, the PMS replied that there was not.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that when he was Chancellor, the Prime Minister sold off sections of the UK's gold reserves, and asked if he still thought this was a good idea, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister answered this question the previous weekend.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14293.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-16 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-16 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-16 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-16 15:45:57" post_name="misc-29" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5133" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/01/16/5133" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for details on the response to the Senior Salaries Review, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that formally we would publish the report, and the Leader's Office would publish the response around the same time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's position was on whether there should be restraint on the pensionable salary as opposed to the headline salary, the PMS replied that these issues were a matter for Parliament and more generally we should wait for the Government's response to the Senior Salaries Review Body this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the response would cover all the categories of the Senior Salaries Review, the PMS replied that the report this afternoon was on MPs' pay and allowances. Asked about other senior salaries, the PMS replied that they were subject to a different process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Harriet Harman would address the pensionable salary issue, the PMS replied that it was best to wait for the response this afternoon, but most of the focus of the debate so far had been on the salary question.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's response to David Cameron's suggestion that final salary pension scheme for MPs should be closed, the PMS replied that he thought it was a proposal that had been put forward, but we did not have any particular response on that at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it had been claimed that by 2009 an individual working in the private sector would actually be paying more into maintaining public sector pensions than they will into their own pension schemes, the PMS replied that there was a claim to that effect. The Government made a big reform to public sector pensions a couple of years ago which reduced the public liability by something in the order of &amp;pound;13 billion. Asked if we were saying then that this was not true, the PMS replied that he was sure that somebody in the Treasury would be able to give an expert view on this, but the general position was that we were reforming public sector pensions and as a result of these reforms the future liability to the taxpayer was coming down.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14292.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-01-16 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2007-01-16 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-01-16 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2007-01-16 10:00:58" post_name="senior-salaries-review-body-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Senior Salaries Review Body" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5134" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/01/16/5134" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that Peter Hain was incompetent or guilty of an incompetence, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said that it was a mistake that was made, an incompetence that Peter Hain had readily admitted to. He had admitted that mistakes had been made, and this was clearly a reference to mistakes that were made in his campaign and in the management and organisation of his campaign. Elsewhere in his ITN interview and in the Sun interview at the weekend, the Prime Minister has praised the work Peter Hain was doing as a reforming Secretary of State for Work and Pensions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this meant the Prime Minister did not believe that Peter Hain was incompetent, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said that this was an incompetence, clearly referring to the management and organisation of his campaign. That had nothing to do with his responsibilities as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, where as the Prime Minister said in the Sun, Peter Hain was doing a great job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that no matter how it was phrased, the Prime Minister was accusing Peter Hain of taking his eye off the ball and of incompetence, and asked if he was not concerned that those failings might translate into his duties as Secretary of State, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said in his ITN interview &amp;quot;I think he took his eye off the ball because he is concentrating on his work at Work and Pensions&amp;quot;. The Prime Minister had made clear that in relation to his role as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and Secretary of State for Wales, Peter Hain was doing a good job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there seemed to be some dispute as to whether this was discussed at Cabinet yesterday, the PMS replied that it was not discussed, but when Peter Hain intervened elsewhere in Cabinet, he apologised for the kerfuffle and said that this was an issue that was affecting all parties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if &amp;quot;a kerfuffle&amp;quot; was Peter Hain's description of this issue, the PMS replied that he was not quoting him directly. He had not meant to use the word kerfuffle in a flippant way. Clearly this had become an issue and the fact that it had become an issue was why Peter Hain had said sorry. But he did make the general point that this was an issue that affected all parties.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Lobby was told yesterday that the issue did not come up in Cabinet, the PMS replied that there was no discussion of party funding, it was more of an aside as he was talking about something else. Asked what he was talking about, the PMS replied that this was in the context of a wider discussion about opportunity.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14292.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-01-16 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2007-01-16 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-01-16 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2007-01-16 10:00:57" post_name="peter-hain-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Hain" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5135" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2007/01/16/5135" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any signs of movement on Capital Gains Tax, the PMS replied that obviously that would be a matter for the Treasury, so best to check with them for the latest on the timing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a response to Russia calling in British Council staff for interviews today, the PMS replied that we were aware of this incident and were investigating the circumstances. It was clear that the British Council operates legally in Russia to the benefit of many thousands of Russian citizens. Any attempt to intimidate their staff was completely unacceptable. The welfare of both Russian and British staff of the British Council remained our main concern.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that Paddy Ashdown would make a difference in Afghanistan as UN envoy, the PMS replied that we should not get ahead of ourselves as there had not been any announcements to this effect. Should there be an announcement, he was sure the Prime Minister would give a reaction then.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where we were on the Goldman Sachs Northern Rock report, the PMS replied that journalists should check with the Treasury, but it was his understanding that the work that Goldman Sachs was doing for the Treasury was ongoing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14292.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2007-01-16 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2007-01-16 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2007-01-16 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2007-01-16 10:00:56" post_name="misc-30" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5136" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/17/5136" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that the Cabinet Office would be announcing the latest list of Cabinet Committees. Two new sub-committees had been created, one on health and wellbeing chaired by Ed Miliband and one on Africa chaired by Douglas Alexander.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14302.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-17 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-17 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-committees" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet Committees" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5137" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/17/5137" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;In advance of his visit to China and India, the Prime Minister had today written an article that would be appearing on the Downing Street website. The PMS went on to say that the article was on the subject of the English language and what more we could do to promote the use of the English language worldwide. There were two specific announcements; the British Council would be creating a new website, which would enable anyone that wanted to, to teach themselves English. It would use Voice over Internet Protocol, which enabled one-on-one tuition to take place. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The initial focus for this was on China, with the Government's starting ambition being to encourage a million hits on the website a month. The Chinese Government had recently decided that English language lessons should be a requirement in Chinese schools from the age of six and there were twenty million children a year that started lessons. So clearly, there would certainly be a big expansion in the use of the English language in China.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The second main announcement was more support for teachers of the English language. The PMS said that the Prime Minister spoke in quite general terms about how people could better use technology to support teachers of English language, but in particular, the British Council would be recruiting what are described as master trainers. These were people who would train other people to teach English and they would be training 750,000 of these master trainers in India over the next five years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister set out the rationale in some depth for why he thought even further spread of the English language was a good thing. The PMS added that the education sector was an increasingly important sector of the economy for Britain. It currently accounted for about &amp;pound;28 billion worth of exports and was one of the largest export sectors.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14302.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-17 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-17 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:57" post_name="english-language" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="English Language" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5138" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/17/5138" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's position was in relation to Russia generally and was the new British Council website a way round the closing of offices by belligerent governments, the PMS replied that the purpose of the new British Council website was to enable as many people as possible around the world to learn English. Its initial focus was on China. On Russia generally, the PMS reiterated that David Miliband would be making a statement in the House later today. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The general position on the bilateral relationship was that Russia had an important role to play in many of our international priorities, such as energy, security, climate change, international security and continuing to engage with Russia on these issues made us better placed to achieve our objectives. The relationship was not always a meeting of minds and where the Government did have concerns, they were raised frankly with the Russian authorities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Government had made its position clear in relation to the British Council and David Miliband would be updating the House on that this afternoon. As he said yesterday, any attempt to intimidate staff was in the Government's view, completely unacceptable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14302.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-17 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-17 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:56" post_name="british-council" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="British Council" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5139" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/17/5139" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that some Conservative MEP's had criticised the Prime Minister for going to the Olympic Stadium and had argued for a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games, the PMS said that he had not seen the statement, so he would not comment on either a statement he had not seen or a statement made by the opposition. The PMS added that he thought it was clear that the Prime Minister had no intention of supporting a boycott of the Beijing Olympic Games.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the MEP's had raised the idea of a boycott on the grounds of China's appalling human rights record and would the Prime Minister be raising the subject of human rights on this trip, the PMS said that as the Prime Minister had mentioned in his ITN interview on Tuesday, he would be raising the issue of human rights.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which human rights issues the Prime Minister would be raising, the PMS said that he would be raising the issue of human rights and if there was anything specific that the Prime Minister wanted to say, people would have an opportunity to ask him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had considered taking the First Minister of Scotland with him on the visit, the PMS said the Prime Minister was visiting China and India in his capacity as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14302.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-17 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-17 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:55" post_name="chinaindia-visit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="China/India Visit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5140" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/17/5140" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the wife of Gary Newlove had spoken this morning about the Respect Agenda failing, the PMS replied that the Respect Agenda was being taken forward and the Prime Minister was very keen on taking action to deal with the causes of crime, particularly among young people. The Government had created a new department, the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) that brought together in an integrated and coherent way, the issues that affected young people. The Children's Plan set out a number of issues in relation to this area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would recognise the description of the Respect Agenda as failing, given the amount of loutish behaviour among young people, the PMS replied that the overwhelming majority of young people in this country were well behaved, diligent and should be praised. Where there were problems, they needed to be addressed, but he did not think the Prime Minister would recognise the characterisation placed on it by the journalist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was such a thing as the Respect Agenda still, the PMS said that the responsibility for dealing with young peoples issues had been changed in the formation of the new department (DCSF.)&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;From memory, the PMS thought there had been some organisational changes that had flowed from that, However, the principles underlying the Respect Agenda, such as the need to continue to address anti-social behaviour, was something that the Prime Minister took very seriously.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14302.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-17 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-17 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:54" post_name="respect-agenda" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Respect Agenda" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5141" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/17/5141" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Health and Wellbeing Committee would do that wasn't already done by other health committees and wasn't the term &amp;quot;wellbeing&amp;quot; a David Cameron copyright, the PMS said that he would not want to respond to the second part of the question. The preventative health agenda was something the Prime Minister took very seriously and the fact that a new committee had been created was a reflection of that. This was an issue where we needed a cross-Government response as it affected a wide range of Departments and this was why the new committee had been created. The PMS added that we had already seen the announcement of the National Screening Programme and there would be further announcements on obesity coming up in the next couple of weeks. Asked if the committee would concentrate on public health, the PMS replied that it would focus on public and preventative health.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14302.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-17 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-17 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-17 10:00:53" post_name="health-and-wellbeing-committee" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Health and Wellbeing Committee" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5142" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/18/5142" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was satisfied that he had made the case for 42 days detention without charge, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Government's position had been set out very clearly on numerous occasions, following a long and detailed consultation period lasting over five months. The Counter Terror Bill would again set out the Government's position and the reasons why it believed it was necessary in exceptional circumstances to have provision in place where pre-charge detention could be extended. This was likely to be published next week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what day the Counter Terror Bill would be published, the PMS replied that she did not have those details. Asked if the Prime Minister anticipated having enough support from his own backbenchers to pass the bill, the PMS said that she would not get drawn into such territory, but the Government had set out the reasons why it believed this was an important measure to be brought forward and also why it had much stronger judicial oversight and a role for Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14309.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-18 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-18 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:58" post_name="detention-without-charge-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Detention without charge" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5143" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/18/5143" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been some suggestion in the media that the Prime Minister should have made a bigger issue of human rights, the PMS replied that human rights was discussed quite broadly at the press conference held by the Prime Minister. There were questions to both the Prime Minister and the Chinese premier, that were answered fully, particularly in reference to Hong Kong and the advancement of democracy and human rights more generally, which would be discussed later in the month at further meetings. The PMS added that human rights was an issue that the Prime Minister would continue to raise.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14309.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-18 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-18 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:57" post_name="china-visit-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="China Visit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5144" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/18/5144" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that David Cameron had said this morning that the streets of Britain had been lost to teenage thugs, the PMS said that she would not respond directly to the leader of the opposition. As was stated at yesterday's lobby briefing, the Government had measures in place both through neighbourhood policing and local authorities, to tackle anti-social behaviour, neighbourhood nuisance and particularly underage drinking. We recognised that there were still pockets where further action was required and recognised the terrible nature of recent instances. The principles underlying the Respect agenda were still very much at the forefront of the Prime Minister's drive to tackle anti-social behaviour. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where these pockets were, the PMS replied that she would not go into detail region by region, but there were still issues to be tackled which was why the Government had the measures in place that it did and why the Government was still continuing to work on these issues, particularly on underage drinking. The PMS reminded journalists that before Christmas, the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the Culture Secretary met with retailers, manufacturers and enforcement agencies to discuss further measures that could be taken to tackle alcohol misuse.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Respect Agenda no longer existed, the PMS again referred journalists to yesterday's lobby briefing where we discussed the fact that the work of the Respect Agenda was being taken forward, in part through DCSF. Asked if there was a Respect tsar, the PMS again referred people to what was said at the lobby briefing yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how near the Government was to agreement with supermarkets and retailers on the sale of alcohol to under 18's, the PMS said that the discussions were ongoing. There had been a review of alcohol licensing in general, which she believed was due to finish and report in February. Asked if the supermarkets were engaged in the subject and a way forward could be found, the PMS replied that the Government and retailers were working together, to look at ways in which there could be further action to tackle the problem. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14309.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-18 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-18 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:56" post_name="teenage-crime" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Teenage Crime" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5145" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/18/5145" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about his predecessor's new unpaid advisory role to the Rwandan Government, the PMS replied that she was aware of the reports of Tony Blair's appointment, but she had not had official confirmation of those reports and would not be making any further comment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Capital Gains Tax new regime was going to be announced next Thursday, the PMS replied that she would not speculate on timing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about MP's pay and would it be a free vote, the PMS said that with regards to the existing proposals that the Government was putting forward in response to the SSRB, it was Parliamentary business, but the Prime Minister had set out very strongly the view of Government on this. In terms of specific whipping arrangements the PMS referred people to the Whips office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14309.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-18 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-18 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-18 10:00:55" post_name="misc-31" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5146" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5146" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by saying that Cabinet this morning met for around one and a half hours. Main items discussed included the usual update on parliamentary business next week from the Chief Whip; an update on where we were in relation to counter-terrorism ahead of the publication of the Counter-Terrorism Bill on Thursday led by Jacqui Smith; a discussion on local area agreements, how central government interacts with local authorities led by Hazel Blears; a discussion on the Obesity Strategy to be published tomorrow led by Alan Johnson and Ed Balls; and an update on where we were with respect to the economy, with Alistair Darling updating on the situation with global financial markets and Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14355.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-12" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5147" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5147" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the fall in global stock markets, the PMS replied that what we had seen in relation to the volatility in the financial markets was clearly a global phenomenon originating in the US. The fundamentals of the British economy have remained sound, inflation was low, we had had 61 consecutive quarters of economic growth, and employment was at record highs. So both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor were clear that the Government would do everything in its power to maintain economic stability. That was why we had intervened for example to prevent the problems associated with Northern Rock spreading to other parts of the financial sector. It was also why for example we had taken some tough decisions in relation to public sector pay in order to keep inflation down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any concerted action with European partners, or was any being planned, the PMS replied that questions of that nature should be directed to the Treasury or the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the instability was still a cause for ongoing major concern, the PMS replied that we were seeing volatility in financial markets, but this was a global phenomenon and something that originated in the US. The fundamentals of the British economy remained sound, as the Prime Minister and Chancellor had made clear on numerous occasions, Britain remained well placed to withstand this uncertainty in the global economy. But of course we had to remain vigilant, and that was why the Government would take whatever action was necessary to maintain stability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on Northern Rock if the Chancellor informed Cabinet of anything beyond his statement to the Stock Market, the PMS replied that it was just an update of where we were.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared the view of the City that we should be urging cuts in interest rates, given that he had said previously that he expected them to be cut, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had never made any forecast in relation to interest rates, or had ever commented on what the independent Bank of England should do. The Prime Minister thought that these were clearly matters for the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor and Prime Minister had not gone as far to say that Britain was not going into recession, the PMS replied that what they were saying was that Britain was well placed to withstand global economic turbulence of this kind. We had seen events such as this in the past decade - the Asian crisis, the Russian crisis, the bursting of the dot.com bubble, and Britain unique among the major economies, continued to experience growth through that period.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Prime Minister's view that the turmoil was not essentially based in the UK economy, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view, and the Chancellor's, was that this was a phenomenon that originated in the United States. In Britain the fundamentals of our economy remained sound.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14355.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:57" post_name="economy-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5148" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5148" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minster had any sense as to the risk he could be taking by pushing ahead without any concessions on 42 days given that both opposition parties and back benchers were against this, the PMS replied that we would have to see what happens in any vote. The Prime Minister talked about this in some of his interviews at the weekend and made clear then the differences between the various participants in this debate were not as great as were sometimes portrayed, and we had to be careful not to exaggerate those differences. There was an emerging consensus around what the principals should be, with many people who participate in this debate accepting that there were circumstances in which it may be necessary to detain people beyond 28 days. The only question that then remained was what were the necessary safeguards that needed to be put in place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government's position on this was not fixed ahead of the Bill, or was there still room for further attempts to seek compromise during the passing of the Bill, the PMS replied that the Government would be publishing the Bill with its proposals on Thursday, and those would be the Government's proposals.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14355.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:56" post_name="counter-terrorism-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter-Terrorism" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5149" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5149" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on compulsory cooking lessons in schools, the PMS replied that it was probably better to speak to DCSF. Ed Balls had been out and about this morning giving numerous interviews on this. There was not much more to add to that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14355.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 10:00:55" post_name="cooking-lessons" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cooking Lessons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5150" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5150" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to describe the mood of the Cabinet this morning as they discussed the world economic problems, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the mood of the Cabinet was summed up by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, who said that these were global issues that all countries were facing at the moment. In Britain, the fundamentals of the economy were sound and inflation was low; there had been 61 consecutive quarters of growth; employment was at a record high and the Government was determined to do everything in its power to maintain stability.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This was why the Government intervened in relation to Northern Rock, to stop the problems there spreading elsewhere in the financial sector and that was why for example the Government had taken tough decisions on public sector pay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he thought the interest rate cut in the United States would help stabilise the global economic problems, the PMS replied that the Government would not comment on interest rates in Britain, let alone in any other country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Bank of England would not be moving their monthly policy meeting forward in light of the present circumstances, the PMS said that it was a matter for the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister would respond to criticism from the opposition suggesting that Britain's fiscal position was not strong enough to ride out the current economic downturn, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would not accept that. Public debt as a proportion of GDP in Britain was one of the lowest in the G7. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that in terms of the budget deficit, the UK was not doing very well when compared to the rest of the G7, the PMS said that what mattered in terms of the fundamental position was the debt stock and the debt stock as a proportion of GDP was low relative to most other G7 economies. This meant that in order to meet our public investment demands, we were able to run modest deficits in the medium term and that's what the Government was doing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the UK was not in a position to give fiscal stimulus, the PMS reiterated that Net debt, as a proportion of GDP compared with most other G7 economies was quite low.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14356.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:58" post_name="economy-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5151" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5151" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if people were any closer to finding out the fate of Mervyn King as it was getting close to normal procedures kicking in and an advert for the new Chairman of the FSA was seen in the press this week, the PMS said that on the issue of the appointment of the Governor of the Bank of England for the next period, people could expect an announcement shortly. It was worth bearing in mind that when Eddie George was appointed for his second term, the announcement was made in the middle of February. The PMS added that he still thought there was time for the normal procedures to run their course. Asked if the PMS was expecting an announcement before the middle of February, the PMS said we would have to see and the normal procedures would have to run their course.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14356.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:57" post_name="bank-of-england-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bank of England" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5152" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5152" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how much of the Cabinet meeting was taken up with discussions on economic issues, the PMS said that there was a lot to discuss at Cabinet today. Geoff Hoon gave the usual update of Parliamentary business for the next week; there was an update on counter-terrorism by Jacqui Smith; there was a discussion on local area agreements, i.e. the relationship between Central Government and Local Government lead by Hazel Blears; there had been a discussion on the obesity strategy lead by Alan Johnson and Ed Balls and they had then spent 15-20 minutes towards the end on Northern Rock and global financial markets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a flavour of the update on counter-terrorism by Jacqui Smith, the PMS replied that it was along the lines of the fact that the differences between the various participants in the debate were much smaller than was often portrayed, including by some of the participants in that debate. There seemed to be general agreement on many of the principles and most of the people involved in the debate appeared to accept that there were circumstances beyond which it may be necessary to hold people beyond 28 days. Most people appeared to accept that in order to detain people beyond 28 days, there would need to be some sort of trigger mechanism. That could be through the Civil-Contingencies Act, which the Government thought was a rather blunt instrument or there may be better ways of achieving the same ends. The PMS added that most people thought that we needed to have appropriate Parliamentary standards in place and that there should be an upper limit. Asked how long was spent on the discussion, the PMS said that it was discussed for 15-20 minutes. The PMS said that people would expect a significant discussion ahead of a major piece of legislation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14356.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:56" post_name="cabinet-13" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5153" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5153" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister proposed to meet the concerns of police officers and would he be meeting with any of those officers marching through London tomorrow, the PMS said that the Government had made its position on the subject very clear. The Prime Minister and the Home Secretary thought that police officers did an excellent job but some tough decisions had to be taken last year in relation to last years pay settlement and we staged the police settlement as we did with a number of other public settlements. These measures were necessary to keep inflation down and on target and this enabled the Bank of England to cut interest rates. When asked, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had no plans to meet with the police officers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14356.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:55" post_name="police-pay-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5154" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5154" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's meeting with Prime Minister Fayyad that morning and what was discussed, the PMS said that they had had a general discussion about the security situation in the region, a discussion about economic regeneration and the private investors conference planned for April. Obviously, the security situation was a matter for concern and progress on the issue needed to be made alongside progress on economic regeneration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if $500million worth of aid was being held up due to the current security situation, the PMS replied that it was best to check with DfID on the exact situation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14356.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:54" post_name="palestine" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Palestine" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5155" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/22/5155" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if electoral reforms would be published this week, the PMS said that he would have to check on that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had any views on the Information Committee's ruling on MP's spending, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that these were matters for the House authorities. Put that he'd been called to be compliant, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not been called upon to do anything. The Freedom of Information request was made to the House authorities and the Information Commissioner's view, which had been expressed today, related to the House authorities, not to individual MP's. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether there would be a Capital Gains Tax announcement on Thursday, the PMS said people would have to wait and see. When the Treasury were in a position to make an announcement, they would make it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been able to get any sleep since getting back from India and China, the PMS told the journalist in question that it was very kind of him to ask after the Prime Minister's welfare and he did manage to get some sleep on the way back and on his return to Downing Street.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14356.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-22 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-22 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-22 15:45:53" post_name="misc-32" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5156" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/23/5156" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that the Prime Minister would give a short oral statement at 12.40pm, following a ten minute rule bill after PMQ's. The Prime Minister would recommend the appointment of the Comptroller and Auditor General of the National Audit Office (NAO). The 1983 NAO Act required the Prime Minister to make this motion jointly with the Chair of the Public Account Commission (PAC). As the Government had said in November, when John Bourne announced his intention to stand down, the appointment would be interim pending the outcome of the PAC's ongoing review into NAO Governance. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister would also use the opportunity to give a brief update on where we were on one of the announcements in his constitutional reform document of last July in relation to the appointments that would be subject to pre-appointment scrutiny by the House of Commons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who would be taking over from John Bourne, the PMS said that on an interim basis, Timothy Burr, the current deputy Comptroller General would be taking over. Asked if there would be more detail on pre-appointment scrutiny or whether it would merely be an update, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be setting out the list of appointments that would be subject to pre-appointment scrutiny.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any more of a timescale for the interim basis or a guarantee that Mr Burr would be reappointed, the PMS said that these were all issues for the ongoing review of the PAC, both in terms of the timetable and then any subsequent appointment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14360.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-23 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-23 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:58" post_name="comptroller-and-auditor-general" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Comptroller and Auditor General" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5157" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/23/5157" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the timetable for ID cards had slipped, the PMS replied that the position on ID cards was set out in the strategic plan for the National Identity Scheme, which was published in December 2006. That made clear that the first ID cards for British citizens would be issued in 2009 and that rollout would be on an incremental basis. Put that people were given an indicative timetable beginning in 2010, the PMS reiterated that the position was as set out in the document from December 2006. The Government had always said that the first ID cards would be rolled out from 2009, but the exact subsequent rollout would be on an incremental and phased basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the document from 2006 said specifically that in 2010 there would be a significant volume of rollout and was the PMS saying that that remained the case, the PMS replied that the position remained as set out in December 2006. The Government would not comment on leaked documents, but Minister's had taken no decisions otherwise. Asked repeatedly for the timing and volume of rollout next year, the PMS referred people back to what was said in the document of December 2006.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to remind people of the compulsory and voluntary elements, the PMS reiterated that the Government was where it had always been, which was that it would be voluntary. It would require a vote by Parliament in order to make the scheme compulsory for British citizens. In response to the question of whether the Government would be asking Parliament for that, the PMS said that that was a matter for the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if you had to change your passport in 2009, you would be required as a British citizen to give the necessary details over to an ID database, the PMS reiterated the position set out in December 2006. Asked if the Government was worried that because it was on a voluntary basis people would not take them up, the PMS said the nature of voluntary schemes was that they were a matter for individuals. Asked if he accepted the likelihood of people taking them up had been reduced by the recent data losses, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary had said on many occasions, that by including biometric data ID cards could help deal with the issue of potential identity theft so he did not accept the premise of the question.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the recent data losses had given any pause for thought about a national register for ID cards, the PMS said that when the Prime Minister had been asked this question, he had always emphasised that one of the benefits of ID cards is that by including biometric data, they would actually help individuals deal with potential issues relating to data theft. Put that that would not reassure people that the actual data might go missing, even though it would be more difficult to do anything with it, the PMS said that the issues around protection of peoples identity and identity theft were issues that related to the private sector as well as the public sector. This was why the Prime Minister had set up a review to look at how identity is managed in both sectors.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how important the outcome of the Crosby Review would be in terms of the ID card rollout, the PMS said that he was sure that would be one of the factors taken into account by the Government. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14360.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-23 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-23 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:57" post_name="id-cards-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5158" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/23/5158" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a message for the police officers marching through London today, the PMS said that as the Prime Minister and Home Secretary had said on numerous occasions, there was a huge amount of admiration for the work of the police within Government, but that we faced a difficult situation last year with inflation. This required difficult decisions to be taken across the public sector, not only with the police, in order to stage pay awards. As a result of that, inflation had come down and it enabled the Bank of England to reduce interest rates last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to explain why civilian police workers had been given the full pay deal, the PMS replied that they were governed by the local authority pay settlement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14360.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-23 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-23 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:56" post_name="police-pay-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5159" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/23/5159" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be making an announcement on Capital Gains Tax this week, the PMS said that it was a matter for the Treasury. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Counter-terrorism bill and how it would be published, the PMS said that he thought it was a straightforward publication of the bill.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for an updated position on the two aircraft carriers to be built in the UK, the PMS said that he was not aware of any change in the position in relation to the aircraft carriers, but advised people to check with the MoD. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14360.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-23 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-23 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-23 10:00:55" post_name="misc-33" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5160" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/23/5160" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on the departure of Tom Scholar and the arrival of Jeremy Heywood, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that when Mr Scholar came back from Washington in June, it was always the intention that this would be a transitional appointment to help deal with the early period of Mr Brown's premiership, with him then going onto the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Given the uncertainty in global financial markets, that has become a more pressing issue, so Mr Scholar would take up the post of Managing Director International and Finance, with particular responsibility for domestic and global financial markets and institutions. When asked, the PMS said that this would happen with immediate effect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to explain Jeremy Heywood's position, the PMS said that Mr Heywood was already at Permanent Secretary level in the Cabinet Office and he would be coming over to Downing Street at the same level, but would have the same responsibilities as Tom Scholar. Mr Heywood would be the most senior civil servant in Downing Street and would be responsible for managing civil servants, working alongside Stephen Carter who managed the political side.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people were seeing the creation of a Prime Minister's Department, the PMS said that was not the case. Jeremy Heywood would report to Gus O'Donnell and would continue to be part of the Cabinet Office Board. It was not unusual for departments to have more than one Permanent Secretary; in fact the Cabinet Office, in addition to Gus O'Donnell had four, the others being Alex Allan, Chairman of the JIC, Howell James, responsible for Government Communication and Jon Cunliffe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Other department's, for example the Treasury have traditionally had more than one person at Permanent Secretary level. There had been no change in the relationship between the Cabinet Office and No10 and there was no new department being created or anything of that nature. Put that this was the first time there had been a Prime Minister's Principle Private Secretary who was in fact a Permanent Secretary, the PMS said he had not had an opportunity to go back over all of the records.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this would have a knock-on effect whereby others at the same level would be moving positions, the PMS replied that clearly the senior appointments in Downing Street were a matter of public interest and that was why we normally made announcements about them, but he did not want to get into discussions about more junior staff in Downing Street. Asked if there were other changes in the offing, the PMS said that organisations always evolve, but as he had said, we had seen two senior changes in recent weeks. If there were any other announcements, we would make those announcements. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what Tom Scholar would be doing at the Treasury that was so important, the PMS said that Tom Scholar would be the Managing Director International and Finance and he would have particular responsibility for domestic and global financial markets and institutions, which was clearly a big issue at the moment. Asked if the role was also about coordination with other financial institutions, the PMS said that it was, among other things.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that part of Tom Scholar's remit would be to implement some of things talked about by the Prime Minister in his speech in India, the PMS replied that these would all be matters for the Treasury, but he was sure those were the sorts of issues that Tom would be involved in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone had held the post of Managing Director before, the PMS said it was a new post at senior level. Asked if there was any significance attached to the loss of the job title &amp;quot;Chief of Staff,&amp;quot; the PMS advised people not to read anything into it. Asked if there would be a new Permanent Secretary responsible for domestic policy, the PMS replied that these were all matters for the Cabinet Secretary to decide on in the period ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why Tom Scholar was only a temporary appointment in such a pivotal position, the PMS replied that we did not normally announce individual's private intentions. As the PMS had said, he had been asked the background to this and that was the background. Put that it was in recognition of things not going to plan before Christmas, the PMS said that it was a recognition that there was an important job to do at the Treasury and that's what Mr Scholar would be doing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14361.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-23 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-23 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-23 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-23 15:45:58" post_name="downing-street-appointments" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Downing Street Appointments" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5161" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/23/5161" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government was backtracking on ID cards and was it because of the data losses of recent months, the PMS replied that he did not accept the premise of the question. The position remains as set out in the Strategic Plan for the National Identity Scheme, published in December 2006. As the Prime Minister had said on numerous occasions and the PMS had said that morning, identity cards had an important role to play in helping deal with the issue of identity theft, because they were biometric and therefore helped protect peoples identity. Put that the leaked document contradicted that, the PMS said that what matters was the decisions taken by Ministers and we would not comment on leaked documents. If and when there were any future announcements, the Government would make those announcements. The position remained as set out in the 2006 document.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if ID cards would be needed to access any particular services such as student loans, the PMS reiterated that the position was exactly as set out in December 2006. Put that it had changed due to the Home Office saying in a statement that the timetable was incremental, the PMS said that the Government had always said that ID cards would be rolled out on an incremental basis. Put that there were now two different timetables, the PMS said that the timetable that was the agreed Government position was set out in December 2006 and if there were any changes to that, there would be further announcements. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was still the Government's position that significant volumes of ID cards would be issued in 2010, the PMS repeated that the position remained what was set out in the 2006 document.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if ID cards were discussed at Cabinet on Tuesday, the PMS said not from his recollection. Asked if the Government would be using young people as guinea pigs for the rollout of ID cards, the PMS replied that again he did not accept the premise of the question. The PMS added that he was being asked to comment on a leaked document, which he was not going to do.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14361.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-23 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-23 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-23 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-23 15:45:57" post_name="id-cards-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5162" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/23/5162" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was going to be an announcement on Capital Gains Tax tomorrow, the PMS said that people should check with the Treasury. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a feeling that there was going to be a change in the terrorism threat level, the PMS said that it would be a matter for the Home Office, but these things were kept under continuous review.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14361.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-23 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-23 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-23 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-23 15:45:56" post_name="misc-34" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5163" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5163" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what official advice the Home Secretary had been referring to when she spoke of people not walking in areas they did not know after midnight, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that it was best to check with the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's views regarding the Home Secretary's comments about not going to unknown areas after midnight and what advice he would give to people, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would not be giving advice to individuals and it was best to speak to the Home Office about the context in which the Home Secretary made her comments.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:58" post_name="home-secretary-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Home Secretary" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5164" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5164" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be taking part in the vote on police pay, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a vote was expected and if so what the timing would be, the PMS replied that the expectation was that there would be a vote and that the timing was a matter for the House of Commons. The Prime Minister was planning to be there and planning to vote.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:57" post_name="police-pay-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5165" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5165" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be saying anything about 42 days detention, the PMS said that we were not anticipating the Prime Minister saying anything today, but the Home Secretary had been out and about speaking for the Government. The Prime Minister had been speaking about this at the weekend and he was perfectly willing to talk about it at any opportunity, but he was not doing anything public today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had met, or would be meeting, with backbench MPs regarding 42 days as the Home Secretary had been doing, the PMS said that the Home Secretary had been meeting with backbench MPs and that the Prime Minister met with backbench MPs all the time, for example, at the Parliamentary Committee once a week; there were lots of opportunities for the Prime Minister to meet backbench MPs and for backbench MPs to raise matters of topical concern.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government felt it was winning the argument regarding 42 days, the PMS said yes, we did think that people were beginning to see the Government's case. The proposals that we were setting out later struck the right balance between the need to deal with terrorist cases and the concerns that people had expressed about individuals' liberty. As was said yesterday, the differences between the view of the Prime Minister and the Government, and the various participants in this debate, were much less than was sometimes portrayed; we should not, and the Government would not, exaggerate those differences. We did believe that there was a consensus emerging around some of the underlying principals underpinning the Government's proposals.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:56" post_name="42-days-detention" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="42 Days Detention" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5166" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5166" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be saying anything about MPs' pay, the PMS replied that we were not expecting the Prime Minister to speak about this subject today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any message regarding MPs' pay, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made his views on this clear on numerous occasions; we had had to take some difficult decisions in relation to public sector pay over the past year and that had been necessary in order to reduce inflation. As a result of the reduction in inflation, the Bank of England was able to reduce interest rates and that had left Britain better placed than it would otherwise have been to withstand the global economic turbulence that we were seeing at the moment. Therefore it was right that MPs, like the rest of the public sector, should also have their pay staged for this year.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:55" post_name="mps-pay-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5167" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5167" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the Severn Estuary tidal barrage, the PMS said that the Prime Minister supported the Government's position on this subject.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:54" post_name="severn-estuary-tidal-barrage" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Severn Estuary Tidal Barrage" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5168" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5168" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was still the policy that at some stage after an official review there would be a referendum, the PMS replied that whatever previous commitments had been made on this, remained the commitments; the report published today simply assessed the experiences of different voting systems that had been put in place for various elections (local/mayoral elections and elections in devolved countries and regions) and analysed what the effects of those had been on issues such as voter turn out. The report did not come up with any specific recommendations; it was simply meant to be a contribution to the debate. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:53" post_name="review-of-voting-systems" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Review of Voting Systems" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5169" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5169" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was right that Ken Livingstone should use his position to campaign against Sir Trevor Phillips, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had answered a question on this in the House if Commons yesterday; he had also said, when asked by a number of Sunday papers at the weekend, that he thought Ken Livingstone had done a good job as Mayor of London. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:52" post_name="ken-livingstone" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ken Livingstone" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5170" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5170" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy that initial proposals on Capital Gains Tax (CGT) had had to be altered, the PMS said that he did not want to say anything ahead of the Chancellor's statement to the House of Commons, except that the main objective of the reforms that were made to CGT in the Pre-Budget Report were to simplify the system, which was something that businesses had been calling for. However, we had always said that we would consult on the detailed implementation; there had been quite a lengthy and detailed consultation with businesses over recent months and the Chancellor would be announcing the conclusions from that consultation on the implementation of the changes we had made to CGT in the House of Commons very shortly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:51" post_name="capital-gains-tax-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Capital Gains Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5171" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5171" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had any idea of the cost of the Northern Rock securitisation bid, the PMS said that the Treasury and the Chancellor had been answering questions on this and there was nothing more to add to what had already been said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:50" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:50" post_name="northern-rock-17" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5172" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5172" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was disappointed that violent crime was still rising, the PMS replied that the crime figures this morning had shown that total recorded crime was down by 10%; domestic burglary was down by 8%; offences against vehicles was down by 12%; violence against the person was down by 8% and robbery was down by 17%. There had been an increase in drug offences but, as the Home Office was explaining, that was partly due to increases in the police use of powers to issue cannabis warnings. In relation to gun crime, serious injuries caused by firearms actually fell by 16% over the past year. We already had the toughest firearms legislation anywhere in the world and we were working to make it tougher.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a breakdown of knife crime figures, the PMS said that he did not have that information to hand and it was best to check with the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14369.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 11:00:49" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:49" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 11:00:49" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 10:00:49" post_name="crime-figures" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Crime Figures" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5173" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5173" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions would be James Purnell. He added that he had no further announcements to make.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if all the new appointments would be announced by the end of the day, the PMS said that that would be his anticipation for Cabinet posts. Asked to confirm that James Purnell would not be taking up the post of Secretary of State for Wales, the PMS confirmed that he would not be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a new department for Wales, Scotland and Ireland, the PMS said he had no further announcements relating to the reshuffle. Asked if Peter Hain had spoken to the Prime Minister by telephone rather than face-to-face, the PMS said that once the Electoral Commission had informed Peter Hain that they had made their decision, he telephoned the Prime Minister and offered his resignation. This happened at around 11:30am.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any delay in Peter Hain giving his resignation, the PMS replied that as Peter Hain had said in his letter, he was clear in his own mind that it was the right thing for him to do to resign. Asked if the Prime Minister was clear in his mind of whether to accept the resignation, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had accepted Peter Hain's resignation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Peter Hain had a future in the Cabinet if his name was to be cleared, the PMS said that it was a hypothetical question, but pointed the journalist to the reference in the Prime Minister's letter, where he said that he knew Peter Hain would continue to make a contribution to public life in the future. The PMS did not want to spark the next Cabinet reshuffle speculation while this one was still ongoing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister and Peter Hain had discussed before what the strategy would be in the eventuality of a police investigation, the PMS replied that he did not want to get into whatever private discussions may or may not have taken place. Asked how long the telephone call lasted between the Prime Minister and Peter Hain, the PMS said that he did not have an exact time on that, but he did not think it was a very protracted conversation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to characterise the Prime Minister's mood, the PMS replied that he thought the mood of the Prime Minister was that he was getting on with the business of Government. He had a lengthy video conference that afternoon with President Bush and had been dealing with other Government business as well. In response to the question of whether other Government Ministers would resign if further police investigations were announced, the PMS said that he would not get into hypotheticals. Peter Hain had decided that given his circumstances, it was the right thing for him to do to resign.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police in connection with the donations investigation, the PMS said that he had not been interviewed. Put that a problem over salaries had been created by the fact that the Work and Pensions Secretary was no longer the Secretary of State for Wales as well, the PMS explained that because Shaun Woodward did not take a salary, there was one spare Cabinet salary. Put that it would be convenient to make Shaun Woodward the Secretary of State for Wales as well, the PMS said that if that was a question about the reshuffle, it was not the one he was able to answer at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was working at his desk when he received the call from Peter Hain, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was in his office in Downing Street.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be announcing a replacement for David Triesman as well, the PMS advised people to wait and see. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the opposition had said that the Prime Minister had dithered on the issue and should have taken a decision sooner, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would not accept that. It would have been totally wrong for him to have pre-judged the outcome of the Electoral Commission inquiry, before they had had an opportunity to look at the matter. Now that they had made their decision, clearly the situation had moved on. Asked whether the Prime Minister had tried to disuade Peter Hain from resigning, the PMS reiterated that Peter Hain had offered his resignation and the Prime Minister had accepted it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be considering the options available to the Electoral Commission in future, the PMS said that it was not an issue for now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether this was the first time the subject of resignation had come up at all from either side over the last few weeks, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made clear his support for Peter Hain up to this point. He had been quite straightforward and open about that, but clearly, the decision by the Electoral Commission today had changed the situation. Asked whether it was the case that criticism from any of the Commission's watchdogs looking into these affairs was now the deciding factor and Prime Ministerial patronage would not be weighed in behind anyone, the PMS said that it depended entirely on the circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14386.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 15:45:58" post_name="dwp-announcement" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="DWP Announcement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5174" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5174" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister thought Ken Livingstone was right when he said he could run London like his own personal fiefdom, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was asked a question about Ken Livingstone yesterday in PMQ's and he had nothing to add to that. Put that the Prime Minister had said that London needed a Labour Mayor, which was somewhat equivocal, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had also made some references to Ken Livingstone when asked by Sunday newspapers in China and he referred people back to that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14386.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 15:45:57" post_name="ken-livingstone-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ken Livingstone" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5175" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/24/5175" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be meeting with President Musharraf, the PMS confirmed that he would be meeting President Musharraf next week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14386.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-24 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-24 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-24 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-24 15:45:56" post_name="president-musharraf" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Musharraf" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5176" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/25/5176" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told journalists that the Prime Minister had spoken about the world economy in Davos, picking up a number of themes from his article in the Financial Times. He then said that the Prime Minister had launched the call for action on the Millennium Development Goals, with Ban Ki-moon, Bono, Bill Gates and others. Later in the afternoon the Prime Minister would have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the Netherlands and a short meeting with the President of Afghanistan. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister had been referring to when he spoke of bad news still to come in his opening address, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been making a general comment about the outlook for the world economy; he was not making any reference to any specific episode.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anything should be read into the fact that the leaders of the other G7 countries were not present at the launch of the call for action on the Millennium Development Goals, the PMS said what had been launched today applied not only to Government but also to the private sector, which was why people such as Bill Gates and John Chambers the Chief Executive of Cisco had attended. In relation to other countries, of course the G7 had made commitments and everybody would expect those commitments to be honoured. There was also an agreement signed in July, recommitting the leaders of the main countries to the Millennium Development Goals, including the leaders of the US and a number of other G7 countries.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14391.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-25 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-25 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:58" post_name="world-economic-forum-davos" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="World Economic Forum, Davos" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5177" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/25/5177" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Romano Prodi was still expected to meet with the Prime Minister in London on 29 January or if someone else would go given that he had resigned, the PMS said that that remained our expectation but that it was a matter for the Italians.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14391.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-25 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-25 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:57" post_name="romano-prodi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Romano Prodi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5178" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/25/5178" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be saying to the President of Afghanistan and if he would be addressing the criticisms regarding British policy in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that the meeting between the Prime Minister and President Karzai would be quite short and that they would use this time to take stock of the situation. As was known, the Prime Minister had had lengthy discussions with the President when he was in Afghanistan in December; they had also met when President Karzai was in London in the autumn. They were in regular contact; they had good, constructive meetings before Christmas and the meeting this afternoon would be a short one to catch up and take stock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the reaction to President Karzai's criticisms had been, the PMS said that, as the Foreign Office had been saying, our strategy in Helmand had been to work with the Afghan Government; to extend the authority of the Afghan Government throughout the province; to create a secure environment and to allow political and economic development. It was for those aims that our armed forces had suffered losses and shown great determination and bravery. It was important to emphasise that we were working closely with the Afghan Government in relation to political, economic and military issues in Helmand. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a contradiction between what we were saying about working closely together and President Karzai's criticisms about what we were doing, the PMS said that, from our perspective, we were working alongside the Afghan Government; he referred to the military engagement they had seen in December, where Afghans were very much in the lead and where advances were made in the Helmand province.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the British presence in Helmand had led to the return of the Taliban in that region, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would not accept that; we were working alongside the Afghan Government in order to drive out the Taliban from Helmand and we saw that very clearly in relation to the operation in December in Musa Qala.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14391.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-25 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-25 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:56" post_name="president-karzai" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Karzai" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5179" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/25/5179" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were taking a different position from the US in relation to sovereign wealth funds, the PMS replied that he was not sure he would characterise the US position in quite the same way as the journalist. As the Prime Minister had said in China, we welcomed investment from sovereign wealth funds in London, but of course they had to play by the rules and operate on the same basis as others and adhere to our regulations regarding transparency. Premier Wen, whilst meeting with the Prime Minister in Beijing, gave those assurances both publicly and privately and it was on that basis that we would welcome investment from sovereign wealth funds from China and elsewhere in London.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there should be specific regulations for sovereign wealth funds, the PMS replied that he was not sure that that was what the US were saying; investment in the UK was regulated by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and that applied to investors wherever they came from. Therefore the question would be, did sovereign wealth funds operate in a way that was consistent with the regulatory requirements of the UK and, as long as they did, we would welcome their investment.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14391.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-25 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-25 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-25 10:00:55" post_name="sovereign-wealth-funds" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sovereign Wealth Funds" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5180" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5180" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any information regarding the Prime Minister's meeting tomorrow, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that it would be a wide-ranging discussion but that they would mostly be concentrating on economic issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:58" post_name="meeting-with-merkel-sarkozy-barroso-and-prodi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Meeting with Merkel, Sarkozy, Barroso and Prodi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5181" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5181" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be going to the European Commission this week, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had no plans to go this week. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:57" post_name="european-commission" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Commission" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5182" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5182" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was making an announcement regarding McDonalds qualifications, the PMS replied that the announcement was from the QCA; there was a general reference to plans to designate employers who could award qualifications in the Prime Minister's speech to the skills conference at the QEII this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the case would be in Scotland regarding the qualifications, the PMS said that if this was a devolved matter then it would be a matter for the devolved authorities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:56" post_name="qca-announcement-re-qualifications" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="QCA announcement re Qualifications" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5183" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5183" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) regarding fiscal measures, the PMS replied that these were matters for the Treasury and the Chancellor and referred journalists back to what the Prime Minister had said about the role of fiscal policy in his article in the Financial Times last Friday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:55" post_name="fiscal-measures" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Fiscal Measures" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5184" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5184" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's thoughts regarding donations relating to Alan Johnson, the PMS replied that this was a matter about party funding so not a question he could really comment on; he referred journalists back to what the Prime Minister had said in his GMTV interview this morning when he was asked that same question.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:54" post_name="alan-johnson" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Alan Johnson" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5185" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5185" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be discussing with President Musharraf, the PMS said that it would be a wide-ranging discussion but since the meeting and press conference were just about to happen, it was probably best to wait so that questions could be put to the Prime Minister directly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:53" post_name="president-musharraf-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Musharraf" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5186" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5186" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on alcohol-fuelled violence in the UK's towns and cities, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister obviously felt that this was an issue that needed to be taken seriously which was why he had been keen to work with the alcohol industry to look at what more the Government and the industry, working together, could do to deal with this matter. There had been a seminar in November of last year with the alcohol industry looking at these very issues and focusing particularly on what more could be done in order to tighten up enforcement of sales of alcohol to those who were underage.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:52" post_name="alcohol-fuelled-violence" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Alcohol-Fuelled Violence" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5187" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5187" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was going to be an overarching review on intelligence and the structure of counter terrorism machinery, the PMS replied that the journalist was referring to the National Security Strategy, which was something that the Prime Minister said we would be bringing forward. We did have a new National Security Committee, which brought together not only relevant Cabinet Ministers but also the relevant agencies and Chiefs of Defence staff. This committee went beyond discussing foreign policy and defence; it included the issue of hearts and minds, which Hazel Blears and others worked on. We would be bringing forward a National Security Strategy document shortly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:51" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:51" post_name="review-of-intelligence" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Review of Intelligence" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5188" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5188" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the UN envoy to Afghanistan, the PMS replied that these were matters for the UN Secretary General; this was ultimately his appointment. We thought that Lord Ashdown would have been a good candidate but he had withdrawn his candidature. We were not going to speculate further on future alternative candidates we might support.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:50" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:50" post_name="un-envoy-to-afghanistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="UN Envoy to Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5189" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5189" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had replied to Nick Clegg's letter regarding constitutional conventions, the PMS replied that that was being considered as part of the wider set of issues relation to constitutional reform, which Jack Straw was taking forward. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:49" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:49" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:49" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:49" post_name="nick-clegg" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Nick Clegg" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5190" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5190" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor's statement was related to the rogue trader incident in France, the PMS replied that it was not; it was something the Chancellor and the Treasury had been talking about for some time in relation to how they were taking forward reforms of the tripartite structures.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:48" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:48" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:48" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:48" post_name="chancellor-statement-on-banking-regulation" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chancellor Statement on Banking Regulation" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5191" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5191" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that Defra had announced that Adair Turner had been appointed as the Chair of the Climate Change Committee. The PMS added that the Committee was established as part of the Climate Change Bill, in order to independently assess how the UK could optimally achieve its emissions reduction goals for the period 2020 and 2050.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14428.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:58" post_name="adair-turner" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Adair Turner" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5192" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5192" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on the meeting taking place tomorrow, the PMS replied that in general terms, the leaders would be primarily discussing the economy. They would no doubt want to take forward some of the issues that were raised in the UK-France-Germany joint declaration on financial markets, agreed at Lisbon on the 19th October 2007. For those who were interested in the detail, it would be best to go back to that agreement. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Issues included transparency surrounding the off balance sheet risks faced by banks, cross-border cooperation and management of financial crises, which was also relevant to some of the issues raised by the Prime Minister recently in relation to the reform of the international financial institutions, such as the IMF, the role of ratings agencies in financial markets and the extent to which they enhanced transparency and the role of sovereign wealth funds. The PMS added that it would be a wide-ranging discussion primarily on the economy and financial markets, but it would not be surprising if it were to broaden out as well. It would be an informal meeting, so therefore it was difficult to anticipate exactly in advance what the wider issues could be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the timetable would be, the PMS said it would last for several hours. Asked to confirm the cast-list, the PMS said that in attendance would be the Prime Minister, President Sarkozy, Chancellor Merkel, Prime Minister Prodi and President Barrosso. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what spurred the meeting, the PMS said that back in October, the Prime Minister, President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel issued a joint declaration on some of the relevant financial market issues at the time. There was a meeting of the Finance Ministers of the EU members of the G8, plus the Commission earlier this month, which had helped prepare for this meeting and there would be another meeting of G8 Finance Ministers in February. So this was the European member's of the G8 plus the Commission coming together, to discuss a range of economic and financial issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when some deliverables from the process would be acted upon, the PMS replied that they were having the meeting tomorrow, so people would have to see what would come out of it. Asked if Societe Generale had fought its way onto the agenda, the PMS replied that he thought more general policy issues would be discussed rather than specific companies.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if a bank didn't even know what its traders were up to, it would be difficult for a central bank or an international body to know, the PMS said he did not want to comment on individual companies, but one of the issues that would be discussed would be how to improve the transparency around off balance sheet risks faced by banks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Governments view on sovereign wealth funds, the PMS said that the Governments view on the matter had been expressed several times by the Prime Minister on his trip to China and India; the Government welcomed investment by sovereign wealth funds as long as they operated on a commercial basis and by our rules.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the French and Italians were pushing for a regulatory framework whereas the UK were looking for more prescriptive regulation, the PMS said that our approach had always been to try to avoid heavy handed regulation in response to crises of this kind.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14428.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:57" post_name="eu-leaders-meeting" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Leaders Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5193" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5193" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the decision made by Prince Charles not to attend the Beijing Olympics, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought it was a matter for Prince Charles. Asked if he empathised with those who wished to boycott the event, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that one of the virtues of living in a free society was that people were able to express views of that kind.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was a shame that Chinese and Tibetans didn't share the same right, the PMS said that the British Government position in relation to Tibet was well established and unchanged.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14428.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:56" post_name="beijing-olympics" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Beijing Olympics" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5194" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5194" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government was proposing to cut the amount of debate on the EU Treaty from 20 to 12 days, the PMS said that he was not aware of any such proposal. The PMS said that he thought there would be a very lengthy period of debate and would be interested to see if it was still the journalists view in several weeks time as to whether it was still an insufficient amount of time for debate on the European Treaty.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14428.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:55" post_name="eu-treaty-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5195" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/28/5195" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister and President Gorbachev had discussed at their meeting, the PMS said it was a private meeting and mainly a courtesy meeting. President Gorbachev was in London and was obviously a great figure of the late 20th Century and the Prime Minister was very pleased to have the opportunity to be able to spend some time with him. Asked if the Prime Minister had met him before, the PMS said he did not think they had met previously.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14428.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-28 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-28 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-28 15:45:54" post_name="president-gorbachev" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Gorbachev" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5221" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5221" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had met, or was due to meet, Bill Gates, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had met with Bill Gates this afternoon and that it had been a private meeting. They had met in Davos recently; they had a lot of common issues that they discussed, primarily around the Millennium Development agenda.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if today's meeting was connected with the Prime Minister's wish to get the Millennium Development Goals back on track, the PMS said that the more significant meeting was the one that had taken place last Friday in Davos which involved a number of people from the private sector; not only Bill Gates, but the Chairman of Cisco, the Chief Executive of PepsiCo and others.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14451.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:57" post_name="bill-gates" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bill Gates" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5220" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5220" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what Sir Ronnie Flanagan was proposing regarding Stop and Search, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that people should wait until Sir Flanagan had published his final report. However, he had made clear on page 15, paragraph 1.26, recommendation 9 of his interim report that, 'the review will give urgent consideration to how Stop and Account/Search can be better administered and the bureaucracy surrounding it significantly reduced. In doing so, I will consult widely (and as part of my existing Equality Impact Assessment) both with key leaders and stakeholders from a diverse range of communities and from within the service'. It was very clear, when the Flanagan report was published in the autumn, that this was an issue that he had identified as an area for potential reductions in bureaucracy. There were numerous paragraphs in his report, which made clear recommendations on it, and it was clearly something that was very much in the public domain and something that the Government was considering very actively.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14451.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:58" post_name="stop-and-search" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Stop and Search" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5219" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5219" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was discussed at the dinner following the EU leaders' summit last night, the PMS replied that it was a private dinner so he would not be getting into any detail. They had a general discussion about the reform of the global institutions, and a brief conversation about Iran.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if they considered if the time was right for Britain to join the Euro, the PMS replied that this subject did not come up. Asked why in an economic discussion between the five leading figures in Europe this issue did not come up, the PMS replied that nobody was proposing British membership of Euro. Asked if the Prime Minister was afraid to mention it, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's views on this matter are long established and well known.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any words of sympathy for Mr Prodi, the PMS replied that obviously this came up, but these were private discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where we went from here with the proposals, what were the next steps and how would we take them forward, the PMS replied that the next step was to have further discussions with our G8 partners in the first instance. There would be a meeting of G8 finance Ministers in Tokyo next week, and would be an opportunity to take forward some of the discussions from yesterday's meeting.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14449.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:53" post_name="eu-leaders-summit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Leaders' Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5213" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/29/5213" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any progress in finding a buyer for Northern Rock, the PMS replied that that was a matter for the Treasury and that it was an ongoing process and the deadline that had been set was 4th February.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14445.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-29 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-29 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:55" post_name="northern-rock-18" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5214" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5214" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why Mervyn King had been given a second term in the Prime Minister's view, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that we had always made clear that it was the Prime Minister's view that Mervyn King had been a first rate Governor to the Bank of England in his first term, and on that basis he had been re-appointed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister and the Government were opposed to a single-term Governor, the PMS replied that the Government had introduced legislation in 1998 to this effect, Mervyn King had been a first rate Governor of the Bank of England, and on that basis the Government thought that there was a case for him being re-appointed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the re-appointment process, and were any others considered, the PMS replied that we would not be getting into the detail of exactly what the internal Government processes were on appointments of this nature. But we had always made clear that it was the Prime Minister and the Chancellor's view that Mervyn King was a first rate Governor of the Bank of England.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the appointment of the Deputy Governor was a government appointment, and when would this happen, the PMS replied that when we had an announcement to make on the Deputy Governor re-appointment, we would make that announcement. But there would be no announcement on that today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the Treasury Committee report that talked about the Deputy Governors role, the PMS replied that this was a question for the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the re-appointment could be seen as an endorsement over Mervyn King's handling of Northern Rock, the PMS replied that it was the Prime Minister's view that Mervyn King has been, and is, a first rate Governor of the Bank of England, and that was why he had been re-appointed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had complete confidence in the Deputy Governor, the PMS replied that he did.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14449.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:58" post_name="governor-of-the-bank-of-england-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Governor of the Bank of England" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5215" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5215" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the impact of migration on maternity services, the PMS replied that this matter was something that the Migration Impact Forum was looking at. The Government had already announced an expansion in maternity services in recent months and recent years. We did recognise the importance of understanding the impact of migration on communities, and that was why we set up the migration impact forum. But we should also remember that the vast majority of migrants made a positive contribution to the economy and pay taxes as well.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14449.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:57" post_name="migration" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Migration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5216" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5216" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on whether Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi should be granted a visa, the PMS replied that this was a matter for the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14449.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:56" post_name="yusuf-al-qaradawi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Yusuf al-Qaradawi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5217" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5217" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on MPs' secretarial allowances, the PMS replied that this was a matter for the House.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14449.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:55" post_name="mps-allowances-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Allowances" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5218" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5218" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had wanted the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) to be more accountable to Parliament, and asked why he did not take the opportunity following the vacancy created in the chair by Paul Murphy moving to be Secretary of State for Wales to reform the Committee, the PMS replied that the vacancy arose in the chairmanship of the ISC at short notice following the reshuffle last week so the Prime Minister did not want to be in the position where we did not have a chair of this important committee for any length of time. In relation to wider reforms, this was all being considered as part of the constitutional reform agenda that was being taken forward and coordinated by Jack Straw.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14449.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 10:00:54" post_name="isc" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ISC" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5212" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/29/5212" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed all MPs should make it known how much they and their employees got paid, the PMS said that that was a matter for the House authorities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14445.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-29 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-29 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:56" post_name="pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5211" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/29/5211" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor was expected to make an announcement about the Governor of the Bank of England in the near future, the PMS said that when we were in a position to make an announcement regarding that, an announcement would be made.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be a Treasury announcement or a Prime Ministerial announcement, the PMS replied that in the past these appointments had been made by No 10.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the analysis that not knowing who the next Governor of the Bank of England was added to the uncertainty of the financial market, the PMS said that the current Governor's term of appointment was to end in June and we were still 4 or 5 months away from that appointment ending. Eddie George had been reappointed in February and that had been seen as quite early at the time. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Deputy Governor of the Bank of England would be announced at the same time as the Governor, the PMS replied that as and when we had an announcement to make on those appointments, we would make them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14445.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-29 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-29 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:57" post_name="governor-of-the-bank-of-england-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Governor of the Bank of England" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5210" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/29/5210" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be saying at the meeting this evening, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that there would be no great surprises in terms of what the Prime Minister would say in relation to what had already been said. The meeting was taking place at a time of economic instability in the global economy and that instability had originated in the United States. The fundamentals of the economies of Britain and the rest of Europe remained sound but of course we had to be vigilant to the risks. Therefore, at this afternoon's meeting they would be discussing how, within Europe and with the other major economies, we could cooperate to help promote stability in financial markets and the world economy. They would also discuss measures to, for example, enhance the role of credit rating agencies; better inform markets; promote transparency of banks on balance sheet liabilities; improve cross-border cooperation in relation to financial crises; regulate liquidity risk, through the international standards. The PMS went on to say that it was a fairly informal meeting so discussion may range wider than that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be detailed outlines of specific proposals this evening or if it was likely to be a general discussion, the PMS said that it was for finance Ministers to take forward the lead on this. Leaders this afternoon would be discussing and outlining the areas where further discussion and work needed to be taken forward by Finance Ministers, or whoever the relevant supervisors/authorities were. There was a meeting of Finance Ministers from European members of the G8 about 10 days ago and there would be a full meeting of G8 Finance Ministers next month.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anything the Prime Minister would want to talk about on a wider basis, the PMS replied that one issue likely to come up, as it was relevant, was the subject of reform of the global institutions; part of the discussion about the economy and the financial sector was about, for example, the role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the early warning watchdog. However, the main focus of the meeting was on economic and financial matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's proposals in relation to reform of the IMF, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister set out his proposals regarding this in his speech in India where he said there was a case for strengthening, and making more independent, the surveillance function of the IMF so as it could act as a more effective early warning system for the world economy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14445.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-29 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-29 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-29 15:45:58" post_name="meeting-with-merkel-barroso-sarkozy-and-prodi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Meeting with Merkel, Barroso, Sarkozy and Prodi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5208" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/29/5208" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that Cabinet had met that morning for about an hour. There was an update by Jack Straw on prisons, covering the prison-building programme and prison reform including tackling re-offending. Jacqui Smith gave an update on neighbourhood policing and John Denham gave an update on skills.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any kind of pep talk from the Prime Minister to his new Cabinet colleagues at Cabinet, the PMS said that the only time the issue had come up was when the Prime Minister had said that notwithstanding the political funding issues the Government had faced in recent times, the Government had made significant announcements in relation to health, energy, skills, the economy and we must continue to push ahead with the reform agenda in the weeks and months ahead.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14439.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-29 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-29 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-29 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-29 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-26" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5222" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5222" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked where we were up to regarding titan prisons, the PMS replied that the Ministry of Justice had been making the position quite clear; as Jack Straw had said in December in his statement to the House of Commons, 'we are committed to the new prison places we announced in December and want to move forward with up to three titan prisons'. Jack Straw had also said in December that we would act on Lord Carter's recommendations to build up to three large titan prisons. Lord Carter also said that there would obviously need to be consultation around exactly how we would do this and on issues such as getting the appropriate planning agreements and that was what Jack Straw had been referring to this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that none of these prisons had been built yet and asked if sites had been earmarked, the PMS replied that we had only announced our intention to look at building them in December, so therefore it would have been quite a heroic achievement to have built them by now. The Ministry of Justice were working on identifying sites but clearly there would have to be the proper procedures in relation to the planning system. Lord Carter had said in his report in December that we would like to have one of these prisons in place by 2012, and that remained the position. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a budget, the PMS replied that all of these questions had been dealt with in December and nothing had changed since then.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government thought that the jails could cope if increased Stop and Search yielded lots of people carrying guns and knives, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made clear, as had the Home Secretary, that the Government would do whatever was necessary in order to ensure that people felt safe on the streets. We were already increasing prison places this year by 2500 places and we had pledged further increases for years beyond that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14451.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:56" post_name="prisons-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prisons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5223" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/30/5223" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister, as a member of the House of Commons, had any plans to involve himself in the debate about the future of MPs' allowances, the PMS repeated what had already been made clear, which was that the Prime Minister thought it was a matter for the House authorities. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had taken a view on MPs' pay, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had taken a view on MPs' pay and that was because we had also had to take some difficult decisions about the rest of the public sector, of which the MPs were a part.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14451.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-30 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-30 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-30 15:45:55" post_name="mp-allowances" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP Allowances" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5224" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5224" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly to comment on reports that British troops were being sent to Afghanistan without full military training, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Government's response was that there was absolutely no question of compromising on our training standards or sending troops into operational theatres unprepared. There was no question of units being employed under-strength and where units earmarked to deploy were below establishment, these would continue to be backfilled by other units as appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been several allegations that some units were sent out under-strength and could the PMS be categorical that that was not happening, the PMS said that the position that the Ministry of Defence were setting out, was that there was no question of compromising on our training standards or sending troops into operational theatres unprepared.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14452.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:58" post_name="troops-in-afghanistan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Troops in Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5225" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5225" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had mislead MP's during PMQ's, when he suggested that health spending in England was higher than in Scotland, the PMS replied that he was not aware of any such allegation being made against the Prime Minister, but he would check what the facts were and get back to people.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14452.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:57" post_name="pmqs-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PMQ's" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5226" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5226" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly on the subject of MP's allowances and whether the Prime Minister agreed with Jack Straw's comments made earlier that day, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did agree with Jack Straw's comments, that there should be greater transparency over MP's expenses. Exactly how this should be achieved was a matter for the House authorities to consider. Asked if he thought the Committee on Standards in Public life should look at the case, the PMS reiterated that achieving greater transparency was a matter for the House and the relevant authorities. Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on whether MP's should employ members of their family, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was that he believed MP's should operate within the spirit and the letter of the rules. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it really was a matter for the House authorities, when the message being sent out to the public sector was that there was one rule for MP's and another for everyone else, the PMS replied that it was a matter for the House authorities. In relation to public sector pay, where there was a direct analogy to the rest of the public sector, the Prime Minister had made his views very clear. The PMS repeated that the Prime Minister did think there was a case for greater transparency over MP's expenses, but the mechanism and exactly how this should be achieved was for the House authorities to consider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to whether the Prime Minister agreed to the suspension of Derek Conway, the PMS said it was a matter being looked at by the House authorities and was being considered by MP's today. The PMS added that the Prime Minister was not taking a position on the subject that would come as any surprise to people. Asked if the Prime Minister would be voting that afternoon, the PMS said that he was not sure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy that Parliament was rife with nepotism, the PMS suggested that that was more of an assertion than a question. The PMS added that all he could say was that the Prime Minister agreed with the sentiments expressed by Jack Straw that morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that Derek Conway should be expelled from Parliament, the PMS said that that was not a matter for him to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14452.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:56" post_name="derek-conway" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Derek Conway" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5227" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5227" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government held a view on the location and growth of Heathrow, the PMS said that the Government's position in relation to the expansion of Heathrow was well-documented, well known and hadn't changed. The Prime Minister had expressed his view on the subject on several occasions and believed that it was right that there should be a consultation as to whether or not there should be an expansion of capacity at Heathrow. Asked if the Prime Minister had ever agreed to a deal with BAA in which BAA would support Crossrail in return for the expansion of Heathrow, the PMS said he was not aware that anybody had ever made such suggestions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14452.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:55" post_name="heathrow" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Heathrow" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5228" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5228" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had received Sir John Chilcott's review on Intercept, the PMS replied that when we were in a position to publish the Chilcott Review, we would publish it and make an announcement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14452.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 10:00:54" post_name="chilcott-review" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chilcott Review" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5229" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5229" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was generally sympathetic to the proposal that the National Audit Office should carry out spot checks on MPs' expenses, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister's view was that this was an interesting proposal. He was generally in favour of greater transparency, but we were not going to get into the position where we commented on every individual proposal that came up. These were matters that the House authorities would consider.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be discussing the matter with Jack Straw and others, and taking a view himself to shape the debate, the PMS replied that obviously this was a very live issue at the moment, and something that that individual Members of Parliament and individual Cabinet Ministers would have their own personal views on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's personal views were, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's views were those that he had expressed this morning, that he agreed with Jack Straw that there was a case for greater transparency over MPs' expenses, but exactly how this should be achieved was a matter for the House authorities to consider.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14463.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 15:45:58" post_name="mps-allowances-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Allowances" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5230" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5230" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why there were no business women accompanying the Prime Minister on his recent visit to China and India, the PMS replied that this was not true - Carla Furse was involved on the trip and was present for the opening of the London Stock Exchange event in Beijing. Asked how many women were on the trip, the PMS replied that there were many excellent women as senior business people in this country, for whom the Prime Minister had a high degree of respect.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14463.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 15:45:57" post_name="chinaindia-trip" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="China/India Trip" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5231" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/01/31/5231" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any response to Charles Clarke's criticisms today, the PMS replied that we would not be commenting on anything that Charles Clarke has said. He was entitled to express his views, and as we had said previously, the Prime Minister believed that Charles Clarke was a distinguished and experienced former Minister with much to offer public life.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Charles Clarke was still in the frame for any post, the PMS replied that as and when we had anything to announce on that front, we would announce it. But as he had said, the Prime Minister believed that Charles Clarke was a distinguished and experienced former Minister with much to offer public life.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14463.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-01-31 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-01-31 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-01-31 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-01-31 15:45:56" post_name="charles-clarke-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Charles Clarke" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5232" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/01/5232" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by telling the assembled press that when speaking at the Youth Sport Trust's Sports Colleges Conference, the Prime Minister would call for a national team effort by parents, teachers, sporting talents and volunteers to help make sport a central part in every child's life and unlock their talent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister would be announcing a number of initiatives, building on Ed Balls' announcement yesterday of &amp;pound;30million over three years, to enable school sports facilities to be better used by communities. Among the Prime Minister's announcements would be a National School Sports Week, starting on the 30th June 2008.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Government would be encouraging school sports when school playing fields were being taken away, the PMS replied that the Government's position on school playing fields was well documented. The PMS reminded people that we had seen an increase in the number of sports fields available, but he would check the details and get back to people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister played any other sports apart from tennis, the PMS said that the Prime Minister used gym facilities and liked to try and keep fit, as far as he could fit it into his busy schedule, but the PMS added that he did not want to get into the specifics and details of the matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any words for the Sport Colleges Conference, the PMS said he thought there would be something released, but the speech was a bit later in the day and would explain a bit more about what National School Sports Week was. It would be an opportunity in the year in which there would be various sports events organised, some at national level and some at a local level involving schools.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14474.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-01 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-01 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:58" post_name="sports-colleges-conference" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sports Colleges Conference" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5233" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/01/5233" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans to allocate or rent out the Admiralty Arch flats, the PMS replied that there were no plans to do so, but it would be best to check with Cabinet Office on the matter, as they had received a number of PQ's on the subject, including one from October of last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the PQ had said, the PMS replied that it had said that the Home Secretary had decided not to take up the house that was traditionally occupied by the Home Secretary and that was being sold, with the receipts coming back to the taxpayer. Lord Malloch-Brown had one of the flats in the Admiralty, the Chancellor had the use of Dorneywood and that the Foreign Secretary had use of Chevening. The PMS added that the information was from memory from a PQ answered in October, so it was best to refer back to the PQ.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14474.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-01 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-01 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:57" post_name="admiralty-arch-flats" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Admiralty Arch Flats" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5234" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/01/5234" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister planned to ask the Cabinet to reveal which family members they were employing, the PMS replied that he thought that the question being asked was really a question about the relationship between the leader of the Labour Party and Labour MP's. The PMS added that his political colleague had just issued a statement on the matter setting out the position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14474.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-01 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-01 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:56" post_name="mps-employing-family-members" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Employing Family Members" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5235" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/01/5235" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's view was on Chinese company Chinalco buying a stake in Rio Tinto and was this discussed during the Prime Minister's recent visit to China, the PMS said that he did not want to comment on matters relating to individual companies. The Government's general position on inward investments was well known.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14474.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-01 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-01 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:55" post_name="china" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="China" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5236" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/01/5236" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been a report in the media that the Flanagan Report was being hastily re-written, to include more stop-and-search measures and the cutting of red tape in it, the PMS replied that that was not true. The PMS said he had seen earlier drafts of the Flanagan Report, he was present for the Cabinet discussion and what had been written had been an accurate reflection of what was in the Flanagan Review.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14474.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-01 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-01 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:54" post_name="flanagan-report" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Flanagan Report" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5237" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/01/5237" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government agreed with the United States view that Germany should be more active in the south of Afghanistan, the PMS said that ultimately we would like to see Afghan troops taking over responsibility for the situation in Afghanistan. The Prime Minister had made clear in December, the importance of appropriate burden sharing within NATO.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the matter had been discussed between Chancellor Merkel and the Prime Minister on Tuesday, the PMS said the matter did not come up in the plenary session, which he was present at. The PMS said that he wasn't present at the dinner, so he did not know the answer to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had discussed the matter of Afghanistan with his Canadian counterpart, the PMS said that as you would expect, we kept in close contact with all of our allies in Afghanistan. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had sympathy with the views coming out of Washington and Canada about the need for NATO members to engage in southern Afghanistan, the PMS reiterated that ultimately the aim had to be to see more Afghan security forces and that was what we needed to be working towards, but the Prime Minister did make clear in December, the importance of burden sharing.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14474.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-01 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-01 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-01 10:00:53" post_name="afghanistan-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5238" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/04/5238" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the letter David Davies claimed to have sent the Prime Minister, the PMS told the assembled press that we had done very detailed checks yesterday and we would continue to check our systems, although there was no reason to believe that the check yesterday was incomplete.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he had any reason to believe that the letter had been posted and was there any trail of any description, the PMS reiterated that we had no record of ever having received any such letter. We also checked with the relevant people in Downing Street who would have seen the letter had it been received and not recorded and nobody had any recollection of ever seeing such a letter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many letters the Prime Minister received each week, the PMS said that the Prime Minister received lots of letters, but he did not have the exact number to hand. As we had said yesterday, a number of letters had been received from David Davies on a number of subjects, since the beginning of December, including the Humber Bridge, the Security Industry Authority and the licensing laws.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a different system when Downing Street received letters from MP's, the PMS replied that what normally happened was that when any letter came in, it was dealt with by the Correspondence Unit in Downing Street, who record that the letter has been received and it was then circulated to the relevant people in Downing Street or in Whitehall.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was an internal, cross-party mail system, the PMS replied that he did not know the answer to that question, but said that it was a matter for individual MP's to decide how they sent their letters. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a timescale that you would expect a privy councillor to get an acknowledgement by or a reply to such a letter, the PMS said he did not have that information to hand, but if Downing Street had received a letter which made very serious accusations, then that would be something dealt with very seriously as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the PMS had said that Jack Straw would make a statement on the alleged bugging and did that suggest that it didn't happen, the PMS said that he was merely making a statement of fact. He advised people to wait for the statement that afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PMS could tell people what he took the Wilson Doctrine to mean, the PMS said that the Government position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out most definitively in a Written Parliamentary Answer given by Tony Blair on the 30th March 2006. All subsequent Parliamentary Questions had referred back to that 30th March 2006 statement. Put that the problem with that statement was that it didn't define what the Wilson Doctrine actually was and what forms of communication it covered, the PMS replied that the Government's position on the Wilson Doctrine was set out in a full paragraph.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to read out the paragraph, the PMS did so: &amp;quot;In answer to questions in the House of Commons on 17th November 1966, the then Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Harold Wilson MP, said that he had given instructions that there was to be no tapping of the telephones of MP's and that if there were a development which required a change of policy, he would at such a moment as was compatible with the security of the country, make a statement in the House about it. This approach, known as the Wilson Doctrine, had been maintained under successive administrations.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Government's policy that if an MP was eavesdropped upon using methods other than telephonic bugging, that that would be notified to the House, the PMS replied that the journalist was asking a series of hypothetical questions. The Government's position on the Wilson Doctrine was as set out in the statement and he had nothing further to add to that. Asked why the Prime Minister supported the Wilson Doctrine, the PMS said that it had been a longstanding convention and one he had always supported.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Doctrine had been developed from the original answer in 1966, the PMS reiterated that the most definitive explanation of the Government's position on the Wilson Doctrine that he had was the Ministerial Statement from the 30th March 2006. If there was anything further, he advised people to wait until the Jack Straw statement that afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would expect to be notified if an MP was to be bugged, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister supported the Wilson Doctrine. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Wilson Doctrine banned the bugging of MP's by any means, the PMS said that the accurate interpretation of the Wilson Doctrine was the one that was set out in the Written Ministerial Statement of 30th March 2006 and for anything further on the matter, it was best to wait for Jack Straw's statement to the House this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14482.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-04 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-04 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:58" post_name="sadiq-khan" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sadiq Khan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5239" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/04/5239" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about reports of British troops training former members of the Taliban without the will of the Afghan Government, the PMS said we were working very closely with the Afghanistan Government in relation to the training of security forces in Afghanistan. We had always made clear that should anyone in Afghanistan join the mainstream Afghanistan security services, they would receive the same level of training as was applicable for the Afghanistan Army. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that would include former members of the Taliban, the PMS reiterated that it was the Government's position that we did not want to engage with the Taliban and the Government wanted to drive the Taliban out of Afghanistan. However, if there were local militias who wanted to join the mainstream Afghanistan security forces, then that was something the Afghanistan Government themselves had said that they welcomed. The PMS added that recruitment was something for the Afghanistan Government and not for us.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14482.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-04 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-04 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:57" post_name="training-of-taliban" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Training of Taliban" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5240" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/04/5240" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Government would decide on bids for Northern Rock, the PMS said that it was best to speak to the Treasury on the matter. The deadline for bids was today and it was now up to the Treasury, the Tripartite Commission and Northern Rock to consider their response in the light of those bids. Asked if it would be the end of February, the PMS said it would be best to check with the Treasury on the exact timetable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14482.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-04 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-04 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:56" post_name="northern-rock-19" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5241" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/04/5241" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether Jacqui Smith's speech would include the Government's review of the licensing laws, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) advised people that they should wait for the speech.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting with Condoleezza Rice on Wednesday, the PMS said that there were plans for the Prime Minister to meet Condoleezza Rice but there was no definite date as yet. Asked what they would be discussing, the PMS said that he thought it would be a fairly wide-ranging discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS also advised people that the Prime Minister did not meet Dick Cheney on Sunday, as some had suggested.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was frustrated that the Electoral Commission was taking as long as it had to investigate Wendy Alexander, the PMS said that issues relating to the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland were not a matter for him to answer questions on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a Ministerial Statement to coincide with the Flanagan Report, the PMS said that that was not clear at this point.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14482.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-04 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-04 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-04 10:00:55" post_name="misc-35" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5242" comment_count="4" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5242" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be discussing with Condoleezza Rice tomorrow, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press to wait until the meeting had taken place and then we would talk about what had been discussed. They would be having a general discussion covering a range of issues, including no doubt, Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a particular agenda he wanted to raise with her, the PMS replied that there would be issues that we wanted to discuss, but we didn't necessarily want to make them public.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14489.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:58" post_name="meeting-with-condoleezza-rice" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Meeting with Condoleezza Rice" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5243" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5243" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's letter to the Speaker would be made public, the PMS advised journalists that anything further on that particular subject would stray into party political territory, as it would be about what the Prime Minister as the leader of the Labour Party would be saying in relation to Labour MP's. The PMS added that people should stay in touch with his colleague on these matters during the course of the afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14489.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:57" post_name="pms-letter-to-the-speaker" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PM's letter to the Speaker" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5244" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5244" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister felt about suggestions that the disclosures concerning Mr Khan had made a liar out of him, the PMS said that Harriet Harman had answered that question earlier today and he had nothing to add to it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that under current legislation, police surveillance operations would not come under the terms of the Wilson Doctrine and did the Prime Minister see any gap in the existing regulatory system, the PMS said that separate statutory and legal frameworks, under the Regulatory and Investigative Powers Act 2000, covered issues relating to police covert surveillance operations. Under this act there was a strengthening of the governance of police surveillance, relative to the 1997 Police Act. This had been the first occasion when the governance of police surveillance operations had been put onto a statutory footing. As we said yesterday and as Jack Straw said in the House, if there were any issues that arose from the investigation surrounding the alleged bugging of Mr Khan that related to the Wilson Doctrine, they would be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people could conclude from this that current legislation did not provide particular protection for MP's from operations conducted by the police and that therefore there appeared to be a grey area that may have to be looked into, the PMS said that no doubt there would be specific issues in relation to this case that would need to be looked at, but if there were any issues that arose from this investigation that were relevant to the Wilson Doctrine, then of course they would be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied that operations being carried out by the intelligence or security services were carried out with Ministerial oversight and yet other operations being carried out by the police or local councils were not, the PMS reiterated that the Regulatory and Investigative Powers Act 2000 for the first time put all such surveillance operations onto a statutory footing. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In relation to the police, the governance of their covert surveillance operations was first put onto a statutory footing after the Police Act 1997 which had since been strengthened. So there had been legislation in this area, this had been discussed at length on two separate occasions in the past ten years, and as he had said, if there was anything in particular that arose from the investigation that raised issues relating to the Wilson Doctrine, then they would be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the picture had changed radically from yesterday as the implication was now that the surveillance was targeted as much at the MP as it was at the suspected terrorist and would the inquiry be looking at that, the PMS replied that the Rose Inquiry was looking at the circumstances relating to this particular case. The terms of reference for the inquiry were set out by Jack Straw in the House of Commons yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14489.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:56" post_name="sadiq-khan-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sadiq Khan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5245" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5245" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about Caroline Flint's comments this morning about council houses only being available to those in work, the PMS said that in general terms the Prime Minister welcomed a debate on proposals around improving incentives to work and getting more people into work. Caroline Flint had been making her position quite clear during the course of today and what she had been calling for was a national debate as to how we moved forward. This would apply to new tenants, not necessarily existing ones, although as she had said, we would need to have a debate on that subject as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister knew in advance that she would be suggesting the idea, the PMS replied that he had known. Put that council house campaigners believed it was a deliberate strategy to stigmatise and undermine the reputations of council houses, the PMS replied that that was not the case at all. We had done a huge amount under this Government, first through the Decent Homes Programme, to increase significantly the amount of investment in renovating and upgrading council housing and investing in new social housing units, which was a big feature of recent spending reviews.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how this would reconcile with the legal duties of councils to provide housing, the PMS reiterated that what Caroline Flint was initiating was a debate on the subject. The Prime Minister was open to a debate on looking at measures that improved incentives to work. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the idea, the PMS said that what Caroline Flint was doing was initiating a debate and the Prime Minister thought in principle it was a good issue to be debating. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if it was the case that the Prime Minister's welfare reforms worked, there wouldn't be anyone who wasn't either in work, seeking work or on a training scheme, the PMS said we needed to look at all issues relating to Government policy which impacted on peoples incentives to work and this was what we were doing here.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14489.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:55" post_name="council-houses" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Council Houses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5246" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5246" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was meeting with Wendy Alexander today, the PMS said not as far as he was aware.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he had found out what the Prime Minister was giving President Sarkozy for his wedding, the PMS said that he hadn't.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14489.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 15:45:54" post_name="misc-36" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5247" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5247" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by updating Lobby on what had been discussed at Cabinet this morning. There had been the usual update of parliamentary business from Geoff Hoon; Jack Straw updated Cabinet on where we were following his statement to Parliament yesterday, as well as a wider discussion on intercept issues; and there was a presentation from Ed Miliband about the big strategic challenges facing the country up to the year 2020.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what Ed Miliband identified as the strategic challenges, the PMS replied that Ed Miliband went through a quite detailed Cabinet Office presentation looking at issues that arose from demographic change in an ageing population, looking at issues that arose from climate change and energy, looking at the big challenges facing the economy from the rise of China and India, and looking at the challenges that face society and communities as a result of the growth of virtual communities, and what that meant for community integration. So it was a wide-ranging discussion looking at what some of the big issues were as a way of helping to frame the policy agenda going forward. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if constitutional issues were discussed, the PMS replied that it came up in parts. Asked if Scotland was mentioned, the PMS replied that he would have to check his notes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how virtual communities were putting traditional communities under strain, the PMS replied that he was not saying this, but it was a fact that the growth of Facebook for example changed the way in which we might start thinking about communities in the future. So the question was to what extent did this raise issues for the Government. So it was more an issue of identifying trends and raising questions at this stage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any particular concerns expressed about how the Government was affected by this, the PMS replied that concern was not necessarily the sense of the discussion, it was more recognising that this was an issue, this changed the way people interacted with each other, and this raised questioned about what issues did this arise for the Government now going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was more research on this going on, the PMS replied that it was something that the Cabinet Office had been looking at, but obviously it affected all departments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a regulatory matter, the PMS replied that there was no discussion of regulation, that was not really the issue here. We were living in a world that was rapidly changing, our economy was rapidly changing, communities were rapidly changing and we faced different issues and different challenges.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14488.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-14" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5248" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5248" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any discussion at Cabinet on Northern Rock, the PMS replied that there was no discussion of Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it had been reported that the Government would like to leave the door open for Olivant to come back in, the PMS replied that these were matters for the Treasury, and it was best that they spoke on this.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14488.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:57" post_name="northern-rock-20" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5249" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5249" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;In reply to a question from yesterday's briefing asking for a response to the Speaker's statement on MPs' expenses, the PMS told Lobby that the Prime Minister had spoken to the Speaker about the review announced yesterday, and he would be writing to him in greater detail today. As the Prime Minister said on Friday, he believed there must be greater transparency all round in the future including in relation to MPs' expenses. But he believed that whatever changes there were to the future, this could not absolve the proper investigation of any past cases of abuse. He believed that the Speaker's review was the right way to proceed on this issue, in a deliberative and orderly way, to establish a transparent system for the future and to deal clearly with the issues that had arisen in the past week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details about the Prime Minister's conversation with the Speaker, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister called the Speaker this morning following yesterday's statement and he would be writing in greater detail later today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to say more about what the Prime Minister was urging the Speaker to do, the PMS replied that the key point was that the Speaker's review was the right way to proceed, and that we went about this in a deliberative and orderly way. We wanted to see a more transparent system governing MPs' expenses in the future. The Speaker had established this review that the Prime Minister welcomed, and he thought that was the right way to consider these matters - in a deliberative, orderly way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was anxious about the timescale, the PMS replied that it was important that these things were looked at in an orderly way. The Prime Minister had expressed his view on numerous occasions, including last week, that there needed to be greater transparency in the way we do things.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was trying to stiffen the resolve of the reformers and was warning the Speaker not to resist reforms, the PMS replied that he would not interpret it in that way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Speaker had chosen to do this via the Estimates Committee, who's members were not all free of controversy, and asked if the Prime Minister thought that that was the right way to do it, the PMS replied that the Speaker was the Speaker, he had set up this process, it was right that we did this in a deliberative and orderly way, and he would be setting out further details in his letter this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that MPs were the right people to judge how their expenses and allowances would be paid, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had said that there needed to be greater transparency over the system relating to expenses, and it was right that we went about this in a deliberative and orderly way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was not the case that the poachers were setting the rules for the gamekeeper, the PMS replied that in relation to the mechanism for setting MP's pay for example, the Prime Minister had asked the chair of the Senior Salaries Review Body to conduct a review on that matter. Asked if he was the person to review expenses and allowances, the PMS replied that the Speaker had set up this process and the Prime Minister would give his views on this in greater detail later today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify what the Prime Minister meant by greater transparency, the PMS replied that it was best to wait for the letter. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what would be considered not in an orderly manner, and what was the alternative, the PMS replied that the alternative would be disorderly and non-deliberative. Asked what he meant by this, the PMS replied that he would not be getting into that - we were setting out what the Prime Minister was calling for, not what he was not calling for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that the Prime Minister was basically associating himself with the Speaker's process on this, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that these things should be done in a proper and orderly way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what was wrong with telling MPs to publish details of who they were employing as of tomorrow, as David Cameron had called for, the PMS replied that he had not seen David Cameron's comments, but as he said, the Prime Minister had consistently called for greater transparency in relation to MPs' allowances.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14488.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:56" post_name="mps-expenses-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5250" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5250" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was discussion at Cabinet of intercept issues, the PMS replied that Jack Straw updated the Cabinet, and there was a more wider discussion about some of the issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was an illustration of joined-up government that the Secretary of State could make a statement to MPs without knowing the full facts, the PMS replied that there was an inquiry underway to establish what the full facts were.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was not a problem that Jack Straw could make a statement to MPs and say that he first knew about it on Saturday afternoon, and not mention that his officials knew about it in December, the PMS replied that there was an inquiry underway to establish what the full facts and circumstances were surrounding this case. So it was best that we established what the full facts were rather than comment on partial information.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Home Office and Ministry of Justice officials knew about this in December, and asked if anyone in Downing Street knew about it, the PMS replied that there was an inquiry under way and he did not want to get into the business of commenting on that, except to say that there was no reason to believe that that was the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Davis had just called the Prime Minister a liar on News24, the PMS replied that he had not seen that particular comment and therefore did not want to comment on it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that in Jack Straw's statement yesterday, there was a nuance in the difference of interpretation of the Wilsonian Code made by the present Prime Minister and that made of the previous Prime Minister, and asked whether the interpretation made by the current Prime Minister was based on the evidence before him, the PMS replied that he was not sure of the evolution of the language on the Wilson Doctrine. One of the issues was that there had been numerous parliamentary questions over many years on the Wilson Doctrine, that had evolved over time, so he was not sure that this interpretation was one that we recognised or accepted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was therefore not evolving on the basis of evidence before No10, the PMS replied that it was evolving over time as the issues changed over time. But he would need to check what was said in every PQ over the last 20 years in order to trace the exact evolution of the Wilson Doctrine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a general view emerged from Cabinet on the rights and wrongs of MPs being bugged, the PMS replied that one of the issues that did come up for example was that there had been some confusion in some of the reporting this morning about the difference between intercept and communications data. It was not the case that people were having their phones tapped on the suspicion of fly-tipping, as was alleged this morning. Intercept, of which there were just over 1,000 cases or so in a year, had very strict statutory guidelines around its use. That was very different from the use of communications data (the 250,000 figure that was being reported), this was not about telephone tapping, it referred to issues such as the police checking peoples' mobile phone bills to see what phone calls had been made, and it included (maybe where the confusion over fly-tipping had arisen from) issues such as looking at CCTV evidence. This was why one newspaper claimed that 1,000 people a day were having their phones tapped - this was not the case. It was more like 3 or 4 people a day. Of course we were only able to record this now as a result of the 2000 Act, so we did not have time series data on this, but of course there were other interventions by the police, but that was very different to listening into peoples' telephone conversations or bugging conversations in prisons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Wilson Doctrine counted for MPs who had not taken the oath, the PMS replied that he could see where this was leading, and this was not something he would comment on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Wilson Doctrine should cover members of the Scottish Parliament, the PMS replied that the Wilson Doctrine had traditionally referred to members of the UK Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Swinton Thomas, a former Commissioner, has said that he did not think that MPs should remain a special case, and asked if we were now going to look at the whole question of whether MPs should be protected more than the rest of us, the PMS replied that the Wilson Doctrine was a very long standing Doctrine. It had been reaffirmed by the previous Prime Minister and by this Prime Minister on separate occasions. So that was the long-standing position. We said yesterday that if in the light of the Christopher Rose investigation there was any specific issue that arose that were relevant to the Wilson Doctrine, then that would need to be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was aware that the Wilson Doctrine contained a loophole that allowed police to put bugs in a room or in a car, the PMS replied that he would not describe it in those terms at all. There was a separate legal and statutory regime that governed police powers, one that was established in the 1997 Police Act, and strengthened in the 2000 Act.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he could confirm or deny that Martin McGuinness and Gerry Adams, as MPs, had been under surveillance and had been eavesdropped, the PMS replied that this was a matter that he was not going to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the Wilson Doctrine should not cover eavesdropping by police, the PMS replied that as he had said, if there were any particular issues that arose in relation to this inquiry that were relevant to the Wilson Doctrine, then that would need to be looked at. But there was a separate statutory regime governing police surveillance, that had been legislated for and debated in Parliament at length, first in the 1997 Police Act, and then again in the 2000 Act.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it was perfectly in order that Members of the Scottish Parliament telephones were bugged, the PMS replied that he did not know there was any evidence that substantiated this question. Secondly, the issue here was the Wilson Doctrine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned by the reports that prisons were being bugged, the PMS replied that if the question was about Harry Roberts, then as the Ministry of Justice had been saying, the Justice Secretary was not previously aware of this matter, and would consider what further steps were need once we had more information. But as he had said, there was a statutory regime governing police surveillance that was strengthened by the 2000 Act.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14488.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:55" post_name="wilson-doctrine" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Wilson Doctrine" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5251" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5251" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Prince Andrew's recent comments, the PMS replied that he would not be commenting on Prince Andrew.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14488.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:54" post_name="prince-andrew" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prince Andrew" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5252" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/05/5252" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the talks with Condoleezza Rice later this week, the PMS replied that obviously they would be discussing Afghanistan as one would expect. But he was sure the discussion would go much wider than that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Iran would be discussed, the PMS replied that as he had said, discussions would be wide-ranging.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14488.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-05 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-05 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-05 10:00:53" post_name="condoleezza-rice" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Condoleezza Rice" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5253" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5253" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the situation in Afghanistan was anything but routine and asked to elaborate on how bad the crisis was, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that he did not accept the premise of the question. The PMS added that he had said the word routine in the sense that this was what the Ministry of Defence called the roulement, which signified the normal turnover of troops.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister made clear in his statement to the House in December that there were many difficult issues that we faced in Afghanistan and we had a long-term commitment in the country. This was not only a military commitment; there were also political, economic and development issues as well. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was true that military commanders wanted 600 more troops than had been sent, the PMS replied that it was worth checking with MoD on the matter. As far as he was aware, what had been announced today, had been announced with the agreement of military staff. Asked if he was aware that what had been announced had been what was requested, the PMS said that he was not aware of any suggestion that what had been requested had not been granted.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 15:45:58" post_name="afghanistan-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5254" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5254" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the civil service review on Intercept evidence, such as who would be on the committee, the PMS said he did not have anything to add to what the Prime Minister had said in the House today. It would be an implementation team and it would be cross-departmental. It would include the main departments and agencies involved and it would aim to conclude its work swiftly, as the Prime Minister had said. Asked if the Government would be naming a Chair, the PMS said that the Government would not be naming a Chair today. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the recommendation had meant to say that the security services could veto whether their evidence was used, the PMS agreed and said it was about the manner in which the evidence was made available and the conditions by which evidence was made available.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that you would not charge someone if the case depended on wire-tapping evidence that the security services were not happy with being used in court, the PMS said that the condition was clear in that it would give interception agencies the ability to retain control over whether their material was used in prosecutions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the term interception agencies included the police, the PMS said that he would have to check on that matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister seemed vague on the timetable for this and was the Prime Minister using this statement to get 42 days through the House, the PMS said that there was no connection between the two. In regards to the timetable, the PMS said that we wanted to conclude this work swiftly, but it was very complex and technical. People needed to recognise that it was a very serious legal matter and the Government had a responsibility to get it right.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the report did not clear up any of the issues surrounding how the security services could overcome the obstacles that stood in the way of them using wire-tapping evidence, the PMS said what had changed was that we had a very thorough report form a very expert committee. We had a cross-party consensus on the way forward, but of course there were technical and legal issues that remained to be resolved. These had been identified and we had a consensus about what these issues were. The report was also clear in saying that in the opinion of the review committee, these should be able to be overcome and we now needed to take the work forward in the implementation committee to find a way to make this possible.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 15:45:57" post_name="intercept" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Intercept" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5255" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5255" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if anything would be released in conjunction with the Prime Minister's meeting with Condoleezza Rice, the PMS said he imagined something would be released later.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister made reference to the John Williams draft of the Iraq Report coming soon and how soon would that be, the PMS replied that it would not be today and he had no reason to believe it would be this week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14498.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 15:45:56" post_name="misc-37" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5256" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5256" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by informing Lobby that Senator John McCain would be meeting the Prime Minister later this week. Senator McCain was in London on Friday and had requested a meeting, which obviously the Prime Minister was happy to grant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a private visit, the PMS replied that John McCain was passing through London and had requested a meeting with the Prime Minister, which of course the Prime Minister was happy to grant.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister last met Barack Obama and Hilary Clinton, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had not met them recently. Asked if he met either of them on his Washington visit, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had not. He had met Bill Clinton, but not Hilary.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had actually met Mr Obama, the PMS replied that he was not aware that they had met.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had met John McCain before, the PMS replied that he did not think that they had met.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that John Major was seen to be &amp;quot;anti-Clinton&amp;quot; which seemed to be damaging to UK/US relation, and asked if the Prime Minister was not concerned that he might seem to be showing a preference in the American Presidential elections, the PMS replied that the Government's position was that this was entirely a matter for the US people. We took no view on who should be the next American President, as you would expect. Senator McCain was a senior American politician, and it was not unusual when such people were in London and requested meetings that the Prime Minister and other Ministers met them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had met with Rudi Giuliani, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did have a meeting with Rudi Giuliani in the autumn when he was in London. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would have any problem meeting with Mr Obama, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be happy to meet any senior American figure, that was entirely normal.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14497.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:58" post_name="john-mccain" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="John McCain" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5257" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5257" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The PMS informed Lobby that the Chilcot Report was received on Monday, and that the Prime Minister, Home Secretary and Foreign Secretary had a meeting with the Chilcot Review team when they presented their report. The review team as well as Sir John Chilcot was made up of Lord Archer of Sandwell, Lord Hurd of Westwell, and Alan Beith MP. The Cabinet were briefed on the content of the Chilcot Review, and the proposed Government response yesterday morning, and yesterday afternoon, just after Lobby, the Prime Minister briefed the Leader of the Opposition and the Leader of the Liberal Democrats.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14497.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:57" post_name="chilcot-report" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chilcot Report" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5258" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5258" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;In anticipation of the question, on the matter of President Sarkozy's wedding, the PMS informed Lobby that the Prime Minister had written to the Sarkozys congratulating them on their wedding. But on matters related to the gift, the Prime Minister would prefer to that private.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any news of whether Madame Sarkozy would accompany the President on the State Visit, the PMS replied that these were really matters for the Palace and the President's office to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14497.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:56" post_name="president-sarkozy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Sarkozy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5259" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5259" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the fact that we were sending the biggest parachute regiment into Afghanistan signified a stepping up to a more aggressive profile, the PMS replied that these were all operational decisions for the Ministry of Defence. It was for them to decide exactly what the composition of the troops should be. Overall force numbers would remain around the same, as the Prime Minister signalled in December that they would do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any more of a positive response coming from the Europeans for participating more in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that our position was that we wanted to see more burden sharing. There was a NATO summit coming up in the next few days where it was likely that Foreign Ministers would discuss the matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on this, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was as he said in December - he would like to see more burden sharing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how concerned the Prime Minister was with US/UK relations with the Afghan Government, the PMS replied that we would not accept the premise of the question. We fully supported the Afghan Government and continued to work with them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the current position on Afghanistan could be described as at crisis point, the PMS replied that again he would not accept the premise of question. We had always said in relation to Afghanistan that this was a situation that would take time to resolve. It was not only a military issue, it was an economic development and political issue as well. And that was why the Prime Minister had set out a comprehensive long-term strategy for Afghanistan dealing with all those different strands, in a statement to the House in December.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked in terms of number today, would there be any increase or decrease, the PMS replied that his understanding was that it would keep the numbers roughly the same, around 7,800 troops.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14497.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:55" post_name="afghanistan-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5260" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5260" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was worried about job loses in Newcastle, the PMS replied that these were really matters for the Treasury to deal with. Negotiations were going on with bidders. The Treasury had always made clear that their objectives were to protect the interests of the taxpayer, savers and depositors, and wider financial stability.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14497.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:54" post_name="northern-rock-21" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5261" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5261" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy that a Minister of the Crown had close ties, all be it professional, with people connected to the 9/11 attacks and organisations that some believed should be banned, the PMS replied that Mr Khan was a Whip, and therefore part of the Government. In this case he was acting as a constituency MP in relation to, as we understood it, somebody he had known since childhood.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about Jack Straw's private office knowing that there were questions about an MP being bugged, and did the Prime Minister think there had been any failure on the part of the private office not informing the Minister, or was it a failure on the part of the Minister, the PMS replied that we would not be getting into that. Jack Straw made a statement to the House yesterday around 22:30, and the position was set out there.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14497.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:53" post_name="sadiq-khan-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sadiq Khan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5262" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/06/5262" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's talks with the Saudi Foreign Minister would focus on, the PMS replied that he could say more after the meeting, but we anticipated the talks focusing on foreign policy issues, the Middle East peace process, the situation in Lebanon, and the situation in Iran.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14497.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-06 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-06 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-06 10:00:52" post_name="saudi-foreign-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Saudi Foreign Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5263" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5263" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any words of congratulations to Wendy Alexander regarding not being prosecuted by police, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that this was a Labour Party matter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14504.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:58" post_name="wendy-alexander" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Wendy Alexander" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5264" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5264" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the suggestion from the Archbishop of Canterbury that there were certain parts of the country that were being run by Sharia law, the PMS replied that in relation to Sharia law, there were instances where the Government had made changes; for example, we had changed the regulations around stamp duty in order to incorporate Sharia-compliant mortgage products. However, our general position was that Sharia law could not be used as a justification for committing breaches of British law, nor could the principals of Sharia law be applied in civil court in reaching a decision on a contractual dispute under British law.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that it could be used for settling disputes in a civil court on issues that were not to do with a specific contractual dispute, the PMS said that, in general, if there were specific instances, like stamp duty, where changes could be made in a way that was consistent with British law and British values, in order to accommodate the concerns of Muslims who held religious beliefs, then that was something that the Government could look at. In general, it was British law that applied in this country. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about the Archbishop's comments, the PMS replied that the Archbishop had expressed his view and that there would always be a debate on these issues. The PMS went on to repeat that, where there were specific instances where changes could be made in order to accommodate the wishes of Muslims who held religious beliefs, then that was something that the Government would look at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister felt that the Archbishop's comments were unhelpful, the PMS replied that he would not say that; the Prime Minister had a good relationship with the Archbishop and the Archbishop was perfectly entitled to express his views.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be willing to look into this subject in more detail if somebody came forward with a specific issue relating to family law/divorce for example, the PMS replied that people made representations to the Government all the time and we looked at them. Overall, it was important that British values were maintained.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how this helped integration and put repeatedly that what the Archbishop had said suggested that there should be a separate law to that of British law, the PMS replied that the Archbishop had made his comments and that people would no doubt have a debate about what was said. The Prime Minister was clear that in Britain, British laws based on British values applied.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that British values would not apply in a Sharia court, the PMS replied that he was not suggesting that that was what the Government was going to do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Archbishop had not been talking about mortgages but of wider issues and asked if the Prime Minister had agreed with what he said, the PMS replied that he had not been suggesting that the Archbishop had been talking about mortgages and repeated that the Prime Minister believed that, in Britain, British law should apply and that those laws should be based on British values.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that Sharia law was incompatible with British values, the PMS said that if there were particular instances, like mortgages, where Muslims held very strong opinions and it was possible to make changes in a way that was not incompatible with the principles underlying British law, then of course specific cases could be looked at.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought Sharia law was being used to justify criminal activity, the PMS said that he was not going to get into a big discussion about Sharia law; he had made the Prime Minister's views on this clear.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the exceptions for Muslims regarding stamp duty, the PMS replied that, as interest could not apply to Islamic mortgages, ownership of the house was transferred over to the bank and rent was paid on it. At the end of the period, the house was then transferred back to the owner. Stamp duty would be paid when ownership was passed to the bank and then again when ownership was transferred from the bank to the original owner.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would meet with members of the Sharia Council, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was happy to meet with representatives of different communities in Britain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was worried that speaking on this subject strongly would stir up inter-communal violence and tension, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had led the debate about Britishness and the importance of British values in this country.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14504.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:57" post_name="sharia-law" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sharia Law" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5265" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5265" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Asked if the Government was surprised about the decision by the Office of National Statistics to keep Northern Rock on the public balance sheet, the PMS said no. As the Treasury and Chancellor had already said, any impact of Northern Rock on the Government balance sheet would be temporary and exceptional and the code for fiscal stability had provisions for such situations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14504.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:56" post_name="northern-rock-22" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5266" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5266" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister was likely to endorse Tony Blair's bid for the European Presidency, the PMS replied that Downing Street did not recognise this story and that it was very premature. The Prime Minister had previously said on the record on several occasions that he thought that Mr Blair would be a good candidate for the president of Europe, but this post did not come into effect until 1 January 2009, even if we assumed that the Treaty would be ratified in time by all member states. As such it was still very early days. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when it would be a good time to decide who our candidate was, the PMS said that there would be plenty of opportunities to discuss these matters later in the year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had a formal approach from Mr Blair regarding this, the PMS said he would not comment on private conversations between the Prime Minister and his predecessor but we did not recognise the story this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14504.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 15:45:55" post_name="tony-blair-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tony Blair" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5267" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5267" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to respond to the Office of National Statistics decision to include Northern Rock on public sector net debt, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that the Treasury had responded, saying that as the Chancellor had said, any impact would be temporary and exceptional and the code for fiscal stability had provisions for such situations. We would report on the fiscal position and our assessment of performance against the fiscal rules at the budget in the usual way.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14503.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock-23" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5268" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5268" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Tony Blair about the EU Presidency, the PMS said that the Prime Minister spoke to Tony Blair on a regular basis, as people would expect. The PMS added that there was a collective scratching of heads in Downing Street this morning in response to the story on the BBC, which we did not recognise at all. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister had said, most recently in his interview with John Sopel, that Tony Blair would make an excellent President of the European Union, but this was very premature and we were at an early stage of the process. The way this had been reported on the BBC was not something that anybody in Downing Street involved in the matter, recognised at all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anyone in Downing Street had told Tony Blair to move early for the EU President's job, the PMS reiterated that we did not recognise the story at all. It was a matter for Tony Blair as to whether or not this was something he would want to put himself forward for.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if they had met at Davos, the PMS said that they did not have a chance to meet at Davos, but they did speak on a regular basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister thought that not being a member of the Euro would bar a country from putting a candidate forward, the PMS replied that all of these issues surrounding the future Presidency of the EU, would have to be considered, but at the moment the Treaty had not even been ratified by all of the member states. Even if it was ratified in time by all member states, it wouldn't come into effect until the 1st January 2009. So there was plenty of time during the course of this year for these matters to be considered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a live discussion at the moment and had there been any lobbying on the subject, the PMS repeated that it was very early days. Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to go and see Mr Barrosso in the near future, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was planning to visit Brussels in the next few weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought Tony Blair would make a good EU President, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had said on numerous occasions that he thought Tony Blair would make a good President, but as he had said, it was a very early stage of the process and it was something that would have to be agreed by all EU member states, so the story this morning was a bit ahead of itself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Britain would have to join the Euro for Tony Blair to become EU President, the PMS said that that would not be necessary. He reassured people that the Government's position on the Euro had not changed and we had five tests in place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14503.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:57" post_name="eu-presidency" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Presidency" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5269" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5269" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Hazel Blears had given her report on alternatives to Casino regeneration to the Prime Minister, the PMS said that this was another story that also led to a slight collective scratching of heads. It was well known what the Prime Minister's position was in relation to the Super casino and contrary to what was reported in the Daily Telegraph this morning, the position in relation to the 16 other casinos had not changed either. It was always clear that the concerns the Prime Minister had raised were about the Super casino and not about the 16 other casinos. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister said at the time that insofar as the policy objective was one around regeneration, he thought there would be better ways in achieving regeneration than a Super casino and that was something that needed to be looked at. As and when we had any further announcements we would make them. Asked if Hazel Blears had given the report in, the PMS said that he would not be commenting on internal Government processes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had met with Manchester City Council last week to discuss the matter, the PMS replied that he would need to check on that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14503.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:56" post_name="casino-regeneration" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Casino Regeneration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5270" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5270" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the justification was for the pay rise of more than 1.9% and the fact that it wasn't staged, the PMS said this was a different public sector pay round. The Government continued to believe that there needed to be discipline in relation to public sector pay and we needed to set pay in line with meeting the Government's inflation target. These decisions were taken year-by-year and sector-by-sector.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was Government policy to bring in three year pay deals, the PMS said that it was the case that where it was appropriate to do so, the Government would like to see more multi-year pay deals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the justification was for giving the armed forces a pay rise of 2.6% when other public working thought that they did an exceptional job, the PMS said that difficult decisions had to be taken last year, in relation to a number of public sector workers. As he had said, we had not made decisions yet in relation to most other public sector workers for this year. We would continue with our disciplined approach, consistent with meeting the overall inflation target, but these were decisions that were taken department by department, depending on the particular conditions that those groups of workers faced.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that the Prime Minister's admiration for the armed forces in Afghanistan and Iraq would have influenced the decision, the PMS said that it was fair to say that the armed forces do an exceptional job, which was what Des Browne said this morning. Asked on the pay deal for prison workers, the PMS said he did not know whether an announcement had been made yet, so he did not want to pre-empt it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14503.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:55" post_name="armed-forces-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Armed Forces Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5271" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/07/5271" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the police had contacted the Prime Minister over the donations investigation, the PMS said that he would answer the question of whether the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had contacted President Sarkozy regarding troops in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was in regular contact with President Sarkozy on a wide range of issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he would comment on interest rates, the PMS replied that it was not Government practice to comment on interest rates decisions taken by the Bank of England, whatever they may be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Tories that too much lottery money was being given to Government selected causes, the PMS said that Gerry Sutcliffe had been responding to that, so it would be best if that was taken as the Government's response.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14503.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-07 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-07 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-07 10:00:54" post_name="misc-38" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5272" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5272" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was troubled by the representations from the US about non-dom tax issues, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that these were all matters for the Treasury; there was a consultation ongoing and it was best to speak to the them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy that the Chancellor was doing a good job, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were concerns about predictions regarding the city, the PMS said that, as was made clear at the time, the issue in relation to the non-doms proposal was that it would only apply to people who had been in the country for more than seven years; people who had been in the country for more than seven years would either have to pay the charge or go fully into the UK tax system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the concern was that there would be a negative knock-on effect, the PMS replied that detailed or technical questions about tax law should be put to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:58" post_name="non-doms" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Non-Doms" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5273" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5273" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Phil Woolas had been right to bring up the subject of cousins getting married, the PMS said that Phil Woolas, as he had been making clear, was commenting in his capacity as a constituency MP and he had also been saying that he was quoted out of context.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Phil Woolas had been backed today by Ann Cryer, the PMS replied that the Government's position was that we believed these matters were best addressed locally by local members of the community and, as had already been said, Phil Woolas had spoken in his capacity as a constituency MP.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Geoff Hoon's support was also made in the capacity of a constituency MP, the PMS said that Geoff Hoon had said yesterday that Phil Woolas had been commenting on a particular problem about first cousins marrying. What Geoff Hoon also said was that it was important that we looked at the subject in terms of scientific expertise and the extent to which it was actually causing a problem. Geoff Hoon had made clear that nobody was suggesting that this was a problem for the wider Muslim community. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was looking at the scientific evidence of a particular community with a particular problem, the PMS replied that the Department of Health were responsible for issues that the Government was looking at in terms of healthcare science. It was the Government's view that these matters were best addressed locally by the community, as well as by healthcare professionals and others.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the figures regarding genetic defects in certain communities, the PMS repeated that this was a scientific debate and something that was for scientific experts to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:57" post_name="first-cousin-marriages" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="First Cousin Marriages" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5274" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5274" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's view was regarding the American suggestion that planes going to America from Europe should have armed air marshals on them, the PMS replied that there was an ongoing discussion within the European Union on this and it was best to speak to the Department for Transport to see what the latest state of play was.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:56" post_name="air-marshals" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Air Marshals" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5275" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5275" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government accepted figures from the Fire Brigades Union regarding attacks on firefighters, the PMS replied that, as DCLG had been making clear, this was an important issue and one that the Government took very seriously. It was unacceptable that firefighters should have to face such behaviour; there had been new rules, introduced last year, to crack down on antisocial behaviour hindering firefighters and other emergency workers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government accepted that the problem was getting worse, the PMS said that the official figures had been reported to DCLG by the Fire and Rescue Service in England and it was DCLG who were responsible for maintaining those official figures. We were saying that this was an important issue and an issue that we took very seriously.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:55" post_name="attacks-on-firefighters" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Attacks on Firefighters" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5276" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5276" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a characterisation of the reported conversation between the Prime Minister and the Archbishop, the PMS replied that journalists would not expect him to discuss the private conversations that the Prime Minister had with people including the Archbishop of Canterbury. However, as was said last Thursday, they did have a close relationship and they stayed in close touch; the Prime Minister believed the Archbishop of Canterbury was a man of great integrity and dedication to public and community service. The Prime Minister understood the difficulty that the Archbishop was facing at the moment; the Archbishop had been clarifying, and setting in wider context, the comments he had made. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had read the Archbishop's original comments, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been kept informed of this debate and what the Archbishop had been saying.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister accepted claims that the Archbishop's comments were taken out of context and misconstrued, the PMS replied that he had made the Prime Minister's views on this matter very clear; the Prime Minister was very clear that British laws must be based on British values and that religious law, while respecting other cultures, should be subservient to British criminal and civil law.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that the timing of the Archbishop's comments and the comments from Phil Woolas could be seen by the Muslim community as an attack on them, the PMS said that he was not sure that anybody had put that interpretation on it, but one of the benefits of living in a free and tolerant society was that people were able to express their views as they felt appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a problem that people could look for leadership from the Archbishop, the PMS replied that that was not a matter for the Prime Minister or the Government to comment on, it was a matter for the church.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister supported an established church, the PMS said that the Government's position on the establishment of the Church of England had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for an outline of the Prime Minister's role in the involvement of appointing Archbishops, the PMS said that a change had been made; previously the convention had been that two names would be put forward to the Prime Minister who would then make a recommendation to the Queen as to which of the two names was the Prime Minister's, and therefore the Government's, preferred candidate. We changed that convention in July; for the details it was best to refer to the document published at that time, but from memory, the Government said that we would only take one name and we would effectively act as a post box in terms of making that recommendation to the Queen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who now picked the Archbishop, the PMS said that it would be for the relevant appointments commission.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Archbishop now that he had clarified his position, the PMS repeated that the Prime Minister believed that British law should be based on British values; there were no plans to change that and there was no plan to introduce Sharia law or make British criminal and civil law in any way inferior to religious law.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was prepared to look at the laws regarding marriage, the PMS said that there were no plans to change civil or family law in that area.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been a change of law regarding Islamic mortgages, the PMS said that that was correct; the law evolved and it needed to evolve to reflect modern Britain. The fundamental point was that there was only one single legal system in the UK and that was British criminal and civil law and that that law applied to everybody. In terms of Islamic mortgages, the Government was able to make a change in response to representations in order to remove the penalty that faced people who took out Islamic mortgages previously - that they would have to pay twice the amount of stamp duty that everybody else would have to pay. There had been particular instances where it had been possible to accommodate the concerns of particular groups, but that was a different proposition from what this debate was about, which was the relationship between British law and religious law. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:54" post_name="archbishop-of-canterbury" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Archbishop of Canterbury" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5277" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5277" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy to have a Minister in Lord Jones who felt that it was his role to voice concerns about Government policy to national newspapers, the PMS replied that Lord Jones had simply been reporting concerns that had been raised with him. Lord Jones had subsequently made clear, as had his interview, that he supported the Government's policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was concern that Lord Jones had made his views known to a newspaper rather than making them known internally, the PMS repeated that Lord Jones had been passing on concerns that had been raised with him.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:53" post_name="lord-jones" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Jones" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5278" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5278" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any reassurance for people concerned about fuel duty, the PMS said that people had to bear in mind that this was part of a budget package that included a two pence reduction in the basic rate of income tax that would benefit millions of people; you had to look at this in the round. There were also measures which reduced the vehicle excise duty for environmentally friendly vehicles and some specific help for hauliers. It was important to look at the budget package as a whole and not single out individual elements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that reduction had been wiped out by something else, the PMS replied that that was incorrect; there was a &amp;pound;3 billion transfer from indirect taxes to pay for an overall reduction in direct taxes, so as the overall effect of the budget was neutral; a few duty increases effectively paying for the personal tax package in the budget.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:52" post_name="fuel-duty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Fuel Duty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5279" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5279" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was still the case that the Prime Minister thought Charles Clarke had a lot to offer public life, the PMS replied that we had said quite a lot about Charles Clarke in the past; the Prime Minister's view had not changed and there was nothing to add.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:51" post_name="charles-clarke-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Charles Clarke" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5280" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/11/5280" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister saw Wales beat Scotland on Saturday, the PMS said that he would have to check but he was sure he had; the Prime Minister was a rugby fan and he normally watched the matches.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14521.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-11 11:00:50" post_date_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-11 11:00:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-11 10:00:50" post_name="rugby" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Rugby" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5281" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5281" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's speech to the NFU conference, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister may say a few words, but it was not a big set piece speech as such&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:58" post_name="nfu-conference" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NFU Conference" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5282" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5282" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be discussing Darfur with the Chinese Councillor this afternoon, the PMS replied that he was sure that the subject of Darfur would come up, as would Burma and other bilateral relations as the State Councillor did have some responsibility for foreign affairs. Separately, as the Prime Minister said this morning, the Chinese Envoy to Darfur was coming to London this week for meetings with Lord Malloch Brown.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prince of Wales had agreed to meet the Chinese visitor, and asked if Downing Street was instrumental in that meeting given the Prince of Wales' known views about their human rights record in China, the PMS replied that the Prince of Wales was responsible for deciding who he had meetings with.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:57" post_name="china-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="China" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5283" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5283" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the purpose of the Prime Minister's visit to Brussels was, and had he been before as Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been to the European Council meeting in December, but the main purpose of the meeting was to have discussions with President Barroso.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the general purpose of the meeting with President Barroso, the PMS replied that discussions with Barroso would be wide ranging, he was sure they would discuss economic reform and the environment as well as other live European issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Prime Minister's initiative, or an invitation by the Commission, the PMS replied that they had had several meetings since Mr Brown became Prime Minister, the President was in London in October and obviously they would have had meetings in the margins of both the signing event in Lisbon and the European Council in Brussels, and they spoke on the phone as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a sign that the Prime Minster was rather cool on Europe that he had waited six months to make this visit, whereas President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel went within days of taking office, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had always been a very committed pro-European.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:56" post_name="brussels-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Brussels" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5284" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5284" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had contact with the European Commission regarding the nationalisation of Northern Rock and state subsidy laws, the PMS replied that the plan was that Northern Rock would submit its business plan to the European Commission to get state aid clearance within the coming weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Northern Rock would be discussed at the Prime Minister's meeting with President Barroso on Thursday, the PMS replied that he would not expect any substantive discussion on Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Conservatives had pointed out at a press conference that Northern Rock was still offering 125% mortgages and offering the highest deposit rate to people saving with them, and asked how comfortable the Prime Minister was with the taxpayer essentially underwriting those deals, the PMS replied that this was the current position. Mr Sandler had been up in Newcastle today, and he would be bringing forward his own business plans for Northern Rock. As the Chancellor and Prime Minister said this morning, obviously we did have a strict competition regime in the European Union in relation to state aid that would be to be adhered to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that David Cameron had called on the Chancellor to resign, and asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Chancellor, the PMS replied of course.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the bank would be able to solicit new business and encouraged to do so, or would it stop taking new business and generally run with its existing mortgage book, the PMS replied that these were matters for the new Executive Chairman Mr Sandler.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the general principal would be, the PMS replied that the general principle was the one that the Chancellor and the Prime Minister set out this morning, which was that Northern Rock would need to operate within the constraints of competition and state aid laws.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if these were the only constraints, and did the Government want Northern Rock to expand its business if possible and return to health that way, the PMS replied that these were matters for Mr Sandler. Mr Sandler had been talking this morning in his press conference about the need to stabilise Northern Rock's business.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:55" post_name="northern-rock-24" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5285" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5285" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was newly converted to the possibility of giving more powers to the Scottish Parliament, especially on taxation, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister set out his position on that in an interview at the weekend. There was a review that the Scottish Parliament was taking forward, and the Government's position in relation to that review was set out in a Lords' Parliamentary Question that we answered on the 31st January.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be taking a personal interest in the running of the Commission, the PMS replied that that this was obviously an issue taken forward in Scotland, and within the Scottish Parliament, and taken forward by the various political parties in Scotland. As we said in the PQ we answered on the 31st January, the Scottish Parliament had asked for the engagement of the UK Government in this review, and we were happy to work with them&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the UK Government would be getting involved in this, the PMS replied that we had a Secretary of State for Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:54" post_name="scottish-parliament-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scottish Parliament" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5286" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5286" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a response to new calls for a full inquiry into the Iraq war, the PMS replied that the position remained as it had for some time, which was that this was not something that we would consider whilst troops were still stationed in Iraq.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:53" post_name="iraq-14" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5287" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5287" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Britain would be making any kind of separate announcement on Kosovo following the European Union meeting of Foreign Ministers, the PMS replied that David Miliband would be saying something if he had not done so already on behalf of the British Government.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:52" post_name="kosovo-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Kosovo" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5288" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5288" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was saying anything on the Pakistan election, the PMS replied that there was an European Union observer mission there at the moment monitoring the elections. They were due to report on the 20th Feb, and we should wait until we saw that report before commenting further.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:51" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:51" post_name="pakistan-elections" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5289" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/18/5289" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had replied to the Standards Commissioner about the rental income scenario, the PMS replied that this was not a question for him to answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which football match the Prime Minister attended on Saturday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was in his constituency and Raith Rovers were playing at home that day. Asked who they were playing, the PMS replied that he did not follow these things as closely as he should.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-18 16:45:50" post_date_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-18 16:45:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-18 15:45:50" post_name="misc-39" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5290" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5290" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by giving a brief summary of Cabinet that morning. Cabinet met for about an hour and twenty minutes. There was a discussion on the issue of citizenship, ahead of Jacqui Smith's statement and Green paper tomorrow, as well as the Prime Minister's speech tomorrow afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There had been an update from the Chancellor on Northern Rock and an update from David Miliband on the situation in Kosovo and Pakistan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14604.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-15" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5291" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5291" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Northern Rock discussion was about, the PMS said it was initiated by words of support by the Prime Minister for all of the work that the Chancellor had been doing, which was strongly supported by the rest of the Cabinet. There then followed a general update following on from the statement yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people would see the paper setting out the relationship between Northern Rock and the Government, the PMS said that that was something for Northern Rock, for example the composition of the Board was something that Ron Sandler would be making an announcement on in the next few days. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who in Government would have ultimate control over Northern Rock, the PMS replied that the Chancellor was the Minister responsible for issues relating to Northern Rock going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the BBC's coverage of Northern Rock, the PMS said that was something that was best for him not to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any legal requirement to get the nationalisation measures through this week, the PMS said that the Board could not formally come into existence until the legislation had been passed through, so the sooner it was passed, the better. That was why there had been an effort to get it through this week. As Harriet Harman was saying yesterday, it was the Government's expectation that the legislation would reach royal ascent during the course of this week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for guidance on when people could expect a valuation on share prices, the PMS told people to check with the Treasury on the matter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14604.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:57" post_name="northern-rock-25" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5292" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5292" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's reaction was to the announcement of Fidel Castro's retirement from the Presidency, the PMS replied that our position on Cuba was a longstanding one; the Government had always sought to encourage a peaceful transition to democracy in Cuba, as well as a greater respect for human rights and the unconditional release of all political prisoners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought President Castro's resignation would help achieve those longstanding goals, the PMS said that that had always been the Government's position. Anything that encouraged progress down that path was something the Prime Minister would welcome. This was now an opportunity to make progress towards a peaceful transition to a pluralist democracy, but these were matters for the Cuban people.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14604.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:56" post_name="cuba" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cuba" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5293" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5293" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be meeting with the Chinese envoy, the PMS said that the Prime Minister met Chinese State Councillor Tang yesterday. The envoy for Darfur was in the UK this week and would be meeting Lord Malloch-Brown, although he was not aware of any plans to meet the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14604.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:55" post_name="chinese-envoy-to-darfur" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chinese envoy to Darfur" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5294" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5294" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what particular aspects of Citizenship the Home Secretary would mention, the PMS said there would be a Green Paper and a statement to the House tomorrow. We had had the Goldsmith Review looking at some of the issues and the Government was also about to introduce the points-based system on migration that addressed some general issues as well. In advance of the statement tomorrow, there was not much more the PMS could say. Asked if the Goldsmith Review had been published, the PMS said that it would be published within the next few weeks. Asked what the Goldsmith Review had looked at, the PMS replied that it had looked into issues surrounding citizenship.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the review would address issues such as changing the National Anthem, the PMS said it was not really going to touch on such issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14604.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:54" post_name="citizenship" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Citizenship" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5295" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5295" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what David Miliband had said at Cabinet on the Pakistan elections and was the Prime Minister happy at this stage that they had been free and fair elections, the PMS said that on the latter point, there was an EU monitoring mission in Pakistan at the moment and we were due to receive their report either later today or tomorrow. That was a key point that David Miliband was making at Cabinet this morning. It was still an ongoing situation in Pakistan and we wouldn't know the full results for another ten days or so and we certainly wouldn't expect to see a Prime Minister in place for at least ten days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what effect a new Government would have on terrorism in the region, the PMS replied that Pakistan had been a longstanding ally of Britain in the war against terrorism and we were sure that would continue. However, the exact composition of the Pakistan parliament and the Pakistan Government was a matter for the people of Pakistan. The issue for us was whether or not the elections were conducted on a free and fair basis and that was something the EU mission would be looking at.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14604.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:53" post_name="pakistan-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5296" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5296" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Rose Inquiry into bugging would be published, the PMS said that he was not sure that an exact date had been set, but his general anticipation was that it would be shortly. Asked if there would be a statement to the House once it had been published, the PMS said he would anticipate that, but it was a decision for Jack Straw.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14604.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 10:00:52" post_name="rose-inquiry" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Rose Inquiry" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5297" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5297" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was aware that the man who was now going to run Northern Rock was a &amp;quot;non-dom&amp;quot;, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that he was not going to comment on any individual's tax status. The key thing was that we had the best person for the job, and the Chancellor and the Prime Minister believed that Ron Sandler was the best man for the job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were paying Ron Sandler &amp;quot;on-shore&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;off-shore&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that his contractual arrangements were a matter between him and the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Northern Rock could be exempt from the Freedom of Information Act, the PMS replied that this was probably a question for the Information Commissioner and the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14607.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:58" post_name="northern-rock-26" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5298" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5298" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for details of Cabinet this morning, the PMS replied that Cabinet met for an hour and 20 minutes, they had a discussion of citizenship ahead of the green paper, Jacqui Smith's statement and the Prime Minister's speech tomorrow. They had an update from the Chancellor on Northern Rock, and an update from the Foreign Secretary on the situations in Kosovo and Pakistan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14607.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:57" post_name="cabinet-16" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5299" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5299" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had yet received the report of the monitoring commission on the Pakistan elections, the PMS replied that he was not aware that we had received the report yet.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14607.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:56" post_name="pakistan-elections-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Pakistan Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5300" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/19/5300" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were due to hear back on bugging soon, the PMS replied that it was best to check with the Ministry of Justice on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the National Security Strategy would be published, the PMS replied that he would expect it to be published in the next few weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many hours of sleep the Prime Minister gets each night, the PMS replied that he was sure the Prime Minister got enough sleep to enable him to do his job. Put that some people were a bit concerned, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had said on numerous occasions, he felt very privileged to have the job he has, he thought it was the best job in the world, and he was very committed to it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14607.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-19 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-19 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-19 15:45:55" post_name="misc-40" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5301" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5301" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the firm Granite, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that Vince Cable had written to the Chancellor and that the Chancellor would be replying to that letter, and making it public, shortly. The PMS went on to explain that Granite was a financing vehicle that was used by Northern Rock to raise money. The way it operated was that Northern Rock sold lumps of mortgages to Granite and Granite paid for the purchase of these by issuing bonds, with the maturity of the bonds roughly matching the maturity of the mortgages. Granite was a separate commercial and legal entity; it was not owned by Northern Rock; this was a longstanding commercial relationship which stretched back to 1999. The key things were that since the Bank of England started providing financial support to Northern Rock, no new mortgage assets had been transferred to the Granite trust; the investors in Granite did not have any claim on Northern Rock's assets, as it was a separate self-standing financial entity; the existence of Granite did not prevent the onward sale of Northern Rock in the future and the key thing was that tax payers' liabilities were secured against Northern Rock's assets. All this information would be included in the Chancellor's letter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PMS could run through the technicalities again, the PMS repeated that Granite was a separate financial entity; it bought mortgages off Northern Rock and it paid for that by issuing bonds into the market place. It was not the case that all of the good assets had been taken out of Northern Rock and were now sitting in a pot somewhere else; Granite had assets as well as liabilities. We were not nationalising Granite, as it was a separate, privately owned entity. Its assets were larger than its liabilities so it was solvent. It was actually more straightforward than it would seem to be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who owned Granite, the PMS replied that it was a private company and went on to say that it was not for him or Government to answer those sorts of questions about a privately owned company. We did not provide any guarantees to Granite; we were not underwriting Granite; it was a separate commercial and legal entity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that every time one of the mortgages was redeemed another mortgage had to be put in and asked if Northern Rock were obligated to continue doing that, the PMS replied no; Northern Rock's future relationship with Granite was a commercial decision for Ron Sandler. No mortgages had been transferred to Granite since the Bank of England started providing support to Northern Rock six months ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it made no difference to Northern Rock if Granite collapsed or defaulted, the PMS replied that the Government had provided no guarantees to Granite.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that the figure of &amp;pound;100billion liability remained unchanged, the PMS replied that we had never used that figure. We were not responsible for the mortgages held by Granite. Equally, we did not underwrite their liabilities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the value of the mortgages, the PMS replied that he was not in a position to say that on the record, as it was a private company; it was not for him to comment on the value of the assets and liabilities of a private company that was not guaranteed by the Government.&lt;br /&gt; &lt;br /&gt;Asked about Ken's Clarke comment last night that Granite got the best mortgages and Northern Rock got the worst, the PMS said that that was not his understanding; Northern Rock had a high quality mortgage book.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Granite needed a monthly sum from Northern Rock to keep the whole thing ticking over, the PMS repeated that there had been no transfers of mortgages to Granite since the Bank of England started providing support for Northern Rock six months ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that Granite had to go elsewhere for money, the PMS replied that quite what they did was a matter for them as it was a separate commercial entity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the 800, 000 mortgages on Northern Rock's books had anything to do with Granite, the PMS explained that what happened was that Northern Rock essentially securitised part of its mortgage book and sold that onto Granite.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that Northern Rock still had 800, 000 mortgages, the PMS replied that he did not know the number of mortgages Northern Rock had.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on Nick Dunn's remarks regarding Northern Rock and Granite, the PMS replied that his understanding of the situation was that what Nick Dunn had suggested was not the case; Granite's assets were matched by its liabilities; as its mortgage book matured, it paid off its bonds and it declined in size, unless Northern Rock decided that it wanted to transfer mortgages into Granite in the future. That, however, would be a commercial decision for Northern Rock going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it would not be a problem for the taxpayer if Granite went to a bad place, the PMS said that we had provided no guarantees to Granite.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who the victims would be if Granite went belly-up, the PMS replied that it would be whoever the creditors of Granite were.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that had implications for the stability of the financial market, the PMS replied that that raised all sorts of hypothetical questions about circumstances, that in all probability would not happen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Northern Rock had nothing to do with Granite at all apart from the fact that they used to know each other, the PMS said that the question of whether or not Northern Rock transferred mortgages to Granite going forward, was a commercial decision for Ron Sandler to take.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the contractual relationship was between Northern Rock and Granite, the PMS replied that he did not have the precise details of the contractual relationship; it was a question that should be addressed to the Treasury or Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Treasury announcement on December 18th mentioned Granite, the PMS replied that it was his understanding that there were no public guarantees to Granite. Any decision about any future transfers of mortgages, from Northern Rock to Granite, was a matter for Northern Rock. It would be best to check with the Treasury for details.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Northern Rock had a seller's share in Granite, the PMS said he did not know the answer to that; his understanding was that Northern Rock did not have shares in Granite but he was not sure whether or not there was some inwardness to the question that he did not understand. It was best to speak to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Conservatives had claimed that Northern Rock had a seller's share in Granite and that if Granite defaulted, that seller's share would worth nothing and would cost the tax payer, the PMS said that the briefing he had from the Treasury said that Granite was not owned by Northern Rock but it was best to check with them for details.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14639.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 15:45:58" post_name="northern-rock-27" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5302" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5302" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for details regarding the talks in Brussels tomorrow, the PMS replied that there were four things that the Prime Minister would be seeking to discuss with President Barroso. Firstly, the issue of economic reform; we very much supported the position that President Barroso had been taking, driving forward economic reform in Europe. We would be looking to discuss issues such as what more we needed to do to complete and strengthen the single market, including in energy and what further support we could provide to businesses, including small businesses. Secondly, there would probably be a discussion around international development issues, and linked to that would be progress on trade talks; that would be something he would discuss with Mr Mandelson. Thirdly, climate change; we welcomed the leadership that the Commission had been showing in Europe on this and we would be discussing how we could work closer in Europe to deal with climate change, and in particular, what more we could do in order to increase the effectiveness of the emissions trading scheme. Finally, there would probably be some discussion around global security issues. Of those, the main focus would probably be on economic and environmental issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Northern Rock would be discussed, the PMS replied that he would not anticipate any substantive discussion on Northern Rock.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who invited whom to the meeting between the Prime Minister and Mr Mandelson and when they last spoke, the PMS replied that he did not know exactly when they had last spoken, but that they had spoken a number of times since Mr Brown became Prime Minister in relation to trade matters. It was customary for the Prime Minister to have a meeting with the British Commissioner when visiting Brussels.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14639.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 15:45:57" post_name="brussels-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Brussels" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5303" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5303" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a strong view on bin taxes, the Prime Minister's Spokesman told the assembled press that the Government's position on the matter was set out by Defra before Christmas. The Government was looking at how to incentivise on a pilot basis, five local authority areas. Defra were in the process of working up details of those pilot schemes with the interested local authorities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what climate change champions were, the PMS replied that they were teenagers appointed by Defra. They would be coming to Downing Street to discuss climate change with the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14638.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:58" post_name="bin-taxes" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bin Taxes" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5304" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5304" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether James Purnell's speech today was a stepping up of the Welfare agenda, the PMS said it was a continuation of the agenda. The PMS added that it was a recognition that the New Deal, when it was originally devised, dealt with the issue of worklessness, but over time as more people had got into work we were now having to address the increasingly harder to reach groups; those who were long-term unemployed and people on long-term sickness benefit. We were continuing to increase both the support we provide to help people get back into work and strengthen the incentives for them to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was some overlap with the New Deal and was this an admission that the New Deal had not gone far enough in keeping people in employment, the PMS said that he wouldn't accept that. Over time, the challenges faced would change and policy would have to respond to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how much this would cost, the PMS said that DWP had their settlements and whatever they needed to spend would be managed within that settlement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14638.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:57" post_name="welfare-reform-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Welfare Reform" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5305" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5305" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for an outline of what the Prime Minister would be doing in Brussels tomorrow, the PMS said he would be meeting President Barroso and other Commissioners. The Prime Minister would also meet Prime Minister Verhofstadt of Belgium. The main items on the agenda would be the economy, international development issues, the environment and global security issues. Asked if he was seeing all the Commissioners, the PMS replied that he had a meeting with Mr Mandelson and he was having lunch with a wider group of Commissioners. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when he thought Britain would nominate the next Commissioner, the PMS said that we were still some way away from that and he thought it would be 2009. It was not something under active consideration.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the subject of Tony Blair was expected to be raised, the PMS advised people to wait and see what happened at the meeting. This was very early days in relation to the appointment of the EU President.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PMS expected any discussion of Kosovo and was this the first time the Prime Minister and Mr Barroso would be having lengthy discussions, the PMS said that Mr Barroso had come to Downing Street in early October, so they had had a lengthy bilateral meeting then.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the meeting between the Prime Minister and Mr Mandelson would last and whether the subject of Northern Rock would be discussed, the PMS said that he would not be getting into how long the Prime Minister would be spending with each person. On the subject of Northern Rock, it was still an early stage of the process, so we would not anticipate any substantive discussion. The next stage in the process would be for Northern Rock to devise and then submit its business plan and that would then form the basis for any substantive engagement with the Commission.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when Mr Mandelson and the Prime Minister last had a one-to-one conversation, the PMS said they were in contact with each other.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14638.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:56" post_name="brussels-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Brussels" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5306" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5306" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any assessment on how much non-EU nationals cost the country in terms of providing public services, the PMS said that it was best for people to see the full picture and the proper context of the Home Secretary's statement and Green Paper, rather than some of the partial reports that had come out that morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether in principle the Prime Minister thought non-EU nationals were a drain on the economy, the PMS said in principle, the Prime Minister believed that migrants made a significant contribution to the wellbeing of this country, but obviously there were transitional impacts on public services that needed to be taken into account. We had recognised that in the past and part of the purpose of the migration impact forum set up by the Government, was to examine exactly those issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14638.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:55" post_name="citizenship-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Citizenship" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5307" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5307" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that low-end mortgages would be taken over by the Government, while better mortgages would allegedly be taken over by Granite, the PMS said Yvette Cooper was answering questions on that subject in the House and he had nothing to add to it. The PMS said he would let the Treasury handle queries on the issue.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14638.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:54" post_name="northern-rock-28" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5308" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/20/5308" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be doing anything to celebrate his birthday, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was working today and this evening he would have a quiet evening at home.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to visit Fiji, the PMS said the Prime Minister had no plans to visit Fiji.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14638.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-20 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-20 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-20 10:00:53" post_name="misc-41" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5309" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5309" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on the David Miliband statement, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that she was unable to give any details; the statement would be laid later in the afternoon, at approximately 1pm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied that previous assurances given by Ministers in the Commons on the matter of renditions were still valid, the PMS said that she would not get into these questions in advance of David Miliband's statement. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:58" post_name="rendition" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Rendition" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5310" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5310" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned by the Diana Inquest, the PMS replied that the progress of the Diana Inquest was something for those who were responsible and not something that the Prime Minister has commented on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:57" post_name="diana-inquest" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Diana Inquest" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5311" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5311" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked of the Prime Minister would be meeting with representatives of Tesco, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had met with representatives of the retail industry, including Tesco, regarding alcohol back in November. We welcomed any further positive contributions to taking this issue forward. There were reviews ongoing into the relationship between pricing and alcohol drinking habits, but in the interim, any progress that we could make with all those involved was to be welcomed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the time frame regarding this subject, without pre-empting the Budget, the PMS replied that the Budget was a matter for the Chancellor but that there were various elements to this. There was a review due quite shortly into the Licensing Act as a whole, which had been looking across impacts in terms of local councils, health and policing; there were several elements to this and we could expect various Government business on this in the upcoming weeks/months.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:56" post_name="alcohol-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Alcohol" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5312" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5312" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was concerned about the profiteering of British Gas, the PMS said that profits were a commercial matter for the company. However, in January, the Chancellor asked that Ofgem assess how the market was operating in terms of competitiveness. That report came back and suggested that there was no evidence of any operations that were not within the guidelines, but this was something that the Treasury and BERR continued to monitor.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:55" post_name="british-gas" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="British Gas" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5313" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5313" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how seriously the Prime Minister took Sir Christopher Rose's findings regarding the two bugging incidents, the PMS replied that she would not comment on that issue until we had the Home Secretary's statement. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:54" post_name="enquiry-at-hmp-woodhill" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Enquiry at HMP Woodhill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5314" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5314" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to assess Britain's relationship with Israel, the PMS replied that the Foreign Office had responded to the Guardian's story and they had been clear that they would not comment on leaked documents. Our position, encouraging all signatories of the non-proliferation treaty to abide by that, remained the same but we also recognised Israel's position needed to be looked at in a regional context, bearing in mind that their neighbours included Iran who denied the right of Israel to exist at all.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:53" post_name="israel" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Israel" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5315" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5315" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister spent his birthday yesterday, the PMS replied that journalists would have seem him quite a bit yesterday, both at PMQs and giving a speech on citizenship. The Prime Minister appreciated the words of congratulations he received form various people, including those of the lobby. But as they saw it was very much a working day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:52" post_name="prime-ministers-birthday" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister's Birthday " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5316" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5316" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was expecting a birthday present from Peter Mandelson, the PMS replied that she could not possibly speculate on that; it would be rude to do so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister was hoping to get out of the meeting with Peter Mandelson, the PMS replied that it was normal for leaders to meet with their commissioners at such occasions. Peter Mandelson's role regarding the World Trade Agreement was something that the Prime Minister would be raising with him, looking at how the EU could support a deal that delivered significant market access for the world's poor and progress on that to date.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14654.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 10:00:51" post_name="peter-mandelson" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Mandelson" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5317" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5317" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if was a breach of trust between transatlantic friends, that it took six years for the US to tell us about the two cases of rendition, the Prime Minister's Spokesman, (PMS), replied that both the Foreign Secretary and the Prime Minister had both responded to questions regarding the rendition flights. The point was that the information that we had from the US and their assurances were given in good faith, and we accepted their assurances and referred to them publicly also in good faith. But there had been a recognition from Secretary Rice that mistakes had been made with these two cases. That was not acceptable and deep regret was shared by both sides. The Foreign Secretary had put in place measures to ensure no other oversights of this kind have taken place, or indeed can take place again.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were taking steps with the Americans to ensure there had not been other cases, the PMS quoted from the Foreign Secretary's statement saying that he had &amp;quot;asked officials to compile a list of all flights where we had been alerted to concerns regarding rendition through the UK or our Overseas Territories. Once this is ready, we will be sending this list to the US and seeking their specific assurance that none of these flights were used for rendition purposes&amp;quot;. That would be progressed as quickly as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the correct information was given to the UK Government, the PMS replied that this was set out in the Foreign Secretary's statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the statement was made today of all days, the PMS replied that it was made at the soonest possible point where we had the appropriate information that we were able to share with the House.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Jack Straw would make a statement as the former Foreign Secretary, the PMS replied that David Miliband had spoken on behalf of the Government setting out the position and the information that had subsequently come to light.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14664.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 15:45:58" post_name="rendition-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Rendition" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5318" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/21/5318" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if we were saying anything about plans for amendments put through the House of Lords, and would the Government be seeking to reverse them, the PMS replied that in terms of the specifics, she would check with the Treasury. However it was right that we allowed the parliamentary process to take place; we had set out that we hoped to achieve Royal Assent as soon as possible so that we could move forward and the Northern Rock board could be put in place and become operational.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why it mattered about receiving Royal Assent tonight as opposed to tomorrow or Monday, the PMS replied that we wanted the process by which the Northern Rock board could be appointed and their business taken forward, to happen as quickly as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this suggested the Government would accept the amendments to get it through quickly, the PMS replied that she would not read that into what she had said.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14664.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-21 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-21 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-21 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-21 15:45:57" post_name="northern-rock-29" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5319" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/22/5319" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Northern Rock was now publicly owned, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that, as journalists knew, Royal Assent had been obtained last night. The Treasury had now laid the necessary orders, that were previously available in draft on their website, and Ron Sandler had now formally taken up his position; he would now appoint his board and conduct his strategic review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Ron Sandler's comment about Northern Rock being in public ownership for some years actually meant at least five years, the PMS said that he was not aware that Ron Sandler had made reference to a specific number of years and that he had not seen anybody else interpret Ron Sandler's comment in the way the journalist had suggested. When the Chancellor was asked this at the weekend he made clear that it depended very much on market conditions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14699.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-22 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-22 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:58" post_name="northern-rock-30" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5320" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/22/5320" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Government's position on the Private Members Bill, the PMS replied that Pat McFadden had been on the radio this morning regarding this subject. The Government's position was that we recognised that there was an issue in relation to agency workers and we wanted to take action in order to address some of the concerns that had been raised. However, as Pat Mc Fadden had said this morning, we did not think that this bill was necessarily the right way of addressing the issue. This was why we were separately planning to set up a commission, which would be modelled on the Low Pay Commission, which had been originally set up to deal with issues relating to the minimum wage. John Cridland of CBI had said this morning that they were willing to discuss this and participate in this commission, as were the unions. As such, we felt that we could find a way forward; there seemed to be general agreement, in principal, that action needed to be taken, but we needed to find a practical solution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that there might be an amended bill, the PMS replied that he was not necessarily saying that; the Government's preferred way of dealing with this was through the commission that it was planning to set up. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the commission might start work and if there was a time scale in terms of when it would finish its work, the PMS said that he did not have that level of information to hand and that we were not yet at that point. It was best to check with BERR for further guidance in terms of time scales.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if George Bain was likely to head the commission, the PMS replied that there had been some suggestion that it may be George Bain; he was someone who had a huge amount of experience in this area but we were not in a position to confirm anything at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this was now an entirely UK matter, the PMS replied that there was not a consensus in Europe on this matter; we thought that this was an issue that could be dealt with through UK legislation and we were setting up this commission in order to look at the issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14699.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-22 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-22 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:57" post_name="private-members-bill-agency-workers" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Private Members Bill - Agency Workers" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5321" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/22/5321" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the reports that Turkish ground troops entered Iraq last night, the PMS replied that we were aware of the reports and that as of 10 minutes prior to the press briefing we were still urgently seeking clarification of the details.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14699.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-22 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-22 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:56" post_name="turkish-troops" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Turkish Troops" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5322" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/22/5322" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Linford Christie should carry the Olympic torch, the PMS replied that that was not really a matter that we would comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14699.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-22 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-22 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-22 10:00:55" post_name="linford-christie" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Linford Christie" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5323" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5323" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be anything on casinos this week, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said we should wait and see.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:58" post_name="casions" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Casions" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5324" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5324" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the drug strategy was regarding what was being done about cannabis, the PMS replied that the drug strategy was more about what the Government was doing in order to tackle the effects of drug use. Regarding cannabis reclassification, we were awaiting the conclusions from the Advisory Committee.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:57" post_name="drug-strategy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Drug Strategy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5325" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5325" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had made any representations to Lichtenstein, the PMS replied that the Treasury and HMRC had put out a statement following reports over the weekend and there was nothing to add to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if investigations would be carried out in other tax havens, the PMS replied that we were always keen to take whatever action was necessary to deal with tax evasion but it was best to speak to the Treasury on this.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:56" post_name="lichtenstein" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lichtenstein" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5326" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5326" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the time limit for abortion should be lowered and if it would be a voting issue, the PMS said that when the Prime Minister had been asked about this in the past, he had always made clear that we should be guided by the best medical advice. At the moment the key organisations in the medical profession were not pressing for a review of this area. For example, both the British Medical Association and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists had said that they did not believe that there was a case for changing the time limits for an abortion. Therefore, the Government had no plans to change the law on abortion. Regarding a free vote, it was accepted Parliamentary practice that proposals for changes in the law on abortion were made on the basis of free votes. The Embryology Bill was going through Parliament at the moment, but to date no amendments had yet been tabled.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:55" post_name="abortion-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Abortion" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5327" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5327" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the death penalty, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view on the death penalty, like the majority of MPs, was that he was not a supporter of the restoration of the death penalty. In recent decades restoration of the death penalty had been consistently voted down, with big majorities, in Parliament. We had introduced whole life sentences, as handed down last week to Steve Wright, and the Government believed that these remained the ultimate sanctions available for those who committed the most serious offences.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:54" post_name="death-penalty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Death Penalty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5328" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5328" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared the concerns of his Parliamentary colleagues regarding the witch-hunt against the Speaker, the PMS replied that he would not get into that subject. However, the Prime Minister had said a few words about the Speaker during his visit this morning. The gist of what was said was that the Prime Minister thought Michael Martin was a good Speaker but that these were all matters for the House Authorities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:53" post_name="speaker-of-the-house-of-commons" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Speaker of the House of Commons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5329" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5329" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what happened at the Prime Minister's meeting with trade unions this morning, the PMS replied that this meeting was intended to be private, but since it was now clearly in the public domain, we would comment on it. The Prime Minister met union representatives for about 45 minutes to discuss the issues around agency workers. It was a constructive meeting. As we had said last Friday, we did recognise the concerns that had been raised. We were talking to employers' organisations about this as well and we continued to believe that a commission, which reflected views on all sides with an independent chair, would be the most useful way forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if anything had been agreed yet, the PMS replied that it was a constructive meeting; as and when we had any specific announcements to make, we would make them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the point of the commission was, the PMS replied that he did not want to get into the details of what was a private meeting. However, the Government recognised that there was an issue and that was why we believed that a commission was the right way forward in order to look at what could be done.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Government's view that a change in law would be unnecessary, the PMS said that we did not think that a Private Members Bill was necessarily the right way forward on this and that was why we were proposing a commission to get both the unions and employers involved. On Friday, employers were saying that they were happy to participate in such a commission; the purpose of this commission would be to identify what action could be taken going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a time frame regarding this commission, the PMS repeated that he did not want to get into specifics; as and when we were in a position to make announcements regarding the commission, including its terms of reference and so on, we would make them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the unions wanted terms of reference from the Government that clearly committed to doing something and asked if that was something the Government would accept, the PMS replied that we did accept that there was an issue here that needed to be looked at and addressed; as and when we would be in a position to publish the terms of reference for this commission, we would do so. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked it would simply be a discussion of different points of view, the PMS replied that the CBI on Friday, were saying that they were prepared to participate in such a commission. There was a general acceptance of the need to take some action in this area and it was something that we would like to see accepted both by the unions and by employers, in terms of the actual action we would end up taking.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:52" post_name="trade-unions-meeting" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Trade Unions Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5330" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5330" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was sympathetic to the case for raising low pay, the PMS replied that we had policy mechanisms in place in order to deal with the issue of low pay and to encourage more people into work. We introduced the minimum wage and tax credits, and of course we continued to keep both the level of the minimum wage and the level support of tax credits reviewed regularly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people were complaining that the super rich on city bonuses were escaping the tax regime, the PMS replied that we had introduced proposals in relation to non-doms, for example, which would give non-doms the incentive to come into the UK tax system or pay a charge once they had been here for more than seven years. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:51" post_name="low-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Low Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5331" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5331" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be discussing with the Swedish Prime Minister, the PMS said that it would be a usual run round of live European issues. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14711.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 11:00:50" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 11:00:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 10:00:50" post_name="swedish-prime-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Swedish Prime Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5332" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5332" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any comments from the Prime Minister's Five News interview on the Speaker, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister was asked about the Speaker, and he said that he believed that Michael Martin has been and is a very good Speaker.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister felt the need to express himself slightly differently in his comments on the Speaker, the PMS replied that there seemed to be an interpretation that was being put on it by some people in the media that was not in line with what the Prime Minister's intentions were.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Speaker in the last 72 hours, the PMS replied that people would not really expect him to comment on the Prime Minister's private conversations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14720.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 15:45:58" post_name="speaker-of-the-house" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Speaker of the House" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5333" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5333" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the casinos announcement would be made tomorrow, the PMS replied that people could expect the casinos announcement tomorrow. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a statement from the Culture Secretary, the PMS replied that he was not sure of the exact form that it would take, but would be a written or oral statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's position was on casinos given all the confusion, the PMS replied that there was no confusion on casinos.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the position had changed a lot, the PMS replied that this was not the case. The position was changed by Mr Brown in Prime Minister's Questions in July, when he said that he was not convinced that a super casino was necessarily the best way of regenerating some of our larger cities. But the position in relation to the other 16 had always been clear. The issue in July was in relation to the one super casino.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why it was not good to have a super casino, but good to have a slightly smaller casino, the PMS replied that he did not want to pre-empt the announcement that will be made tomorrow, but as we said in July, there was a huge difference in scale in terms of gambling opportunities in a super casino compared to one of the smaller casinos, in particular, the super casinos had unlimited stakes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the casinos announcement tomorrow meant that we were not expecting anything from the Home Office on drinking tomorrow, the PMS replied that we were not expecting anything from the Home Office on alcohol tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the casinos announcement had taken so long given the position had not essentially changed, the PMS replied that we had said that we would work up an alternative way of providing equivalent regeneration benefits which did not necessarily rely on a super casino.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we might get a regeneration announcement tomorrow, the PMS replied that this was the general anticipation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why it was important that the 16 smaller casinos had limits, and did it really make any difference, the PMS replied that it was best to have a detailed discussion about the merits of the Government's policy on super casinos once the Government had announced its policy on super casinos tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14720.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 15:45:57" post_name="casinos" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Casinos" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5334" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/25/5334" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that reports had talked of a &amp;quot;heated&amp;quot; meeting with the Prime Minister this morning, the PMS replied that he did not recognise that description of the meeting - as we said this morning we thought it was a constructive meeting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Government's position on agency workers, the PMS replied that the Government's position as we had been saying consistently for several months now, was that we did accept that there was an issue in relation to agency workers; we believed that the best way of addressing this was through the establishment of a commission involving both the unions and employers, and headed by an independent figure. We thought that this was a better way of dealing with the issues rather than through a Private Members Bill.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14720.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-25 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-25 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-25 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-25 15:45:56" post_name="agency-workers" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Agency Workers" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5335" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5335" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by informing journalists that Cabinet had met for approximately one hour this morning and had been dominated by home affairs. They discussed drugs policy in advance of the Drug Strategy publication tomorrow and there was a follow-up discussion on neighbourhood policing following on from the campaign launched yesterday by the Prime Minister and Jacqui Smith.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14730.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-17" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5336" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5336" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any explanation for why the numbers of failed asylum seekers had dropped, the PMS replied that what we had also seen, as Liam Byrne had pointed out this morning, was a significant increase in the number of foreign national prisoners being deported; that was up 80% over the past year. People needed to look at all these figures in the round.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was getting harder to deport asylum seekers, the PMS said it was best to speak to the Home Office on specifics but as Liam Byrne had also pointed out, we had seen significant falls in the number of asylum claims; they were now at their lowest levels for 14 years. It was important to look at what was happening alongside the fact that there were significantly fewer people coming into the country as asylum seekers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14730.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:57" post_name="asylum-seekers" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Asylum Seekers" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5337" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5337" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the speeded up timetable regarding MPs' expenses, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought it was a matter for the House of Commons; he had set out his views on how he thought all of this should be looked at in his letter to the Speaker 2 or 3 weeks ago.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14730.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:56" post_name="mps-expenses-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5338" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5338" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be discussing with the Swedish Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the main things they were likely to discuss would be where we were in terms of live European issues, Kosovo, climate change and development issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14730.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:55" post_name="swedish-prime-minister-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Swedish Prime Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5339" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5339" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet with the First Minister today, the PMS said no.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14730.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:54" post_name="first-minister-of-scotland" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="First Minister of Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5340" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5340" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about new truancy figures given his policy regarding compulsory education until the age of 18, the PMS replied that his understanding was that overall absence from school was at its lowest level ever; on average 58,000 more pupils were at school than would have been if we had the same absence rates as ten years ago. Clearly there was always more that could be done and the department was working on that. The Prime Minister did not think that that should in some way effect the important policy that the Government had set out to try and encourage more people to stay on in education up to the age of 18.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14730.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:53" post_name="truancy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Truancy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5341" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5341" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was worried about the backlash about Manchester not getting the super casino, the PMS said it was best to wait for the announcement from Hazel Blears this afternoon before reaching any judgement.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14730.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 10:00:52" post_name="gambling" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Gambling" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5342" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5342" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was minded to accept the Information Commissioner's ruling on releasing Cabinet notes, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that as the Cabinet Office had said, we would have to give proper consideration to the ruling. We would have to balance off the requirements of openness and transparency against considerations relating to the proper and effective functioning of Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Government would be making its decision, the PMS said he did not have that information. Put that the Information Commissioner was making a point of opinion that the issue was so important that information should be released, rather than ruling on whether or not these pages were exempt under the terms of the act, the PMS replied that the Government would have to consider its position on the matter and whether it would be against the ruling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government was not rejecting the ruling out of hand, the PMS reiterated that it was a judgement that had come from the Information Commissioner and it would have to be considered. There were requirements for openness and transparency, but these had to be balanced against the proper and effective functioning of Government. At the heart of that system, as the Cabinet Office had been saying, was the constitutional convention of collective Cabinet responsibility.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister recognised the Information Commissioner's role as a representative of public opinion, rather than a straightforward interpreter of it, the PMS said the Information Commissioner's role and responsibilities were well established and were set out in legislation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government actually had the power to refuse to hand over the information, the PMS replied that we had to decide whether or not we were going to appeal against the judgement. Asked if the Government could be ordered to do it, the PMS said that he was not sure if there were any precedents for that or what the legal position would be. The next stage of the process was to decide if we were going to appeal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had closed off the option of a full public inquiry, the PMS said that when the Prime Minister had been asked about this before, during the spring and summer of last year for instance, his position then was that it was not something to be considered while the troops were in Iraq. This had been the longstanding position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the ruling by the Information Commissioner was a one-off, the PMS replied that that was a question for the Information Commission.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14731.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 15:45:58" post_name="information-commissioner" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Information Commissioner" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5343" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5343" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Andy Burnham had announced that new casinos would be closed for six hours of every 24 and was there any plans to replicate that in the licensing trade, the PMS replied that there was a review under way in relation to 24 hour licensing and the Prime Minister had been speaking about it yesterday, so he did not think there was anything to add at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister was trying to turn the country into a nation of gamblers, the PMS said that what the Prime Minister had been doing since he took up office, was to make the decision not to go ahead with the super-casino. We had also seen some measures being announced today by Andy Burnham that tightened up the regulation of casinos. The concept of 24-hour casinos had come to an end and we had also seen an appeal from Andy Burnham to the gambling industry to make more of a contribution to help those groups who dealt with people who were affected by gambling addiction.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14731.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 15:45:57" post_name="casinos-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Casinos" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5344" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/26/5344" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Hazel Blears was due to make a statement on regeneration for Manchester, the PMS said that it would be released as a press notice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had written a letter to the British Law Society promising continued funds for groups working for democratic change in Zimbabwe, the PMS said he did not know the answer to that, but would check.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the drug strategy being announced tomorrow would include the conclusions on the reclassification of Cannabis, the PMS said that we were not expecting the conclusions of the Advisory Committee until later in the spring.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was heartened by the decision to bring forward the decision on MP's expenses to the summer, the PMS said these were matters for the House. As a general rule, the Prime Minister would welcome any moves to greater transparency and he had made his views on that quite clear; the most comprehensive statement of his position was the letter sent to the Speaker setting out the position he would be taking as leader of the Labour party.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14731.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-26 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-26 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-26 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-26 15:45:56" post_name="misc-42" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5345" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5345" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had any views about the protest taking place, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that we would not be commenting on this particular incident. The Government's general position on Heathrow was that there was an ongoing consultation on the third runway that would close today. The Government supported a third runway at Heathrow in principle, provided strict local, environmental and noise conditions were met.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly whether the Prime Minster was satisfied with the security of the House, the PMS replied that he would not be commenting on this particular incident. It was not clear what the full facts were at this point and it was a matter for the Parliamentary authorities. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the protesters were saying that the consultation had been rigged to push a third runway through, the PMS said that anyone who had followed the issue of Heathrow expansion would find it difficult not to reach the conclusion that it hadn't been anything other than a very lengthy and thorough consultation. We did want to balance the desired expansion with proper environmental safeguards, but it was worth bearing in mind that there had been no new full-length runway built in the south-east since the extension to Gatwick in the 1950's. In contrast, other European airports had expanded; Schippel airport and Charles de Gaul airport now operated five and four runways respectively and a fourth runway was planned for Frankfurt.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would talk to the House authorities on the matter of security, the PMS said it was a matter for the House authorities and it was up to them to establish what had happened in this instance. It was for them to decide what action, if any, was necessary. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14748.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:58" post_name="houses-of-parliament-protest" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Houses of Parliament Protest" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5346" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5346" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was still confident of the release of all British hostages in Iraq, the PMS replied that it was a very sensitive issue and we had to choose our words carefully. There was nothing he could add to the statement issued this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the hostage takers had talked of nine Iraqi's being held in custody and were those Iraqi's being held in British custody, the PMS said that people should check with the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14748.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:57" post_name="hostages-in-iraq" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Hostages in Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5347" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5347" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government had any plans to introduce a windfall tax on energy companies, the PMS said that it was a matter for the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that energy companies were making excessive profits, the PMS said that Alistair Darling had spoken on behalf of the Government on this issue in the past. OFGEM were currently looking into this matter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14748.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:56" post_name="windfall-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Windfall Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5348" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5348" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the European Court of Human Rights was considering a case to limit the number of samples on the DNA database, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that the DNA database had been shown in recent days to be a very useful and effective tool in the fight against crime.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was anxious that there was no limit put on the number of DNA samples, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was happy with the current position on the DNA database.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would like to see everyone on the DNA database from birth, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's view was that the DNA database was a very important tool in the fight against crime. It had contributed to a significant number of convictions, particularly in relation to very serious offences, such as murder and rape. There was always going to be a debate on these matters, but that would clearly be quite a big step.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14748.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 10:00:55" post_name="dna-database-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="DNA Database" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5371" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5371" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government would accept that the GP's pay contract had not gone well, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that Alistair Henderson from NHS Employers had been commenting on the subject this morning. Since Gordon Brown became Prime Minister there had been a renewed push to try and get more out of the GP's contract. This was why the Government was proposing changes to the contract, such as extending opening hours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it sounded like an admission that the Government was unhappy with the contract previously, the PMS said he did not think we were saying that. The representatives of NHS Employers was answering questions on the subject this morning and as he had said, Mr Brown as Prime Minister had made it a priority to do more in order to ensure that GP's were more accessible to the public.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any Minister's would be answering questions on the subject, the PMS said that that was a matter for the Department of Health. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that GP's who ran practises had seen large salary increases and Tony Blair had always been supportive of that, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was that what mattered was the service that was available to the public and that was why he'd been determined to ensure GP's opening hours were extended and became more accessible to the public.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was an option in the GP's contract for opting out of weekend opening, the PMS reiterated that the Government was proposing changes to the GP contract in order to ensure greater accessibility. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was possible to change the GP's contract without the agreement of GP's, the PMS said that there was a discussion taking place with the British Medical Association and there was a ballot of GP's underway at the present time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if polyclinics were being used to put pressure on GP's to agree to the proposed changes, the PMS said he would not accept that. Polyclinics were an issue that was being looked at by Lord Darzi as part of his review that would report in the summer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14767.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 10:00:58" post_name="gps-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="GP's Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5372" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5372" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Cabinet Ministers were free to campaign against Government policies such as post office closures, the PMS replied that the Cabinet had agreed that there was a need for the post office network to modernise. The Post Office was carrying out a series of local consultations about the services in their specific areas. As part of that you would expect local MP's to respond to any concerns raised by their constituents on behalf of them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There was no inconsistency in agreeing that there was a need for the post office network to modernise while also having a view about a specific post office. Asked if he would reject the charge that Minister's were hypocritical, the PMS said it was not the Government making the recommendations about the specific post offices. It was the Government position that there was a need for the post office network to modernise; it was then for the Post Office itself to make recommendations which were then consulted on locally.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14767.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 10:00:57" post_name="post-office-closures" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Post Office Closures" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5373" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5373" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's meeting with the President of the European Parliament Hans-Gert Pottering, and if the report on MEPs' expenses was raised, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the meeting was still going on when he left for Lobby so had not yet had a read-out of what had been said. The mains items that were expected to be discussed were climate change, development issues, Africa and the Middle East.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that given that the Prime Minister had written to the Speaker of the House of Commons about transparency in Parliament here, what was his view on the report calling for more transparency from MEPs, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's general view was that we would always expect that tax payers money was spent correctly and we would support maximum transparency for MEPs pay allowances, just as for MPs. In relation to this particular issue raised, this was an internal European Parliament report which we had not seen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we had not seen it because they were refusing to publish it, and did the Prime Minister not think that the same principle of transparency should apply to the European Parliament, the PMS replied that without straying into party political territory, there were particular issues relating to Labour MEPs, and it was best to check with the Labour Party on that situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be asking the President for a copy of the report, the PMS replied that the meeting had not yet concluded, but the main issues due to be discussed were those already identified.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister used the opportunity to lobby for Tony Blair's candidacy, the PMS replied that as we had said many times before, it was still early days.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14757.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:58" post_name="europe-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5374" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5374" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister appeared to be critical of Harriet Harman in PMQs today regarding her praise of Fidel Castro, the PMS replied that he was not sure that he would interpret it like that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how he would interpret the Prime Minister's words, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said what he said.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was relaxed with Harriet Harman describing Fidel Castro a &amp;amp;quot;Hero of the Left&amp;amp;quot;, the PMS replied that he did not think it was not something that the Prime Minister had given a huge amount of thought to. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14757.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:57" post_name="harriet-harman" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Harriet Harman" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5375" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5375" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the announcement in the drugs strategy that assets could be seized on arrest rather than on conviction, and did this not totally tear up everything about British Justice and the idea of being innocent until proven guilty, the PMS replied that this was not the case. As the Home Secretary had said, if someone was not found guilty then they would get their assets back. But the issue that we were trying to deal with, as the Home Secretary was saying this morning, was that we did not want to give drug dealers an opportunity to hide or ferret away their assets prior to convictions, that was the case for seizing them on arrest. This would require changing the law in order to do this, so it was obviously subject to parliamentary approval. But as he had said, people who were not found guilty would not have their assets confiscated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there were other consequences, for example what happened if the assets were seized from a drug dealer who had a wife and three children, the PMS replied that he thought there were mechanisms in place to ensure that people did not starve, or live below the breadline, so that was a situation that could be dealt with.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was not a situation that could be dealt with as the families could be homeless and looking for accommodation, the PMS replied that we were talking about drug dealers and their assets that might include things like expensive cars, large amounts of cash, expensive televisions for example.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14757.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:56" post_name="drugs-strategy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Drugs Strategy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5376" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/27/5376" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was good tax planning by a company to put a large amount of its business in the Cayman Islands, and was this something that should be looked at by Revenue and Customs, the PMS replied that he was not going to comment on individual companies, but these were operational matters for HMRC who had been quite rigorous in recent years in ensuring that individuals and companies paid the amount of tax that they were expected to pay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had not been interviewed by the police.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14757.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-27 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-27 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-27 15:45:55" post_name="misc-43" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5377" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5377" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any thoughts on Sir Ian Blair's comments regarding the Derek Conway case being referred to Scotland Yard, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that that was not something we would comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14780.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:58" post_name="derek-conway-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Derek Conway" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5378" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5378" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of Sir Philip Mawer saying that he'll stand up to him, the PMS said that the Prime Minister welcomed it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14780.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:57" post_name="sir-philip-mawer" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sir Philip Mawer" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5379" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5379" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister supported the Foreign Secretary's suggestion that the Olympics should be a politics-free zone, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had spoken at some length about the Olympics and the subject of human rights when he was in China several weeks ago. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14780.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:56" post_name="olympics" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Olympics" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5380" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5380" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had been taking a strong stand on the subject of plastic bags, the PMS referred the journalist back to the speech that the Prime Minister made on the environment. The Prime Minister had spoken during this speech on how we were working with supermarkets and others to reduce plastic bag usage.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a tax system involved in reducing plastic bag usage, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's views on plastic bag usage were set out in his speech last November.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Dublin was not necessarily the model, the PMS said that obviously we looked at all international experience.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14780.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:55" post_name="plastic-bags" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Plastic Bags" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5381" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5381" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if increased aid to Kenya could be expected soon in sight of the developments, the PMS said that it was best to check with DfiD, but that it was a bit premature to get into those sorts of suggestions at this point.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14780.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:54" post_name="kenya" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Kenya" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5382" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/28/5382" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the British Government had anything to do with the Government of Jersey, the PMS replied that, as he understood it, we did not have responsibility for things like provision of childcare services. On the exact constitutional position of the relationship between Britain and Jersey, we would get back to the journalist.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14780.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-28 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-28 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-28 15:45:53" post_name="jersey" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Jersey" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5383" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/29/5383" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view of the arrangements that were in place for Prince Harry in Afghanistan and did he think it was a shame that it had broken down and looked like he would have to come back, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that in terms of the decisions that would be, or were being made by the chain of command, that was something that obviously we would not be commenting on. These were operational matters and decisions based on a range of criteria by the people who were working with Prince Harry. On the UK media, we supported what Sir Richard Dannatt had said about the media blackout requested by the MoD, and his thanks to the UK media for responding in the way that they did. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was cause for concern that the international media had led to the agreement being broken down in terms of the security arrangements that would have to be put in place, the PMS replied that she would not comment on the international media situation. But as she had said, the Prime Minister supported the UK media's handling of this, and obviously what happened now with Prince Harry's deployment was an operational decision.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14800.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-29 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-02-29 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-29 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-29 10:00:58" post_name="prince-harry" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prince Harry" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5384" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/02/29/5384" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister was going to do to stop Government departments spending money on millions of plastic bags, the PMS replied that the point here was about plastic bags being used in Government marketing campaigns for example and that the COI already had a procurement system in place that aimed to reduce carbon emissions and other waste such as plastic bags. Following the Prime Minister's announcement today we could expect that any use of such single-use plastic bags for these campaigns would be reduced in line with his aims for the wider business community.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was putting figures on this, the PMS replied that she did not have those to hand, and that people should check with the COI for details.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for any details on how the Prime Minister intended to move forward on the idea of getting supermarkets to use less plastic bags, as there was a suggestion that there could be legislation in the next month or two, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had set out in his article that we were already looking at various schemes around the world and how effective they were, as well as the voluntary schemes that were already in place in the UK. We would work towards whichever specific policy did that best, but she would not be pre-empting future decisions that would be taken on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government thought there should be a much wider reduction in plastic packaging in supermarkets on fruit and vegetables for example, the PMS replied that DEFRA were already working with retailers on packaging, to look at how we could reduce waste from that particular source.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if something on this would appear in the Climate Change Bill, the PMS replied that she was not going to pre-empt future decisions. We were looking at the schemes and their effectiveness, but as the Prime Minister said, he was prepared to take strong measures to ensure that waste from plastic bags was reduced.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14800.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-02-29 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-02-29 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-02-29 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-02-29 10:00:57" post_name="plastic-bags-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Plastic Bags" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5385" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5385" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reaction regarding the Russian election, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister had written a letter of congratulations to President Medvedev saying that he looked forward to seeing him at the G8 summit in July. We had always said that we would look for opportunities to improve our relationship with Russia and hoped to see greater Russian cooperation on a number of issues, but we should judge the new Government on its actions and the results of those actions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was concern about the electoral procedure, the PMS said that it was a bit too early to reach any judgement on that at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any reason why there was a letter rather than a phonecall, the PMS replied that sending a letter of congratulations was quite a normal thing to do; there were no current plans for a call or a meeting but, as already stated, the letter had said that the Prime Minister looked forward to seeing President Medvedev at the G8 summit in July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that could be interpreted as a gentle warming towards Russia, the PMS said that he would leave the interpreting to the journalist.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what we wanted Russia's cooperation on, apart from the Litvinenko case, the PMS replied that the Litvinenko case was obviously the main issue of concern we had with Russia at the moment. However, Russia had an important role in many of our international priorities, for example, energy security, climate change and international peace and security. Continuing to engage with Russia on these issues remained important to us.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's letter brought up any of those issues, the PMS said that he did not want to get into exactly what the letter did and did not say; it was a letter of congratulations to Mr Medledev. Our concerns regarding the Litvinenko issue, in particular, were very well known to the Russians.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:58" post_name="russian-election" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russian Election" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5386" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5386" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for guidance on the meeting with energy companies, the PMS said that, as had been made clear at the weekend, suggestions of some sort of Downing Street summit with the energy companies were wide of the mark. It was not surprising that the Treasury and BERR spoke to the energy companies on a regular basis. Ministers were concerned about the effect that price rises had on vulnerable customers in particular.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that ruled out a windfall tax, the PMS replied that he did not think journalists expected him to comment on tax matters ahead of the Budget.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if, rather than a summit, there had been any talks going on, the PMS said that it was not for him to get into specifics; these were issues that the Treasury and BERR were leading on. Of course there were meetings taking place with all sorts of companies, including energy companies, all of the time. The PMS went on to repeat his response to the specific suggestion that was made in one of the papers yesterday that there had been a big Downing Street summit; these reports had been wide of the mark.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:57" post_name="energy-companies" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Energy Companies" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5387" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5387" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Jacqui Smith speech on ID cards would be a u-turn by the Government, the PMS replied that journalists should wait for the speech and said that people should not get too carried away.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:56" post_name="id-cards-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5388" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5388" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the Iranian President's visit to Iraq, the PMS said that we did not have a specific comment on that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was aware of the Iranian President's comments that the US was more responsible for terrorism and death in Iraq than others, the PMS replied that that was not something that we would accept, whoever said it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:55" post_name="iran-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iran" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5389" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5389" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any contact with Israel over the past couple of days, the PMS said that, as people would expect, we were in contact with our key allies on a regular basis, including Israel. The PMS then went on to reiterate the Foreign Secretary's comments at the weekend that we supported the UN Secretary General's call for all parties to step back from the brink of even deeper and more deadly clashes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:54" post_name="israel-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Israel" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5390" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5390" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it would be a good idea for Prince William to serve in the frontline, the PMS replied that these were decisions that were best made by the individuals concerned and military commanders based on an assessment of what was in the interests of the security of the individuals concerned and the wider security of our armed forces.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was quite happy to see if it could be done, the PMS said that he did not want to get into specific cases; the Prime Minister had made his position clear in relation to Prince Harry in recent days, but these were decisions that should be taken by the military.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:53" post_name="prince-william" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prince William" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5391" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5391" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the current benefits for couples, the PMS replied that the current benefit system supported children in poverty by providing incentives for people to get back into work. It was the Prime Minister's view that the benefit system was there to help ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable people in society got the help they needed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that was happening, the PMS replied that, in the Prime Minister's view, that was happening, but of course we needed to continue to do more and that was why he was talking about the need to go further on addressing child poverty in his speech at the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:52" post_name="benefit-system" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Benefit System" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5392" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5392" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's thoughts on the issue of an EU referendum, the PMS said that the Government's position on that was well known and had not changed. This was not a Constitution; all 27 leaders agreed that the Constitutional concept was abandoned.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:51" post_name="eu-referendum" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Referendum" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5393" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5393" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about second home tax, the PMS replied that that was a matter for the Treasury to consider as part of the Budget. However, they had made their position quite clear.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14864.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 11:00:50" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 11:00:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 10:00:50" post_name="second-home-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Second Home Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5394" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5394" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about President Ahmadinejad's visit to Iraq, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that he was not in a position to comment on the issue at the moment and it was best to check with the Foreign Office. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14878.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:58" post_name="ahmadinejad-in-iraq" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ahmadinejad in Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5395" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5395" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister agreed with comments made by James Purnell about the Scottish Government's reaction to the issue of council tax benefit, the PMS said he had not seen James Purnell's comments and he would like to see the context in which they were made before he gave a specific reaction. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14878.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:57" post_name="scotland-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5396" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5396" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Licensing Review being published tomorrow, the PMS said that it was important to see the review as a staging post in terms of the action the Government was taking, rather than being the final word on the matter. There would be announcements from DCMS and the Home Office, looking at the way in which the new licensing laws were operating and how they were being enforced. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was important to remember alongside this, the Action Plan on young people and alcohol from DCSF and a Department of Health Review of evidence on the relationship between pricing, promotion and harm being published later in the year. So it was more of an ongoing process, rather than a definitive final conclusion one way or the other.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chancellor had said in an interview in February that he didn't think putting up taxes on alcohol was the best way to tackle binge-drinking and was that a view shared by the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the view of the Prime Minister was that tax was a matter for the Chancellor in the Budget. Asked if the Prime Minister was putting pressure on the Chancellor to change his views on the subject, the PMS said he did not know where the journalist was going with that line of questioning and suggested that all questions in regards to the Chancellor should be addressed to the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the reviews from the Department of Health and DCSF were expected to report back, the PMS said a bit later in the year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government thought the Licensing Act had worked or not, the PMS said people would find out tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the term staging post meant that it was too early to make a definitive statement as to how well the Licensing Act had gone, the PMS said it was a reflection of the fact that it was a complex issue. It affected a whole range of Government departments and affected different parts of the country in different ways. It was a very complex piece of legislation with a complex social impact. There would be an assessment of it tomorrow, but what we were saying was that this was not necessarily the final word on the matter. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was opening itself up to the charge of dithering, the PMS replied that that was not the case. It was a reflection of the fact that this was a complex piece of legislation with a very complex impact.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14878.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:56" post_name="licensing-review" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Licensing Review" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5397" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/03/5397" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether there were any plans for the Prime Minister to visit Russia, the PMS said the prime Minister had no plans to visit Russia. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14878.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-03 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-03 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-03 15:45:55" post_name="russian-president" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russian President" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5398" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5398" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling assembled journalists that Cabinet met for approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes this morning. The main items of discussion were; where we were on ID cards ahead of Jacqui Smith's speech on Thursday and a presentation from Ruth Kelly on roads and congestions, outlining some of the main themes of her speech this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14886.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-18" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5399" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5399" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Margaret Hodge that the Proms were narrow and lacked common British values, the PMS replied that, as DCMS had been saying this morning, this was not meant to be an attack on the Proms. DCMS had also stated that, in the view of Margaret Hodge, the Proms were a wonderful, democratic and quintessentially British institution, which did a fantastic job to promote serious culture to millions of people; this was a view the Prime Minister very much agreed with.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put repeatedly that that was not what Margaret Hodge had said in the article, the PMS said that there was an issue in regards to how her comments had been interpreted and he did not want to put words into her mouth; DCMS had made clear that she supported the Proms, as did the Prime Minister. We recognised the fact that the Proms, with the BBC, had done a good job in recent years in broadening audience participation. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14886.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:57" post_name="proms" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Proms" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5400" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5400" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's position regarding the Zimbabwean cricket team and other Zimbabwean sporting teams, the PMS replied that, in regards to cricket, we continued to discuss the matter of Zimbabwe with the English Cricket Board (ECB) as it was a matter for the English cricketing authorities; they ultimately decided whether England would play Zimbabwe or not, but they knew our views on the matter. In regards to the broader issue, it was not the case that the Prime Minister was considering a blanket ban on all Zimbabwe sportspeople and we were slightly surprised at the suggestion of that this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to elaborate on the Prime Minister's views regarding the Zimbabwean cricket team, the PMS replied that our position was that if the ECB decided that they wanted to ban Zimbabwe, then that would be a decision which we would support.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we had been in this position before and that the ECB needed backing from the Government, the PMS replied that it was ultimately a decision for them; it was for them to decide whether England should play Zimbabwe or not. However, they were aware of our position concerning this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister would consider any measures less than a blanket ban, the PMS said that all sorts of hypotheticals could be put to him but that the story this morning was ahead of itself; we had not recognised the depiction of the position as set out in the reports this morning. The most pressing issue coming up was the issue relating to the cricket tour.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there could be a one-off ban for cricket, the PMS replied that all of these issues would be addressed at the appropriate time. These were decisions that ultimately had to be made by the ECB; it was not helpful to get into all sorts of hypothetical scenarios which were still some way down the line.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14886.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:56" post_name="zimbabwe-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5401" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5401" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked where the Government was in regards to ID Cards, the PMS replied that it was best to wait for Jacqui Smith's speech on Thursday which would set out the latest state of play.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on the ID Cards discussion at Cabinet this morning, the PMS said that Jacqui Smith would set out the position on Thursday and it was best to wait for that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the position on ID Cards was somewhat different to the current one, the PMS said it was important for people not to get too far ahead of themselves; what Jacqui Smith would be doing on Thursday was providing a bit more detail on the implementation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14886.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:55" post_name="id-cards-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5402" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5402" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's thoughts regarding the Chair of the Business Council's comments on tax, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister very much welcomed the role of the Business Council and it was the role of people on that Business Council to express their views on any issues that they faced. Obviously tax was a matter for the Treasury and the Chancellor; the Budget was coming next week, but due to the reforms that we had made to the tax and regulatory regime, we had one of the lowest corporation tax rates in the G7 and we continued to believe that the UK was well-placed to benefit from the opportunities of globalisation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14886.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:54" post_name="chair-of-business-council" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Chair of Business Council " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5403" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5403" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had drawn attention to the Litvinenko case in his letter to the new President if Russia and what the current position was, the PMS replied that the current position was that we had set out a very detailed dossier to the Russians, setting out the case for the extradition of Mr Lugovoy. We did not believe that we had received a satisfactory degree of cooperation on this matter and that remained the position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any response from the President, the PMS said not that he was aware of.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14886.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 10:00:53" post_name="russia-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5404" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5404" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was discussed at Cabinet, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that there was a discussion led by the Home Secretary in advance of her speech on Thursday on the implementation of the ID card programme, and also a discussion led by Ruth Kelly on roads and congestion, picking up some of the themes in her speech earlier today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14889.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:58" post_name="cabinet-19" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5405" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5405" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked where we were on ID cards, the PMS replied that Jacqui Smith would give the next update in her speech on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that was Thursday, and asked where we were now and were we still for them, the PMS replied that the Government had a long standing commitment in favour of ID cards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that in the Prime Minister's interview with the Observer recently there seemed to be a &amp;amp;quot;wobble&amp;amp;quot; on ID cards, the PMS replied that this was not the case, the Prime Minister was just re-stating what the existing position was.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we had already seen a spectacular u-turn on road policy today, and asked if we were heading for another later in the week, the PMS replied that he did not recognise that interpretation either. Ruth Kelly's words today was consistent with what had been said by her predecessor last May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was the complete opposite to what she said in her speech to the Labour Party Conference, the PMS replied that he did not think that this was the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we were seeing another example of flip-flopping, the PMS replied that he did not think we were at all, we were seeing policy being taken forward on various issues in line with positions set out previously. At each point we were setting out in a considered way how the position was being implemented and taken forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about Jacqui Smith's ID card speech on Thursday, and would groups who the scheme might be implemented with first come up, the PMS replied that this was the general kind of territory.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if EU requirements for the scheme would come up, the PMS replied that this was not something he was familiar with, or had heard being raised as a significant issue for discussion.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14889.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:57" post_name="id-cards-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5406" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5406" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the report on 24 hour drinking suggested that there had been a bit of a problem with some of the violence being pushed into the early hours of the morning, and asked for the Prime Minister's view, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was the Government's view as set out today. There did continue to be concerns in a number of areas, and we did identify the issues in relation to 3am and 6am that had been put to us. We were setting out today measures to rebalance the Act, with tougher measures on enforcement in particular. But as he was saying yesterday, today was not meant to be the final word on the subject. There were a number of other aspects of policy relating to alcohol that were being looked at by the Government - the Department of Health were looking at the whole issue of pricing and promotions, DCSF were looking further at the whole issue in relation to alcohol and young people. So this was not meant to be the final word, it was never intended to be, and obviously we would continue to look at this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if binge drinking was a high priority for the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that it was clearly an issue for the public, and the Prime Minister acknowledged that and recognised that. He believed in particular that there were issue around enforcement in relation to young people, and that was what we had been focusing on mainly today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what effect increasing the fine for drinking in public from &amp;pound;500 to &amp;pound;2,000 would have on young people, the PMS replied that this clearly seemed to be a big increase.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the young people could not pay the &amp;pound;500 fine, how would they pay the &amp;pound;2,000, the PMS replied that that was a law enforcement issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if DCLG were looking at any aspect of planning, and making it easier for councils to turn down applications from pubs, the PMS replied that it was best to check with the department.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14889.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:56" post_name="licensing-act" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Licensing Act" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5407" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/04/5407" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister spoke about at the conference for ambassadors, the PMS replied that it was a private event and quite informal, and the Prime Minister said a few general words on British foreign policy in line with what he had said at his recent speech in India.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to vote on tomorrow's divisions on Lisbon Treaty, the PMS replied that he would have to check the Prime Minister's diary commitments, but obviously this was an important vote.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14889.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-04 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-04 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-04 15:45:55" post_name="misc-44" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5408" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5408" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to make absolutely clear whether the Government was having a review of the Barnett Formula, and if not, why not, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that it was not the case that the Prime Minister had ordered a review of the Barnett Formula. What was happening, was that there was a debate and a review in Scotland that the Scottish Parliament had supported, looking at how the devolution settlement might be strengthened. As part of that, and as we announced in a Parliamentary Question on the 31st January, and as the Prime Minister had also said in his recent interview with BBC Scotland, the Chancellor would lay before Parliament a factual paper on the funding mechanisms for the devolved administrations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why then had the Telegraph reported that a review had started to inform the debate, the PMS replied that journalists would have to ask the Telegraph how they reached that conclusion. As he had said, there was a debate and a review taking place in Scotland, and we had said that in order to help inform this debate we would publish a factual paper on the funding mechanisms for the devolved administrations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when this would be published, the PMS replied that it would be some time this year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Scottish Parliament came back and said that they thought there needed to be changes to this, what would be the position, the PMS replied that this was getting into the realms of hypotheticals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that there should be a review at some point, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was supportive of the review of the devolution settlement that was taking place in Scotland, as we made clear in the Lords Parliamentary Question that was answered on the 31st January, and again was made clear in his interview with BBC Scotland in February.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that since there were no current plans for a review, was fair to say that the Government was open to the idea that a review might take place at some point in the future, the PMS replied that again this was getting into the realms of hypotheticals. Our position was that we had no current plans to reform the Barnett Formula.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government had against calling it a commission, the PMS replied that this was a debate that was taking place in Scotland, and we could have a big theological debate over what it was called, but the more interesting issue as far as the Prime Minister was concerned was what it actually did. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14903.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:58" post_name="barnett-formula" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Barnett Formula" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5409" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5409" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a significant change in the direction of policy on ID cards tomorrow, the PMS replied that Jacqui Smith's speech tomorrow was about the implementation of the Government's existing commitments on ID cards.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any changes to the announced plans for implementation, for example putting back any phases of implementation, the PMS replied that it was best to have an informed discussion about the speech tomorrow once it had been delivered.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14903.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:57" post_name="id-cards-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5410" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5410" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be voting on the EU Treaty later today, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was expected to be voting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the opinion polls showed a different mood in the country, would the Prime Minister's position on the referendum still be the same, the PMS replied that the issue was whether or not this was a significant constitutional change in order to justify a referendum. As the Prime Minister and as the Foreign Secretary very effectively made clear on the radio this morning, it was not the Government's view that this was the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the possible rebellion, the PMS replied that obviously it was an important vote, it was important that the Government got the vote through, but the Government remained confident of wining the vote this evening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was inspired by the quality of the debate by the Foreign Secretary and Shadow Foreign Secretary this morning, and that since it went so well did he think he should do the same with David Cameron, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that the Foreign Secretary gave a very effective and convincing explanation of the Government's position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14903.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:56" post_name="lisbon-treaty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lisbon Treaty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5411" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5411" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minster lay awake at night wishing that he had not flogged off gold at a knocked down rate and waited until now, the PMS replied that equally you could make the argument that if we had sold off gold in the 1980s when the gold price was very high, then we would have made even more money. The decision made at the time, was a decision to diversify the UK's foreign exchange holdings and to move away from a situation where we were overly reliant on one particular asset.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what we relied on now, the PMS replied that we had also bought other foreign currency assets including Euro assets at the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we had made any money out of that, the PMS replied that he was reluctant to use the phrase, but we were not going to give a running commentary on these matters.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14903.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:55" post_name="gold" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Gold" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5412" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5412" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that the Government had broken the 2001 and 2005 manifesto pledges not to privatise the Tote, the PMS replied that he did not think the Government had broken the 2005 pledge. From memory, it said that if it were not possible to go ahead with a sale of the Tote to the racing industry, then we would consider an open sale, but we would reinvest some of the proceeds of that sale back into the racing industry.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14903.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 10:00:54" post_name="tote" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tote" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5413" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5413" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by clarifying something he had said in that morning's lobby briefing regarding the Tote and the 2005 Manifesto. The PMS had said this morning that from memory, the 2005 Manifesto had said that if it were not possible to find a solution to the sale of the Tote which involved the sale to the Racing Trust, the Government would seek an alternative commercial option and reinvest some of the money back into the racing industry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Having double-checked that, the 2005 Manifesto had said that having passed the necessary legislation, the Government remained committed to completing the sale of the Tote to the Racing Trust. However the Government had said in July 2004, that were it not possible to sell the tote to the Racing Trust, we would sell it commercially with 50% of the proceeds going to racing and Jerry Sutcliffe reiterated this in the Westminster Hall on the 21st November 2007.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government would concede that it hadn't managed to keep that promise, the PMS said we would not accept that because what was said in 2005 was that we were committed to a sale to the Racing Trust. However the Government had said in 2004 and after the 2005 election in November 2007 that should it not be possible to sell to the Racing Trust, we would find an alternative solution that involved a commercial sale. The key point was that we were reinvesting 50% of the sale proceeds back into the racing industry so that they would benefit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that wasn't actually said in the 2005 Manifesto, the PMS reiterated that the Government had said in the Manifesto that it remained committed to completing the sale of the Tote to a Racing Trust. That reflected the fact that our first preference was clearly a sale to the Racing Trust.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14904.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:58" post_name="the-tote" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="The Tote" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5414" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5414" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the timetable would be for the Europe Bill and would it be passed by summer recess, the PMS said people would have to check with the Foreign Office for the exact timetable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was still confident that the Bill would go through, the PMS said that he was. It was an important vote for the Government and we hoped that it would get as much support as possible, but it remained the case that we were confident in our position and in getting the vote through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that a frontbencher should resign after voting against the party line, the PMS said that it was a hypothetical question that did not relate to the party of Government. Asked whether the Prime Minister would vote tonight, the PMS confirmed that he was intending to.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14904.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:57" post_name="europe-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5415" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5415" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that when the Prime Minister had been asked in PMQ's about a Windfall Property tax he had referred to the review that was going on and was it the case that no action would be taken until those reviews had reported, the PMS advised people to wait and see. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any view on the allocation of tradeable permits under the European Trading Scheme, the PMS said that people would need to check with BERR on what the exact position was, but from his recollection, in subsequent rounds a greater proportion had been auctioned.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that until 2012 they would be free, the PMS said that from memory, in subsequent rounds there was a greater proportion being auctioned off.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14904.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:56" post_name="windfall-tax-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Windfall Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5416" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/05/5416" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister drank when he was Chancellor during the Budget, the PMS said he thought it was bottled water, but he would check.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about Jennifer Moses and a story in the Evening Standard, the PMS said that he would not be commenting on personnel matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister still stood by Ken Livingstone after a question was asked at PMQ's about Mr Livingstone using tax payers money for the anniversary of the Cuban revolution, the PMS said he had no particular comment on that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14904.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-05 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-05 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-05 15:45:55" post_name="misc-45" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5417" comment_count="8" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/06/5417" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on Mehdi Kazemi, an Iranian threatened with deportation back to Iran, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Government's general position was that it was committed to providing protection for those individuals found to be genuinely in need in accordance with the Government's commitments under international law. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Government examined with great care each individual case before removal and would not remove anyone who it believed was at risk on his or her return. If an application was refused, there was a right of appeal to an independent judge.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14918.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-06 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-06 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-06 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-06 15:45:58" post_name="mehdi-kazemi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Mehdi Kazemi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5418" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/06/5418" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Private Members Bill on private equity tomorrow and how the Government would be voting, the PMS said he did not know but would check.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if James Purnell would be meeting any Presidential candidates while in the United States, the PMS said none that he was aware of.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14918.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-06 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-06 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-06 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-06 15:45:57" post_name="misc-46" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5419" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/06/5419" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began the briefing by giving a response from the Prime Minister to the ballot of GPs on extending opening hours, the results of which had been announced this morning with 92% of GPs supporting the Government's proposal to extend opening hours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Prime Minister's Quote:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;quot;I welcome this commitment from GPs to extend opening into evenings and weekends, and improve access to vital GP services for millions of patients. These improvements are critical if the NHS is to deliver a more personal service and better focus on preventing ill health at an early stage. Our task is now to work with GPs to implement these reforms.&amp;amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14922.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-06 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-06 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-06 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-06 10:00:58" post_name="gp-contracts" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="GP Contracts" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5420" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/06/5420" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to respond to the charge that the Government was introducing ID cards by stealth, the PMS replied that we were continuing to take a voluntary approach for the vast majority of people, as Jacqui Smith was saying on the radio this morning. For the rationale, it was best to refer to Jacqui Smith's speech.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why if the Government was so in favour of ID cards, was it so opposed to DNA being used, the PMS replied that this raised two quite different questions. First on ID cards, this remained a voluntary scheme until there was another vote on Parliament to make it compulsory. So the analogies were not quite as the question set out. Secondly, the benefits to the individual of ID cards were being set out by the Home Secretary today, principally revolving around the need to strengthen national security as well as making it more convenient for individuals to prove who they were. So the analogy did not quite work.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if members of the Cabinet would be encouraged to carry ID cards, the PMS replied that he was sure it would be a decision for individual Cabinet Ministers as and when ID cards were rolled out to citizens at a future date in 20011/12.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was still committed to a vote in the next Parliament, the PMS replied that the Government was committed to a vote before moving to a compulsory scheme. Jacqui Smith made clear on the radio this morning that she did not anticipate that happening in this Parliament. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we anticipated it happening in the next Parliament, the PMS replied that we would have to see where we were. He was not going to start making commitments in relation to the next Parliament, but it remained the Government's position that we would not move to a compulsory scheme until there was a vote in Parliament. And as Jacqui Smith said, we did not anticipate that vote happening in this Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the latest reason being given was so that students would find it easier to get a bank account, and asked how we explained the rationale for this as students for decades had been able to get bank accounts without any problems, the PMS replied that there was a particular issue surrounding young people who needed to prove their identity in order to for example open bank accounts, and prove who they were, but it was voluntary. They were being offered ID cards, so it was up to them whether they took up this opportunity.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where the evidence was that this was an issue, the PMS replied that the Home Office were setting out in their document today the rationale for the benefits-based approach that they were taking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the vote in Parliament should not be before ID cards were brought in for foreign nationals, the PMS replied that ID cards were being brought in on a compulsory basis for foreign nationals from 2008. The issue was whether or not it becomes compulsory for the vast majority of British citizens, and that was the commitment that we had made - that there would be a vote on that matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a vote on compulsion for foreign nationals, the PMS replied that his understanding of the situation was that the vote on compulsion would be in relation to British nationals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that compulsion for foreign nationals would therefore be introduced without going through Parliament, the PMS replied that this had already gone through Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would carry an ID card, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was a supporter of ID cards, and thought that they brought significant benefits. But we were not at the point where we were saying that these were being rolled out to individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked would it not be a good idea given the opposition to the scheme for the Prime Minister to lead the way, the PMS replied that just so we were clear, the Prime Minister was a supporter of ID cards and he was sure that he would have no difficulty with having an ID card, but the way in which the ID cards would be rolled out would be set out by the Home Office in their document today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how we could describe the ID card scheme as voluntary when enrolment on the national database would be linked to having a passport, the PMS that this had always been the case and the existing legislation enabled that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was not really a voluntary scheme if you wanted to leave the country, the PMS replied that nobody had to have an ID card or go on to the national identification database. We were introducing a greater element of choice - we were saying today that you could either have a passport or an ID card, you did not necessarily have to carry an ID card if you also had a biometric passport.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister could expect any difficulties with the Scottish Government over the implementation of ID cards, the PMS replied that he had no reason to believe that was the case, but he was sure there were well established mechanisms for discussing these sorts of issues with the Scottish Executive.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had seen the Crosby report on the business case, the PMS replied that it was his understanding that we were publishing the Crosby report today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that since ID cards were being introduced to airport workers as a matter of security, should they not be introduced for other workers needing security clearance, for example Downing Street staff, the PMS replied that the position set out in the Home Office document that they were publishing was that we were starting with airside workers, but we would be consulting on the next group of key workers that the ID card scheme might be extended to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify the point again, that this scheme would be a voluntary scheme that would possibly be compulsory for people later, and during the period where it was voluntary was it the Government's policy to encourage people to get one, the PMS replied that the Government believed that there were significant benefits to individuals to holding ID cards, but that it was a matter of choice for them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14922.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-06 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-06 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-06 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-06 10:00:57" post_name="id-cards-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="ID Cards" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5421" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/06/5421" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what position the Prime Minister was taking on which way Cabinet Ministers should vote on embryo research, the PMS replied that this was clearly Government business that had already been through the Lords, but it had not started its passage through the Commons yet, and that was still some time away. So we were not at a point yet where decisions would have to be taken in relation to individuals. This was Government business, but if any particular individual had an issue, then that was something they would have to discuss with the Chief Whip.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it would not necessarily be a categoric three line whip, the PMS replied that it was Government business, but obviously if any individual had an issue, that was something they would need to discuss with the Chief Whip.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14922.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-06 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-06 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-06 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-06 10:00:56" post_name="embryo-research" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryo Research" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5422" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/07/5422" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling gathered journalists that the Prime Minister would be hosting an event in Downing Street on Saturday to mark International Women's Day. Guests included some of the UK's most successful business women. The Prime Minister would be asking them what the business world could do to help tackle the problems of maternal mortality in developing countries and what more they could do as individuals to help bring on the next generation of women business leaders. There would be pooled footage of this event.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14947.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-07 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-07 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-07 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-07 10:00:58" post_name="international-womens-day" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="International Women's Day" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5423" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/07/5423" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that the Government would work with the RAF to find a way of allowing troops to be able to walk the streets in uniform, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made his views very clear about the need for all our armed services to be able to wear their uniforms in public, with the support of the public. As Des Browne had said over night, the MoD was investigating, as a matter of urgency, the situation in Wittering and that they would be working closely with Peterborough City Council, local police and the RAF base to work through the problem. Obviously this was something that the Secretary of State for Defence was taking a very close interest in.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the intention that personnel would be able to wear uniforms again in public, the PMS replied that that was very much the situation we hoped to be able to get to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the nature of the abuse was known, the PMS replied that she did not have the details of the allegations and that it was not her place to put that type of information into the public domain. Obviously complaints had been made and the situation was now being urgently looked into.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be asking the Ministry of Defence to review its ban on service personnel wearing uniforms whilst travelling through civilian airports, the PMS recommended that the journalist ask the MoD about that particular issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government thought that the decision was perhaps an overreaction by the local commander or was this a wider pproblem, the PMS said that she would not get into analysing this particular situation in comparison to what was going on more widely. However, we were looking across the board, particularly through the review that the Prime Minister asked Quentin Davis MP to undertake, into how better we could harness support and improve public understanding of our forces, and that included the public attitude to wearing uniforms. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14947.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-07 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-07 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-07 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-07 10:00:57" post_name="raf-wittering" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="RAF Wittering" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5424" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/07/5424" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had fulfilled his promise to contact union leaders this week over the closing of Remploy factories, the PMS said that she would check on the status of the correspondence regarding this matter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14947.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-07 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-07 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-07 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-07 10:00:56" post_name="remploy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Remploy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5425" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5425" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was discussed at the Prime Minister's meeting with the President of Uganda earlier today, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS), replied that they discussed the situation in Kenya, the situation in Darfur, obviously regional issues for Uganda, they also discussed the Prime Minister's speech on international institutions and had a general discussion about development and Africa issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14960.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:58" post_name="uganda" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Uganda" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5426" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5426" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was right that the Prime Minister had been to two COBRA meetings on the weather, the PMS replied that it was his understanding that the Prime Minister participated in a conference call of COBRA yesterday afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14960.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:57" post_name="storms" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Storms" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5427" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5427" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Alex Salmond that the &amp;pound;400million Council Tax benefit that goes to Scotland was part and parcel of Scotland's funding, the PMS replied that he would have to check the detail on that point.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14960.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:56" post_name="scotland-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5428" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5428" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the discussion between the Prime Minister and Peter Mandelson, and Peter Mandelson now staying in Brussels, the PMS replied that journalists would not expect us to comment on the Prime Minister's private conversations. Regarding the issue of the next Commissioner, it was still very early days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was disappointed that other people had been talking about his private conversations, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister accepted that this was an inevitable fact of being Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that he had briefed on their meeting at the time, during the Prime Minister's recent visit to Brussels, the PMS replied that we had said in general terms that they had had a discussion about world trade issues and other European issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to describe relations between Mr Brown and Mr Mandelson, the PMS replied that he thought that they had a constructive meeting when they met in Brussels, and they spoke regularly as people would expect the British Prime Minister and the British European Commissioner to do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought Peter Mandelson was doing a good job, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had no difficulty with the job that Peter Mandelson was doing. The Prime Minister would be quite comfortable for him to say that he thought Mr Mandelson was doing a good job.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister hoped to get out of this week's European meeting, the PMS replied that it was a little early in the week for that, but this was the spring council meeting where they normally talked about economic reform and economic issues, so a lot of the focus would be around the economy and the next steps to reform and strengthen the European economy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14960.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:55" post_name="europe-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Europe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5429" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5429" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would say to the contention that operations in Iraq were bleeding resources and leading to overstretched and under-equipped troops in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that operational expenses were always funded on top of the MoD settlement. So the MoD receive their normal settlement in the normal way, and then they get operational costs met in addition to that, so there was not a pound for pound trade off.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14960.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:54" post_name="cost-of-military-operations" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cost of Military Operations" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5430" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5430" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister hoped to get out of the forthcoming NATO summit, and would it be another opportunity to ask NATO to contribute more troops to Afghanistan, the PMS replied that it was a bit early for this as the meeting was several weeks away. But he was sure that subject would come up among a number of other issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14960.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:53" post_name="nato-summit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NATO Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5431" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5431" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about energy companies and windfall tax, and was this now completely off the agenda with proposals for pre-pay meters, the PMS replied that these were budget matters, so it was best to speak to the Treasury on that, but the Treasury had been making the position reasonably clear.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14960.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 16:45:52" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 16:45:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 15:45:52" post_name="budget" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Budget" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5432" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5432" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's meeting with the President of Uganda, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that they had met when the Prime Minister was in Uganda for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting; they would discuss regional issues in Africa, the Development agenda, trade and so on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:58" post_name="president-of-uganda" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President of Uganda" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5433" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5433" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed Peter Mandelson staying on as British European Commissioner for a second term, the PMS replied that it was clearly very early days in terms of discussing or making decisions in relation to the next British European Commissioner.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had previously said Tony Blair would make a good candidate for the post of President of the EU and asked if the Prime Minister thought Tony Blair would make a good President, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made his original comments in relation to the possibility of Mr Blair doing that actual job, so clearly the answer was yes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:57" post_name="peter-mandelson-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Mandelson " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5434" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5434" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was going to be a briefing in advance of the European Spring Council, the PMS said that he was not sure; it was on mainly European economic issues; if there was a strong demand for one then we could have one.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:56" post_name="european-spring-council" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Spring Council" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5435" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5435" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with John Hutton that we should celebrate businessmen who earn huge salaries, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had always been a very keen supporter of the enterprise agenda.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that some of the salaries were out of proportion, the PMS said that that was a matter for the shareholders of the companies concerned.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:55" post_name="enterprise-agenda" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Enterprise Agenda" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5436" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5436" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was going to abandon the 2010 child poverty target, the PMS said that there were no plans to abandon the 2010 target.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:54" post_name="child-poverty-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Child Poverty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5437" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5437" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that energy companies were doing enough to help low income households, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister said something about this at Prime Minister's Questions a couple of weeks ago and, as we had repeatedly said, Ministers were naturally concerned about the effects that energy price rises had on businesses and especially on vulnerable customers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that compulsory action from the Government was needed, the PMS said that the Prime Minister and Government had repeatedly made clear their concerns about the effects of high fuel prices on vulnerable customers. The PMS added that he would not pre-empt whatever the Chancellor may or may not say in his Budget.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:53" post_name="energy-companies-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Energy Companies" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5438" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5438" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a Commonwealth Day message, the PMS replied that he was sure he did and that we would circulate one to those people who were interested.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:52" post_name="commonwealth-day" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Commonwealth Day" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5439" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5439" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how Lord Goldsmith's report would be produced, the PMS replied that, for guidance, journalists should not anticipate any substantial Government response to this tomorrow. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why there would be no response, the PMS said that there would be lots of interesting proposals in the report which would then no doubt provoke a debate. The Government would consider its exact response in the light of that debate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government commissioned the review, the PMS said that we did not always immediately come out and give a definitive Government response every time there was a review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government did put out responses if they agreed with the report, the PMS said that he did not think that this was necessarily the case; there were some aspects in relation to citizenship from Lord Goldsmith's review that, for example, helped to inform the Earned Citizenship White Paper that we published a couple of weeks ago.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:51" post_name="lord-goldsmith" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Lord Goldsmith" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5440" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5440" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about leaks regarding the Budget, the PMS replied that there was always speculation at this time of the Budget process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister bemoaned the fact that leaks at the Treasury had got worse since he left, the PMS said that he would let the journalist be a judge of that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:50" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:50" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:50" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:50" post_name="budget-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Budget" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5441" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5441" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with the way the consultation of Heathrow was carried out, the PMS replied yes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:49" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:49" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:49" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:49" post_name="heathrow-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Heathrow" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5442" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/10/5442" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any meetings planned regarding the weather conditions, the PMS said that there was nothing specific planned at the moment but obviously this was a fast-moving situation and if that were to change we would let people know.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14959.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-10 11:00:48" post_date_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:48" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-10 11:00:48" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-10 10:00:48" post_name="weather" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Weather " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5443" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5443" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that it was a slightly shorter Cabinet than usual; there would be another meeting of Cabinet tomorrow to discuss the Budget.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The main items discussed at Cabinet that morning had been the environment, on the back of a presentation by Hilary Benn, a brief look ahead to the European Council from David Miliband and an update on Northern Ireland from Shaun Woodward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on what was said on the environment at Cabinet, the PMS said that it was an opportunity for the Cabinet to be updated by Hilary Benn on what the main issues were, going forward, so it was quite a wide-ranging discussion. The Government had recently introduced the Climate Change Bill; we now had the Independent Climate Committee up and running, with Lord Turner appointed. One of the issues that the committee would be looking at would be the setting of carbon budgets and this had implications for other departments, so that was the main gist of the discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what was discussed in regards to the European Council, the PMS said that it was really a brief intervention from the Foreign Secretary, just to outline what the issues were, which were principally around the economy and the environment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long Cabinet had gone on for, the PMS said that Cabinet had met for about 40 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-20" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5444" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5444" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought it would help schemes such as the National Enterprise Academy if the rate of corporation tax for small businesses was cut, the PMS replied that the Government had made a lot of changes to the tax system since 1997, which had had a significant impact on promoting enterprise. As people would recall, last years Budget involved a major simplification of the tax system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;What the National Enterprise Academy was about, was addressing some of the cultural issues and education issues in relation to enterprise. It was one part of a much wider strategy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:57" post_name="corporation-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Corporation Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5445" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5445" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on teenagers swearing an oath of allegiance to the Queen, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's view was that he very much welcomed Lord Goldsmith's review of Citizenship; it had a number of interesting proposals in it, including this one and no doubt there would be a debate about all these issues. In general the Prime Minister thought it was a good issue to have a debate about, he had consistently said both before he became Prime Minister and subsequently, that we needed to do more to entrench the notion of Britishness in British society.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Of course, people would have different views on specific, individual proposals, but what Lord Goldsmith was setting out today was quite a wide range of proposals which would form the basis of a debate going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister thought this would go down in Scotland where there had been claims that it was just a pet project of the Prime Ministers, the PMS replied that he would not describe trying to forge a greater sense of British identity as a pet project. The Prime Minister considered it to be a very important issue for the Government of the United Kingdom.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the process would take, the PMS said that there would be a discussion led primarily by the Minister of Justice, Jack Straw. There had already been a lot of different opinions expressed this morning and it seemed to have sparked a lively debate. It would be best to check with the Ministry of Justice on the exact timetable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the SNP was opposed to the whole notion of Britishness, the PMS said that as he understood it, the comments from Scotland were in relation to specific proposals, not necessarily the underlying principles that Lord Goldsmith was trying to address. As the PMS had said, the Prime Minister had a lot of sympathy for the underlying objectives of the Lord Goldsmith Review. On specific proposals there was bound to be a debate and different people would have different views.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:56" post_name="citizenship-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Citizenship" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5446" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5446" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought today's recommendations were a step in the right direction, the PMS said that as we had consistently made clear, the Prime Minister would welcome any step towards greater transparency of MP's expenses. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister should voluntarily publish a full breakdown of his own expenses, the PMS said that that was not the Prime Minister's decision to make; it was a matter for the House authorities. The Government could not start making one-off initiatives of this kind. There was an overall decision that needed to be taken by the House authorities, they were responsible for decisions in relation to publishing MP's expenses and they had made a welcome step forward this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that such a gesture would show leadership by the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had set out his views quite clearly in the letter he had sent to the Speaker a couple of weeks ago.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:55" post_name="mps-expenses-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5447" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5447" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed that judges and magistrates had overacted to high profile cases when it came to sentencing, the PMS said that Lord Phillips was proposing new sentencing guidelines that had been circulated in recent days. Sentencing in individual cases was a matter for the courts and was for judges to decide.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:54" post_name="sentencing" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sentencing" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5448" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5448" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the waxwork situation, the PMS said we had always been very clear about the situation and were slightly baffled by some of the reports yesterday. As the letter we had released to the media made clear, we received a request from Madam Tussauds just last week for the Prime Minister to pose for an exhibit in Madam Tussauds. The PMS added that this wasn't something that the Prime Minister had given more than a seconds thought to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was going to do it, the PMS said that we received lots of general requests, so we would consider it and give a response at some point. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14971.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 10:00:53" post_name="madam-tussauds" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Madam Tussauds" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5449" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5449" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to give a sense of how much input the Prime Minister had on this Budget, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that obviously the Prime Minister had been consulted, as you would expect, but no more or no less than any other Government announcement of this significance.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was a new tradition that the Prime Minister spoke to the Chancellor about the Budget, the PMS replied that he had no idea what the questioner was getting at. The Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor, obviously used to consult with his predecessor as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that according to Derek Scott the then Prime Minister used to say &amp;amp;quot;give us a clue Gordon&amp;amp;quot;, the PMS replied that he would not necessarily say that that was the most definitive or authoritative account of the relationship between the previous Chancellor and the previous Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any book he could steer them towards, the PMS replied he was sure there would be plenty of books published that future historians would be able to pore over.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14974.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 15:45:58" post_name="budget-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Budget" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5450" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/11/5450" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the possibility of introducing a Britishness Bank Holiday, the PMS replied that our general position on the Goldsmith Review, as we said this morning, was that the Prime Minister was very sympathetic to the underlying principles of the Goldsmith Review. He thought it was important that we did more as a country to strengthen the sense of Britishness in British society. Lord Goldsmith had put forward a number of very interesting proposals, and obviously there would be a debate about this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when we could expect the debate to come to a conclusion, the PMS replied that it was a debate that was ongoing, so for example a lot of the underlying principles of the Goldsmith Review were reflected in the Government's proposals on earned citizenship that was published a couple of weeks ago. There would not necessarily be a point in the future at which we would say that the debate was now finished, he was sure that it would be an ongoing debate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to be more specific on a Britishness day, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought it was an interesting proposal, but as with any Bank Holiday we also had to look at the impacts on the business and the economy as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about calls for an extra Bank Holiday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought there would be a debate about these things, and that we needed to do more to strengthen the sense of Britishness in society, but clearly we also had to take into account the considerations of the business community as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether it was appropriate to take into account the Americans as well when drafting the review, as Michael Chertoff was quoted in the index as one of the contributors, the PMS replied that of course we were going to look at how other countries promote citizenship and sense of national purpose in their countries as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister considered taking the day off as the embodiment of Britishness, the PMS replied that there would be a debate about all of these matters and we would consider the journalist's question a contribution to the debate.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14974.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-11 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-11 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-11 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-11 15:45:57" post_name="britishness" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Britishness" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5451" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/12/5451" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that Cabinet had lasted about 45 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Alistair Darling presented the main elements of the Budget to Cabinet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said that the background to this year's Budget was the difficult situation in the world economy. The problems in world financial markets had resulted in the intervention from central banks yesterday. The US economy was facing particular difficulties and the oil price was now over $100 a barrel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He emphasised that Britain remained well-placed to deal with these difficult economic circumstances: inflation was low, which had enabled the Bank of England to cut interest rates; public sector debt was low by both historical and international standards; growth remained resilient, with Britain the fastest growing economy in the G7 last year; and unemployment was at a record low.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This contrasted with significant global downturns in the past when high inflation had meant interest rates had to be kept high, high borrowing meant public spending had to be cut, and weak growth meant unemployment had risen significantly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;He said that the priorities for the Budget were to act responsibly and maintain economic stability, address the challenge of climate change, and provide targeted support for hard-working families.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to describe the atmosphere in Cabinet that morning, the PMS said that there was strong support for Alistair Darling for the responsible approach that he was taking and for his intention to do everything possible to maintain stability in Britain in these difficult times for the world economy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a clue on how long the Chancellor's statement would be, the PMS replied that it was market sensitive information.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page14988.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-12 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-12 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-12 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-12 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-21" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5452" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/13/5452" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister Spokesman (PMS) started by telling assembled journalists that the Prime Minister was currently in the PES meeting and that the main Council session would start at approximately 1815 local time. The main items on the agenda were climate change, the Lisbon agenda and energy issues. On climate change in particular, the Prime Minister had given an interview on the train to Brussels on reduced rate of VAT on green products.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would have a more optimistic message on the European economy than the Finnish and Estonian Prime Ministers, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was that the fundamentals of the economy in Britain and Europe remained sound, but that there was no room for complacency. We had to remain vigilant to risks and we needed to continue to discuss these issues both at an EU level and a wider international level.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked, in regard to VAT, who else apart from the French was supporting our zero ratings, the PMS replied that there was no question of us agreeing to anything that risked our zero rates of VAT. However, that was not where the debate was at the moment; in our view the debate had moved on from where it had been several years ago when those kinds of issues were being discussed. The Prime Minister's view, as he had said in his interview, was that taking action to deal with climate change was about putting the right incentives in place and was about, on occasion and where necessary, reducing taxes. We did have support from the French on this and it was something the Commission was looking at. It would be something that the Prime Minister would want to discuss further with European colleagues while he was here in Brussels and in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was alarmed about the Solana report on climate change, the PMS replied that we welcomed this report; it was an important part of the debate and the process of going forward. The Prime Minister's view was that it was important to develop a better understanding of the implications of climate change for European, foreign and security interests. This report helped to identify that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the UK's position was on President Sarkozy's Mediterranean Union, the PMS replied that our general position was that we welcomed an EU role in supporting enhanced regional cooperation in the Mediterranean. The Barcelona Process provided a basis on which to build. Of course, we would have to look at the details of how it would operate in practice, and clearly it would need to involve all European member states.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for details of the Prime Minister's talks with the Spanish Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was at the PES meeting with the Spanish Prime Minister at the moment; they would want to have a separate word away from that in the margins. It would be the first time that they have spoken face to face following Mr Zapatero's successful election, however they had spoken on the phone earlier in the week. There was nothing more to say at the moment as the meeting was taking place.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was worried about the EU backsliding regarding commitment on climate change targets, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought it was very important that the European Union stuck to the commitments it had previously entered into and one of the things he was doing today was setting out some constructive and practical proposals for how we might deliver those objectives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be pursuing the subject of energy liberalisation with the French and German leaders, the PMS said that, as journalists knew, the Prime Minister was strongly supportive of the objective of completing the single market in energy; having a competitive, integrated and transparent EU single energy market was not only in the interests of all the EU consumers but was also a key element of EU energy security. The Prime Minister was of course going to continue to argue for liberalisation of the EU energy market.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any proposals for any new EU sanctions against Sudan, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had answered questions on this yesterday at PMQs; as he had said then, he believed that we must strengthen sanctions against the Government of Sudan and this should include military sanctions for the whole of Sudan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Northern Rock would be discussed at Brussels, the PMS said that he was not aware of any planned talks; this was a matter for the Treasury and there was an established process for discussion between the Treasury and the European Commission. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15027.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-13 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-13 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:58" post_name="european-councileuropean-issues" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Council/European Issues" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5453" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/13/5453" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the report into MEPs' expenses should be made public, the PMS replied that, as the Prime Minister said frequently in a domestic context, it was important that action was taken to increase transparency but this was really a matter for the European Parliament. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15027.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-13 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-13 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:57" post_name="mps-expenses-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5454" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/13/5454" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Peter Mandelson about his future as the European Commissioner, the PMS said that the Prime Minister believed that Mr Mandelson has been a very good Commissioner. The PMS went on to say that journalists would not expect him to comment on the Prime Minister's private conversations and it was still early days in terms of thinking about who the next British Commissioner should be. In any case, as journalists were aware, Mr Mandelson had already said publicly that he did not want to serve a further second term.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put repeatedly that Peter Mandelson had recently changed his mind, the PMS replied that the most recent, on the record comment that he was aware of from Mr Mandelson, suggested that he did not want to serve a second term. As the PMS had said, he was not going to get into private conversations that the Prime Minister had and it was still very early days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that Mr Mandelson did not want to serve a second term, the PMS said that Mr Mandelson had said that publicly himself.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the last time the Prime Minister and Peter Mandelson had spoken was, the PMS said that the last time they had spoken, as far as he was aware, had been a couple of weeks ago when the Prime Minister had been in Brussels.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister had welcomed Peter Mandelson's change of mind, the PMS said that there had been some unattributed remarks in some papers but he had not seen anything on the record from anybody. We would not get into the business of commenting on private conversations.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister would presumably be happy for Peter Mandelson to serve another term as he had said he was a good Commissioner, the PMS said that the Prime Minister did believe that Mr Mandelson has been a very good Commissioner, but it was still very early days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to characterise the relationship between the Prime Minister and Mr Mandelson these days, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had a very constructive relationship with Mr Mandelson.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister intended to have any talks with Peter Mandelson today, the PMS replied that he was sure Mr Mandelson would be present at the meetings and if they had an opportunity they would talk in the margins, but there was nothing planned.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15027.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-13 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-13 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:56" post_name="peter-mandelson-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Mandelson" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5455" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/13/5455" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had anything to say about incapacity benefits and concerns that changes in the Budget may be unfair, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that it was very important that we did everything possible to support those people who were able to work, to get into work; James Purnell was talking about this in the House of Commons right now so there was nothing to add to what he was saying.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15027.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-13 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-13 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:55" post_name="incapacity-benefit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Incapacity Benefit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5456" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/13/5456" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Government's position on having US air marshals on transatlantic flights, the PMS said that the position had been set out by the Department for the Transport and that journalists should refer to that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15027.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-13 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-13 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-13 10:00:54" post_name="air-marshals-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Air Marshals" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5457" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5457" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be meeting the Dalai Lama, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that he did not have anything to add to what he had said this morning. It was still quite early in terms of the exact arrangements for the Dalai Lama's visit and no decision had yet been taken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that when former Prime Minister's had met the Dalai Lama in the past it was as a spiritual leader and not the leader of a nation, the PMS replied that the Dalai Lama was an important spiritual leader and Government representatives had met him in the past. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15074.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:58" post_name="the-dalai-lama" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="The Dalai Lama" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5458" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5458" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Bank of England had just spent &amp;pound;5billion to support the liquidity of financial institutions, the PMS said that he did not think that they had spent &amp;pound;5billion. They had injected that amount into the money markets; clearly it was a loan and it was secured, so they could reasonably think that they would get their money back.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As the Prime Minister had said in his statement, in line with other central banks, the Bank of England had taken this action today. We would not be commenting on the specific action itself, but as the Prime Minister had also said, we would continue to do whatever was necessary in order to maintain stability in the economy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people should be troubled that the markets had continued to tumble, the PMS said that he would not comment on day-by-day market movements and neither would people expect him to. As the Prime Minister had been saying in his statement, we would continue to take whatever action was necessary to maintain economic stability and that our economy was resilient and the fundamentals of the economy remained strong.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had had a conversation with President Bush about the current economic situation, the PMS replied that we were in close contact with the US Government and other major economies, as people would expect. Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Mervyn King today, the PMS said that he wouldn't normally be expected to get into the Prime Minister's specific conversations with named individuals, but there had been close cooperation between the Treasury, the Bank of England and the Financial Services Authority.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Chancellor's letter, the PMS said that it was his understanding that the Treasury would be making the text of the letter available this afternoon. Essentially, what the letter did was to set out the discussions that had been taking place at a European level, most recently at the European Council. We also had detailed discussions when the leaders of the four G7 European countries plus the European Commission met in January and outlined some of the steps going forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether people could expect decisions on these matters, as people seemed to have been talking about things for a long time, the PMS advised people to speak to the Treasury. A lot of the issues were detailed and very technical. It was being taken forward in the G7 as well as the Financial Stability Forum and by financial regulators as well. It was quite a broad range of measures being talked about and each specific proposal was taken forward on its own specific timetable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15074.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:57" post_name="economy-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5459" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5459" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister and Mr Mandelson had had any discussions while the Prime Minister was in Brussels, the PMS replied that they did not have an opportunity to meet. They had a long and constructive meeting in Brussels just a couple of weeks ago and they talked regularly. Asked whether it was normal for the Prime Minister to visit a European Summit without speaking to the European Commissioner, the PMS explained that the meeting had been with Heads of Government. Individual Commissioners were not always necessarily in the room or even at the meeting. It depended entirely on what was on the agenda and what was being discussed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had not confirmed whether he would welcome Mr Mandelson to stay on for a second term, the PMS said that we had gone round that course several times last week. The Prime Minister had spoken on the subject and he had nothing further to add.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15074.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:56" post_name="peter-mandelson-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Peter Mandelson" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5460" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5460" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that the American deficit would be higher than the British deficit because we had taken the right action to deal with global economic turbulence and did the Prime Minister think that deficits were a good thing as it kept economies inflated, the PMS replied that we had fiscal rules that were defined over the economic cycle, so of course it was right that the deficit should go up at a time when the economy was slowing. This was built into the system and was meant to happen and that was one of the reasons why we had been able to maintain positive economic growth over the last decade.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister could potentially increase deficits to maintain economic stability, the PMS said that we had announced in the Budget an increased deficit. This was because the automatic stabilisers were working as they were supposed to work. In other words, when you experience an economic slowdown, it was entirely natural that there should be an increase in the deficit. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;That was why our fiscal rules were designed specifically over an economic cycle in order to enable that to happen. Asked if that would enable the UK to go beyond the deficits the Government had announced in the Budget, the PMS said that as and when there was a time to update, we would update them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister felt any need to revise the forecast offered by the Chancellor a couple of days ago, the PMS said that we should never be complacent; we always had to be vigilant to the risks. As part of the process by which the Treasury conducted these forecasts, they were based on deliberately cautious assumptions. The forecast used for the public finances was a quarter of a percent lower than the central forecast for economic growth.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15074.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:55" post_name="deficits" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Deficits" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5461" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5461" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Ed Balls had announced that 46 people working in schools at the moment had been found out to be sex offenders and what was the Prime Minister's view on the matter, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's view was that it was a matter for the relevant department who were dealing with it.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15074.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 15:45:54" post_name="misc-47" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5462" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5462" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if John McCain would be meeting the Prime Minister this week, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that John McCain was expected to be in London later this week, and the Prime Minister was expected to meet him, but we were not in a position to confirm the exact details at this point.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15077.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:58" post_name="john-mccain-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="John McCain" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5463" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5463" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to say more about the National Security Statement and in particular how a National Security Council would differ from ther National Security Cabinet Committee which currently existed, the PMS replied that it was better to wait until we made announcements before responding to them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister saw the National Security Strategy, the PMS replied that this was something the Prime Minister had been talking about since he became Prime Minister, and in fact prior to that. This was about bringing together bringing together all of the main agencies and departments of Government who had an interest and a role in relation to security issues in the broadest possible sense. We would be publishing the national Security Strategy alongside it - looking in a comprehensive way across Government about everything we did that impacted on national security.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15077.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:57" post_name="national-security-statement" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Security Statement" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5464" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5464" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a visual commemoration on the 5th anniversary of the Iraq war, the PMS replied that the Government did not have anything specific planned.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any statement on troop numbers, the PMS replied that as and when we were in a position to update on troop numbers, we would make that announcement. But the National Security Strategy on Wednesday was about something much broader.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the letter to the Fabian Society regarding an inquiry, and if it was the Prime Minister's view that as long as there were British soldiers in Iraq then there should not be an inquiry, the PMS replied that this gave him the opportunity to remind people that the letter itself did say that this Government had already acknowledged that there would come a time when it was appropriate to hold an inquiry, that was the position taken by the previous Prime Minister and the previous Foreign Secretary, and by this Prime Minister and this Foreign Secretary. So there was nothing new in the letter that was sent to the Fabian Society, it was nothing more than a statement of the existing Government position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify that there would be an inquiry, but it was not appropriate to do so whilst soldiers were in the front line in Iraq, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made clear, most recently in September last year in his press conference, that &amp;quot;there would be a time to discuss the issues you raise, but for the moment nothing has changed, the security and safety of our forces, and there are more than 5,000 people in Iraq, remain the first and foremost consideration&amp;quot;. This was his overriding priority.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15077.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:56" post_name="iraq-15" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5465" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5465" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the situation in Tibet, and had he spoken to any international leaders on this, the PMS replied that we were following with concern recent unrest in Tibet, as well as related incidents in India and Nepal, and had called on the Chinese authorities to exercise restraint. We had been discussing this matter with EU partners and the EU would be issuing a statement during the course of today. Bilaterally we had registered our concern on a daily basis with both the Chinese Government in Beijing and the Chinese Embassy in London.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that our reaction was rather muted compared to how we reacted to events in Burma last year, and was this because we did not want to upset diplomatic and trade relations with China, the PMS replied that we were taking this issue very seriously. We were raising it on a daily basis with the Chinese authorities, and we were concerned about what was being reported from Lhasa. Obviously it was difficult at the moment to establish what the full facts were.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Dalai Lama visits London, in what guise would he meet the Prime Minister, as a foreign leader or as a religious leader, the PMS replied that issues relating to the Dalai Lama's visit were still at very early stages. At the moment we were focusing all our efforts on the current situation in Tibet, we were registering our concerns with the Chinese authorities, and this was not the time to deal with particular arrangements relating to the Dalai Lama's visit to the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked at what level contacts with the Chinese had been made, officials or Ministers, the PM replied that it was best to check with the Foreign Office on that, but there had been contact between both the British Embassy in Beijing and the Chinese Government, and with the Chinese Embassy here in London.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been in contact with his counterpart, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was being kept closely informed of the situation in relation to Tibet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was having second thoughts about going to Beijing later this year, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not having second thoughts.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15077.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:55" post_name="tibet" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tibet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5466" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5466" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been taking an interest in what was going on in Wall Street, and was he involved actively in monitoring how world markets were reacting, the PMS replied of course, as you would expect. In particular the tripartite authorities here in the UK, the Bank of England, the Treasury, and the Financial Services Authority, had been in close contact with their US counterparts over the weekend and were continuing to closely monitor developments in the markets. On the more general issue of stability and international financial markets, this was an issue that was discussed extensively at the European Council meeting on Thursday and Friday last week, and the Prime Minister would be updating the house on where those discussions got to this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what follow up there had been to the meeting here earlier this year, the PMS replied that the follow up to that meeting was that these issues were discussed first of all by ECOFIN, and then more generally by the European Council. They were also being discussed with the G7, and no doubt would be continue to be discussed going forward. But the Prime Minister would be updating the House on all of these matters this afternoon. He would be talking more generally about the discussions that took place at the European Council meeting where the broader question of stability and international financial markets was mentioned and discussed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had discussed this with his predecessor who was now an advisor to JP Morgan, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister talked regularly with his predecessor, but we wouldn't normally comment on the content of those discussions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15077.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:54" post_name="financial-markets" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Financial Markets" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5467" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/17/5467" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the sale of British Energy, and why after the Government had always said that it would keep a strategic stake, had we changed our mind, the PMS replied that British Energy was now in a formal offer period under the Takeover Code. BERR had issued a statement this morning, and there was nothing further that he could add.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15077.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-17 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-17 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-17 10:00:53" post_name="british-energy" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="British Energy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5468" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5468" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anything more to add to what was said in the morning's lobby about the National Security Strategy, the Prime Minister's Spokesman said that there was not much more that he could add to what he had already said. In general terms the background to this was that we were facing an uncertain international landscape with new security challenges. We faced a new terrorist threat of a different scale and nature. We continued to face the threat of nuclear weapons, however we also faced new forms of attack such as electronic attacks and increasing risks such as pandemics. There was also a deeper understanding needed of how issues such as climate change and energy demand effected our national security. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The context of the statement tomorrow was that the issues, which were once local, national or regional, were now global; twenty years ago the terrorist threat came principally from the IRA and the nuclear threat came from the Soviet Union, however we now faced a loose affiliation of terrorist groups and networks spanning the globe. We also saw how failed states such as Afghanistan or regional tensions such as those in the Middle East affected our national security. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The statement tomorrow would set out for the first time, in a comprehensive way, how the different agencies and departments of Government were working together to meet these challenges and were using all of the resources available to meet these challenges. This included the role of the military, the police and the security services; the role of diplomacy and cultural connections; the role of the global institutions and also the power of ideas. That was the general context for tomorrow's statement. It would be a statement from the Prime Minister in the House of Commons at 1230 and the National Security Document would be published alongside the statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a new National Security Council could be expected, the PMS replied that we already had the National Security Committee, formed in July, which brought together all of the main departments and agencies within Government in order to look at the security issues we faced.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be announcing any structural changes, the PMS replied that the National Security Committee would continue but he was not in a position to pre-empt the statement. However, we would always look to see what further support and advisory structures we could put in place in order to supplement what we already had.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the COBRA structure would remain the same, the PMS said that we had no plans to change the COBRA structure.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would rate the threats in anyway, the PMS said that the National Security Strategy would set out what the main threats were so it was best to wait for that. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the new set up would involve the devolved administrations, the PMS replied that we had very close cooperation regarding counter terrorism with the devolved administrations, as we saw with the security issues at Glasgow airport last July, and we were sure that that close cooperation would continue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be anything about resources in the strategy, the PMS said that the Comprehensive Spending Review had dealt with the main resource issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the pandemic threat mentioned previously referred to illness pandemics, the PMS replied yes; we faced increasing risks which were different to those we had faced in the past.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the paper would be descriptive rather than concentrating on policy changes, the PMS replied that it was more about bringing together, in a comprehensive way, how the different parts of Government were collaborating in order to meet the new national security challenges we faced.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that he, or any other future Prime Minister, should retain chairmanship of any security committee or if there was scope for a new Cabinet role, the PMS said that we should wait and see, however we had announced the new National Security Committee, which the Prime Minister chaired, just a few months ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the idea was to have an annual statement on security and if that was what happened in America, the PMS said that that was the anticipation and that we had a British solution to deal with issues that effected Britain.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why it was decided that this strategy was needed now, the PMS said that it was due to the fact that we faced different threats to the ones we faced ten or twenty years ago and those threats were complex so therefore required complex solutions to deal with them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be operational changes, the PMS replied that this was predominantly about how Government structures were working in order to meet the security threats we faced.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had asked Gus O'Donnell to look at how intelligence was presented and how the Intelligence and Security Committee was responsibe to Parliament and asked if this would be covered in the strategy, the PMS said that that general territory would be part of the sorts of issues that the Prime Minister would be talking about tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15098.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:58" post_name="national-security-strategy-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Security Strategy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5469" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5469" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the economy was discussed at Cabinet this morning, the PMS said that they had discussed the state of the economy and that this had already been raised at this morning's lobby. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the report regarding sustainable development criteria had come up at Cabinet, the PMS replied that, as was said this morning, the report identified where the Government was making good progress. For example, 23% of Government electricity came from renewable resources and 35% of our waste was recycled. However, the Government, like all individuals, the private sector and everybody in the economy, needed to do more if we were to reach the CO2 reduction targets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any particular reason why this morning's Cabinet was political, the PMS said there was no specific reason; there were political Cabinet meetings from time to time and this was such a time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15098.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:57" post_name="cabinet-22" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5470" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5470" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any thoughts about the death of Mr Minghella, the PMS read the following statement from the Prime Minister:&lt;/p&gt;&lt;blockquote&gt;&lt;p&gt;&amp;quot;I was deeply saddened to be told of Anthony's death. My thoughts are with his wife, Carolyn, his children Max and Hannah, and his other family and friends. He was one of Britain's greatest creative talents, one of our finest screenwriters and directors, a great champion of the British film industry, and an expert on literature and opera. I counted him as a great friend, as did Sarah and our family. He will be deeply missed, but his contribution to British culture will be remembered for many years to come.&amp;quot;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;/blockquote&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15098.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:56" post_name="anthony-minghella" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Anthony Minghella" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5471" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5471" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the economy had been discussed during the Prime Minister's meeting with Nancy Pelosi, the PMS said that the main issues they discussed were climate change, the international institutions, financial stability and the global economy. The discussion regarding the economy was mostly around what was happening in the US and the US stimulus package that Congress had approved, as well as the Prime Minister updating them on what was happening in Britain and Europe.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15098.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 15:45:55" post_name="nancy-pelosi" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Nancy Pelosi" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5472" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5472" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press what had been discussed in Cabinet that morning, including the National Security Strategy ahead of the Prime Minister's statement tomorrow; there was an update from the Chancellor on economic issues and there was also an update from Ruth Kelly and Hilary Benn on the Sustainable Development Commission annual report on the Government's own sustainability.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15097.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-23" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5473" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5473" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Chancellor updated Cabinet on his discussions yesterday and over the weekend with the US Treasury Secretary, Hank Paulson, the Governor of the Bank of England and the Chairman of the Financial Services Authority. He explained that we were working with authorities here and internationally and doing all we could to maintain stability and growth in the face of continued global turbulence.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Chancellor said that because of the resilience of the UK economy, our low debt, unemployment and inflation, we were well placed to deal with the current global financial turbulence and that the fundamentals of the UK economy remained strong. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Chancellor wrote to members of the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the G7 and the Financial Stability Forum yesterday to call for agreement on coordinated international action on transparency and disclosure, better risk management and action on credit rating agencies when the G7 and the IMF met in April.&lt;br /&gt;Later today the Chancellor would be meeting Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the Managing Director of the IMF. He was in London to discuss the current situation and the Government's proposals for dealing with these issues at the forthcoming IMF meetings in Washington.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the economic discussions in Cabinet had lasted, the PMS said they had lasted for about 15 minutes and the Cabinet meeting in total was around 50 minutes. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any discussions with President Bush or other world leaders on the economic situation, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister had lengthy discussions with his European counterparts in Brussels at the end of last week. We were in close contact with the US and others and the Chancellor had been speaking to Hank Paulson, the US Treasury Secretary.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15097.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:57" post_name="economy-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5474" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5474" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Chancellor's statement on Northern Rock and what it would contain, the PMS replied that it had already been issued.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether Northern Rock was mentioned in Cabinet and what the Prime Minister was doing for the thousands of people in the North East who could lose their jobs, the PMS said that Northern Rock was mentioned in Cabinet in the context of wider action that was being taken in order to deal with the global financial issues that were affecting every economy. In relation to Northern Rock jobs, as the Chancellor had said in his statement this morning, the Chief Executive of the Regional Development Agency had been asked to lead the Government's response.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;One North East had already begun constructive discussions with Northern Rock and would work with local authorities, Job Centre Plus, Business Link North East, the Learning Skills Council and Northern Rock's management to coordinate the Government's support for those involved. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a message for Northern Rock workers, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's message was that we were taking action in order to deliver stability in the economy and we were asking the Chief Executive of the Regional Development Agency to coordinate and work with the agencies that the PMS had listed, in order to coordinate support for those affected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister still stood by his assessment that the taxpayer could make a profit form the Northern Rock business plan, the PMS said that he did not think that that was an issue for today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15097.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:56" post_name="northern-rock-31" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5475" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5475" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the National Security Strategy would cover, the PMS said that the broad context was that the international security situation was changing; the nature of the security threat we were facing was quite different from what it was 20 years ago or even 10 years ago. The Government's response needed to change to reflect that and what we would be doing in the National Security Strategy would be to set out in a coherent way, how all of the various agencies and departments of Government were working collectively to deal with the new challenges we faced.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who led the discussions on the subject in Cabinet, the PMS replied that David Miliband, Jacqui Smith and Des Browne led the discussion.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15097.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:55" post_name="national-security-strategy-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Security Strategy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5476" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5476" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the report had said, the PMS replied that it had pointed out that the Government had made good progress. 23% of Government electricity came from renewable sources, 35% of waste was recycled, but clearly there was more that could be done. Asked if it had been published, the PMS said it was his understanding that it had been published.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15097.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:54" post_name="sustainable-development-report" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sustainable Development Report" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5477" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/18/5477" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Iraq came up in Cabinet, the PMS said only in passing when the National Security Strategy was being discussed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would be meeting the Dalai Lama in Downing Street, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had answered that question numerous times during the course of the debate yesterday and he had nothing to add to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be discussing with the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh, the PMS said they would be discussing climate change, counter-terrorism, where we had been working with Bangladesh and development issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister and Nancy Pelosi would be discussing, the PMS said that he imagined they would be discussing a wide range of issues. When they met last July, they discussed among other things, climate change, trade and the world economy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15097.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-18 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-18 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-18 10:00:53" post_name="misc-48" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5478" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5478" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister meeting with the Dalai Lama, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that as the Prime Minister said in PMQs earlier today, he spoke to the Chinese Prime Minister Mr Wen this morning. As we had been saying earlier in the week we had been speaking to both the Chinese Embassy in London and our Embassy had been speaking to the Chinese Government in Beijing on a daily basis since the trouble broke out in Tibet towards the end of last week. As the Prime Minister said, Mr Wen reiterated the commitment he had made to dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama as long as the Dalai Lama was clear that he respected that Tibet was part of China, and that he did not condone violence - and the Dalai Lama agreed with both of those two points. So in principle we think that there is a possibility of a resumption of dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama, which is something that we and the rest of the world would like to see.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister told Premier Wen that he would be meeting the Dalai Lama and what was the response, the PMS replied that it was for the Chinese to speak on behalf of Premier Wen, but the Prime Minsiter did say to the Chinese Prime Minister that he would be meeting the Dalai Lama.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that when Chancellor Merkel met with the Dalai Lama, there was a freezing in relations between Germany and China and were we not concerned that similar would happen, the PMS replied that we had a good and constructive relationship with China, and we hoped that this good and constructive relationship would enable both sides to raise difficult issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Dalai Lama would be met as the leader of Tibet, or as a spiritual leader, the PMS replied that he would be met as a spiritual leader.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary had both visited China recently, and asked if it was right to assume that Britain was now able to exert considerable influence on China having built up such good relations, the PMS replied that we wanted a good and constructive relationship with China. The Prime Minister attached a great deal of importance to his visit to China because of the importance that he attached to the bilateral relationship with China. But as part of that of course we would be prepared to raise difficult issues as appropriate, in a mature way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what changed the Prime Minister's position on meeting the Dalai Lama, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary's view was that the priority during this period of tension in Tibet was to ensure that we kept all of the focus on urging restraint on both sides so that a peaceful resolution could be found. We had been in discussion with the Chinese, the Prime Minister had spoken to the Chinese Prime Minister, and in light of those developments the Prime Minister now felt that it was the right time to confirm that he would be meeting the Dalai Lama.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we accepted that Prime Minister Wen has said that he did not accept that Dalai Lama thinks that Tibet should be a part of China, the PMS replied that as Wen Jiabao said in his press conference as recently as the 18th March, the door of dialogue was still open to the Dalai Lama so long as he gives up the position of Tibet's independence and so long as he recognised Tibet and Taiwan as inalienable of the Chinese territory. The Dalai Lama had also said that he was not calling for an independent Tibet, so we think the conditions are in place for a resumption of dialogue between the Chinese authorities and the Dalai Lama and his representatives, and this was something that we would like to see.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we now agreed with the French Foreign Secretary that there was now a case for not attending the Olympic opening ceremony, the PMS replied that our position in relation to the Olympics had not changed, and we did not support a boycott of the Olympics.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Dalai Lama would be coming to London, the PMS replied that he thought this would be in early May.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was still the Prime Minister's plan to attend the closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympics, the PMS replied that this was correct.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15128.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:58" post_name="tibet-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tibet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5479" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5479" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chiefs of Staff had been &amp;quot;kitted up&amp;quot; and in to see the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that if this referred to the piece in the Evening Standard, we did not recognise that story. The Ministry of Defence was currently focused on a planning round to make sure that resources are allocated in line with defence priorities. Such reviews were carried out every two years or so, this was a perfectly routine process and it was not unusual for stories of this nature to appear when such discussions were underway.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chiefs of Staff had been in to see the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was in regular contact and regularly met with the Chiefs of Staff as people would expect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if they were in uniform, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister regularly met with the Chiefs of Staff, and he was sure he would be happy to meet them however they were dressed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was true that two senior officials from the Army had threatened to resign over this, the PMS replied that we did not recognise the story in the Evening Standard today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15128.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:57" post_name="defence" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Defence" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5480" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5480" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the story of a Cabinet split over Government cars, the PMS replied that as he said this morning when asked the question, over the last two years the Government Car Agency had moved to greener cars resulting in a 30% reduction in average emissions from Government cars. We would now accelerate the pace of transition to low-emissions vehicles, but of course we would have to take into account operational and security requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a Minister wanted to drive a British car, would he be allowed to, the PMS replied that we had to take into security and operational requirements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if an &amp;quot;expendable&amp;quot; Cabinet Minister would be allowed to choose a British car, the PMS replied that these things were looked at on a case by case basis depending on the security and operational requirements.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15128.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:56" post_name="government-cars" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Government Cars" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5481" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5481" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the FSA investigation into whether people had been deliberately spreading rumours and shortening stock, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought this was a matter for the FSA.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15128.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:55" post_name="fsa" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="FSA" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5482" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5482" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what role the Prime Minister envisaged for the National Security Forum and when the new members would be appointed, the PMS replied that we hoped to appoint new members shortly. The role of the National Security Forum, as the Prime Minister said in his statement today, was to advise the recently constituted National Security Committee. At the moment there were a number of experts that were consulted informally by the relevant people in the Cabinet Office and elsewhere, and we wanted to put that onto a more systematic footing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why we needed a forum as well as a committee, the PMS replied that the committee was comprised of the people who take decisions and were responsible for protecting the public, and included the Prime Minister, Defence Secretary, Foreign Secretary, as well as senior members of the police and the agencies. A forum was the advisory body - they were the experts, but not the people who were accountable or responsible for taking the decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why none of the counter terrorist intelligence units were based in Scotland, the PMS replied that these were operational matters for the police and others. As we said yesterday, there was very close cooperation between the UK government between the devolved administrations on counter-terrorism matters, as we saw in July.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15128.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 15:45:54" post_name="national-security-strategy-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="National Security Strategy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5483" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5483" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would be marking the fifth anniversary of the war in Iraq, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Government had no specific plans to do so, although he was sure that the Prime Minister would mention the situation in Iraq among other things, in his statement to the House at 1230.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's thinking was behind not marking the anniversary when it had instigated a campaign to get more respect and attention paid to the armed forces, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was that the armed forces were doing an excellent job and that was something the Prime Minister would be prepared to say on any particular day.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15127.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:58" post_name="iraq-16" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5484" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5484" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister had a view on whether Cabinet cars should be British made, the PMS replied that as people knew from the document published yesterday, over the last two years the Government Car Agency had consistently shifted to greener cars. That had led to a 30% reduction in emissions from cars that are run by the agency. As we had said in the document, we will now accelerate the pace of transition to low emission vehicles, taking into account operational and security requirements.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15127.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:57" post_name="government-cars-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Government Cars" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5485" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5485" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was still the Prime Minister's intention that there should be a whip vote on the issue, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had answered a question on the subject in PMQ's last week and he had nothing to add to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put repeatedly that there was still some confusion about what the Prime Minister had meant and was it the case that Labour MP's would be free to abstain from voting, the PMS said that the Chief Whip had been talking about this and had said something along those lines. As the Prime Minister had said last week, we were not at the point yet where this vote was due to happen imminently and the precise whipping arrangements would be a matter for the Whips nearer the time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15127.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:56" post_name="embryology-bill-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5486" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5486" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister and the Secretary General of NATO would be talking about in their meeting, the PMS said that they would want to talk about the main issues coming up at the NATO Summit in Bucharest, such as Afghanistan plus any wider issues on the NATO agenda.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15127.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:55" post_name="secretary-general-of-nato" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Secretary General of NATO" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5487" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/19/5487" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had read Charles Clarke's latest article, the PMS said he did not think the Prime Minister had had an opportunity to read it yet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a suggestion that the second reading of the Terrorism Bill was being delayed, the PMS said that he was not in a position to give people a date for the second reading.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government felt it had not got enough support for the bill and was delaying it for that reason, the PMS replied that what we were talking about was the second reading, rather than any subsequent individual clauses. These were matters for the business managers who would have to look at the constraints of the parliamentary timetable when making any decision on the timing of the introduction of any bills. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15127.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-19 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-19 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-19 10:00:54" post_name="misc-49" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5488" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/20/5488" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled journalists that Senator McCain had given a comprehensive press briefing following the meeting with the Prime Minister. They had had a wide-ranging and constructive discussion covering issues such as climate change, reform of the international institution and its development, the Middle East, the economy, Iraq and Afghanistan. The Prime Minister made clear, in particular, his commitment to the importance of the relationship with the United States, which he considered to be our most important bi-lateral relationship.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the meeting lasted, the PMS replied that it lasted for approximately 45 minutes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been a discussion concerning the continuing levels of British troops in Iraq and if the Prime Minister had any view on reducing troop numbers, the PMS replied that there was a general discussion of the situation in Iraq although they did not get into that particular issue. The Prime Minister had always been clear that he would be guided by military advice and conditions on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if military advice was that the current number of troops would remain in Iraq for the foreseeable future, the PMS said that as and when there was any update on that the MoD would make an announcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been talk of reductions in the Spring and that it was now Spring, the PMS replied that there was due to be another roulement later in the Spring, and in advance of that the MoD would make their detailed announcements. The key issue for the Prime Minister had always been that he should be guided by military advice and by conditions on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Des Browne had received the Army Chiefs' report last week and asked what would happen now, the PMS said that the journalist seemed to have quite a lot of detailed information about exactly what was going on inside the MoD; whether or not it was accurate remained to be seen. However, as and when the MoD was in a position to give an update it would.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared Senator McCain's recent concerns about Basra, the PMS replied that he did not have much to add to what Senator McCain had already said following the meeting, which was obviously an accurate description of what happened in the meeting where he praised the work and dedication of British troops in Iraq.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15132.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-20 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-20 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:58" post_name="senator-mccainiraq" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Senator McCain/Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5489" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/20/5489" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister could still meet with the Dalai Lama without causing an impact on our relationship with China, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been talking about this yesterday and that it had been gone over in detail during yesterday's lobby briefing, so there was nothing further to say.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister endorsed yesterday's views from Lord Malloch-Brown regarding Tibet and China, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had expressed his views regarding Tibet and China yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15132.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-20 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-20 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:57" post_name="chinatibet" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="China/Tibet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5490" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/20/5490" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared the concerns of some Bangladeshi restaurateurs regarding visa restrictions hampering their ability to recruit workers, the PMS replied that we were introducing a new points system for immigration and that would take into account skills needs and skills shortages.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had discussed this issue with the Chief Advisor of Bangladesh, the PMS replied that he would have to check.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15132.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-20 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-20 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:56" post_name="bangladeshi-restaurateurs" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bangladeshi Restaurateurs" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5491" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/20/5491" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would take onboard the Mayor's views regarding the closure of post offices, the PMS replied that, as the Prime Minister had said yesterday, difficult decisions had to be taken in relation to the post office, reflecting the fact that demand for postal services was changing. There needed to be some post office closures to ensure the financial integrity of the network as a whole. We had invested a significant amount of extra money into Royal Mail in recent years but operational decisions about exactly which post offices were effected was a matter for Royal Mail, not the Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government could agree to the Mayor's suggestions regarding airport expansions, the PMS replied that the journalist probably already knew the Prime Minister's position concerning the third runway and probably knew it when he asked the question. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would listen to the Mayor's views regarding nuclear power, the PMS replied that this was another question to which the journalist probably knew the answer.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15132.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-20 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-20 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:55" post_name="mayor-of-london" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Mayor of London" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5492" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/20/5492" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister took a view regarding city traders spreading malicious gossip, the PMS replied that the Financial Services Authority was conducting an investigation into that so there was nothing we could say at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister took a view regarding renaming the House of Lords as the Senate, the PMS said that there would be a White Paper on House of Lords reform, which was due before the summer recess, and it was best to wait for that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister appreciated the level of concern regarding the paedophile Raymond Horne, the PMS said that journalists would have seen the Home Office's statement on this this morning saying that he would be treated in accordance with standard procedures. The Home Office had said that they believed that this individual would be eligible for a notification order. The Sexual Offences Act, which was introduced in 2003, introduced this new civil order designed to ensure that those convicted of sex offences overseas were made to sign on the sex offenders' register on their return to the UK.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would discuss with the King of Bahrain, the PMS replied that they would discuss regional issues, Middle East and development matters.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15132.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-20 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-20 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-20 10:00:54" post_name="misc-50" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5493" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5493" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that the Prime Minister would accept MP's voting against the Government on the amendments but not on the bill as a whole, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that what the Government was doing was following the precedent set in 1990 with the original Human Fertilisation and Embryology Bill, where the then Government allowed free votes on the relevant controversial clauses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;For some reason there was no second reading, but on the third reading the vote was whipped by the then Government. As the Prime Minister had explained, this was an important piece of Government business; it was in the Queen's Speech and it was the Prime Minister's view that it was important that the bill as a whole was passed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was a wide-ranging bill that covered many issues in addition to the three particular clauses that raised issues of conscience for individual MP's. This was why, in relation to those individual clauses, there would be a free vote as the Prime Minister had announced. Following the 1990 precedent for the bill as a whole, a second and third reading stage would be treated as Government business.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that a member of the Government could not stay in the Government and vote against the third reading, the PMS replied that it would be treated as Government business in the normal way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister regretted not making this decision a little earlier, the PMS said that the outcome was entirely consistent with the position that the Prime Minister had taken throughout. We had always said that this would be treated as Government business but we would find a mechanism by which individual MP's could express their conscience and that was what we were doing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;It was the Prime Minister's view that it was important that nothing distracted us from the important substance of the bill. There was a lively debate underway about the bill and we had heard a lot from one side of the argument; no doubt we would hear a lot more from the other side of the argument too. The Prime Minister's personal view was that he supported the three clauses and he would be voting in favour of those clauses. He would be setting out his reasoning as to why he supported those clauses in a letter to Labour MP's later today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister recognised those Minister's and MP's who did have reasons to oppose those three clauses and wouldn't they be put in a very difficult position when it came to the third reading, the PMS said it was exactly the same situation that was faced in 1990 and we were dealing with it in the same way as the then Government had dealt with it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had made this announcement today knowing that any Cabinet colleagues who had reservations would be satisfied with it, the PMS said he did not want to get into the specifics of individuals, but as he had said this morning, the Prime Minister had been and wanted to consult colleagues before reaching a firm view. That had happened and it was worth bearing in mind we were still several months away from the actual vote-taking place on the bill. So in terms of the whipping arrangements being set out today, it was much earlier than would normally be the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister saw this as a special case or was there potential for setting a precedent, the PMS replied that the precedent had been set and we were following the previous precedent. Put that people felt strongly on the issue of 42 days detention and was there going to be free votes on other bills, the PMS replied that it was a different matter. There were clear precedents that had been set previously in relation to legislation that related to the creation of life and scientific research on embryos. Those precedents had been set previously and we were following those.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any other clauses or amendments in the bill that MP's would be given a free vote on, the PMS sad that the Prime Minister had set out a comprehensive position today and these were the three particular clauses that had raised most concern.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if MP's were allowed to absent themselves from the vote in 1990, the PMS said that he was sure the journalist had lots of people at his organisation that could do the research for him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister expected precedents set by a Conservative Government to be very convincing for Labour MP's, the PMS said that these were precedents set in relation to the passing of important issues that raised issues of conscience in the House of Commons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In general, it was quite different if it was Government legislation. A Government bill was introduced in the Queen's Speech and that was why it was important that it was whipped at the second and third reading stage.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15137.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:58" post_name="embryology-bill-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5494" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5494" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister made so much of transparency when he was opposed to having his own expenses published, the PMS said the Prime Minister was not opposed to having his expenses published. These were matters that were being dealt with by the House authorities. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15137.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:57" post_name="mps-expenses-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5495" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5495" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that in the light of recent events in Basra, going to overwatch mode and reducing troop numbers had been premature, the PMS said that what we were seeing in Basra today was an operation by the Iraqi security forces and the Iraqi army and they were able to do that because of the training and support they had had from the British army over a number of years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that troop withdrawals would be guided by conditions on the ground and what was the Prime Minister's current assessment of those conditions, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was that it was important that decisions on troop numbers were taken on the basis of the best military advice and by conditions on the ground. As and when we were in a position to make any update, we would make an announcement. Asked for guidance on when the next assessment would be made, the PMS said that we would expect to make announcements in relation to the next roulements fairly shortly.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15137.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:56" post_name="iraq-17" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5496" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5496" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was meeting with an Indian trade delegation today, the PMS confirmed that he was, but it was not a media event. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15137.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 15:45:55" post_name="misc-51" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5497" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5497" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the main issues would be on the agenda for the Prime Minister's meeting with President Sarkozy on Thursday, and would there be a joint deal on nuclear technology, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that they would discuss a wide range of issues including the economy and reform of the international institutions - an issue that they had spoken about at length in the past and which the Prime Minister had spoken about most recently in his speech in India a couple of months ago. No doubt they would discuss a range of live European issues, and other issues such as energy and energy security. On the question of a specific deal on nuclear technology, it was best to wait for the Summit - but the general issues around energy and energy security were likely to come up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if immigration would be discussed, the PMS replied that he was sure that immigration would come up as well as we were very close neighbours.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if NATO would be discussed, the PMS replied that he was sure all of these issues would come up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Sarah Brown would be doing anything with Carla Bruni, the PMS replied that there was a separate event involving Sarah Brown and Carla Bruni on Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anything in the schedule to enable the two leaders to watch the France v England game, the PMS replied that unfortunately he thought that the match would coincide with the state banquet on the Wednesday evening.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15136.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:58" post_name="president-sarkozy-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Sarkozy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5498" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5498" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any discussion at Cabinet of troops withdrawals from Iraq or a possible inquiry, the PMS replied that this did not come up at Cabinet today.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15136.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:57" post_name="iraq-18" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Iraq" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5499" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5499" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought there was a serious threat to the Union, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's views on the Union were set out in his article in the Daily Telegraph today, where he did say that there were secessionist forces that were threatening the Union, and therefore those who believed in the merits of the Union should state their case - that was what he was doing quite forcefully in the Telegraph this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15136.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:56" post_name="the-union" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="The Union" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5500" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5500" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was any closer to making up his mind on embryology, the PMS replied that the situation on embryology, as we had always made clear, was that it was the Government's view that it was necessary to update the legislation on human fertilisation and embryology. This was an important Bill, and was a key part of the Queen's Speech. Stem cell and other related research had made a huge difference to the lives of many people in this country, and would do in the future. The Prime Minister had also made clear that where individual MPs had an issue of conscience with particular clauses in the Bill, then that was something that would need to be resolved with the Whips. But it was important to make the distinction between the Bill as a whole, which was a wide-ranging Bill including a number of important clauses which for example reform and modernise the regulatory framework for embryology research, and from the treatment of specific individual clauses where as the Prime Minister has said, people who had conscious issues did need to have an opportunity to express those.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's reaction was to the statements of Cardinal Keith O'Brien, and did he regard them as helpful, the PMS replied that these were controversial matters, there was obviously differences of opinion on this, and people had deeply held views on these matters, but there were people with deeply held views who take a different position from the position that had been expressed by some people over the weekend. That was why it was important that we had a debate on this and heard from both sides of the argument.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a difference between Cabinet collective responsibility and individuals going to the Whips and over issues of conscience, the PMS replied that it was important to make a distinction between the Bill as a whole which was Government business that was in the Queen's Speech, and individual clauses which may raise particular issues of conscience for specific individuals. In relation to individuals' concerns about individual clauses, that was a matter as the Prime Minister had been saying that needed to be resolved with the Whips.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that the Prime Minister would be comfortable with members of his Cabinet on certain clauses voting against the Government or abstaining, the PMS replied that this was an issue that as you would expect, he was discussing with his Cabinet colleagues, he understood the concerns that people had, and he understood that we needed to find a resolution to this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he believed that a resolution would be found, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did believe that a resolution would be found.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15136.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:55" post_name="embryology" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5501" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/25/5501" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with teachers' calls for the Armed Forces to be kept out of schools, the PMS replied that the MoD had made clear that they did not recruit in schools. Single service schools teams visit about 1,000 schools a year between them, but only at the invitation of the school, and with the aim of raising the general awareness of the Armed Forces in society, not to recruit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15136.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-25 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-25 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-25 10:00:54" post_name="armed-forces-recruitment" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Armed Forces Recruitment" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5522" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5522" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with John Hutton that the Government should go further than the 23 existing nuclear reactors, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that John Hutton spoke on behalf of the Government, so the Prime Minister did agree.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how much further, the PMS said that these were commercial decisions that would have to be taken on the basis of what represents best value for money. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Mr Hutton when he said we should go significantly further, the PMS reiterated that Mr Hutton spoke for the Government.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15140.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:58" post_name="nuclear-energy-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Nuclear Energy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5523" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5523" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked when President Sarkozy would be addressing both Houses, the PMS said it would be 4pm. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the President that we should be working together with the US to push the value of the Dollar back up, the PMS replied that we would not comment on exchange rate matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with President Sarkozy that the option of boycotting the Beijing Olympics should be kept on the table, the PMS said that the Prime Minister agreed with President Sarkozy that we did need to take the issue of Tibet very seriously. This was why the Prime Minister had been speaking directly to the Chinese Premier about the subject. The Government's position on the Olympics however, was well known.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Premier Wen since last Wednesday, the PMS said that that was the last time they had spoken.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister owned a BlackBerry or a pair of Ray-Bans, the PMS said he could testify that the Prime Minister owned a mobile phone and had all the technology he needed in order to conduct his work. Asked again about Ray-Bans, the PMS replied that he had never seen the Prime Minister wearing a pair.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15140.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:57" post_name="sarkozy-visits" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Sarkozy Visits" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5524" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5524" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Financial Standards Authority (FSA) and their report into Northern Rock, the PMS said that the Government welcomed the fact that the FSA had conducted what was a very thorough review and was taking action as appropriate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Treasury had been making clear that this work would help inform the wider review that was underway to strengthen the current framework for financial stability. Asked whether it encouraged the Prime Minister to get rid of the current system or replace it with something more efficient, the PMS said that it was the Prime Minister's view that the current system had served us well over ten years. Of course we had to keep these things under review and there was a wider review underway for strengthening the current framework.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that the FSA could take on extra responsibilities, the PMS replied that we welcomed the fact that they had conducted this review; it was a very thorough review and they were now taking action.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15140.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:56" post_name="northern-rock-32" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5525" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5525" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister supported the Committee's decision to appeal the decision on MP's expenses, the PMS replied that this was a matter for the Committee; as we had said consistently, the Prime Minister is relaxed about publication of his expenses but this needed to be dealt with by proper procedures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;If the House authorities decided to publish individual MP's expenses including the Prime Minister's, that would be something he would be entirely happy to do.&lt;br /&gt;Put that the Committee's appeal was based on security considerations and would the Prime Minister be relaxed about the publication of the address to his second home, the PMS said that the issue here was about expenses. There were security considerations that applied to the Prime Minister as well as other senior Ministers, but we wouldn't normally get into the specifics of those.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he could confirm that the Government had no role in the provision of a second lawyer to the Committee, the PMS said he had no information on that and these were matters for the House authorities.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15140.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:55" post_name="mps-expenses-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5526" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5526" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on European Defence, the PMS said that there were longstanding procedures in place by which European countries could cooperate on defence mechanisms, going back to the San Marlo Agreement in 1998.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a case for going any further, the PMS said that there would no doubt be discussions on these issues, but the Prime Minister had made very clear that NATO was the cornerstone of our defence. We would continue to keep under review prospects for improvements in EU-NATO cooperation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15140.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:54" post_name="european-defence-cooperation" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="European Defence Cooperation" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5527" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5527" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if he could confirm reports that a deal had been finalised on a future strategic tanker aircraft and that the announcement would be made during Sarkozy's visit, the PMS said that it would be best to wait until the communique was finalised, but he did not recognise the story.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15140.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 10:00:53" post_name="misc-52" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5528" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5528" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what sort of plane the Prime Minister was getting, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Written Statement, which we had answered today, made it clear that whereas previously the recommendation had been that there would be two planes available (one small plane and one large plane for the Royal Family and Ministers), having done a detailed business case the Government had now decided not to go ahead with the larger plane. Therefore there would be a smaller plane, which would mainly be used by the Royal Family, and the Royal Household would be responsible for procuring that. The Prime Minister would continue to travel on chartered or scheduled flights.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had a preference over which sort of plane it would be, the PMS replied that the procurement decision was a matter for the Royal Household.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be able to use the plane on internal flights, the PMS said that Ministers would be able to have use of the smaller plane but that it would be mainly used by the Royal Household.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the plane was for UK flights only, the PMS said it would be predominantly for UK flights.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Royal Family would have to charter aircraft for longer journeys, the PMS replied that it would be for the Royal Family to decide how best to organise their own arrangements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would use the plane at all, the PMS replied that in the UK the Prime Minister tried to travel by train when he could, and if not by car.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Royal Family would pay for the plane, the PMS said that it was best to check with the Department for Transport. In response to this a journalist said that he had already checked with Transport and that it would come out of their budget.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that any overseas flights would be chartered, the PMS replied that that would be the case for the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the case would be for the Royal Family, the PMS said that he was not sure of the exact arrangements for the Royal Family but that the intention was that the larger plane would have been predominantly used by the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this decision had been made after cost analysis, the PMS replied that the Department of Transport had looked in detail at the business case and had reached this conclusion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the previous Prime Minister had been keen on the idea of having a larger plane and that the current Prime Minister had given the go ahead for it when he had been Chancellor, the PMS said that we had been happy with the original recommendations from Sir Peter Gershon but that that had always been subject to a detailed assessment of the business case, which had now been conducted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would stay as a British Airways charter, the PMS said that planes got chartered on a case-by-case basis.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would still be possible to take journalists on Prime Ministerial visits, the PMS replied that, as always, we would be very mindful of the demands and needs of the Lobby.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Royal Family was happy with the outcome, the PMS said that the Royal Household had been consulted.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15141.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:58" post_name="planes" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Planes" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5529" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5529" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that there was nothing political happening today and that all the political discussions would take place tomorrow, the PMS said that that was correct.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for an idea of what was happening tomorrow, the PMS said that President Sarkozy would come to No 10 for meetings with the Prime Minister; at the same time Ministers would be holding bilateral meetings with their French counterparts. The Prime Minister and President Sarkozy would join the other Ministers once their discussions were finished and there would then be a press conference.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the discussion between the Prime Minister and President Sarkozy would last for, the PMS replied that he did not have the exact timetable in front of him but that it would be a lengthy discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any details about what Mrs Brown would be doing, the PMS replied that Mrs Brown would be hosting a lunch for Madame Sarkozy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans for photographs of Mrs Brown to appear in the newspapers, the PMS replied that there were quite often photographs of Mrs Brown in the newspapers.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15141.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:57" post_name="president-sarkozy-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Sarkozy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5530" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5530" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy that the case had gone to the High Court, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was happy to have his expenses published but that these matters were being dealt with by the House of Commons.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was reluctant to comment further on the expenses issue due to sub-judicy, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was happy to give whatever comment he felt was necessary on the expenses issue. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15141.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:56" post_name="mps-expenses-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MPs' Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5531" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/26/5531" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minster had meant when he was asked about his style in an interview with Le Monde, the PMS said that he had meant, &amp;quot;I get on with the job&amp;quot;.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15141.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-26 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-26 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-26 15:45:55" post_name="misc-53" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5532" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/27/5532" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by giving the assembled press a rundown of the events of earlier that day; the Prime Minister met President Sarkozy in No10 and then went on to the Emirates Stadium for a press conference. The visit also included a photo-call on the pitch, which was also attended by Arsene Wenger and Sepp Blatter. After the press conference the Prime Minister and President Sarkozy had lunch, with senior Ministers from both countries who had been present at the summit. This was followed by a reception organised by the Franco-British Council with a number of leading figures from the business, cultural and academic worlds of Britain and France.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any interesting names attending the reception, the PMS said that those invited had included Julian Barnes, Quentin Blake, Raymond Blanc, Ronnie Wood, Simon Fuller, Jean-Pierre Garnier and Howard Davies among others.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government had not said why the Emirates had hosted the press conference, the PMS replied that one of the main reasons was because of the security facilities at the venue were very good and ideal for organising a summit of this kind. A few months ago, when the Home Office was announcing proposals relating to how to better design in security facilities into new buildings, the Home Secretary actually made a point of visiting the Emirates as it was considered to be one of the best examples of how a new and large building in the capital had built in very effective security arrangements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Secondly, the Emirates and Arsenal was in some way symbolic of the wider Franco-British relationship that had developed in recent years. Lots of British people now lived and worked in France and lots of French people were doing the same in London. Asked if it was true that the President was a fan of Arsenal, the PMS said that that was a question for the French Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been no mention of nuclear energy as being one of the subjects discussed, the PMS said that there was a reference in the communique to the cooperation on nuclear issues. Opportunities would be explored to increase the interchange of regulatory staff for example. Put that John Hutton had mentioned in an interview that there would be an announcement on nuclear energy, the PMS said that he didn't think No10 had suggested in advance that this would be the most significant element of the package. It was an important component, but there were lots of other things being discussed as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why No10 were seeking to downplay it, the PMS replied that he wasn't suggesting that it wasn't a significant part of the communique, but there were lots of other issues in there as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the communique had mentioned the channel tunnel in relation to combating nuclear terrorism, the PMS said that this was the sort of thing that people would expect the Government to be doing with the French Government and he didn't think that this would come as any great surprise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that President Sarkozy had mentioned that the Prime Minister would be hosting another meeting on economic transparency in October, the PMS said that President Sarkozy's words spoke for themselves. At some point we thought it would be useful to have another such meeting, but as and when we were in a position to confirm it, we would let people know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly about the Prime Minister's orientation problem last night, the PMS said that the Prime Minister didn't have any orientation problems at the banquet last night. He, as always on these occasions, did what he was instructed to do. As the PMS had said that morning, the Prime Minister had been focussing on the substantive issues relating to the summit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether there were any French proposals relating to immigration that the Government would have an issue with, the PMS replied that our position on the subject was that we had an opt-in and therefore we looked at these issues on a case-by-case basis. We had announced a series of bilateral immigration measures with the French that were set out in the communique. Asked if there would be any stepping-up of security around Calais, the PMS said that on the detail of that it would be best for people to speak to the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what a new migration pact was, the PMS advised people to wait for the EU French Presidency, but in the communique there was quite a lot on what more we could do to help stop illegal immigration in Europe. Put that the Prime Minister had mentioned meeting every six months with President Sarkozy, the PMS said that he was talking about Ministers meeting every six months, so the proposal would be officials meeting on a quarterly basis and senior Ministers meeting every six months whilst continuing with the annual summit at Head of Government level.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the combined maritime strike capability was, the PMS said that a lot of the defence proposals had already been put in place, but it would be best to check with the Ministry of Defence on the detail. It was his understanding that for example, if there was a British carrier it might be supported by a French frigate and vice-versa.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which Ministers were involved in talks today and was it the whole of the Cabinet, the PMS said it wasn't all of the Cabinet but it was certainly almost all of the senior members. Alistair Darling, David Miliband, Jack Straw, Jacqui Smith, Des Browne, Hilary Benn and John Hutton were all in attendance among others. There was a series of meetings between them and their French counterparts, before the Prime Minister and the President arrived at the Emirates.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was happy with the French position on Afghanistan, the PMS said that there had been a constructive discussion on the subject, but there would be further discussions at the NATO Summit in Bucharest next week. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister made of what the President had said about his wife, the PMS replied that he hadn't had an opportunity to ask the Prime Minister that particular question.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister shared the view that our relationship with France was like a one night stand with breakfast the day after, the PMS said that the Prime Minister certainly believed that the strengthened relationship we had developed with France was one that could continue. Asked if the Prime Minister thought that this was a turning point after the frosty relations between the former Prime Minister and President Chirac, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would certainly see the relationship with France as one that had improved in recent years and had the potential to improve further. It was difficult to identify that many areas where we had significant differences with France at the moment; we shared a lot of common interests and values and we were working very closely together, not only in the EU but at the UN and elsewhere such as the IMF and World Bank, to deal with wider international issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if future EU budget arrangements had been discussed, the PMS said that he was not sure there was time for any substantive discussion on the subject; the main agenda items being discussed were in the communique.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Common Agricultural Policy wasn't just protectionism in disguise, the PMS replied that both countries had their views on the subject, but as President Sarkozy had said, a sign of a good and mature relationship was that we were able to discuss these issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15148.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-27 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-27 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-27 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-27 15:45:58" post_name="uk-france-summit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="UK-France Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5533" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/27/5533" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Queen had said yesterday that the Prime Minister appeared to have got lost, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that it was best to ask the Palace that question; the Prime Minister did what he was told on these occasions. The key point regarding the summit was that, as the Prime Minister had said this morning, today was the day for getting down to business and that was what he would be doing with President Sarkozy. They would have detailed discussions and would be issuing a communique, which would cover issues such as the economy, reform of the international institutions, environment and energy issues, immigration and development. There would be a series of bilateral meetings between the key Ministers on both sides, including from the UK side, Alistair Darling, Jacqui Smith, Jack Straw, Des Browne, David Miliband, John Hutton and others. Today we were focusing very much on the business of the summit. It was a very detailed agenda and there would be a detailed and substantive communique that would be published, as well as a press conference given by the Prime Minister and President Sarkozy explaining what they had agreed. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had in fact got lost yesterday, the PMS repeated that the Prime Minister did what he was told on these state occasions and it was not something which was bothering him too much this morning; he was focusing on the serious business of the summit.&lt;br /&gt;Asked if Afghanistan would be discussed at the summit, the PMS replied that that had been an omission on his part and went on to say that there would also be a substantive discussion on Afghanistan and burden sharing at the NATO Summit next week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was looking for any commitments from France regarding troop levels, the PMS replied that they had been discussing burden sharing; there would be a more substantive discussion on burden sharing at the NATO Summit next week where this issue would be discussed with all of the members of NATO.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on the talks about the economy, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister and President Sarkozy would be discussing the current instability in the financial markets. It was agreed that there was a need for greater transparency to ensure that banks made full and proper disclosure of the scale of write-offs and of finding ways to give greater certainty on the evaluation of complex financial assets. This was something that had been discussed previously; it had come up at the meeting of European leaders in London in January and there would be further discussions at the G7 Finance Ministers meeting and at the IMF and World Bank meetings in Washington in a couple of weeks time. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that relations between France and Britain had been strained at times since the end of the Second World War and asked if the Prime Minister thought that the two countries were now entering a Golden Age of the relationship, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister certainly felt that the relationship between France and Britain was a very important relationship and one that was on a good footing at the moment. We shared a lot of common interests with France; we had a common agenda around issues such as the reform of the international institutions, the approach we were taking to the global economy, the situation in Africa, the situation on development issues and increasingly, the position we were taking within the European Union. That was why the Prime Minister agreed very much with President Sarkozy's characterisation of the French and British relationship yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister planned to learn French, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had a lot on his plate at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15147.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-27 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-27 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-27 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-27 10:00:58" post_name="president-sarkozy-state-visit" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Sarkozy State Visit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5534" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/27/5534" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans to legislate on Catholic succession, the PMS replied that, as Jack Straw had said in the House of Commons a few days earlier, to bring about changes to the law on succession would be a very complex undertaking; it would involve the amendment or appeal of a number of items of related legislation, but it would also require the consent of legislators of member nations of the Commonwealth. We understood concerns that people raised about discrimination but to change this legislation would be a very complex and difficult undertaking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were plans to try and change it, the PMS said that there were no current plans to change the legislation because to do so would be a very complex undertaking which would require consent of the legislators of member nations of the Commonwealth.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that we were for it in principal but it was too complicated, the PMS said that we understood concerns that people had raised about discrimination and we were sympathetic to those concerns; obviously this was something which was kept under review but would be quite a complex and significant change.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it would also meant the disestablishment of the Church of England, the PMS said that the Prime Minister supported the establishment of the Church of England.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15147.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-27 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-27 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-27 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-27 10:00:57" post_name="catholic-succession" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Catholic Succession " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5535" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/27/5535" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had an explanation for using false statistics during PMQs yesterday, the PMS said the he did not think that the Prime Minister had used false statistics. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had overplayed the last recession in order to downplay this potential recession, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been making a more general point that, at the time of the last recession we had been in a situation where interest rates were significantly higher than they were at the moment, inflation was significantly higher that it was at the moment and where the budget deficit rose to a level significantly higher than it was at the moment. Therefore, the Prime Minister had &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;been making the point that we were much better placed than we were at the last recession to deal with global economic uncertainty.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15147.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-27 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-27 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-27 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-27 10:00:56" post_name="statistics" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Statistics" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5536" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/28/5536" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view regarding what happened at Heathrow's Terminal 5 yesterday, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that these were all matters for BA and BAA.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Transport Secretary was getting involved, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to the Department of Transport about that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15150.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-28 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-28 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:58" post_name="heathrow-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Heathrow" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5537" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/28/5537" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the current situation in Basra, the PMS replied that our general position on what was happening in Basra was that this was a deployment by Iraqi security forces; the fact that the Iraqi security forces were able to engage in this way in Basra was a recognition of the training and support that they had been given in recent years. They were now in a position to take on a greater degree of responsibility for their own security.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was confident that the troops were still willing and able to support the Iraqi troops, the PMS replied that we had provided air support and other specialist support including medical care at our field hospital, but it was not really appropriate to comment on operational matters.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the argument against having an inquiry was that it would be a distraction, the PMS said that that was correct.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15150.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-28 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-28 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:57" post_name="basra" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Basra" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5538" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/28/5538" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that some mortgage lenders were now withdrawing mortgages, the PMS replied that what was happening at the moment in the mortgage market was a reflection of the global financial situation; this was something that was affecting all countries around the world. The Prime Minister understood the concerns of mortgage holders at this time as a result of the difficult global financial conditions that we faced. Over the past couple of years we had taken some quite tough and not very popular action, in relation for example to public sector pay, in order to keep inflation under control. Inflation remained close to its target and that meant that the Bank of England had been able to cut interest rates several times in recent months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the markets were not responding, the PMS said that the Bank of England had been able to cut the base rate and that that partly reflected the fact that wage inflation had remained subdued, particularly in the public sector. Mortgage markets were affected by global financial conditions and what we were seeing at the moment was considerable uncertainty in global financial markets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was a mortgage holder, the PMS replied that it was not usual to comment on the Prime Minister's individual financial arrangements.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Chancellor had a mortgage with Northern Rock, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister understood the concerns that mortgage holders had at the moment as a result of the difficult circumstances in the global financial markets.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15150.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-28 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-28 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:56" post_name="mortgages" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Mortgages" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5539" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/03/28/5539" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's thoughts regarding Alex Salmond's multi-option referendum idea, the PMS replied that he would not comment on specific proposals or ideas from Alex Salmond. In general the Prime Minister's position on the Union, the importance of the Union and the support of the Union, both in England and north of the border, had been set out very clearly in his article in the Telegraph earlier in the week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a new British Ambassador to Moscow and asked if this meant that Britain was looking for a fresh start regarding relations with Russia, the PMS replied that in general we wanted to have a constructive relationship with Russia; as we had always made clear, that had been our position for some time and that remained our position. It was not about individuals, it was about the commonality of interests that we shared, particularly on the economic side.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15150.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-03-28 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-03-28 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-03-28 10:00:55" post_name="misc-54" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5540" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5540" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by giving a summary of the Prime Minister's schedule at the NATO Summit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister would arrive at the NATO Summit this afternoon and we would then update people on any bilateral meetings he had. He would be attending a dinner this evening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There would be a meeting tomorrow morning of the North Atlantic Council and that would be followed by a working lunch of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership. The main discussion on Afghanistan would be taking place in the afternoon. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On Friday, there would be meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Summit and of the NATO-Russia Council.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:58" post_name="nato-summit-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NATO Summit" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5541" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5541" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Government's understanding of what was happening in Zimbabwe at the moment, the PMS said the position was unclear at the moment in terms of when the election results were to be published. The Prime Minister recorded a clip on Zimbabwe during his visit this morning, reiterating what he said yesterday about respecting the democratic rights of the Zimbabwean people and calling for the results of the election to be published as quickly as possible. If there was anything further substantive to update on, it would be in the Foreign Secretary's statement at 12:30pm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be seen as credible if it was announced that the opposition party had failed to get 50% of the vote, the PMS said she would not get into discussing the various scenarios of what may or may not be announced. What was key was that the results are made public as soon as possible and that the people of Zimbabwe had the clarity of the situation that they were entitled to, through this democratic process.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had tried to persuade Thabo Mbeki to mediate in Zimbabwe, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had said yesterday, he had talked recently to the President of South Africa about the issue. Any update on further talks would be given by the Foreign Secretary at 12:30pm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government was aware of any talks between Mr Mugabe and the opposition party, the PMS again advised people to wait for the Foreign Secretary's statement. Asked if the statement would include any new details, the PMS replied that the statement would highlight where the Government was in relation to the situation, but it would also react to where things stood on the ground in Zimbabwe if there had been any movement by that point.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:57" post_name="zimbabwe-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5542" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5542" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for a reaction to the resignation of Bertie Ahern, the PMS said that this had been announced while she was in transit from Downing Street to the lobby briefing. We would issue a statement shortly, but it was not something she was going to comment on just yet. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:56" post_name="bertie-ahern" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bertie Ahern" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5543" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5543" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned about relations between Russia and Britain due to the fact that the UK had been assigned another Russian dissident, the PMS said she would not comment on circumstances around an individual, but more generally, the Prime Minister had been clear recently with the election of the new Russian President that Russia did have a very important role to play in many of our international priorities and concerns. The Prime Minister had listed those as being around energy security, climate change and general peace and security internationally. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, where the Government did have concerns, such as over human rights in particular, it would express them frankly to the Russian authorities. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Russia would be consulted about Georgia and the Ukraine's possible membership of NATO, the PMS replied that the situation on membership and the enlargement of NATO was something that was going to be discussed at the summit, which would be attended by Russia. We did not see the enlargement process as something that should be problematic as it was under the longstanding &amp;quot;open-door&amp;quot; policy regarding NATO membership and fell within that protocol.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:55" post_name="russia-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Russia" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5544" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5544" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that First Direct had stopped issuing new mortgages to customers and did the Prime Minister have any words of reassurance for the public, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had talked in his press conference about understanding the concerns of home buyers and those with mortgages, but also set out the position that the UK was in and how we were best placed to deal with the international economic turbulence, including his discussions with European partners. The PMS referred people back to the discussions the Prime Minister and President Sarkozy had had on the issue last week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:54" post_name="economy-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5545" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5545" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister enjoyed Ken Livingstone's April Fools joke, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not expressed an opinion on it, but he had expressed his view on Ken Livingstone more generally yesterday in his press conference. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:53" post_name="ken-livingstone-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ken Livingstone" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5546" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5546" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that the Speaker could carry on his job in light of the investigation against him, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had expressed his views on the Speaker of the House and there had been no change in his view. The PMS added that the investigation was a matter for the House authorities. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:52" post_name="speaker-of-the-house-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Speaker of the House" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5547" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5547" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet with the First Minister of Scotland, the PMS said that she was not aware of any plans on which she could update people. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15173.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 10:00:51" post_name="misc-55" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5548" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/01/5548" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was discussed at Cabinet and if the subject of the economy came up, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that economy came up in passing but that the main items which had been discussed were the situation in Zimbabwe and the situation in Iraq (ahead of the Des Browne's Statement this afternoon). There was also a more general discussion about the new PSA targets, which were coming into effect today, and a discussion on the Government's objectives for the coming financial year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what was said about Iraq, the PMS replied that the discussion reflected what Des Browne was saying in his Statement today; it was primarily an update from the Defence Secretary on the situation on the ground in Iraq, the events in Basra over the past few days and the implications on British troop numbers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the discussion on the Government's objectives for the coming financial year and if there had been a presentation on a paper by Stephen Carter, the PMS replied that he would not get into details of what was said but added that the Prime Minister had led quite a wide-ranging discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people had split up into groups, the PMS said no, they did not split up into groups.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the reaction at Cabinet regarding the announcement on troops, the PMS replied that it had not come as a great surprise to anybody given the uncertainty of the situation in southern Iraq at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15172.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-01 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-01 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:58" post_name="cabinet-24" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5549" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/01/5549" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that some members of the Labour Party felt that the abolition of the 10p rate of tax had a detrimental effect for those on a low income, the PMS explained that this was part of an overall tax simplification and reform package in last year's Budget that included significant increases, particularly in working tax credit, to help those people on low pay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that meant that people on low pay would not be worse off as a result of the change brought in by the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that people on low pay were significantly better off as a result of the tax and benefit changes that the Government had made since 1997.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that at least 3 or 4 people in the Labour Party had said that it was a big mistake, the PMS replied that journalists would not expect him to comment on Party matters and reiterated that since 1997 people on lower earnings were significantly better off as a result of the Government's tax and benefit policy.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the effects of the 2007 Budget, the PMS repeated that since 1997 people were significantly better off; the 2007 Budget had been a major reform of the personal tax system, perhaps the most significant reform of personal tax for at least 10 years and included significant increases in tax credits, specifically to help those people on lower incomes.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that meant people were better off, the PMS said that that question was going over old ground and that he was not sure what new fact the journalist was trying to establish or extract.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people were now actually experiencing real effects rather than it just being something academic, the PMS replied that no one was trying to suggest that it was an academic thing at all; it was a very significant announcement made in a Budget last year. Since 1997 people on low incomes were significantly better off and there had been significant increases in tax credits to help people on low incomes in last year's Budget.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was minded to look at tax again, the PMS replied that these were matters for the Chancellor and the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15172.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-01 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-01 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:57" post_name="tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5550" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/01/5550" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister wanted to put across stronger signals regarding the use of cannabis, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had spoken about that in some length this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be stronger sentences, the PMS replied that it was best to stick to the Prime Minster's words this morning; he had been mainly talking about the subject in the context of upcoming decisions that needed to be taken on the classification of cannabis.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15172.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-01 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-01 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:56" post_name="cannabis-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5551" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/01/5551" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any important bilateral meetings tomorrow afternoon at the NATO Summit, the PMS said that we could update journalists on that once we were there; the Prime MInister had some bilateral meetings tomorrow ahead of the working dinner. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On NATO more generally there would be a dinner tomorrow evening and on Thursday there would be a meeting in the morning of the North Atlantic Council, which was a wider group including defence and foreign Ministers. That would be followed by a working lunch of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership and then the main discussion on Afghanistan would take place in the afternoon. On Friday there would be meetings of the NATO-Ukraine Summit and the NATO-Russia Council. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The two main issues for us were Afghanistan, where the Prime Minister had been saying he would like to see more burden sharing. As had been widely anticipated, clarification was expected from the French regarding their position. As we had been saying over the weekend, we had a particular proposal in relation to helicopters, which would be an Anglo-French initiative; this would be calling for the creation of a helicopter trust fund to which we hoped that some other members of NATO would contribute as well as us. The money in this trust fund would be used to refurbish helicopters from other member states in NATO in order to ensure that they were properly equipped to deal with the particular circumstances in Afghanistan. This was a good example of reforming NATO; making procedures more flexible in order to make better use of NATO military capacity in order to enhance capability on the ground.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Another issue which had been touched on yesterday was the issue of membership action plans for Ukraine and Georgia; our position in principal was that we supported the adoption of membership action plans for Ukraine and Georgia but we needed to discuss the modalities and exact timing with our NATO partners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the UK supported whatever the next step was regarding the membership of Albania, Croatia and Macedonia, the PMS replied that that was correct and that the UK would support a formal invitation of membership to those countries.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was hopeful that Greece would back the Macedonia bid, the PMS said that he was sure a solution could be found.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the role of the EU in regard to NATO would come up at the summit, the PMS replied that the general subject of the relationship between the EU and NATO would come up as part of the discussions about both NATO operations and NATO reform.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15172.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-01 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-01 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:55" post_name="nato" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NATO" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5552" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/01/5552" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been referring to next year's settlement when he commented about public sector pay this morning, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been making a general point about the need for continued discipline on public sector pay.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been referring to 2009 as well as 2008, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been making a general statement about the need for wage discipline in order to keep inflation down and was saying nothing else beyond that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15172.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-01 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-01 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:54" post_name="public-sector-pay-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Public Sector Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5553" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/01/5553" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had any more contact with any leaders regarding Zimbabwe, the PMS said that there was nothing more to add; as the Prime Minister had said in his press conference this morning, he would be speaking to the Head of the African Union later on today. We were still awaiting the formal announcement of the election result from the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a message for teachers regarding the problem of teachers walking out, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had a huge amount of respect for the work that teachers did but it was important that we maintained discipline in public finances and that we continued to maintain a disciplined approach to inflation; that was what had enabled the Bank of England, unlike European Central Bank for example, to cut interest rates twice in recent months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who would be taking the place of the Prime Minister at Prime Minister's Questions tomorrow, the PMS replied that it would be Harriet Harman.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15172.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-01 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-01 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-01 15:45:53" post_name="miscellaneous" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Miscellaneous" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5554" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5554" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for an update on the situation in Zimbabwe, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that people would have heard the reports and comments from the opposition parties, but as the Foreign Secretary made clear in his statement, it was the analysis of the Zimbabwean Electoral Commission that we would need to wait for, in order to get a definitive result that the Government could react to.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;However, that did not take away from the fact that we encouraged these official results to be released as quickly as possible. Put that a report suggested that the Electoral Commission had announced that the opposition party had in fact won a majority in the Zimbabwean Parliament, the PMS said she had not yet seen that report and would need to do so before we could react to it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about possible aid packages from the UK, the PMS said she did not have details of aid packages to hand, but the Foreign Secretary had made clear that the Government would be there, and had always been there to support the people of Zimbabwe and he had also highlighted the fact that the UK was the second largest bilateral donor, spending over &amp;pound;40million last year on aid. As the situation developed, DfID and the Foreign Office would release any update on aid packages.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the largest donor to Zimbabwe was China, the PMS replied that she did not have the table of donors. Asked if the Government had spoken to Chinese officials, the PMS asked journalists to check with the FCO whether there had been contact at an official level. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government would do if a situation similar to the one in Kenya broke out in Zimbabwe, the PMS said that the Government hoped such a situation and disruption would not arise and reiterated that this was why the Government was asking for the results of these elections to be published as quickly as possible. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15175.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 15:45:58" post_name="zimbabwe-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5555" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5555" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister planned to let Harriet Harman do PMQ's more often, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was focussing on his work at the NATO Summit at the moment. The Prime Minister was being kept informed of developments in the UK as people would expect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS said the process that had been put in place while the Prime Minister was out of the country was something that had a precedent and she imagined that the same process would apply in similar circumstances.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15175.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 15:45:57" post_name="pmqs-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="PMQ's" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5556" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/02/5556" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The PMS gave an update on who the Prime Minister would be having meetings with at the NATO Summit. There would be a bilateral with the Romanian President and he was then meeting with the Danish Prime Minister. Danish and UK troops were in the same area of operation in Afghanistan, so they would be discussing related issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There would be a working dinner this evening, preceded by a gathering of Heads of State for various bilateral discussions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15175.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-02 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-02 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-02 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-02 15:45:56" post_name="nato-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NATO" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5557" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/03/5557" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by giving the assembled press a rundown of what had been happening at the NATO Summit. The main topic being discussed both last night over dinner and this morning, had been the membership applications from Georgia and the Ukraine.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister had made clear throughout the week that it was a matter of when, not whether Georgia and Ukraine should be granted membership. We welcomed the fact that there was now a consensus in NATO. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The subject of the day would be Afghanistan with President Karzai at the summit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15178.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-03 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-03 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:58" post_name="nato-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="NATO" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5558" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/03/5558" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned about the depth of feeling amongst Labour MPs on the decision to cut the 10p rate of income tax, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's position on the 10p rate of income tax was as it always had been. In the Budget last year there was a significant reform of the personal tax system. It involved significant increases in tax credits with part of it directed at low-income workers. Since 1997 and as a result of all the benefit changes taking effect, people on low incomes were significantly better off.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15178.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-03 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-03 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:57" post_name="income-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Income Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5559" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/03/5559" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government had ruled out sending more troops to Afghanistan, the PMS said that the Government kept that under review. We were anticipating confirmation from the French on their troop deployment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether any other countries would come forward with resources and where were we on the idea of a helicopter trust fund, the PMS said the main issue for this meeting had been clarification of the French position. Clearly this had ramifications for a number of other countries, such as Canada. So there were consequential effects of the French decision and it was this decision that been the main point of discussion. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On helicopters, the PMS said it was an issue that the Prime Minister had been raising and would raise during the course of the summit. He had been talking in the margins to potential contributors to the helicopter trust fund and to those countries that potentially had helicopters available, so that their helicopters could be deployed with the right kind of equipment that would enable them to be operationally capable in Afghanistan.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15178.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-03 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-03 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:56" post_name="afghanistan-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5560" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/03/5560" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was determined to go ahead with bringing in tougher sentences for cannabis if the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) recommended that it stayed as a Class C drug, the PMS said that we did not expect to receive the report from the advisory committee on the classification of drugs until for at least another month or so. As we understood it, the report in the media was based on one presentation given to a meeting and the ACMD themselves were still some way away from making any final decisions on it. We had not seen any formal representations on the subject from them and we were not anticipating anything for at least another month or so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;With regards to the Prime Minister's position, he had made that fairly clear in his press conference earlier that week, saying that he would take their advice and look at what the ACMD said. The PMS advised people not to get ahead of themselves, as we didn't know what the advice of the ACMD would be.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15178.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-03 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-03 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:55" post_name="cannabis-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5561" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/03/5561" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister would be discussing with Heads of Government at the Progessive Governance Summit and would that include possible rescue packages for Zimbabwe, the PMS said that the situation in Zimbabwe was uncertain at the moment. We would have to see how things panned out in the next couple of days. The key point for us was that we were concerned about the continuing delays in announcing the election results.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In terms of potential economic reconstruction packages, the Prime Minister had spoken on the subject in the past, going back to his article in the Independent last September. But the key at the moment was that the authorities in Zimbabwe understood that the world was watching them and understood that it was very important that they knew to clarify the results of the election as soon as possible.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15178.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-03 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-03 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:54" post_name="zimbabwe-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5562" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/03/5562" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had any comment on Gerry Sutcliffe's criticisms of the Budget and the fact that plans for an escalation on alcohol duty was going to damage pubs, the PMS said that he had not seen the comments from Gerry Sutcliffe and neither had the Prime Minister. Without knowing their full context, he would be reluctant to comment on them.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15178.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-03 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-03 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:53" post_name="alcohol-duty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Alcohol Duty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5563" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/03/5563" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister had any reaction to mortgage lenders not offering their services to customers, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had said in his press conference earlier that week that the tough and difficult action taken on public sector pay during the course of last year had helped keep inflationary pressure down. This had then enabled the Bank of England to cut interest rates twice. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister had also said that we were looking at what we could do in relation to the Government shared equity scheme. It was clearly something that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor were very focussed on and it was something that had been discussed with international colleagues. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that although the Bank of England had cut interest rates, mortgage interest rates had gone up and was the Prime Minister troubled that he didn't seem to have the power to meet the Government's manifesto commitments to keep mortgage rates low, the PMS said that monthly revisions on interest rates were a matter for the Bank of England. What the Government had done in terms of what it was responsible for was to take difficult decisions on public sector pay to help keep inflationary pressures down. As the Prime Minister had said earlier that week, that disciplined approach would continue.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15178.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-03 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-03 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-03 10:00:52" post_name="mortages" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Mortages" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5564" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/07/5564" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister shared the concerns of the IOC President over the interruptions to the Olympic torch relay, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister was asked a question on this subject this morning in his press conference with Kevin Rudd. As the Prime Minister had said, he wanted to and did pay tribute to the police for the way they had managed the event yesterday. In relation to the protests that we had seen yesterday, this was a democratic country, people in this country were perfectly entitled to express their democratic right to protest, as long as they abided by the law. The vast majority of the protests were peaceful and law-abiding.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked under whose authority the Chinese security were operating, the PMS said that it was his understanding that these were the torchbearers; the MET police were responsible for security yesterday. Asked if the Prime Minister had made a conscious decision not to touch the torch, the PMS replied that it was never the case that the Prime Minister was going to be a torchbearer and the arrangements yesterday were exactly as they had always been planned.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned about the behaviour of the Chinese security, the PMS replied that it was the MET Police that were responsible for managing the security for yesterday's event,&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15213.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-07 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-07 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-07 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-07 10:00:58" post_name="olympic-touch" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Olympic Touch" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5565" comment_count="5" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/07/5565" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that David Cameron had vowed to challenge the abolishment of the 10p income tax band, the PMS said that it was not for him to respond specifically to David Cameron. More generally, it was the Prime Minister's view that we set a stable course by going ahead with the Government's policy to cut the basic rate of income tax by 2p in the pound to 20%; that we go ahead with our proposals in last year's Budget and this year's Budget, to raise child benefit and Child Tax Credits; that we went ahead with proposals to raise the pensioner tax allowance that was also an integral part of last year's Budget as well as widening the Working Tax Credit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a comment on the Select Committee report, the PMS said that the Treasury had been responding to that yesterday. As we had made repeatedly clear with regard to the 10p rate, the reform we made to the 10p rate was an integral part of last year's Budget; that Budget included a reduction by 2% of the basic rate of income tax from 22% to 20%, which would benefit millions of people.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was satisfied with the take-up rates for tax credits, the PMS replied that the Government always wanted to ensure that those people entitled to tax credits and benefits received them. The Treasury and HMRC had been conducting intensive work in recent months and years in order to publicise the availability of the working tax credit and to ensure as many people as possible that were entitled to it, claimed it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people had been expecting changes around the edges, the PMS reiterated that this was a coherent package of reforms that resulted in a simplification and reform of the tax system, at the core of which was a 2% reduction on the basic rate of income tax, increases in pensioner tax allowances and an increase in tax credits to channel some of the money back to the lowest paid.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anything planned to help childless couples, the PMS said that these were matters that got addressed in the usual way by the Chancellor in the pre-Budget report and the Budget. A significant amount had been done to help both childless people and people with children, through the significant expansion in support for these groups since 1997.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Whips were worried about the issue and whether the Prime Minister would be meeting with MPs himself, the PMS said that the Prime Minister kept in touch with his parliamentary colleagues and others all the time. This was a normal part of him undertaking his responsibilities. As and when the Prime Minister got asked about the subject, he would be more than happy to explain the Government's position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15213.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-07 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-07 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-07 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-07 10:00:57" post_name="income-tax-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Income Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5566" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/07/5566" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any change to the situation in Zimbabwe, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been talking about this at his press conference this morning, so the PMS referred people to the language that he used there. The Prime Minister had made two main points; first, that it was now over a week since the elections were held and we still had not seen the full publication of the election results and that was clearly a matter of concern. Secondly, if the election did go to a second round and obviously this was a matter to be resolved by the relevant authorities within Zimbabwe, it must be held in a way that gave far greater respect to electoral standards, including a role for the Southern African Development Community.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with Thabo Mbeki's comments on the situation, the PMS said the Prime Minister had had a two hour meeting with Thabo Mbeki yesterday and had been speaking to other African leaders in recent days and over the past week, including President Kuffour of Ghana, President Museveni of Uganda and Kofi Annan as well as Thabo Mbeki.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;There would be continued discussions between both the Prime Minister and African leaders in the period ahead and between the African leaders themselves.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15213.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-07 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-07 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-07 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-07 10:00:56" post_name="zimbabwe-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5567" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/14/5567" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the meeting tomorrow was the one the Prime Minister had referred to last week in his interview with the BBC, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said no and that one of the Sunday papers had erroneously reported on this subject. The Chancellor would have a meeting with the Council of Mortgage Lenders and the main mortgage lenders, which would probably take place next week. The Chancellor was in China at the moment and for most of the week. The Prime Minister's meeting tomorrow was with a much wider city group; it was more of an informal breakfast meeting of the type that he had from time to time and they would be mainly discussing global financial issues ahead of the Prime Minister's meetings with people in Wall Street on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a cast list for the meeting with city leaders and what the Prime Minister would be saying, the PMS said that he did not have a specific cast list to hand but, as far as we were concerned, this was more of an informal meeting that the Prime Minister had from time to time to hear the perspective of people in the city regarding what was happening in global financial markets at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this meeting could be described as a crisis meeting, the PMS said that he would not describe it in those terms at all. It was the sort of meeting that this Prime Minister and previous Prime Ministers had as a matter of course. There was a separate meeting, as mentioned before, to discuss the specific issues in relation to the mortgage market that the Chancellor would have next week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the meeting would only be attended by people in the city, the PMS said that there would be representatives of retail banks and investment banks; the sort of people who represented institutions that contributed a significant amount of income and employment to this country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if lobby groups would be there, the PMS said that he did not have an exact cast list but that it was a fairly routine, wide-ranging breakfast with people from the city. It was the sort of thing that the previous Prime Minister had done from time to time and the sort of thing this Prime Minister had done when he was Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the last meeting had taken place, the PMS said that the Prime Minister met people from the city all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when this particular meeting had been arranged, the PMS replied that it had been in the diary for some time. The Prime Minister was meeting people in Wall Street during his trip to the US and in advance of that he wanted to take stock of the situation as perceived by people in the city.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15265.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-14 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-14 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:58" post_name="prime-ministers-meeting-with-city-leaders" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister's meeting with City Leaders" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5568" comment_count="4" comment_status="closed" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/14/5568" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="Asked what the event at Goldman Sachs was, the PMS replied that it was a Goldman Sachs private event, which the Prime Minister would be speaking at, and that his words may be released.Asked if a particular subject would be discussed, the PMS replied that they would discuss similar themes around the situation in the global economy and global financial markets.&lt;p style=&quot;float: right&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15265.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-14 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2009-01-30 12:32:32" post_modified_gmt="2009-01-30 11:32:32" post_name="goldman-sachs-event" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Goldman Sachs event" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5569" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/14/5569" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that his message regarding the economy was not getting through to people and that the public no longer had faith in him, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was that these were difficult times for the global economy and that the UK could not be insulated from that. Therefore, it was entirely understandable that people in this country were concerned about the prospects for their own well-being. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister had addressed this point explicitly in his article in the News of the World on Sunday; it was completely understandable that people had concerns at this time. It was also important to remember that over the past 10 years the UK had out-performed the major European economies; we were the fastest growing country in the G7 last year and the IMF forecasted us to be the fastest growing economy in the G7 this year. Of course, at a time of global economic uncertainty like this, when people read about these issues in the newspapers and saw reports on the television everyday, it was understandable that people had concerns. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In the Prime Minister's view we had set out a long term course; we were taking action to bring down inflation by the action we were taking on public sector pay, which had enabled the Bank of England to reduce interest rates. Because we had reduced Government debt as a proportion of GDP and because we had one of the lowest Government debt-GDP ratios of any major economy, we were able to stick to our public spending plans by increasing borrowing even at this difficult time. The Prime Minister was also taking action globally to try and restart the world trade talks but also to try and take action to improve confidence in global financial markets so we could inject more liquidity into global financial markets and we could create the conditions whereby when the Bank of England reduced interest rates they could be passed through to mortgage holders. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the economic crisis would get worse before it got better, the PMS replied that the Government's views and the Government's forecasts on the economy were set out in the Budget. The Treasury produced its forecasts twice a year and that represented the Government's view; they would update their forecast in the Pre-Budget Report.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15265.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-14 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-14 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:56" post_name="economy-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5570" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/14/5570" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the PMS would categorise the Prime Minister's mood this morning following a few days of difficult headlines, the PMS replied that he would categorise the Prime Minister's mood as being entirely focused on the issues that were of concern to people in the country. At the moment that was the economy, as well as the changes we were making to the health service, education and changes to the immigration system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was frustrated, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view was that the key focus for the Government needed to be on delivering change and addressing the concerns and aspirations of people who lived in this country in relation to their economic well being and in relation to the changes we were making in health, education and elsewhere.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed he was the man to lead the country through this current situation, the PMS replied of course.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15265.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-14 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-14 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:55" post_name="prime-ministers-mood" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister's mood" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5571" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/14/5571" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any further actions regarding the food prices, the PMS said that this was clearly something that the Prime Minister and the Government was concerned about; the Prime Minister had written to the Head of G7 and the heads of major national organisations regarding the problems faced by food prices. It was something that we had put on the agenda internationally and that we would continue to discuss and take forward with our international colleagues in the days and weeks ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the subject would come up during the Prime Minister's trip to the US, the PMS replied that it would come up as part of the Prime Minister's general discussions on the global economy while he was in the US. It was also something that the Chancellor had been talking about at the meetings of the IMF and World Bank over the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15265.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-14 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-14 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:54" post_name="food-prices" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Food prices" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5572" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/14/5572" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would talk about human rights issues with the Turkish Foreign Minister, the PMS replied that this was a short private meeting and that there was a more substantive meeting that was taking place between the Foreign Secretary and the Turkish Foreign Minister so it was best to check with the Foreign Office on the exact agenda.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was likely to press the Turkish Minister in regards to Cyprus, the PMS said that most of the substantive discussion would take place between David Miliband and the Turkish Foreign Minister so it was best to speak to the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15265.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-14 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-14 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:53" post_name="turkish-foreign-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Turkish Foreign Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5573" comment_count="2" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/14/5573" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was confident regarding the non-dom status of his special advisors, the PMS replied that all special advisors were governed by the code of conduct on special advisor appointments and all of them adhered to that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15265.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-14 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-14 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-14 10:00:52" post_name="miscellaneous-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Miscellaneous" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5574" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5574" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information about the Government timetable and process for reviewing the impact of the scrapping the 10p tax rate, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that there was nothing more that he could say on this at this point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Government would characterise this change, the PMS replied that the Chancellor had said yesterday, and he had said this morning, that the Government wanted to do more to help low income people in future Budget and Pre-Budget reports.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had changed his plans today to enable him to address the PLP, the PMS replied that matters relating to the PLP were a matter for his political colleague.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the Prime Minister's position that defeat on any particular measure would be a motion effectively equivalent to a confidence measure, the PMS replied that he did not know what the exact parliamentary votes were going to be, but a vote on the Budget was an important vote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that Budgets could be rewritten, as they were in 1994, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister accepted that obviously a vote on the Budget was an important vote. But he would also be explaining to his colleagues the strength of the case in support of the Budget 07 measures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was surprised at the level of discontent at the 10p tax rate, and did he think it was justified, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister, as he himself had been saying, thought that whenever significant reforms to the tax system were made, that was always going to raise issues. But we should remember that as a result of this reform we were able to cut the basic rate of tax from 22p to 20p, and we also provided in that Budget &amp;pound;3billion of support for an increase in pension allowances, an increase in the working tax credit, and an increase in the child tax credit. That was followed by another &amp;pound;1billion of support for increases in the Child Tax Credit, as well as increases of Child Benefit in the Budget that has just happened.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked that given this, did the Prime Minister acknowledge that perhaps it was just badly explained to Labour backbenchers, the PMS replied that as he had said, whenever reforms of this kind were made, then there were always going to be issues that arise. The Prime Minister and his colleagues were continuing to explain the rationale for last year's Budget.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government accepted that further tweaking was necessary in light of what had happened, the PMS replied that he did not accept the premise of the question. The Government was always continually looking at ways to support low income families, that was something the Government had done consistently since 1997, and the Government would continue to do. Looking at just one snapshot of one measure in one Budget can give a very misleading impression of the Government's intention, which was to continue to support low income families.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a complaint that people on low incomes with no kids were being affected, and therefore did we accept that further tweaking was necessary in the context of an ongoing economic policy, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister accepted, what the Chancellor said yesterday, that of course the Government wanted to do more to help people on low incomes in future Budgets and in future Pre-Budget Reports.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor and his colleagues should still be explaining what the 2007 Budget was about after 13 months, the PMS replied that if people asked them questions, then they were going to respond to those questions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the 2007 Budget had been around for over a year, and should the Prime Minister, Chancellor and senior Cabinet colleagues be going around explaining to backbenchers what it was all about, the PMS replied that it was understandable why these issues come back at the time they were being implemented, that was clearly why this had become a live issue again. It had not been a particularly live issue, and people were not raising that many questions, in the period between the Budget and recent weeks. Of course issues would be raised again once policies were implemented.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that people's concerns of having a review were whether the Government and they shared the same analysis of what the problems were, the PMS replied that it was best to wait until a proper announcement had been made. Alistair Darling stated very clearly yesterday that of course we were going to go ahead with the measures set out in the 2007 Budget, of course we were going to go ahead with the reduction in the basic rate from 22p to 20p. But of course we also wanted as a Government to continue to look at what more we could do to help not only low income families, but low income households more generally.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15319.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 15:45:58" post_name="tax-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5575" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5575" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the phone conference the Prime Minister was having later today was part of his efforts around the Millennium Development Goals, the PMS replied that this was in relation to the Global Campaign for Education, and helping to meet the Millennium Development Goal relating to education for all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister pledged additional money in 2006 and had asked other countries to match Britain's pledge, and asked if there had been any progress on this, the PMS replied that other countries were looking at what more they could do, but this was an ongoing campaign.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was a fan of the work of Shakira, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was a fan of the need to do as much as possible to support the campaign for global education for all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister knew her music, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's primary interest in this matter was in order to help support the campaign for global education for all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was expected to make any further announcements during the course of this phone conference, the PMS replied that he did not think it was that sort of event.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15319.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 15:45:57" post_name="global-campaign-for-education" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Global Campaign for Education" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5576" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5576" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any concern over the threat to petrol supplies with the possibility of a strike, and had there been any difficulty with liaising with the Scottish Government over this, the PMS replied that John Hutton had been speaking about this in the House earlier today. Obviously this was a matter for the unions and the company to resolve, but of course as you would expect as John Hutton said earlier in the House, there was contingency planning underway. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15319.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 15:45:56" post_name="petrol" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Petrol" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5577" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5577" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the group of people the Prime Minister would be meeting this week regarding food prices would include the head of the World Food Programme, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the head of the World Food Programme was not on his list of attendees but that the meeting included some people from Oxford University, representatives from the retail sector, the European Commission, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Save the Children and others.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had mentioned in Washington last week that he planned to have a meeting with the World Food Programme, the PMS replied that he would check if there was going to be a representative from the World Food Programme at the meeting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the purpose of the meeting was, the PMS replied that the meeting would follow on from the letter the Prime Minister had written the week before last to discuss the strategy, short and longer term, regarding the problem of rising global food prices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was anything the Government had in mind that it could actually do, the PMS said that there were a number of things we were discussing with our international partners at the G8, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and elsewhere. We were looking at the impact of global food prices on the world economy and some of the underlying causes of higher food prices, such as bio-fuels. We were also looking at what could be done by the IMF and the World Bank to mitigate the impact of higher food prices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the rising cost of food here, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was concerned about the impact of rising food prices on both the global economy and the domestic economy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15318.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:58" post_name="world-food-prices" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="World food prices" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5578" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5578" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if anything could be said about the Prime Minister's meeting with President Jacob Zuma of the African National Congress (ANC), the PMS replied that there was not much he wanted to say ahead of the meeting on Wednesday. Jacob Zuma was in London this week and had asked if he could see the Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the meeting had been put in the diary recently, the PMS said that it had been in the diary for some time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this meeting was presumably to put further pressure on Mugabe, the PMS said that we should wait and see; the meeting was not until Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15318.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:57" post_name="meeting-with-president-of-the-african-national-congress" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Meeting with President of the African National Congress " post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5579" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5579" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would regard a vote on the Budget as a confidence issue, the PMS replied that at this stage the amendment had not been tabled so we would have to wait and see what happened in Parliament during the course of today and the rest of this week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was prepared to allow the speculation about this being a confidence issue to continue, the PMS said that any vote on the Budget was an important vote but at the moment we had not yet seen what amendments would be tabled.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister accepted that some people would be worse off as a result of the tax change, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been saying consistently that when you undertake a significant tax reform of the kind that was undertaken in the 2007 Budget, of course that would affect different groups in different ways. That was why, in the 2007 Budget, we provided an additional &amp;pound;3 billion to help people who were affected by the reforms that were made elsewhere in the Budget; there was an extra &amp;pound;1billion to increase the pension allowance; an extra &amp;pound;1 billion for the working tax credit and an extra &amp;pound;1billion for the child tax credit. These measures directly helped those people who were affected by the removal of the 10p rate. We had done a lot to help people on lower incomes since 1997 and as the Chancellor had said yesterday, we would continue to help people on low incomes in future Budgets and Pre-Budget Reports.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister recognised that there was a huge amount of anger on the backbenches regarding the 10p rate, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister recognised that when you took on a significant reform of this kind, people would be affected in different ways. It was important to remember that in the 2007 Budget we reduced the basic rate of tax from 22p to 20p and also, as was just mentioned, we had spent a considerable amount of money in that Budget to increase the working tax credit, the child tax credit and pensioner allowances.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many people would be worse off due to the abolition of the 10p rate, the PMS said that, as the Prime Minister had said previously, so much depended on the behavioural responses as well as individual family circumstances; tax credits were claimed based on family income, whereas tax changes affected individuals.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the scrapping of the 10p tax was done purely to pay for the 2% change in the basic rate, the PMS said no; it was part of a much wider package of reforms that had been made to the tax system. As was said at the time of the 2007 Budget, the 10p rate was introduced at a time when tax credits were at an early stage and over time, as tax credits had become more generous and developed, a more effective way of helping those on lower incomes was to provide support direct to them through the tax credit system.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be having discussions with MPs about the 10p tax, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister spoke to Labour MPs all the time, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15318.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:56" post_name="10p-tax" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="10p tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5580" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5580" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that if the Government and the tri-partite authorities had acted earlier in providing support, the Northern Rock crisis could have been avoided, the PMS said that we would not accept that; the circumstances surrounding Northern Rock depended very much on the individual business model that had been pursued by Northern Rock. The Government had provided considerable support and had intervened to stabilise the situation with regard to Northern Rock and prevent any contagion effects to other financial institutions. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15318.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:55" post_name="northern-rock-33" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Rock" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5581" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5581" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why last week the had Prime Minister had denied plans to swap debts when asked about the subject, the PMS said that he thought that that question might come up and referred to the transcript of last week's conversation in which the journalist's specific question had been whether or not the Prime Minister could confirm that the British Government was going to swap debts with banks, taking on some of their bad debts so that they could remain stable. The answer was that the Government was not taking on the banks' bad debts; we were swapping debts for high quality assets. It was only AAA assets or above which were being considered as part of the swap. What the Prime Minister had been denying was the reference to bad debts.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had been asked the same question by another journalist last week and had said that swapping was not the first thing to do in this situation, the PMS said that he had not checked the transcript for that particular question but he would do so. He added that we had always made clear that significant additional liquidity for the banking system was something that was being considered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how confident the Government was that the AAA assets taken on would remain so, the PMS said that there had been a number of measures which had been put in place and announced by the Bank of England today to ensure that the tax payer was protected; firstly by ensuring that the assets swapped were high quality assets; secondly, that the value of the assets that the banks provided as collateral were greater than the value of the Treasury Bills that the Bank of England would swap them for; thirdly, that the banks would be charged a commercial interest rate and fourthly that the risk of losses remained with the banks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why, if an asset was AAA, it should be swapped for a more secure form, the PMS replied that it was because there was a problem in this particular market of liquidity, so it was in order to address the liquidity problem in the market that the Bank of England had taken this action.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would still press mortgage lenders to pass on the Bank of England rates tax, the PMS replied that that remained the Government's position; as we had made clear, we wanted to create the conditions that enabled the banks to do so and this was part of what we were doing today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Governor had suggested that there was no need for the Government to do that, the PMS said that he had not seen the Governor's comments in their proper context and would rather do so before commenting further.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15318.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:54" post_name="bank-of-england-liquidity" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bank of England Liquidity" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5582" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/21/5582" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why it was that the Prime Minister appeared to be so out of touch, the PMS said that he was not too sure whether that was a statement or a question and went on to say that the Prime Minister had been talking in Scotland that morning about many issues which affected millions of people in this country, such as what the Government was doing to increase employment. Last week the Prime Minister had spoken at great length, emphasising the great importance he attached to dealing with issues regarding the economy. Following his meeting with the banks last week, the Prime Minister was seeing the Bank of England today to discuss injecting &amp;pound;50 billion of extra finance in order to help deal with problems in financial markets, which in turn should help create the conditions to help difficulties faced by mortgage holders. Those were just a few examples of things the Prime Minister was doing, which demonstrated that he did recognise the concerns of people in this country and that the Government was acting on the side of the people of this country to meet those concerns.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was an agreement with Germany and France not to propose a candidate for the EU Presidency if it were objected to by one of the others and if it were the case that Germany had vetoed Tony Blair on that basis, the PMS replied that any suggestion of an agreement between the UK, France and Germany was news to him and that he would have to check before giving an authoritative response.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been aware of John Prescott's eating disorder, the PMS replied that that was not something he would want to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15318.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-21 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-21 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-21 10:00:53" post_name="misc-56" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5583" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/22/5583" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by summarising this morning's Cabinet discussions. Cabinet met for around one hour- there was the usual brief update on parliamentary business from the Chief Whip, a brief update of the situation in Zimbabwe from Lord Malloch-Brown, but most of the hour was taken up by a discussion on the economy led by the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The main message from the Prime Minister and the Chancellor was that of course it was understandable that people should be concerned about the economic situation at this time given the worsening global situation, but the Government had a clear strategy for dealing with this economic uncertainty and steering the country through this difficult period and addressing the concerns of the public. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;ul&gt;&lt;li&gt;On the concerns that people had about growth and employment, in the Budget we had stuck to our long term spending plans and had been able to increase borrowing to keep the economy growing.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;On concerns about mortgage rates, yesterday the Bank of England with the Treasury's support had injected &amp;pound;50billion of liquidity into financial markets with the aim of easing conditions in the mortgage markets. We had taken tough action on public sector pay including three-year pay deals for nurses, teachers and civil servants, and interest rates had been cut three times. The Chancellor explained that when he met mortgage lenders later today, he would be pressing them to see what more they could do such as by taking action when they could to pass on lower interest rates, and acting responsibly on those facing difficulty meeting their mortgage payments and re-financing their mortgages. Caroline Flint also explained what more the Government hoped to do in relation to shared equity schemes to help first time buyers in particular.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;On concerns about higher fuel prices, the Prime Minister and Chancellor explained that we had frozen fuel duty and increased the winter fuel payments, and John Hutton had announced last week the extra help the Government working with the energy companies had been able to provide.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;/li&gt;&lt;li&gt;On concerns over higher food prices, the Prime Minister was meeting the Head of the World Food Programme the European Commission, and the Chief Executive of Sainsbury's among others to discuss action that could be taken to deal with rising global food prices.&lt;/li&gt;&lt;/ul&gt;&lt;p&gt;So Cabinet was overwhelmingly dominated by the economy, but the key message was the Prime Minister and the Chancellor emphasising that on each of the issues that the public had concerns about at the moment, the Government was taking actions to address those concerns.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15324.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-22 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-22 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-25" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5584" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/22/5584" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that conspicuous by its absence in that long list was the issue of the 10p tax rate, and asked if that was raised, the PMS replied that this did come up as part of the general discussion on the economy. There was unanimous support for the position taken by the Prime Minister yesterday, and the Chancellor explained the further meetings that he and the Chief Secretary would be having with MPs in the days ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister planned to deal with a potential rebellion on this on between now and Monday, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister regularly met with MPs as you would expect, but the next stage was that the Chancellor and the Yvette Cooper would be having a series of meetings with MPs in the coming days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Chief Whip told Cabinet about the prospect of them winning the vote on Monday, the PMS replied that the general message form the Chief Whip was that it was important that all Ministers in the Cabinet explained to those who had concerns what the Government's position was on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chief Whip gave any indication of the vote, and would we comment on the fact that at the moment we were looking at defeat, the PMS replied that it was early days. He was not going to get into the specifics of what the Chief Whip did and did not say, simply to emphasise that the Government would be working hard during the course of the next week to persuade MPs of the merits of its case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would make it a confidence vote, the PMS replied that as we were saying yesterday, it was an important vote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been suggestions that if the Government was to lose then there would be a confidence vote the following day, and asked if we recognised that, the PMS replied that the Government was working hard to ensure that it persuaded MPs of its case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government anticipated any further concessions on top of the extended work programme, the PMS replied that he obviously did not accept the premise of the question, but Yvette Cooper did set out a process and a timetable for the work that the Government was undertaking in order to help not only low income families with children, but low income households more generally.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government anticipated any increased clarification of the kind of measures that might be in the PBR, the PMS replied that as he had said, Yvette Cooper made her announcement yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify that as of present the Government did not regard this vote as a confidence vote, the PMS replied that this was an important vote that the Government was working hard to ensure that it won next week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was disappointed that so many MPs had signed the rebel motion despite his personal plea last night, the PMS replied that we should see how things developed during the week. We would also see what MPs had to say over the coming days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would regard the Bill as failed if it went through, or just slightly modified, the PMS replied that the focus of the Government's effort was on persuading MPs of the merit of the Budget.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was confident of winning, the PMS replied that the Government would make every effort during the course of this week to persuade people of its case. The Cabinet was strongly of the view that last year's Budget was a good Budget and that they should all go out and persuade those who had not yet reached that conclusion that that was the case.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if when the Chief Whip urged his colleagues to go out and make that case, there was a small note of regret that perhaps there hadn't been as vocal in support of his policy in recent days, the PMS replied not at all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any Cabinet Ministers raised the concerns of their constituents on this, the PMS replied that he did not want to get into the specifics of who said what, and exactly what was said. What he would say, was that this was in the context of a general discussion about the economy and the general concerns that individuals were facing at the moment. That was why the Prime Minister and the Chancellor emphasised the importance of stressing the action that the Government had taken across the board to meet each of the concerns.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how long the discussion was on the 10p issue, the PMS replied that there was not a specific discussion on 10p, there was a more general discussion on the economy which took up most of the hour that Cabinet lasted.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who initiated the 10p discussion, the PMS replied that he was not going to get into exactly who said what at Cabinet, but the discussion on the economy was introduced by the Prime Minister and then the Chancellor.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor had had any feedback from the banks following yesterday's package, the PMS replied that any specific discussions between the banks and the Government would tend to be with the Treasury rather than with No10.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15324.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-22 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-22 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:57" post_name="economy-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5585" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/22/5585" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the teachers' strike, the PMS replied that the Government's view had been expressed by Jim Knight, that we were very disappointed by the expected strike this week, but that was obviously nothing compared to the disappointment of parents whose children's lessons will be disrupted. It was very important, as Jim Knight had been saying, that parents were aware of what was happening in their children's schools and were informed as soon as possible about whether their child's school would be affected. And he understood that DCSF with the Association of Directors of Children's Services had written to local authorities to emphasise the need to minimise closures and any disruption to pupils and parents.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would urge teachers to return to school on Thursday, the PMS replied that it was the Prime Minister's view that he was disappointed by the Strike action. The disputed pay settlement arose out of a recommendation from an independent pay and review body that the Government accepted.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15324.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-22 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-22 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:56" post_name="teachers-strike" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Teachers' Strike" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5586" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/22/5586" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the summit on global food prices would just be a talking shop, or would there be something tangible coming out of it, the PMS replied that there was a wide range of people attending including the Head of the World Food Programme, as well as a number of experts in this area. Obviously this was a global issue, but this did have an impact domestically on the UK. The meeting would be focused on what action could be taken in order to deal with this global problem. The Prime Minister wrote to his G8 colleagues a couple of weeks ago setting out a potential plan of action that could be taken in the run up to the G8 meeting in July.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15324.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-22 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-22 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:55" post_name="global-food-costs" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Global food costs" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5587" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/22/5587" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to give a flavour of Mark Malloch-Brown's briefing to Cabinet on Zimbabwe, the PMS replied that it was a short update noting the very constructive UN Security Council meeting that took place last week where we there was good interventions from the UN Secretary-General and the Head of the African Union. He noted the deteriorating economic situation in particular in Zimbabwe and he emphasised the importance of continuing to stress the need for the election results to be published and for the democratic will of the people of Zimbabwe to be respected.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been reports of violent threats against the opposition, and asked if there was nothing more that say South Africa could do, the PMS replied that this was something that we continued to discuss with the South Africans and others. Clearly we would condemn any such action.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15324.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-22 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-22 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:54" post_name="zimbabwe-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5588" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/22/5588" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the latest position was with regard to flags been flown above Government buildings with it being St George's Day tomorrow, the PMS replied that a consultation was undertaken by Jack Straw and his department, so that was the best place to look for the latest position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to hoist the flag of St George above Downing Street tomorrow, the PMS replied that he would double check on that point.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15324.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-22 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-22 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:53" post_name="st-georges-day" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="St George's day" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5589" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/22/5589" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had sent a message to Joe Calzaghe, the PMS replied that he understood that the Prime Minister wrote to congratulate Joe Calzaghe on his victory. He said that the whole country was very proud of him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there was a controversial film out at the moment that featured suicides on the tube to which a few drivers had protested, and asked if the Prime Minister had heard any of these protests and did he have a view on this, the PMS replied that he would have to check.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government hoped to get out of tomorrow's meeting with energy companies, the PMS replied that this was a meeting that would be led by John Hutton, so it was best to speak to the department. But obviously we had been working with the energy companies to address issues relating to the impact to higher fuel and energy costs on low income households in particular.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15324.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-22 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-22 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-22 10:00:52" post_name="misc-57" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5590" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/23/5590" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the arms embargo on Zimbabwe was new, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the way the Prime Minister had expressed it was a way that we had not expressed it before. There was already an EU arms embargo and a US embargo on arms sales to Zimbabwe and we encouraged others to take the same approach. Zimbabwe's poor record on human rights abuse spoke for itself and we thought that at this time there should be a temporary moratorium on all arms sales to Zimbabwe. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that the shipment was in South Africa and asked what the Prime Minister wanted Jacob Zuma to do, the PMS replied that we had already seen the response from people in South Africa regarding that particular shipment and that was an approach that we very much welcomed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that China would abide by the arms embargo, the PMS replied that there was an EU arms embargo and a US embargo in place at the moment and we would encourage others to take the same approach.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15340.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-23 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-23 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-23 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-23 15:45:58" post_name="zimbabwe-arms-embargo" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Zimbabwe Arms Embargo" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5591" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/23/5591" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for detail as to how the decision about the 10p rate came about, the PMS replied that the key thing was that the fundamental principles of the 2007 Budget were intact. The Prime Minister continued to believe that the abolition of the 10p rate was the right thing to do and there seemed to now be a general acceptance of this. As the Chancellor had said in his letter, the 10p rate was a transitional measure and as tax credits became more generous and more extensive over time, they became a more effective way of supporting people on low-incomes. The issue was how to deal with people who were affected by the removal of the 10p rate and we had put a considerable amount of money, in the order of around &amp;pound;2.5 billion, into helping those affected in the 2007 Budget. This money included increases in the pensioner allowance, the working tax credit and the child tax credit, however that was never going to be the end of the story. In the 2008 Budget we spent an extra &amp;pound;1 billion on increasing child tax credit and as we had been saying today, by giving some indication today of what further support might be available, the Government was determined to continue to provide support for low-income households and pensioners.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the decision had evolved after the meetings the Chancellor had had with MPs last night, the PMS said that he did not want to get into internal Government processes and that journalists would not expect him to do so. What the Treasury was doing today was setting out more details on the kinds of areas they were looking at following the announcement by Yvette Cooper on Monday, which was how the help we offered low-income households with children could be extended to all low-income households.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was an estimate as to how much what was announced today would cost and how many people would benefit, the PMS said that there was not an estimate as to how much it would cost as that was for the Treasury to announce in the normal way. The Chancellor's letter had referred to our focus being on the potential changes to the tax credit system to allow the average losses from the removal of the10p starting rate of income tax to be offset.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had been telling Labour MPs at the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) meeting that he was &amp;quot;unsympathetic&amp;quot; and that he had told journalists during the US trip that there was &amp;quot;no problem&amp;quot;, it was asked how this &amp;quot;transformation&amp;quot; could be explained. The PMS said that he had not been present at the PLP meeting but that he had been present on the other occasion and that he would not necessarily accept the journalist's characterisation of what the Prime Minister had said. The key thing was that we were going ahead with all the key measures in Budget 2007, and the only outstanding issue was whether or not we could do more to help those people in low-income households. This was not something which could be done in one Budget and then forgotten about; in every Pre-Budget Report (PBR) and Budget the Prime Minister, when he was Chancellor, had been looking for ways to increase support for low-income households and the Prime Minister and current Chancellor would continue to do that in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that while in the US the Prime Minister had said that there were only one or two Labour rebels but that on Monday night there were 39 and asked if that had anything to do with the &amp;quot;transformation&amp;quot;, the PMS said that he did not remember the Prime Minister saying that and that as far as he was aware there was no record to that effect. The Prime Minister had always been clear that it was the intention of the Government that he was responsible for, to do whatever we could to help those people on low-incomes. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government should have some sense of how much this would cost and where the money was going to come from, the PMS said that issues such as that would be addressed by the Treasury in the normal way. The Treasury would not have written a letter of this kind unless it was confident that any commitments made could be funded.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said at Prime Minister's Questions that 70% of the people who were losing out from the Budget were on incomes above &amp;pound;20,000 and asked what figures he had been referring to, the PMS said that it was best to check those details with the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this had been a long-planned measure rather than a &amp;quot;u-turn&amp;quot;, the PMS said that what was long-planned was the intention that this Government would always do whatever it could in order to help people on low-incomes and what we were doing today was setting out in a bit more detail, the sorts of issues that were being considered in advance of the PBR in November.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was pleasantly surprised by how easily the threatened rebellion had been defused, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had always been of the view that once people properly understood the rationale for the 2007 Budget and once people had properly understood the nature and strength of the Government's commitment to helping people on low-incomes, then people would support his position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that was an attack on the Treasury for not getting the message across fast enough, the PMS said no, not at all.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15340.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-23 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-23 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-23 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-23 15:45:57" post_name="10p-tax-rate" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="10p Tax Rate" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5592" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/23/5592" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's position on cannabis had changed, the PMS said no.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the summit on fuel poverty, the PMS said that that had been an event organised by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform and Ofgem and that they had put a statement out following the event.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15340.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-23 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-23 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-23 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-23 15:45:56" post_name="misc-58" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5593" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/23/5593" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any developments regarding the 10p tax rate, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that presently he did not have much to say about this subject. As journalists were aware, Yvette Cooper had said on Monday that the Government would extend its programme of work on the next stage of support for low income households with children to include consideration of individuals and households on low income without children, but it was for the Treasury to set out any further detail on the process. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Treasury would do that today, the PMS replied that it was a matter for the Treasury and that journalists should check with them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been a conversation between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor last night about the 10p tax rate, the PMS said that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor talked about all sorts of things everyday, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that the Treasury was authorised to clarify the present position but was not authorised to change policy without the prior knowledge of the Prime Minister, the PMS said that what he was saying, quite clearly, was that there could be no question of not going ahead with the abolition of the 10p rate of tax; that was the right thing to do. The 10p rate of tax was introduced as a transitional measure in 1999 and since 1999 tax credits had been extended and become more generous. Therefore, in order to target support directly on low-income households, the 10p tax rate was abolished in the last Budget and that enabled us to reduce the basic rate of tax. For further clarification or detail on the existing position and for any further clarification on the Yvette Cooper announcement on Monday, it was best to go to the Treasury for advice.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what it would require for the Chancellor to increase tax allowances, the PMS said that any statement from the Chancellor of the Exchequer was an agreed position of the Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that the position had not been agreed, the PMS said that whenever Alistair Darling made any statement about Government policy it was an agreed position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that there had to be losers and that that was a natural consequence of the abolition of the 10p tax rate or if he believed that it was unfair to penalise people who were at the bottom end of the pay scale, the PMS replied that this had been discussed during Monday's lobby briefing but that he could discuss it again if the journalist wished. When undertaking a major tax reform of the type that we saw in the 2007 Budget then of course that would affect different people in different ways. You could not just look at one measure in one Budget in isolation; you had to look at the Budget as a whole, but more importantly, you had to look at what the Government had done over 10 years and what the Government would continue to do in the future.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Government's active persuasion did not seem to be working as there were more rebels than there had been yesterday, the PMS replied that we should wait and see how the situation developed over the coming days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had planned any further appeals or meetings with his party over the next few days, the PMS replied that he did not accept the premise of the question but went on to say that the Chancellor had met with MPs yesterday and that the Prime Minister met with MPs all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PMS could confirm that the Chancellor was going to make a statement, the PMS replied that he was not in a position to confirm anything until the Treasury made an announcement, as he was not spokesman for the Treasury.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15339.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-23 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-23 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:58" post_name="10p-tax-rate-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="10p Tax Rate" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5594" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/23/5594" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the Prime Minister's meeting with Jacob Zuma, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was meeting Jacob Zuma because Mr Zuma was the president of the African National Congress (ANC) and it was not unusual for the Prime Minister to meet with party leaders from other countries when they were in London. They would discuss a number of issues including development and the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals in Africa; the situation regarding global food prices and what that meant for Africa; climate change and finally that other regional issues such as Zimbabwe were bound to come up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would use this opportunity to convey the message that African leaders needed to withdraw their support for Mugabe's regime while the election situation was still ongoing, the PMS said that we had seen that happen already, for example from the Head of the African Union on the floor of the UN Security Council. The Prime Minister remained fully supportive of the efforts of Thabo Mbeki and the work of Southern African Development Community (SADC) and that remained our position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the position was regarding the arms embargo on Zimbabwe, the PMS replied that that was something we continued to keep under review and discuss with international partners, but that there had been no change in our position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the arms embargo would be discussed during the Prime Minister's meeting with Mr Zumo, the PMS said it was best to wait and see.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15339.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-23 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-23 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:57" post_name="meeting-with-jacob-zuma" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Meeting with Jacob Zuma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5595" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/23/5595" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if other national flags would be flown on other patron saint's days, the PMS said yes; that had been made clear yesterday and had come out of the consultation on flag flying which concluded in March.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the position regarding Northern Ireland, the PMS said that Northern Ireland did not have a national flag, therefore the issue did not arise and that there was a complex set of sensitive guidelines on flag flying regarding Northern Ireland.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15339.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-23 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-23 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:56" post_name="flags" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Flags" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5596" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/23/5596" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's message to teachers who were intending to strike tomorrow, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's view on this, as made clear yesterday, was that it was unacceptable that parents should be inconvenienced in this way. There had been a recommendation from the Independent Pay Review Body, which the Government accepted but had not been accepted by one of the unions. Therefore, in the Prime Minister's view this strike was not necessary and it was regrettable that parents were being inconvenienced in this way.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15339.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-23 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-23 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-23 10:00:55" post_name="misc-59" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5597" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5597" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any reaction to the High Court ruling on asset freezing, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that a statement had gone out from both the Home Office and the Treasury on that. The Treasury were saying that they were disappointed with the Judgement of the High Court in this case, and that they had been granted permission to lodge an appeal, and would be doing so. In the meantime the Treasury had sought and obtained an interim state to ensure that the asset freezing regime and individual asset freezes remained in place.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15344.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:58" post_name="terror-assets" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Terror Assets" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5598" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5598" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why it was decided to limit the protection against loss of those aged between 60-64, and not extended to people who retired early, the PMS replied that that was the decision taken by the Treasury and it was best to check with them on the specifics. From recollection it was related to parallel announcement that was made in relation to personal allowances for pensioners that we also made in 2007, but best to check with the Treasury for the definitive answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was prepared to listen to the opponents of 42 days, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister made clear yesterday afternoon, it was right for security reasons to go ahead with our proposals on 42 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister told Frank Field on Tuesday that the entire package to alleviate the impact of the 10p change would be backdated to April, and Geoff Hoon had said the same thing to Greg Pope, and asked had they both not been double crossed, the PMS replied that there were a number of assumptions in the question, not all of which he agreed with, but the key thing was that as the Chancellor's letter made clear yesterday, for pensioners aged 60-64 whose incomes tend to be more stable, the Chancellor's letter was very clear that we will examine whether those households that had lost out through the removal of the 10p rate could be helped through the mechanism that already exists to pay the winter fuel allowance. And it was clear that these changes would be back dated to the start of the financial year. So there was a mechanism already in place for pensioners aged 60-64 - for other low paid families, the situation was more complex because the group was more diverse, and their incomes less stable. But we were fully committed to helping these groups as we set out yesterday. So in advance of the PBR the Treasury, as the Chancellor's letter made clear yesterday, was focusing on the most practical way of offsetting the average losses from the removal of the 10p rate. And the Chancellor and the Prime Minister were clear that this meant offsetting average losses for this year as well as future years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government had a figure yet for average losses, the PMS replied that it was difficult to come up with an exact figure for that because obviously in depended on many factors that were changing all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government's intention was to compensate as many of the people as possible for the losses which were occurring this year as a result of the tax change, the PMS replied that it was the Government's intention, as the Chancellor said in his letter yesterday to offset the average losses from the removal of the 10p rate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the significance was of using the average, the PMS replied that the significance of the average was that everybody's circumstances were different and it was very difficult to make specific commitments in relation to specific individuals. That was why the Government said yesterday that we would offset the average losses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that some people might get more than they had lost and some people might get less than they lost, the PMS replied that everybody's circumstances were different, so it was very difficult to design a tax system which was specific for every individual in the country, and that was why what we said yesterday was that we would offset the average losses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the tax credit was particularly targeted at an individual and their individual incomes, the PMS replied that one of the main advantages of the tax credit system, as the Prime Minister made clear yesterday, was that we were able to target more directly, resources on the people that we want to give support to. That was why tax credits were a much more precise instrument for channelling support than tax allowances were. That was the reason why, with the tax credit system more developed, the decision was taken to abolish the 10p rate. But obviously the tax credit system could not be so precise for it to be tailored to the needs of every individual person in the country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that some people did not receive tax credits due to their age, and how would they be compensated, the PMS replied that he would refer people back to what the Chancellor said yesterday. This was one of the practical issues that would need to be considered in advance of the PBR.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was not feasible to do it through employers paying a higher minimum wage, the PMS replied that there were a number of practical issues that needed to be addressed in advance of the PBR in order to ensure that the average losses in the removal of the 10p rate could be offset.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Treasury review on the long term poverty issues, and was this now a two stage process with a short term measure to offset losses people had suffered this year, and then more structural change from then on, the PMS replied that there were two separate but related issues. One was the more longer term programme of work that the Chancellor announced in the Budget in order to look at the next stages of providing support of low income families with children, but as the Chief Secretary said on Monday the remit of that work had been extended to look at what more specifically we could do in relation to all low income households. As we had been making clear in recent days that work would run on a shorter timetable.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15344.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:57" post_name="tax-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5599" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5599" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was still committed to retaining the abortion time of 24 weeks, the PMS replied that the Government had no plans to change the legislation on abortion. Any changes to the abortion laws would typically be a free vote anyway, but the Government had no plans to bring forward any proposals.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15344.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:56" post_name="abortion-legislation" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Abortion Legislation" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5600" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5600" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Government was responding to the teachers' strike, the PMS replied that there were words from the Prime Minister earlier today, and Jim Knight had been out and about this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why Ed Balls was not responding, the PMS replied that he would not read anything into that at all, but check with the department.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any sympathy for the teachers, the PMS replied that it was the Prime Minister's view as he said this morning, that the pay decision was made by an independent pay review body, they made a recommendation that was accepted by the Government and therefore it was regrettable for pupils and parents that a minority of teachers were out on strike.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15344.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:55" post_name="teachers-strike-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Teacher's Strike" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5601" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5601" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the Prime Minister's meeting with the Icelandic PM, the PMS replied that this was their first official meeting, although both attended the NATO Summit in Bucharest and were both Finance Ministers together previously. They had a wide ranging discussion including the international financial situation, and the collaboration that we have with Iceland on renewables technology to combat climate change among other bilateral issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Britain would support Iceland if it applied for EU membership, the PMS replied that he was sure that our position on that was long standing and unchanged.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15344.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 10:00:54" post_name="icelandic-prime-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Icelandic Prime Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5602" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5602" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister felt about some negative reactions from businesses about the idea that the compensation package could be paid for in part by the minimum wage, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister and the Government's view was as the Chancellor had set out in his letter yesterday when he said that that would be one of the options we would explore in the coming weeks and months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that some businesses may think it strange that they should pick up the bill for a Government mistake, the PMS said that we were asking the Low Pay Commission to examine what the options were.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that that could be seen as putting political pressure on what should be a totally independent decision, the PMS said he did not accept that; what the Government was doing was asking the Low Pay Commission to do what it was there to do, which was to report on what changes could be made to the minimum wage regime to support younger workers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's mood was given the week he had had, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister, as always, was focused and determined.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if, on reflection, the Prime Minister thought that he should have acted sooner to address the concerns about the 10p tax rate, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been asked at length about all these issues yesterday in the round of interviews he did and there was nothing to add.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how many people the Prime Minister was hoping to help through compensation, the PMS said that what the Treasury would do over the next few months, in advance of the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) was to come forward with proposals that would offset the average losses for those affected. The Treasury had already said that in relation to pensioners aged 60-64 there was the potential to use a mechanism, which already existed, to target support directly on those affected, and that was through the system for payments of the winter fuel allowance. In relation to other groups it was more complex as everyone's situation was different; those affected were a diverse group and therefore it was not straightforward to target support to selected groups of individuals through the tax system. The Treasury would be working and focusing on all these matters over the next few months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it was impossible to help everyone, the PMS said that the Chancellor's letter yesterday made clear that what we would be working towards was proposals that offset the average losses from the removal of the 10p rate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that by describing it as the average was to concede that there would be losers, the PMS said that he was not conceding anything, he was just repeating what the Chancellor had set in his letter yesterday; everybody's circumstances were different and many individuals themselves may not know directly how they were affected, so therefore it was not realistic to think that the Government had information on every single individual in this country with the degree of precision required to make those sorts of judgements. That was why, in the Chancellor's letter yesterday, he had been talking about offsetting the average losses from the removal of the 10p rate.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was hopeful that come the time of the PBR they could help all those they had identified as needing help, the PMS said that the Treasury would be concentrating on offsetting the average losses for this year as well as future years, as the Chancellor had said in his letter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the word &amp;quot;backdated&amp;quot; was the right way to describe what would happen, the PMS said that journalists could describe it as they liked but the key thing was what the Chancellor had said this morning; that average losses would be offset for this, as well as future years. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Government was going through a tortuous process of compensating people when they could just give money back by using tax allowances, the PMS replied that the reason that could not happen was because money would then go to everybody and it would be incredibly expensive, around &amp;pound;8 billion. It would mean giving money to individuals who were not affected by the removal of the 10p rate and therefore it would be very expensive and put public finances and the economy at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the role of the Low Pay Commission was, the PMS said that the Low Pay Commission was being asked to do what it had been asked to do by the Chancellor in his letter yesterday, which was to report on what changes could be made to the minimum wage regime to support younger workers.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the backdated money would be an open-ended proposal, the PMS said that the exact mechanism by which we did this was something that the Treasury would consider in advance of the PBR. Exactly how they would do that was something that they would want to consider very carefully. What we were saying very clearly was that average losses would be offset, not just for future years, but for this year as well.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15353.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 15:45:58" post_name="10p-tax-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="10p Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5603" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5603" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's message was to teachers threatening further strike action, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's message was that which he delivered this morning and the message that Ed Balls had been delivering this morning, which was that this strike action was regrettable as many thousands of parents had been inconvenienced throughout the country. There had been an independent Pay Review Body recommendation on teachers' pay that the Government had accepted and therefore it was disappointing that this one particular union had decided not to accept the independent recommendation of the Pay Review Body.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was worried by the spate of industrial action about to take place, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was concerned about doing the right thing for the county; while wanting to ensure that hardworking teachers and other pubic service workers in this country got a fair deal we also wanted to ensure that we took the right action to keep inflation down. One of the reasons that the Bank of England had been able to cut interest rates three times in recent months was because of the action we had taken on public sector pay. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15353.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 15:45:57" post_name="teachers-strike-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Teacher's Strike" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5604" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/24/5604" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government's position remained the same in regards to troops roulement in Iraq in light of the Written Ministerial Statement from the Ministry of Defence, the PMS replied that the Government's policy had always been to be guided by the conditions on the ground and not to set arbitrary timetables. The situation on the ground had changed in the past month or so and that was why the Government had made the announcements it had over the past couple of weeks.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister was focused on and who he felt his opponents were, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was focused, as he had said last week, on working with his Cabinet colleagues to do all the Government could to steer the country through the difficult economic period we were facing at the moment. The Prime Minister was also focused on the changes we were making to the health service, education, neighbourhood policing and the other important measures the Government was taking.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that phrases such as &amp;quot;focused&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;determined&amp;quot; resonated of the previous PMS's comments regarding Tony Blair, the PMS said that being Prime Minister meant that you had to be focused and resolute and that you had to keep your focus on the long term without being unduly distracted by short-term events and that was what this Prime Minister was doing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about one of his supporters saying on the radio that he should accept that he is a dour Scot and should stop smiling so much, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would consider that as a representation and that he received a number of representations on all sorts of issues all of the time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15353.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-24 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-24 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-24 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-24 15:45:56" post_name="misc-60" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5605" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/25/5605" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the contingency plans were for fuel in Scotland and whether any COBRA meetings were planned, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that she was not aware of any planned COBRA meetings, but she would check. As Malcolm Wicks was saying this morning, what we were encouraging and what we wanted to see happen as swiftly as possible was for both sides to negotiate and get round the table to resolve this. We believed that this was a dispute that should be settled, and should be settled through reaching a common sense decision. The sooner that happened and the groups involved were able to prevent disruption, the better.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about concerns over fuel supplies and contingency plans, the PMS replied that contingency planning was ongoing as would be expected, but the anticipation was that overall fuel supplies were not a problem. The current assessment was that despite any short term &amp;quot;stock outs&amp;quot; as they were known, there was sufficient fuel to re-supply forecourts and other users ahead, during, and following any industrial action. Obviously we did not want industrial action to go ahead, and the advice to motorists remained as Malcolm Wicks said this morning, not to buy more fuel than normal.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to define &amp;quot;stock out&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that a &amp;quot;stock out&amp;quot; was a reduction in the normal amount of fuel reaching places, but the Department for Business would have the exact technical definition.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that although there may not be any shortage, that petrol was not in the right places so garages would run dry, and had that not happened already, the PMS replied that as we had said contingency planning was in place, we were encouraging motorists not to buy any more fuel than normal as an increase in demand could potentially cause difficulties for those needing fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Government vehicles and emergency vehicles had stocked up on fuel, the PMS replied that the department could provide exact details of the contingency planning that was ongoing. But as we had said the assumption was that there was not a problem in terms of supply in the short term during the strike or after should one occur.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was guaranteeing to motorists that their local petrol station would not run out of petrol, the PMS replied that she had already set out our position, and the industry was making the assessment that there would be sufficient to re-supply the forecourts. But the message was that people should not buy out of the ordinary volumes of fuel.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there were already some petrol stations where they had put limits on the amount of fuel people could buy, the PMS referred again to the industry assessment and to the advice that had gone out both from the Secretary of State and also from the Energy Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Malcolm Wicks' comments this morning that he could not guarantee supplies meant that contingency plans were not in place, the PMS replied that we were encouraging both sides to get round the table to negotiate and to bring about a resolution based on common sense so that this industrial action did not go ahead.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15364.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-25 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-25 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:58" post_name="fuel" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Fuel" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5606" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/25/5606" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about comments this morning that there were &amp;quot;no-go areas&amp;quot; in prisons in Britain where inmates were basically in control, the PMS replied that the Prison Officers Association had responded in their way, but the Ministry of Justice had issued a response saying that it was simply not true that there were areas of prisons that were no-go areas for staff. Prisoners did try to escape, but the Prison Service had an excellent record of preventing such escapes, and prisons had been stable for over 10 years - an excellent record that all prison staff should be proud of.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15364.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-25 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-25 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:57" post_name="prisons-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prisons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5607" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/25/5607" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Archbishop of Canterbury's comments on personal debt, and was the Prime Minister concerned that young people were going into too much debt, the PMS replied that it was the case that people struggling with personal debt were already being helped by a range of measures introduced by the Government. The Department for Business had introduced a face to face debt advice project with more than 500 debt advisors recruited and trained, and more than 66,000 people had been helped to date. At the moment we were also undertaking the biggest ever nationwide crackdown on loan sharks and illegal lending. Therefore this was something that the Government took very seriously, and there were measures in place to try and assist those who may be at risk of falling into indebtedness.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15364.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-25 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-25 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:56" post_name="debt-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Debt" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5608" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/25/5608" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about a possible reshuffle after the local elections, the PMS replied that as people knew, it was the case that somebody sitting in her position would never comment on reshuffle speculation. But she believed that her political colleague had already made his views known on this story to some members of the Lobby.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15364.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-25 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-25 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-25 10:00:55" post_name="misc-61" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5609" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5609" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any update on the possible meeting between the Prime Minister and the First Minister, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that she didn't have anything to update journalists on from this morning in terms of any meeting this evening, but reiterated that we were looking at diary practicalities. More generally, there had been very good cooperation between John Hutton and the First Minister; they had been in contact both today and almost every day and it was our understanding that John Hutton was due to visit Scotland tomorrow where he would have another face to face meeting with the First Minister. In terms of the Prime Minister and any contact this evening, we would let people know.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that John Hutton was supposed to be seeing the First Minister tonight as well, the PMS said that his diary could change but that that was our latest understanding of the position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister will congratulate the First Minister this Saturday on the anniversary of his first year in office, the PMS said that we would notify journalists of any plans as we approached the weekend.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15398.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 15:45:58" post_name="first-minister" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="First Minister" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5610" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5610" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Dawn Primarolo's announcement today on eye treatment had breached Purdah conventions, the PMS said no. What Dawn Primarolo had been talking about today was results from research that had already been supported by &amp;pound;1 million of the Department of Health research money; this was not new money that had gone in, this was about results from research that had been underway for some time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Telegraph's story that the Prime Minister had been on the verge of making concessions on 48 days but that at the last minute the Home Secretary had protested was true, the PMS said that she had seen that report but that it was not one that we recognised; the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary were in perfect accord on this particular issue, as well as every other issue.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15398.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 15:45:57" post_name="misc-62" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5611" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5611" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the Prime Minister's meeting with General Petraeus, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that we would say more on that nearer the time. General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were both in London, and had met the Prime Minister previously when they had been passing through.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:58" post_name="general-petraeus" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="General Petraeus" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5612" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5612" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister and Mrs Brown would be voting on Thursday, the PMS replied that he was sure they would be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if they were registered in London, the PMS replied that he would have to double check, but he was sure his political colleague had this all in hand for Thursday.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:57" post_name="elections" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5613" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5613" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Tony Blair would be attending the meetings on Friday, the PMS replied that he would not expect him to attend the Iran meeting, and on the Middle East meeting he was not sure that we were in a position to confirm that at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:56" post_name="middle-east" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Middle East" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5614" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5614" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting the First Minister today to discuss Grangemouth, the PMS replied that there had been very good co-operation between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive in recent days on the issue of Grangemouth. John Hutton and Alex Salmond had been speaking frequently over recent days. The Prime Minister was not in London for most of today, although was expected to be back later, and we understood that Alex Salmond would also be in London later but we were looking at diaries to see what was possible. But as he had said, there had been a lot of contact between John Hutton and the First Minister directly and co-operation between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive had so far been good on this matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the meeting were to take place would it be the first time they would have met, the PMS replied that they had spoken on a number of occasions, and they were also together at the same event in Northern Ireland in the autumn of last year.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this was not quite the same thing, and asked if this was the first arranged meeting between the two, the PMS replied that as he had said, there had been very good meetings so far between John Hutton and the First Minister. The Prime Minister had spoken on a number of occasions since Mr Salmond became the First Minister of Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if they were to meet tonight, would this be the second time they had met, the PMS replied that they had spoken to each other on numerous occasions, and we had had very regular contact between John Hutton and the First Minister on this Grangemouth issue in recent days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if they were to meet, would Grangemouth be the only item on the agenda, the PMS replied that it would principally be about Grangemouth, but as he had said, the meeting had not yet been fixed because of diary issues. John Hutton had been in almost daily contact with Alex Salmond in recent days.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:55" post_name="fuel-strike" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Fuel Strike" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5615" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5615" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Des Browne would be making a statement on Afghanistan today, the PMS replied that we were not expecting a statement this week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:54" post_name="afghanistan-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Afghanistan" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5616" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5616" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Jack Straw had said sorry for 10p tax and asked if he spoke for the Government on this, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had given extensive interviews on this issue last week, and had said all he needed to say for now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was sorry, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had given extensive interviews last week on this subject.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:53" post_name="tax-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5617" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5617" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about a piece in the FT today on the MoD kicking into the long grass lots of major defence procurement decisions, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to the MoD.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:52" post_name="defence-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Defence" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5618" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/28/5618" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Cannabis report had been received, and when would we be publishing it, the PMS replied that we were expecting to receive the report from the advisory committee today, and that would go to the Home Office. But we did have a statutory obligation to take into account the advisory committee's advice, so there would need to be proper consideration of what they had to say once we had seen the report in full. So people should not anticipate publication of the report, or the Government's response this week.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15397.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-28 11:00:51" post_date_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:51" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-28 11:00:51" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-28 10:00:51" post_name="cannabis-report" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis Report" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5619" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5619" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) started by telling journalists that Cabinet had met this morning for just over an hour. David Miliband gave an update on Zimbabwe and Des Browne gave an update on Kosovo. They spent most of Cabinet discussing the Government's future legislative programme.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more information on what was said at Cabinet about Zimbabwe and the future legislative programme, the PMS replied that it had been a general discussion about the Government's future legislative priorities, so there was not much more to be said on that at this point. The discussion on Zimbabwe had been more of an update on the situation and particularly focused on the need to keep up the international pressure on Mr Mugabe and, as journalists knew, there would be a discussion in the UN Security Council on Zimbabwe today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the issue of 42 days had come up as part of the discussion on the Government's future legislative priorities, the PMS said it had not as it had been a discussion on the priorities for the next Queen's Speech. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15405.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-27" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5620" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5620" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister regarded it as an act of treachery that Kate Hoey had pledged her allegiance to Boris Johnson, the PMS replied that that was not a question for him; it was best directed to the PMS's political colleague.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked, in more general terms, if the Prime Minister agreed with cross-party cooperation, the PMS said that he could see where the journalist was going with this question and that it was a question about the London Mayoral elections. In reply to this the PMS said that questions on the relationship between the Prime Minister and individual Labour MPs were not really for him to answer. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15405.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:57" post_name="kate-hoey" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Kate Hoey" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5621" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5621" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what meetings the Prime Minister had been carrying out this morning at around 8am when he had been invited onto BBC Breakfast, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been doing quite a lot of media recently and that this morning he had had a breakfast meeting with representatives of creative industries. He went on to say that a full cast list of that meeting could be sent to journalists. This was a sector of the economy that the Prime Minister attached importance too because they represented a significant future growth area for the British economy and prosperity in jobs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that when Harriet Harman had been asked this morning why she was appearing on BBC Breakfast rather than the Prime Minister she had said it was because the Prime Minister was meeting other Ministers, the PMS said that there were Ministers at the meeting as well and that a cast list would be made available. The PMS went on to say that last time he checked the Prime Minister was accountable to Parliament and not to individual TV programmes, but it was always good to have an opportunity to clarify that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15405.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:56" post_name="bbc-breakfast" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="BBC Breakfast" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5622" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5622" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had met with the First Minister yesterday, the PMS said that he had; they met last night in the House of Commons for about 20 minutes. It had been a private meeting between just the two of them and their discussion had been on Grangemouth. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for details of the discussion and if anything had come out of it, the PMS said that the meeting had been private and that they had discussed the situation at Grangemouth. As we had said yesterday, John Hutton had been in regular contact with the First Minister in recent days and was in Scotland today, so there had been very good cooperation between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive; the meeting with the First Minister yesterday was a further example of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any further talks between the Prime Minister and the First Minister, the PMS said that he was sure that there would be lots of opportunities for the UK Government to continue to work closely and constructively with the Scottish Executive in the weeks, months and years ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to confirm that Grangemouth had been the only topic of conversation between the Prime Minister and the First Minister at their meeting, the PMS said that that was his understanding and that there had only been the two of them in the room throughout the meeting. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had had personal talks with the union leadership or management involved with the Grangemouth dispute, the PMS said that he did not want to get into exactly who the Prime Minister had been speaking to but that John Hutton had been playing a very hands-on role, as reflected in the fact that he was going to Scotland today for further discussions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the First Minister had said yesterday that if this dispute were to continue then it would be extremely damaging to the economy, the PMS said that we would certainly share the view that it was very important that the sides got back to the negotiating table and find a resolution to this.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15405.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:55" post_name="first-ministergrangemouth" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="First Minister/Grangemouth" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5623" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5623" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister believed that there was another way of sending the strong signal that cannabis is unacceptable other than reclassifying it, the PMS said that we had now received the report from the Advisory Council and that we had a requirement to take into account their views, as well as the views of others. As was said yesterday, people should not anticipate that an announcement would happen this week. It was best to wait for a formal announcement to be made before getting into further discussions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what other ways the Prime Minister thought a strong signal could be sent, the PMS said that he could see where the journalist was trying to lead him and that when we were in a position to make an announcement on the reclassification of cannabis then we would do so. The position at the moment was that we had just received the report from the Advisory Committee and that was something that would need to be considered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put repeatedly that the Prime Minister had used the word &amp;quot;lethal&amp;quot; to describe the use of cannabis and asked if there were examples of cannabis being lethal, the PMS said that nobody was disputing the potential dangerous impacts of cannabis and that that was why cannabis was an illegal drug. When the Government was in a position to respond to the report from the Advisory Committee, we would do that in a proper and orderly way.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15405.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:54" post_name="cannabis-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5624" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5624" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's reaction to what Mervyn King had been saying to the Treasury Select Committee this morning about the likelihood that inflation could reach 3% or higher, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not have a specific reaction to that, not least because he had been in Cabinet this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was going to make any more representations to OPEC, the PMS said that we would continue to make our views known and that we would continue to raise this with our G8 partners. The issues of commodity prices and food prices were sure to be important issues of discussion at and in advance of the G8 Summit in July.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the affect the credit crunch was having on ordinary families at the moment or was he concerned that things could get worse, the PMS replied that this was a difficult period for the world economy; we had set out our economic forecasts in the Budget and we would do our next comprehensive one in the Pre-Budget Report, so we were not going to provide interim updates. This was a difficult period and people were concerned about the impacts on them and that was why the Government was determined to take action wherever it could to steer the country through this difficult period and that we had seen that with the announcement of the &amp;pound;50 billion injection of liquidity from the Bank of England last week. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15405.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 10:00:53" post_name="misc-63" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5625" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5625" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked why Des Browne made his announcement when he was specifically asked about it by Liam Fox yesterday, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the announcement was today, once final decisions get taken then announcements get made.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15406.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:58" post_name="defence-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Defence" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5626" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5626" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a chance to review Mervyn King's comments, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had not had chance to examine them in detail, but he was sure he would have no difficulty with any of it.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Governor of the Bank of England said that the &amp;pound;50billion injection was not designed to beef up the mortgage market, which seemed to be the opposite impression given by the Chancellor and Prime Minister last week, and asked if the &amp;pound;50billion would help the mortgage market, the PMS replied that this was slightly putting words into the mouth of the Governor. What we did last week was a very important next step that the Government took to ensure that there was sufficient liquidity in financial markets which among other things, should help improve the situations in mortgages markets compared to what it might otherwise have been.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government would support the incorporation of mortgage spending in the CPI, the PMS replied that this was a question for the ONS and the Treasury, but from memory the CPI measure of inflation that we used was one that was internationally recognised and was used by all other countries in Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government was confident that inflation was under control, the PMS replied that the Government believed that the Government set the inflation target, and it was for the Bank of England to deliver that target.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15406.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:57" post_name="economy-12" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5627" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5627" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what Cabinet discussed this morning, the PMS replied that Cabinet had an update from David Miliband on Zimbabwe, and they were updated on the announcement that Des Browne was making on Kosovo, but they spent most of their time discussing the Government's future legislative priorities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the future legislative priorities were, the PMS replied that when we were in a position to say more about what might be in the next Queen's Speech, we would announce that. It was discussion of legislative priorities for the next parliamentary session.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that last year we announced a draft Queen's Speech, and asked if we would be repeating this, the PMS replied that we would.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would again be in July, the PMS replied that it was in July last year because that was shortly after Mr Brown became Prime Minister.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be earlier this year, the PMS replied that people could expect it earlier this year.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15406.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:56" post_name="cabinet-28" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5628" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/29/5628" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be cheering for Manchester United this evening, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would always like to see English clubs do well in Europe, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15406.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-29 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-29 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-29 15:45:55" post_name="football-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5629" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5629" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's comments at Prime Minister's Questions (PMQs) meant that there would be no major concessions to the Counter Terrorism Bill, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that the Prime Minister had been clear at PMQs and that he had also been clear last week. There was a strong case for moving beyond 28 days and there certainly seemed to be a growing consensus that there was a need to put in place legislation on a precautionary basis, which would enable suspects to be held for more than 28 days and the debate now was now simply about the safeguards that you put in place. It was the Government's view that we thought declaring a state of emergency in order to hold one individual for more than 28 days could be a bit excessive, so that was why we were trying to find alternative safeguards to deal with the situation should it arise.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there could be a situation whereby this legislation, once passed, would be subject to Parliamentary resolution from both Houses, the PMS said that the Government's proposal had been set out by the Home Secretary back in November and that that remained the Government's position. The key thing was that, in the view of the Prime Minister and the Government, the differences between the various participants in this debate were not as great as was sometimes suggested. There seemed to be a general acceptance, in principal, of the need to detain people beyond 28 days and it was simply a question of finding the right mechanism and safeguards in order to enable that to happen.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any last minute tinkering with the proposal before it reached the vote, the PMS said that he could see where the journalist was trying to lead him and that the position was the same as Home Secretary had made last November.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about a proposal regarding tagging which has been written about in the Sunday Times, the PMS said that this proposal had never been put to the Prime Minister and his understanding was that it had never been put in any serious way to the Home Secretary either. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where it had come from, the PMS replied that it appeared to have been a background document produced by the Home Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:58" post_name="counter-terrorism-bill" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Counter Terrorism Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5630" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5630" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how satisfied the Prime Minister was with the current line up of Government Ministers and if there could be a reshuffle either after the local elections or in the summer, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was very satisfied with his Ministers and that journalists would not expect a comment on reshuffle speculation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied that his Ministers were all in the right jobs, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was very satisfied with his Ministers and the jobs they were doing. The PMS added that he would not now, or ever, comment on reshuffle speculation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:57" post_name="cabinet-reshuffle" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet Reshuffle" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5631" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5631" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had mentioned a President Sarkozy letter in his speech, the PMS said that we hoped to be able to release, if not the actual letter itself, the main content of that letter later today. The main issue that we had been working on with the French had been to put forward suggestions for the Small Business Act that the European Commission was due to bring forward in June and which would be taken forward in the French Presidency in the second half of this year. The French had already said that taking action to help small businesses operate on a competitive basis in Europe was an important issue for them. Obviously that complemented the Prime Minister's long-standing agenda on economic reform.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what that meant in practise, the PMS said that it meant looking at what more could be done to improve small enterprises' access to the single market. It also meant looking again at the impact of European regulation on small enterprises; looking at the way small enterprises competed for public contracts in Europe and what more could be done generally to promote entrepreneurial activity and small business creation at a pan-European level.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how much the Prime Minister would cut corporation tax by and when it would happen, the PMS said that he would let the Prime Minister's words speak for themselves. We had said in the Budget last year that it was our ambition to continue to see what more we could do to keep corporation tax rates competitive. When we were in a position to make specific commitments then it would be something for the Chancellor and future Budgets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had been pre-empting the Chancellor's recently announced review of business taxation, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had simply been restating the position that had been taken in the Budget last year.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:56" post_name="prime-ministers-speech-to-the-institute-of-directors" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister's Speech to the Institute of Directors" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5632" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5632" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had watched the European Championship game between Manchester United and Barcelona last night, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had watched some of the game last night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be going to watch the final in Moscow, the PMS said that we had only found out at approximately 9.40pm last night that that there would definitely be two English teams in the final, so we had not had the opportunity to consider that yet.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:55" post_name="football-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5633" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5633" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the Prime Minister had known in 2007 that there would be losers if the 10p tax rate was scrapped, the PMS said that when you undertook a tax reform of this kind you would have a reasonable idea of what the impact would be and that was something that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had made clear in the past. The Chancellor and Yvette Cooper had also acknowledged this on the floor of the House of Commons. However, the issue had always been how we dealt with those affected and that was why we put in around &amp;pound;2.5 billion in Budget 2007, why we had done more in Budget 2008 and why we were signalling more help in the Pre-Budget report. The problem was that it was very difficult to come up with precise estimates because it was very difficult to know the exact circumstances of every individual and that everybody's circumstances changed between years; the way people were affected, as would have been assessed this time last year, may be different if you were to do that assessment now.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that presumably, if it had been a mistake, it would have been the case that the Prime Minister did not see the figures for 2007, the PMS replied that what the Prime Minster had been saying was that he would have liked to have been able to do more for those who were affected; that was why we did do more in Budget 2008 and why we were saying that we would do more in the Pre-Budget Report. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Frank Field MP had been told by the Chancellor that there would be no losers, the PMS said that he had not heard Frank Field say that and he had not heard the Prime Minister say that either.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:54" post_name="10p-tax-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="10p Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5634" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5634" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had sort of apologised last week and asked if this meant there had been a change in his style, the PMS said that, as the Prime Minister had been saying today, of all the hundreds of decisions he took each week, it was difficult to put every single one exactly right, however this was not some great change of style.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister felt that he was given too many papers by civil servants, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was happy with the staff he had working for him in Downing Street.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had considered the representations made by the Times newspaper that Michael White should be taken on board, the PMS said that he would not start discussing representations of appointments.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what time the Prime Minister usually finished work, the PMS said that the Prime Minister worked very hard, was very committed to his job and took it very seriously. As such he worked the hours necessary in order to fulfil his duties. He also tried to find as much time as possible to spend with his young family.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15420.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 16:45:53" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 16:45:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 15:45:53" post_name="misc-64" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5635" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5635" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if he could recall the last time the Prime Minister admitted that he made a mistake as he did this morning, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that he did not have the exact words in his head, but he remembered similar issues arising relating to the 75p increase in pensions a few years ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Treasury should have been a bit more candid about the tax changes announced regarding vehicles, the PMS replied that he was glad that he had been asked this question as it gave him the opportunity to point out the Treasury press notice issued on the day of the Budget. It made clear that the changes in VED related to all new and existing cars, and there was also an excellent table in the Budget document which set out very clearly what the old rates were and what the new rates were. As the Daily Telegraph would confirm it was their splash the day after the Budget, so it was not as if there was any great new revelation or new facts here.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15418.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:58" post_name="economy-13" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5636" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5636" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister personally intervened to stop prisoners getting a pay rise, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister said in his interview this morning, he was made aware of this yesterday, discussed it with Jack Straw, and they both agreed that the right thing to do was to look at all of these issues in the context of the wider review that David Hanson the Prisons Minister was undertaking.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15418.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:57" post_name="prisons-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prisons" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5637" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5637" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about tomorrow's speech, the PMS replied that the speech would be quite wide-ranging, and the Prime Minister would be talking about issues relating to globalisation and how the UK commonly responded to that. He would be stressing the importance of making the case for an open and inclusive form of globalisation, and he would be setting out the case for an urgent resolution of the world trade round.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was fair to say that it was not an electioneering speech, the PMS replied that it would be fair to say that it was a speech on quite a broad economic theme to a business audience.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15418.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:56" post_name="institure-of-directors-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Institure of Directors Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5638" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/04/30/5638" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be voting tomorrow, the PMS replied that this was a question for his political colleagues, but his understanding was that the Prime Minister would be voting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view about Newcastle City Council's view that Lord Laidlaw was an unsuitable person to be a sponsor of a city academy and that they wanted him to take his money back, the PMS replied that this was not something that he would be commenting on.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a Government re-launch next week, the PMS replied that the Government would continue to focus on its key priorities as the Prime Minister was making clear this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15418.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-04-30 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-04-30 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-04-30 10:00:55" post_name="misc-65" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5639" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5639" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for information on the Prime Minister's meeting with General Petraeus, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that there was not a lot to add to what was said at the morning press briefing; General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were passing through London and as they normally would, they called in to see the Prime Minister. It was a catch-up meeting more than anything else and there were some words from General Petraeus who had given an interview to the BBC.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that General Petraeus had said in his BBC interview that one of the things discussed at the meeting was troop numbers in Basra and that it was too early to say whether they would change, the PMS said that that was a fair summary of the position. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15437.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:58" post_name="general-petraeus-meeting" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="General Petraeus Meeting" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5640" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5640" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Tony Blair would be at the MEPP investment conference this afternoon, the PMS said that he would. The Prime Minister was speaking and attendees included Douglas Alexander, the Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad and Tony Blair. The Prime Minister would be there for Tony Blair's speech.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be having any one-to-one time with Tony Blair, the PMS said that he was not sure whether they would have much time at the conference today but that they did speak on a regular basis, as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15437.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:57" post_name="middle-east-peace-process-mepp-investment-conference" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Middle East Peace Process (MEPP) Investment Conference" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5641" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5641" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending the Champions League final in Moscow, the PMS said that he didn't have anything further to add to what he had said yesterday, which was that it was still quite early and that we were assessing if it would be possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that flights were getting booked up, the PMS said that he was sure we would be able to find a way of getting to the final if it came to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister, as a good friend of Alex Ferguson's, would be supporting Manchester United, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be neutral.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15437.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:56" post_name="football-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5642" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5642" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the Conservative's attack on the Government's drug policy in light of the views of the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO), the PMS said that he would not respond specifically to the comments from the Conservative spokesman. As ACPO had said in their statement, should the decision be taken to reclassify cannabis to class B, they would expect to see increased robust enforcement activity. As such the PMS was not sure that the Guardian story this morning necessarily stood up in light of ACPO's response. ACPO, in their evidence to the advisory committee, recommended restoring cannabis to class B. They both called for it and said today that they would step up their enforcement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be an increase in enforcement activity in Scotland, the PMS said that we expected the police to take whatever action they felt necessary in light of any change that may or may not be made to the classification of cannabis.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15437.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:55" post_name="cannabis-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5643" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5643" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any views on the decision of Peter Phillip's wife to join the Church of England, the PMS said that that was entirely a personal matter for them. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15437.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 15:45:54" post_name="misc-66" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5644" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5644" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the Palestinian Investment event, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that this was an event to encourage UK businesses to invest in the Palestinian territories. Also attending would be Douglas Alexander, the Palestinian Prime Minister Mr Fayad, and Tony Blair. The audience would be many UK businesspeople.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting with Tony Blair, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would stay to see Tony Blair speak, so they would be on the platform together at this event.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15436.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:58" post_name="middle-east-peace-process-mepp" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Middle East Peace Process (MEPP)" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5645" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5645" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the Petraeus meeting, the PMS replied that General Petraeus and Ambassador Crocker were passing through London, and as they normally did when passing through, they would be dropping in on the Prime Minister. So it would be more of a catch-up meeting than anything else.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15436.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:57" post_name="general-petraeus-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="General Petraeus" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5646" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5646" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Guardian report on reclassifying cannabis, the PM replied that he was not a spokesman for ACPO, people should speak to them to see whether their position had been accurately represented on the front page of the Guardian this morning. All he would say was that as ACPO had been saying, they stood by the recommendation that they made to the Advisory Council on the misuse of drugs that cannabis should be restored to the category of a class B drug.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the point of the piece this morning was that if the police were not going to act on a reclassification, then surely there was no point in it, the PMS replied that as he said, it was probably best to speak to ACPO to see whether or not that was an accurate description.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he suspected that this was not the case, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to them, he was not a spokesman for ACPO.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15436.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:56" post_name="cannabis-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5647" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/01/5647" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had voted this morning, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had voted this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who the Prime Minister voted for as his second preference for London Mayor, the PMS replied that this probably fell into the category of political questions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15436.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-01 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-01 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-01 10:00:55" post_name="elections-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5648" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/02/5648" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister was going to get the Government back on track after the poor local election results, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister answered this question himself this morning, and there was nothing more to add on that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister heard the results, and was he up late last night, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister got the results this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who had the interesting duty of telling the Prime Minister the results, the PMS replied that he was not sure that he wanted to go into too much detail on internal Downing Street processes, although he was sure Lobby would all be very interested.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how he would characterise the Prime Minister's mood this morning, the PMS replied that everyone could see the Prime Minister's mood themselves this morning.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was listening or upbeat, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was listening and leading.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was listening and learning, the PMS replied that he was learning as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been a suggestion that the Prime Minister should be concentrating on the economy, and should start passing questions on departmental briefs to other people, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been making very clear, and he made clear again this morning, that the economy was the key issue at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would get to the point where the Prime Minister would actually say that he has Ministers to deal with these other issues, the PMS replied that we were already at this point, we did have Ministers to deal with other issues, and they were dealing with them.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had tended at the moment to answer questions on other issues, the PMS replied that obviously he was the Prime Minister and so was head of the Government. Of course he had to take responsibility for all of the major issues that his Government was responsible for, but he had been making clear that the economy was the issue that he was mostly focusing on at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we could expect any major policy announcements next week as the Prime Minister tried to re-energise his Government, the PMS replied that we would deal with next week next week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details on the draft Queen's speech, the PMS replied that this would be the Government's draft legislative programme, and as he had said the other day, there was quite a lengthy discussion of this at Cabinet. Last year this happened in July, at the first opportunity after Mr Brown became Prime Minister, but because we wanted to have a lengthy and thorough period of consultation we would expect it to be earlier this year. When we were in a position to give further details on timing, we would let people know.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15443.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-02 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-02 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:58" post_name="elections-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Elections" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5649" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/02/5649" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to expand a bit on the Prime Minister's meeting with Condoleezza Rice this afternoon, the PMS replied that Condoleezza Rice was here for the meetings of the Quartet, the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee and the E3+3. That was why she was in London, and she was calling on the Prime Minister as an opportunity for them to catch up.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda, the PMS replied that he thought it would be issues around Iraq, Iran, the Middle East, and possibly the economy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15443.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-02 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-02 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:57" post_name="secretary-rice" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Secretary Rice" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5650" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/02/5650" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the key objective of the Middle East meetings were, the PMS replied that there was a whole series of meetings on the Middle East today. The focus of the Quartet meeting would be on maintaining momentum behind the Annapolis process and the Annapolis conference, addressing the situation in Gaza, and supporting the work of the Ad Hoc Liaison Committee that the Norwegians chaired. In parallel, the Foreign Secretary was hosting a meeting of Arab Foreign Ministers which would push for greater engagement on the Middle East Peace Process, and then those two groups would come together for a Quartet and Arab joint meeting - quite a significant initiative to bring both the Quartet and the Arab Ministers together in one forum.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15443.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-02 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-02 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:56" post_name="middle-east-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Middle East" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5651" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/02/5651" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the reaction was to a High Court decision this morning granting Stuart Wheeler a judicial review, the PMS replied that the reaction had already been given by the Foreign Office. This decision simply meant there would be a hearing, and did not affect the outcome of the case, and the threshold for what constitutes an arguable case at the permission stage of the judicial review was low. We had seen similar cases brought by this before in respect to earlier treaties, so no great surprise, but those challenges in the past had all failed.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15443.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-02 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-02 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:55" post_name="eu-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5652" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/02/5652" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that there would be quite a milestone in Scotland tomorrow with the first anniversary of the SNP administration, and asked how the Prime Minister thought the Scottish Government had done over the past year, the PMS replied that this was not something the Prime Minister would want him to comment on on his behalf. The Scottish Executive were accountable to the people of Scotland, it was not for the Prime Minister to pass judgement on specific administrations.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15443.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-02 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-02 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-02 10:00:54" post_name="scotland-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5653" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5653" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that the official Cabinet had met for about an hour this morning. There was a further discussion on the draft legislative programme and there was also a report from Jacqui Smith on the position relating to Cannabis. This was followed by a Political Cabinet.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Cabinet gave its support to the Prime Minister, the PMS said that it had. There was a political Cabinet that took place afterwards that the PMS was not present at. Asked how long the political Cabinet lasted for, the PMS said it had started at 0930 and he thought it was just breaking up at 1100.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the draft legislative programme would be published, the PMS said it would not be happening this week.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for a flavour of the Cabinet meeting, the PMS replied that the official part of the Cabinet meeting was very businesslike, focussing on the two agenda items of the draft legislative programme and the Cannabis announcement. The political discussion that he was not present at was no doubt more wide-ranging.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the legislative programme would focus on the economy, the PMS replied that it was important to make a distinction between the issues that the Government specifically needed to legislate for and the Government's wider policy agenda. Insofar as any Queens Speech captures themes and priorities for the Government, this would be an indication of the next step forward, but it was not only legislation, it was how the Government took forward its business.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15448.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-29" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5654" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5654" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly whether the Prime Minister supported Wendy Alexander's call for a referendum on Scottish independence, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's position on the matter was that clearly there was a debate taking place in the Scottish Parliament on the timing of any potential referendum on Scottish independence. The Prime Minister had always been confident of the strength of the argument in favour of the Union and believed that a referendum on Scotland leaving the Union would be defeated. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister found out about the comments made by Wendy Alexander, the PMS said that the position taken by the Labour Party leader was a matter for her, but obviously the Prime Minister did speak to his Labour Party colleagues, including the leader of the Labour party in Scotland, all the time.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Scottish Parliament came to a settled view, would the Prime Minister feel it was his duty to abide by that view, the PMS reiterated that there was already a proposal from some elements in the Scottish Parliament for a referendum, but there was a debate taking place in Scotland about the timing of that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15448.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:57" post_name="scotland-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5655" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5655" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify the Government's position on the issue of the abolition of the 10p income tax threshold, the PMS said that the Government's position was set clearly in the letter that Alastair Darling sent to the Select Committee on the 23rd April. The letter had stated that the Government would be doing further work in the run-up to the pre-Budget report. The letter said very clearly that we would be bringing forward proposals in relation to low-income households at the time of the pre-Budget report and that we would expect to bring forward proposals in relation to pensioners in advance of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The formal position was as set out in Alastair Darling's letter and that had not changed. The Government would continue to set out its position on the 10p income tax issue in different forums and to different audiences, as the Prime Minister had done at the weekend and that would continue over the weeks ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any announcement on the issue before the 22nd May when there was a by-election, the PMS said that these were really matters for the Treasury to continue to consider in terms of their detailed implementation of how they would set out and take forward the issues in the Chancellor's letter. The formal position remained as set out in the Chancellor's letter.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15448.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:56" post_name="income-tax-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Income Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5656" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5656" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's thoughts were on the situation in Burma, the PMS said that the Government was concerned about the situation in Burma and for those that were vulnerable and in need of food and shelter. We were monitoring the situation very closely and stood ready to respond to requests for assistance.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15448.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:55" post_name="burma-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5657" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5657" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Ruth Kelly's announcement would bring any changes to the law, the PMS advised people to wait for her statement tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15448.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:54" post_name="driving" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Driving" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5658" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5658" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister's view had changed on Cannabis, the PMS replied that the Government's position on the re-classification of Cannabis would be set out clearly tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15448.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:53" post_name="cannabis-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cannabis" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5659" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5659" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly what the point of having quite extensive pilots on the issue, lasting for the next few years if the Government knew that it would not take the policy forward, the PMS replied that the Government had said it would legislate to enable pilots to create incentives for recycling and the Government would have to evaluate the impact of those pilots before making a final decision. The legislation was enabling legislation so the Government was not forcing any local authorities involved in the pilots to participate in them; it would be for local authorities to volunteer both for whether they wanted to participate in the pilots and the nature of the incentives that they would like to introduce. We would have to see whether any local authorities decided that they did want to participate in these projects.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that he was talking about incentives rather than penalties, the PMS said that the legislation set out quite clearly what the terms of reference were and what the criteria was for the pilots and that had not changed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if legislation allowed councils to bring in charges beyond the pilot scheme, the PMS said that it was his understanding that there were pilot schemes to enable incentives and clearly there were different types of incentives that councils could choose to introduce. The key thing was that it would be for the councils to bring forward proposals and to decide whether or not they wanted to participate.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15448.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 10:00:52" post_name="bin-tax-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Bin Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5660" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5660" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about Wendy Alexander's comments about a referendum for Scottish independence, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister spoke to his Labour Party and Governmental colleagues on a regular basis. In general, the Prime Minister's position on the subject was that there was a debate taking place in the Scottish Parliament on the timing of any potential referendum on Scottish independence. The Prime Minister had always been confident of the strength of the argument in favour of the Union and believed that a referendum on Scotland leaving the Union would be defeated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would welcome a referendum to put those arguments, the PMS reiterated that there was a debate taking place in the Scottish Parliament on that very issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had the final say on the matter, the PMS replied that we were not at that point. There was a proposal for a referendum and there was a debate in the Scottish Parliament on the timing of any potential referendum in Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Wendy Alexander on the subject, the PMS said that he would not be getting into briefing on conversations between the Prime Minister and his Labour Party colleagues. Wendy Alexander was not a member of the Government and the PMS was a Spokesman for the Prime Minister in his capacity as Head of the Government. Asked if that was a political matter and should the press direct their enquiries to the Labour Party, the PMS said that that was correct.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15450.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:58" post_name="scotland-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5661" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5661" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was a sense of urgency in Cabinet this morning regarding the 10p income tax threshold, the PMS replied that he would check his notes but he didn't really recall the issue of 10p income tax coming up much in the part of the Cabinet that he attended, which was the official Cabinet. For briefing on the political Cabinet, people would need to speak to his colleague.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Chancellor had met with Frank Field today, the PMS said he had seen reports on the matter and he had seen the Treasury's reported response, but it was for the Treasury to answer questions on what meetings the Chancellor was having.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Draft Legislative Programme would be revealed, the PMS said that it would not be this week. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15450.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:57" post_name="cabinet-30" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5662" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5662" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought about Charles Clarke's comments that what was needed was a mini-Budget, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought that all these matters were for the Chancellor to consider. In relation to 10p, the Chancellor had set out the position of the Government in his letter to the treasury Select Committee on the 23rd April and that remained the position.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on Charles Clarke's criticism of British jobs for British workers, the PMS said that he would not get into every specific comment made by every backbench MP. However, in relation to British jobs for British workers, the PMS said it was clear that when the Prime Minister used the phrase, he was referring to the Government's local employment partnerships, which were about getting Job Centre Plus to work more closely with local employers to enable people who go through the Job Centre Plus system to be employed more by local employers. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15450.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:56" post_name="charles-clarke-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Charles Clarke" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5663" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/06/5663" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what efforts were being made by the Government to persuade Burma to open its borders to allow aid into the country, the PMS said that we did welcome Burma's call for international assistance and hoped that the authorities in the country would allow access to aid workers to help coordinate the massive response that would clearly be needed to help all of the survivors. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;We were working closely with the UN and other aid agencies that had rapid assessment teams on the ground. On more specific matters, it would be best to check with the Foreign Office.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15450.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-06 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-06 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-06 15:45:55" post_name="burma-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5664" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/07/5664" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister agreed with what Wendy Alexander had said on the issue of independence for Scotland, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that we had gone round this course many times yesterday and as he had said, there was a debate taking place in the Scottish Parliament on the timing of any referendum on Scottish independence. The Prime Minister had always been confident of the strength of the argument in favour of the Union and believed that a referendum on Scotland leaving the Union would be defeated.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the timing of an early poll, the PMS reiterated that there was a debate taking place between the various political parties in Scotland at the moment. Asked if the Prime Minister would be joining that debate at any point, the PMS repeated that the debate was taking place in Scotland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister might want to comment on the issue if he was in Scotland, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's physical location was neither here nor there.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister thought that the rest of the UK should have a say on Scottish independence, the PMS replied that at the moment there was no particular proposal for a referendum and when there had been previous votes on the issue, they were votes that had taken place in Scotland. The PMS added that people were getting slightly ahead of themselves, as the position at the moment was that there was still a debate going on in Scotland about the timing of any potential referendum.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15453.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-07 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-07 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-07 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-07 10:00:58" post_name="scotland-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5665" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/07/5665" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had been speaking about development quite a lot this week and was there any new thinking in what the Foreign Secretary would be saying in his speech that evening, the PMS said he thought it would be best if people spoke to the Foreign Office regarding the Foreign Secretary's speech. The issue in relation to food prices was not only an issue about development; it was an issue that had relevance for the UK as we were seeing. The Prime Minister was focussed on what more we could do globally on dealing with the issues of rising food prices and that was why he had been pushing for the matter to be on the agenda for the G8 meeting in July.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15453.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-07 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-07 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-07 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-07 10:00:57" post_name="international-development" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="International Development" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5666" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/07/5666" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's mood was following a poll in the Times that morning, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was getting on with the business of Government, dealing with the issues of the day and preparing for Prime Minister's Questions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the position was regarding a Madame Tussauds waxwork, the PMS said that the last we had heard from Madame Tussauds was that they had sent a letter inviting the Prime Minister to sit for them. This was not something that the Prime Minister or anyone in Downing Street was spending any time focussing on at the moment, so this was the end of the matter.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Government were ignoring the report on the classification of drugs, the PMS said that Jacqui Smith would be making a statement to the house at 1230 and it would not be right for him to pre-empt that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15453.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-07 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-07 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-07 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-07 10:00:56" post_name="misc-67" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5667" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/07/5667" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister backed a referendum on Scottish independence, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister answered that question at PMQs today. As he said there was the Calman Review underway looking at how we can strengthen devolution and we needed to review progress in light of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Wendy Alexander was correct that Gordon Brown had endorsed her call for a referendum, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister set out his position at PMQs earlier today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister did not believe that Wendy Alexander had given her support for a referendum, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was asked a very specific question at PMQs, and he gave a very specific answer to it. The question put to him was that Labour's leader in Scotland said there should be a referendum now on Scottish independence. The Prime Minister said that this was not what Wendy Alexander said, and she made that clear in her Newsnight interview last night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the key word was &amp;quot;now&amp;quot;, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was asked a very specific question, and gave a very specific answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister therefore agreed that there should be a referendum sometime before the SNP say there should be a referendum, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position, as set out in PMQs, was that we did have the Calman Review underway which was looking at how we could strengthen the devolution settlement, and we would review progress in light of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the review did not cover the issue of independence and a referendum, the PMS replied that the review was looking at the related issue of how we can strengthen devolution within the Union. So we would review progress on this matter in the light of the findings of the Calman Review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought there should be a referendum or not, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister answered this question at PMQs today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had not ruled out the possibility of a referendum, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was asked this question earlier today, and he gave his answer.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister and Wendy Alexander had been speaking this afternoon, the PMS replied that it was not for him to comment on conversations between the Prime Minister as Leader of the Labour Party, and the Leader of the Labour Party in Scotland. This was a question for his political colleague.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Kenneth Calman had felt the need to put out a statement this afternoon reassuring members of the Commission that there was still a job to do, and asked did this not seem strange if nothing had changed, the PMS replied that this was not particularly strange, the Prime Minister gave his support explicitly for the Calman Review today at PMQs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister was answering a question about independence with an answer about devolution, the PMS replied that he thought issues around how we strengthen the devolution settlement within the Union was a relevant question in the context of this debate, and that was why it was important that we reviewed progress.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had reviewed what he had said to the House about the SNP's manifesto pledge, the PMS replied that this was a question for his political colleague.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Wendy Alexander, the PMS replied that this was also a question for his political colleague, as Wendy Alexander did not hold a position in Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked on an issue as important as the future of the United Kingdom, was the country not entitled to a simple yes or no answer to whether the Prime Minister wanted a referendum, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had answered the question in his own way.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the difficulty was with a simple yes or no answer, to whether the Prime Minister favoured a referendum as his answer could not be understood by any member of the public, the PMS replied that he thought it could be understood by members of the public. The Prime Minister was asked this question, there was a debate taking place in Scotland at the moment between the various political parties, and that was a very live debate. Separately there was a review taking place by Kenneth Calman looking at this, so the Prime Minister thought it was right that we should wait for the Calman Review and review progress in light of that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that would include reviewing whether a referendum was a good idea, and in other words he was not ruling it out, the PMS replied that this was the question the Prime Minister had answered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would like the Calman Review to take a view on whether there should be a referendum, the PMS replied that the terms of reference for the Calman Review had been set out very clearly, and there were no proposals to change that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it would be right to say that the Prime Minister did not have a view on this issue, the PMS replied that it was right to say that we should review progress on this in light of the Calman review, which is what he said at PMQs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that this sounded like dithering, the PMS replied that this was not the case at all. There was a debate taking place, there was a review taking place of devolution, so of course it was right that we took into account both the debate and this review on devolution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was accurate to say that the Prime Minister had a view but did not feel it was necessarily a good idea for him to say what that view was until the Calman Commission's Review had reported, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had answered the question in the way that he wanted to answer the question at PMQs.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for clarity if the Prime Minister believed that there should not be any question about a referendum until after the Calman Review, the PMS replied that he could do nothing more than refer Lobby to the Prime Minister's words at PMQs, which set it out fairly clearly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought he had handled this issue well, the PMS replied that he was not going to answer loaded questions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where the review went from here, and if the Calman process would be reviewed halfway through, or would they wait until the end, the PMS replied that all of this was set out when the terms of reference for the Calman Review were published on the 25th March. The Commission was expected to produce an interim report by the end of the year, and the review would report both to the UK Government and the Scottish Parliament.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said on Friday that he was ready to listen, learn, and show leadership, and asked if that this was an example, the PMS replied that again he would put this in the category of leading questions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if any decision on independence would be a Westminster matter, and was the Westminster Government satisfied that the Scottish Parliament could stage its own referendum, the PMS replied that the constitutional and legal position on that was that this was a reserve power for the UK Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the UK Government had a view as to whether or not the Scottish Parliament could choose to hold the vote and run a referendum, the PMS replied that this would not be legally binding.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15458.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-07 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-07 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-07 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-07 15:45:58" post_name="scotland-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5668" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/07/5668" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister had said that it was unacceptable that fuel prices were going up so sharply, and asked if he could do anything about it, the PMS replied that we could continue to work with our international partners to put pressure on OPEC and oil suppliers to increase the supply of oil, and therefore try to take action to get the price of oil down which was the fundamental reason why petrol prices had gone up by so much in recent weeks and months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that some people were suggesting that the 2p duty may be postponed, the PMS replied that this was a matter for the Chancellor and the Treasury to consider at the appropriate time.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15458.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-07 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-07 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-07 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-07 15:45:57" post_name="fuel-prices" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Fuel Prices" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5669" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/08/5669" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting with Michael Bloomberg at the conference, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that there was nothing specific in the Prime Minister's diary, but he did not know whether he would meet Michael Bloomberg at the conference. Although they did meet in New York a few weeks ago.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this would be the first time the Prime Minister had met the new Taoiseach in his new capacity, the PMS replied that this was correct, although they had known each other as finance Ministers previously.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what was on the agenda for the meeting with the Taoiseach, the PMS replied that this would be their first meeting in their new jobs, so it was an opportunity to talk about where we were on the peace process, European issues, and maybe the economy among other issues.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15463.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-08 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-08 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-08 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-08 10:00:58" post_name="northern-ireland-investment-conference" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Ireland Investment Conference" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5670" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/08/5670" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had responded to David Cameron's letter on Scotland, the PMS replied that the response was released last night.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Wendy Alexander ahead of First Minister's question time later today, the PMS replied that it was not for him to answer questions on conversation between the Prime Minister and one of his Labour Party colleagues. But the Prime Minister did speak to his Labour Party colleagues as well as Government Ministers all the time as you would expect.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken with Sir Kenneth Calman in the last 24 hours, the PMS replied that he had not to his knowledge.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was surprised by the First Minister's comments in the Guardian today about the possibility of forming the next Government with the Tories, the PMS replied that he did not think the Prime Minister would have read the comments in the Guardian this morning.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15463.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-08 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-08 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-08 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-08 10:00:57" post_name="scotland-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5671" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/08/5671" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any more information on Burma, the PMS replied that Foreign Office consular officials had been alerted to 17 Britons whose friends and relatives believed to be in Burma and who had not made contact since the typhoon struck. The Foreign Office have said that the non-contact could be down to a number of factors including communications problems resulting from the cyclone. We had seen this morning the issue about UN planes not being able to enter as they still did not have permission to land, and on the question of access to Burma for international staff, we were getting mixed signals at the moment. Some agencies appeared to quickly have received visas, others notably the UN team in Bangkok were still waiting for permission to enter the country. In a situation like this clearly every hour counted, and we were continuing to press the Burmese for speedy access. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any action in the UN to press them further, the PMS replied that at the moment this was being conducted through the Embassy, but best to check with the Foreign Office - he was sure that we would be wanting to use all of our channels to put as much pressure on as possible.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for any reaction to the Chinese beginning to put pressure on Burma, the PMS replied that we had not said anything specific on that point up to now, but obviously Burma was something that we had been talking to the Chinese about for some time now. It was best to check with the Foreign Office, but he was sure we were in regular contact with the Chinese along with a number of other key international partners.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15463.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-08 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-08 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-08 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-08 10:00:56" post_name="burma-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5672" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/08/5672" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by giving the assembled press a flavour of the Prime Minister's speech that he would be making later that day. The speech would be made to an audience of American investors and would be setting out in very strong terms, the case for them to invest in Northern Ireland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister would say that Northern Ireland was open, flexible, a hub for skills and innovation and a great place to invest. One specific announcement the Prime Minister would be making would be in relation to the amount of assets sales that the Northern Ireland Executive could retain for reinvestment in Northern Ireland. In the PMS's words, the Prime Minister would say that we would allow over the next three years the Northern Ireland Executive to retain 100% of the proceeds from sales of public sector assets, up to a new limit of &amp;pound;2.2billion. That was a doubling of the existing figure and an unprecedented deal for Northern Ireland.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that included Stormont Castle, the PMS said he did not think anyone was suggesting that, but it covered public sector surplus land and other assets.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the DUP were looking for greater flexibility in the economy and now that was guaranteed, they would support the Prime Minister over the issue of 42 days detention, the PMS said that this announcement was about increasing investment and infrastructure in Northern Ireland and enhancing the attractiveness of Northern Ireland as a place to invest, which was what the conference was all about.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the figure was &amp;pound;2.2billion, the PMS replied that that was an approximate doubling of the existing figure and was over the next three years. Put that there had been a process a year or two ago where buildings were being sold off, the PMS advised people to check with the Northern Ireland office and the Treasury on the specifics of that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15473.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-08 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-08 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-08 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-08 15:45:58" post_name="northern-ireland" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Northern Ireland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5673" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/08/5673" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Wendy Alexander's comments this morning, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's position was set out very clearly in the House of Commons yesterday. We went round this course at great length yesterday and the PMS was more than happy to go round the course this afternoon, but he did not really have anything to add to what he or the Prime Minister had said yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Mr Cameron was writing another letter to the Prime Minister asking who decided the policy on the issue of a referendum on Scottish independence, the PMS said the position of the UK Government was set out by the Prime Minister in PMQ's yesterday. The PMS added that he was a spokesman for the British Prime Minister and the Prime Minister had set out his position yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to reiterate the Prime Minister's position, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had said that the Calman Commission had been set up to review the progress of devolution and we would review the progress of the Calman Commission before making further decisions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that if Alex Salmond took Wendy Alexander's advice and held a referendum on independence, it would take place before the Calman Commission reported, the PMS said that for there to be a legally binding referendum, it would require legislation in the UK Parliament. Asked how the Prime Minister could reconcile his interpretation of Wendy Alexander's remarks with what she had said today, the PMS reiterated what the Prime Minister had said yesterday in response to the leader of the opposition's question; Wendy Alexander had said in her Newsnight interview that the procedures of the Scottish Parliament meant that it would take at least a year for the issue to be considered.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The PMS added that he was here to interpret what the Prime Minister had said, but he was not here to interpret what Wendy Alexander had said; that was a matter for a Labour Party spokesman. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Wendy Alexander when she said there should be a referendum sooner rather than later, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had set out his position yesterday in the House of Commons, which was that the Calman Commision was looking at how we could strengthen devolution and we would review progress in light of that. Asked if that was the extent of the Prime Minister's position, the PMS said that that was the Prime Minister's position as set out very clearly yesterday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the PMS was suggesting that the Prime Minister would seek to block an early referendum after saying that any binding referendum would need legislation in the UK Parliament, the PMS replied that he was not suggesting anything; he was setting out a factual position. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was leader of the Labour Party in Scotland, the PMS said that technical questions about Labour Party constitutional matters should be addressed to the Labour Party. Asked if the Prime Minister had confidence in Wendy Alexander, the PMS replied that that wasn't a question for him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was British Government policy to hold a referendum in Scotland, the PMS replied that it was British Government policy to support the work of the Calman Commission and it would review progress in light of that and as the Prime Minister had said yesterday, make further decisions at that point.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Wendy Alexander, the PMS said that issues about conversations between the Prime Minister and his Labour Party colleagues was not a question for him.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister could interpret the phrase &amp;quot;bring it on&amp;quot; as anything than a call for a referendum, the PMS replied that Wendy Alexander had also said in her Newsnight interview and in her statement yesterday afternoon that it would take at least a year for the issue to be considered by the Scottish Parliament. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Wendy Alexander had used the word &amp;quot;now&amp;quot; today as well, the PMS reiterated that she had also said that the procedures of the Scottish Parliament meant that it would take at least a year for the issue to be considered. Put that it was feasible that the process could begin within days, but it wouldn't end up in the Scottish Parliament for a year, the PMS said that what happened in the Scottish Parliament was a matter for politicians in the Scottish Parliament. What he was doing and what the Prime Minister was doing yesterday was stating the position of the UK Government.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he expected the prime Minister to make any further statements to clarify his position, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had made himself very clear yesterday. Asked if Mr Cameron could expect a reply to his letter, the PMS replied that he had not seen the letter but would check when he got back to No10. If there was a response, it would be put out by his political colleague as last nights response was.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15473.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-08 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-08 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-08 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-08 15:45:57" post_name="scotland-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5674" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/08/5674" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for briefing on the Embryology bill, the PMS said he did not have any specific information on that at the moment. The PMS said it would be best to check with the Leader of the House.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15473.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-08 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-08 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-08 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-08 15:45:56" post_name="embryology-bill-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5675" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/09/5675" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was correct that the Prime Minister had not replied to David Cameron's recent letter on Scotland, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that this was correct.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister had not replied, the PMS replied that we were still considering our response, but the Prime Minister gave a fairly clear and comprehensive response in his previous letter sent on Wednesday evening.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was still possible that there could be a reply, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had given a clear and comprehensive response on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to speak to Wendy Alexander over the weekend, the PMS replied referred Lobby to the innumerable answers he had given on this already this week, which was that discussions between the Prime Minister and his Labour Party colleagues were not a matter for him to comment on.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15494.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-09 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-09 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:58" post_name="scotland-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Scotland" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5676" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/09/5676" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the rise in mortgage costs and house repossessions, the PMS replied that the Government's view was set out by Caroline Flint in terms of what we were doing in order to help people who were finding it difficult to meet their mortgage costs at the moment. Repossession rates remained at around one third of the rate that we saw in the early 1990s, but the Government did want to make sure that everything was being done to help households so that repossession was only ever a last resort - hence the announcements that were made this morning by Caroline Flint and Alistair Darling.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that in some areas the rates were much higher, 49% in Oldham for example, the PMS replied that on specifics it was best to speak to the Treasury or DCLG. But in aggregate, the rates we were seeing at the moment remained at around one third of the rate we saw in the early 1990s.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15494.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-09 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-09 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:57" post_name="economy-14" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5677" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/09/5677" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more reaction on the situation in Burma, the PMS replied that on Burma, clearly this was a very significant crisis and urgent access was essential. We were pressing the Burmese authorities as a matter of urgency to address the barriers to rapid access for staff and suppliers, and to allow international agencies to disperse relief to the worse affected areas within Burma now.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15494.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-09 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-09 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:56" post_name="burma-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5678" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/09/5678" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if was the Prime Minister's decision to appointment Chris Smith to Chair of the Environment Agency, and did this not look like cronyism, the PMS replied that there were well established processes for making these appointments. Whoever gets appointed to these jobs did so on the basis that they are the best available candidates for the job.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15494.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-09 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-09 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-09 10:00:55" post_name="environment-agency" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Environment Agency" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5679" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5679" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Draft Legislative Programme would come in the form of a Written Statement to the House, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that that was the anticipation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the highlights might be, the PMS replied that when Mr Brown became Prime Minister he made it clear that in future, rather than the Government's legislative programme being announced without any prior consultation, there would be an opportunity for people to be able to comment and respond to the Government's draft proposals. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Last July, the Government published its draft legislative proposals and a draft list of bills for the next session. Because Mr Brown only became the Prime Minister at the end of June, there was not as much time as we would have liked to consult properly, so we said at the time that in future years we would expect the draft proposals to come out at an earlier stage in the year and that's what we would be doing on Wednesday.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the idea was that if the consultation came back with people saying it was a bad idea, it would not be in the Queen's Speech, the PMS said that that was always something that had to be taken into account in any consultation. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the discussions on the programme had already taken place, or would it be discussed at tomorrow's Cabinet, the PMS replied that he thought that there would be a further opportunity for the Cabinet to sign it off tomorrow, but they had had two lengthy sessions on this already so far.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15508.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:58" post_name="draft-legislative-programme" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Draft Legislative Programme" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5680" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5680" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister would respond to Frank Field's comments, the PMS said that there was clearly a lot of this about at the moment. The Prime Minister's general view on the subject was that he would not be distracted by this; what he was focussing on were the big issues that faced the country and were of a concern to the people of this country. This was why today with Alan Johnson, the Prime Minister was launching a major consultation on the future of social care and on Wednesday he would be publishing the Government's legislative priorities fro the next session. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any question of punishment for Frank Field, the PMS said that that was not a matter for him. Asked if the Prime Minister was confident of being the leader of the Labour Party at the next election, the PMS said that of course he was.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on the memoirs being published, the PMS said that these things happened from time to time and it was the Prime Minister's general view that he would not be distracted by this sort of thing from the important work that he had to do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would read any of the memoirs, the PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister would not be distracted by this. Asked if the Prime Minister planned to publish his own memoirs and did he keep a diary, the PMS said that it was not something the Prime Minister was thinking about at the moment and to his knowledge, the Prime Minister did not keep a diary.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15508.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:57" post_name="frank-field-comments" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Frank Field Comments" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5681" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5681" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be voting on all three clauses of the Embryology Bill, the PMS said that on abortion specifically we did not know what the amendments would be and that would only be found out once the second reading had been moved later today. We would have to see what the Prime Minister's diary commitments were for next week, but clearly this was an issue that the Prime Minister felt strongly about.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be free votes on the second and third reading, the PMS said that we had made this clear a couple of months ago. As was the case with the 1990 Embryology Bill, there wasn't actually a vote at all on the second reading, but the Government at the time did whip the vote at third reading stage, so we would be following that precedent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the fact the Prime Minister felt strongly about the subject was because of any personal circumstances, the PMS replied that it wasn't. The Prime Minister thought it was important that a legislative framework was put in place to enable research to take place that could potentially be of benefit to many people in the country.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15508.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:56" post_name="embryology-bill-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5682" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5682" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister would meet the Dalai Lama at Lambeth Palace, the PMS confirmed that the Prime Minister would be meeting the Dalai Lama on Friday 23rd May and reflecting the fact that the Dalai Lama was a respected spiritual leader, the meeting would take place at Lambeth Palace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that it had been suggested that the reason the meeting was taking place at Lambeth Palace was because of a desire not to irritate the Chinese, the PMS said that the important point was that the Prime Minister was meeting the Dalai Lama. Quite where he met him was not going to add anything of substance to the fact of the meeting. It was worth noting that on the previous two occasions that the Dalai Lama visited the UK, he did not have meetings with the then Prime Minister. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who was Prime Minister during the previous two visits, the PMS said that he did not have the exact dates but the visits were in recent years.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be talking to the Dalai Lama about politics, the PMS said the Prime Minister would be meeting him in his capacity as a spiritual leader, but no doubt it would be an opportunity to discuss the recent situation in Tibet as people would expect. The PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister would be meeting the Dalai Lama as a spiritual leader.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15508.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:55" post_name="dalai-lama" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Dalai Lama" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5683" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5683" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that the Prime Minister and President Medvedev had talked on the phone yesterday and had it been an opportunity to talk about tricky subjects such as the Litvinenko murder and British Councils, the PMS replied that it was a fairly short discussion that they had. Of course, we continued to raise these issues with our Russian counterparts in the normal way. They did talk about the suggestion that they should meet at the G8 Summit in July. The PMS added that he did not want to get into the specifics of the discussion, except to say it was quite a general discussion.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15508.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:54" post_name="president-medvedev" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="President Medvedev" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5684" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5684" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was involved in any of the efforts at Government level on Burma, the PMS said that at the moment most of the discussion was taking place at the Foreign Secretary and Development Secretary level. The Prime Minister was taking a close interest in what was happening in Burma and as and when there were any particular events or meetings involving him we would update people.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15508.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:53" post_name="burma-8" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5685" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5685" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any announcement from the Treasury on 10p tax, the PMS replied that as and when the Treasury were in a position to say any more on the issue, they would do.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked in what form the Government Efficiency review would come in, the PMS said that there would be a Written Ministerial Statement from the Treasury later today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would go to Moscow to watch the Champions League Final, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did not intend to go to Moscow to watch the final, although he was sure the Prime Minister would want to try and find an opportunity to watch it on television if he could.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was going to Crewe or Nantwich over the next few days, the PMS said that we wouldn't normally comment on the Prime Minister's specific travel plans but questions relating to the byelection would be best addressed to his political colleague.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15508.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 10:00:52" post_name="misc-68" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5686" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5686" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Ed Balls had just said that there was a desire to show what could be done quickly in relation to the 10p tax rate, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) repeated what he had said at the morning press briefing; as and when the Treasury were in a position to say anything further on this then they would do so.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the Treasury Select Committee hearing would go beyond Whitsun and asked if anything would be announced after that, the PMS repeated that as and when the Treasury were in a position to say anything further they would do so.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15511.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 15:45:58" post_name="10p-tax-rate-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="10p Tax Rate" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5687" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5687" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister planned to take Frank Field's advice, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would not be distracted by these sorts of questions and was focusing on the important issues facing the country and the international community. For example, the Prime Minister had been focusing today on social care and the situation in Burma.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister thought that Frank Field had been honourable regarding the 10p tax rate, the PMS said that he would not comment on those sorts of questions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15511.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 15:45:57" post_name="frank-field" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Frank Field" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5688" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/12/5688" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the &amp;quot;Show Racism a red card&amp;quot; reception at No 10 had something to do with football and if any footballers were attending, the PMS replied that it was to do with football and that a number of footballers would be attending.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Prime Minister's reaction to David Cameron's comments about aid dropping in Burma, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been asked about this earlier today when he did a clip on Burma and had said that we would keep all options under review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that the Government had been wrong to focus on global markets last Autumn, the PMS said that the Prime Minister's view was that the problem had been a global phenomenon which originated in US sub-prime markets but that it had implications on the UK; we had to focus on those implications and that was what we were doing.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if No 10 had cleared the publications of the John Prescott and Cherie Blair autobiographies, the PMS said that it was best to check with the Cabinet Office as they dealt with those procedures.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy, the PMS said that the Prime Minister, as he had said himself before, believed that he had the best job in the world and he was focusing on meeting the priorities of the British people; that's what we were doing today and what we would be doing for the days and weeks ahead.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15511.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-12 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-12 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-12 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-12 15:45:56" post_name="miscellaneous-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Miscellaneous" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5689" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/13/5689" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by giving a brief summary of Cabinet to the assembled press. Cabinet had met for an hour and 40 minutes that morning. There had been the usual update from Geoff Hoon on parliamentary business, there had been a brief discussion on the Draft Legislative Programme being published tomorrow and there was an update from the Foreign Secretary on the situation in Burma. Most of the Cabinet was spent discussing the economy in a discussion led by the Chancellor, where he emphasised the global nature of the economic situation we were facing at the moment - not only the global credit crunch, but also rising oil prices with the oil price at $125 a barrel, as well as rising food prices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the mood was like in Cabinet, the PMS said the mood was focussed, businesslike and determined as always. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15533.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-13 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-13 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-31" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5690" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/13/5690" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Chancellor also updated Cabinet on his latest thinking relating to compensation for those affected by the removal of the 10p tax band and that would be the subject of his statement to Parliament this afternoon, where he would set out the latest state of thinking in advance of the Treasury Select Committee Inquiry.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;As set out in the Chancellor's letter to the Treasury Select Committee last month, full details of the package should not be expected until the Pre-Budget Report. Put that today's statement would be an approach towards the subject, the PMS advised people to wait for the statement as he did not want to anticipate it. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether in terms of compensation, no one would receive anything until after the Pre-Budget Report, the PMS repeated that people should wait for the Chancellor's statement this afternoon, where he would set out his latest thinking on the matter. The full details would come in the Pre-Budget Report. Put that both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had said that people would receive compensation more quickly than that, the PMS replied that that was the position set out in the Chancellor's letter to the Treasury Select Committee of the 23rd April, but he did not want to anticipate further the Chancellor's statement this afternoon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Chancellor would be able to assure backbench MP's on the matter, the PMS reiterated that people should wait for the Chancellor's statement.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the timing of the statement was related to the by election at all, the PMS said that the timing of the statement was to enable the Government to set out its thinking in advance of the Treasury Select Committee Inquiry on the issue. Put that Ed Balls had said that it was due to the public's mood on the issue, the PMS reiterated that there was a Treasury Select Committee Inquiry and the Chancellor would be supplying further information on the Government's approach in advance of that. Asked if any backbenchers had been briefed on the statement, the PMS said not as far as he was aware. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any discussion in Cabinet about the price of oil or rising food prices, the PMS replied that clearly this was a global phenomenon that was affecting all countries. As the inflation numbers had shown this morning, it was affecting the UK as well as people would expect. We needed to continue to work with our international partners to put pressure on the oil producing countries in particular to see what more they could do to increase the supply of oil to bring the price down.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;On food, the Prime Minister initiated an international engagement on the subject in advance of the G8 Summit in July. Asked how much of Cabinet was devoted to the economy and how much time was spent on 10p tax, the PMS said it was a general discussion on the economy that lasted around an hour. 10p was part of that but it wasn't a discreet part of the discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about inflation and if there would be any further announcements on liquidity, the PMS said that that would be a market-sensitive matter and was for the Bank of England to make a public comment on rather than the Government. On the inflation numbers, the PMS said that we were not normally in the habit of commenting on every specific economic statistic, except that it was clear that what was happening in relation to prices at the moment was that there had been a big increase in global food prices and a big increase in global fuel prices. This was why people were seeing in relation to the inflation figures that the main determinants of the increase were household utility bills, affected by the global oil price.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15533.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-13 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-13 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:57" post_name="economy-15" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Economy" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5691" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/13/5691" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the discussion included anything on the housing market, the PMS confirmed that there had been some discussion of the housing market as well. Asked what the tenor was of those discussions, the PMS replied that because of the international credit crunch, mortgage availability was becoming more difficult, so this was a supply issue. It was therefore very different from the situation for example in the early 1990's, when because the economy went into recession and unemployment was very high, there was an issue around affordability. The issue in relation to the housing market now appeared to be very much on the supply side of the market and that was why the Chancellor, working with the Governor of the Bank of England had taken action to increase liquidity into financial markets in order to ultimately make it easier for people to get mortgages.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that a Government briefing paper had said that the housing market could lose up to 15% this year, the PMS said he would not comment on leaked documents. The key thing was that the Government did everything it could, in order to demonstrate and to act on the side of people who are affected by this. We saw for example, the announcement last Friday that Caroline Flint had referred to in Cabinet that morning; to make it easier for people to get legal advice should they be affected by repossessions. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister had talked about increasing shared equity to make home ownership more affordable for many people and no doubt there would be more announcements to help people affected by what was happening in the housing market in the weeks ahead.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government's view was on the housing market, the PMS replied that the Government's view would have been set out by the Treasury in the Pre-Budget Report, where they took a comprehensive look at what was happening in the housing market, as they did in the rest of the economy. We didn't provide daily public commentaries of what was happening in the housing market and he was sure the Treasury would provide their next assessment in the Pre-Budget Report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if a fall in house prices was something the Government welcomed, the PMS replied that it was a market. Therefore, the price is determined in the market, so it was not for the Government necessarily to take a view one way or the other. What the Government could do was to do whatever it could for people affected by changes in house prices. That could be when house prices went up and the Government could help people facing problems with being able to afford buying a house, which was why the Government had introduced shared equity schemes. It could also mean for example when people were facing difficulty paying their mortgage and that was why the Government made an announcement last week on helping people affected by repossessions.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15533.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-13 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-13 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:56" post_name="housing-market-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Housing Market" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5692" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/13/5692" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there were any plans to hold Cabinet meetings around the country and not just in London, the PMS said there were no specific plans for that at the moment, but it was something the Prime Minister had said that he was open-minded on and it was something that was kept under review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister could see advantages in Cabinet meetings being held outside of London, the PMS said that the Prime Minister could see the case for it and he had an open mind on the subject. However, we had no particular plans at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15533.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-13 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-13 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:55" post_name="cabinet-meetings" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet Meetings" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5693" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/13/5693" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Draft Legislative programme was discussed at Cabinet, the PMS said there was a fairly brief discussion on it this morning. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the timing would be for the Prime Minister's statement, the PMS said there would be a statement to the House by the Prime Minister at 1230&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15533.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-13 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-13 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:54" post_name="draft-legislative-programme-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Draft Legislative Programme" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5694" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/13/5694" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about new sentencing guidelines stating that people caught with knives could escape with a fine or community sentence, the PMS made clear that the Sentencing Guidelines Council was an independent body. The guidelines they had issued were not saying that if you injure someone with a knife, you would get a fine; they were saying that there were a range of sentences and of course the most serious offences would be dealt with either by custody or given that these guidelines were for magistrates, the Crown Court.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Where a knife was used in a crime, the appropriate offence would be charged, for example, grievous bodily harm would carry life imprisonment. The Prime Minister thought that we needed to continue to look at what more we could do in order to discourage a culture of knife-crime in this country. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This was why the Government had doubled the maximum sentence for possession of a knife, we had introduced a new offence of using someone to mind a weapon, we had given school staff powers to search pupils for weapons, we had raised the minimum age at which a person could buy a knife from 16 to 18years and in the Violent Action Plan, published a few weeks ago, the Government said it would provide police with 100 portable knife arches and 400 search warrants. So of course, we would continue to look at what more we could do, but we had already done a lot of work to help tackle the culture of knife crime in this country.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The other issue that the Prime Minister had been talking about was the need for a presumption to prosecute. There were much more widespread fines or community orders in relation to knife crime, which unlike warnings which were previously more prevalent, do carry a criminal record. So the Government was continuing to tighten up sanctions relating to knife crime wherever it could.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15533.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-13 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-13 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:53" post_name="knife-crime" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Knife Crime" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5695" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/13/5695" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if political memoirs came up at Cabinet, the PMS said they did not. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether a referendum on Scottish independence was discussed at Cabinet, the PMS said that it hadn't come up. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15533.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-13 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-13 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-13 10:00:52" post_name="misc-69" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5696" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5696" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how many houses the Government would be able to buy with the funding announced today, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that it would be best for people to check with DCLG.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15553.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:58" post_name="housing" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Housing" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5697" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5697" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked how much money the Government would match in the savings scheme, the PMS said that we had piloted a number of different schemes, but the specific detail on the matter was something that the Treasury would announce as the schemes were unveiled. Asked if it would be pound for pound, the PMS reiterated that a number of different approaches had been piloted, with different Government contributions and it was his understanding that the Treasury would want to look at that experience as they rolled the scheme out nationwide.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that according to Caroline Flint's document yesterday, a house bought today for &amp;pound;200million would only be worth &amp;pound;180million next year, the PMS replied that as Caroline Flint had said yesterday in her statement, the figures referred to in the document, referred to external estimates and not necessarily Government estimates. Asked if it was a good time to put taxpayers money into the housing market, the PMS said that there were a number of unsold properties on the market; the Government would obviously be looking to get the best value for money for the taxpayer and would seek a competitive price.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Government estimates were, the PMS replied that the Government forecasts would have been set out in the Budget and the Treasury would update them in the pre-Budget Report.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that assuming a lot of unsold properties were bought, who would then manage them and let them, the PMS said that it was his understanding that the scheme was being run by the Housing Corporation, which was a Government Agency. It would be for them to decide subsequently, how the properties would be best managed.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about shared ownership schemes and whether the Prime Minister thought it was a good time for people on lower incomes to be getting into the housing market, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought that it was a choice for individuals to make and not for the Government to give advice on. What the Government could do was to provide support to people who did want to get on the housing ladder. Asked what happened under a shared ownership scheme if the value of the property fell, the PMS said that he was sure the Treasury or DCLG could give people the details, but from memory there were quite detailed arrangements between building societies and the Government in terms of how it worked.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15553.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:57" post_name="savings" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Savings" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5698" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5698" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the main issues would be at the Prime Minister's meeting with the Ukrainian President, the PMS said that there would be issues around NATO membership for Ukraine. No doubt they would want to discuss regional issues such as Ukraine's relationship with the EU, any bilateral trade issues or other wider bilateral issues. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15553.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:56" post_name="ukraine-president" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ukraine President" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5699" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5699" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Jonathan Sumption QC had been hired to represent the Government in the Lisbon Treaty referendum case and was there any response to accusations that the case was a waste of taxpayers money, the PMS said that people should speak to the Foreign Office, who were responsible for hiring individual barristers. The general position was set out by the Foreign Secretary who had said that the Government was very confident of winning the case.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15553.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:55" post_name="eu-lisbon-treaty-referendum" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="EU Lisbon Treaty Referendum" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5700" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5700" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to comment on Mervyn King's prediction that there would be two quarters of negative growth this year, the PMS said that the Treasury had set out their forecast for the economy in the Budget and there would be an update in the PBR.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15553.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 16:45:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 16:45:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 15:45:54" post_name="misc-70" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5701" comment_count="3" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5701" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the Bank of England's inflation predictions this morning, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that, as the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had been saying, increases in prices was a phenomenon that was happening around the world; oil price had gone up to $125 a barrel in recent days and we were also seeing global increases in food prices. No country, including the UK, could insulate itself from what was happening in the global economy. The Prime Minister understood the difficulties that families who were affected by the rising prices faced, and that was why he was working with his international colleagues to take action to put pressure on oil producers to increase the oil supply and see what could be done in relation to food prices.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a plan regarding oil prices, the PMS said that as and when we had more to say on this we would let people know. The key point was that there needed to be greater dialogue between oil producers and oil consumers and we also needed to work with oil producing countries to see what more they could do to increase supply and get the oil price down. The PMS added that he anticipated that this subject would come up at the G8 meeting in July.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15552.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:58" post_name="oilfood-prices" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Oil/Food Prices" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5702" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5702" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister regarded yesterday's announcement on tax return as an equivalent to the American tax rebate to help the country through hard times, the PMS replied that the Chancellor had addressed this point in his statement yesterday when he said that as well as providing compensation to those affected by the removal of the 10p band, there would be a family tax cut to provide support this year for families on middle incomes at a time when they faced increased bills, so supporting the economy.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15552.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:57" post_name="10p-tax-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="10p Tax" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5703" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5703" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be any accompanying documents with the Prime Minister's Draft Legislative Programme Statement, the PMS said that there would be a statement and a Green Paper. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a separate Written Ministerial Statement on the housing market, the PMS said that the Department for Communities and Local Government were saying something separately, specifically on measures to support the housing market that the Prime Minister would be announcing in his statement to the House of Commons at 12.30pm.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Prime Minister's visit with Harriet Harman this afternoon, the PMS replied that it was part of the consultation on the Draft Legislative Programme. It was likely that the Prime Minister would say a few words while on the visit to contextualise the purpose and objectives of the programme.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15552.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:56" post_name="draft-legislative-programme-3" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Draft Legislative Programme" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5704" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5704" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was correct that the overhaul of Ministerial severance pay had been postponed, the PMS said that there had been a story in the Telegraph this morning suggesting that the Prime Minister would not take the Prime Ministerial salary but that that was not the case and there had been no change in the Government's position on that. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if it had been the Prime Minister's individual decision or if there would be legislation, the PMS said that there would have to be legislation in order to enact that but that it was very strongly the Prime Minister's intention to go ahead with his original plan.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if that could be expected today, the PMS said that you would expect there to be legislation in order for that to happen. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15552.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:55" post_name="ministerial-pay" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Ministerial Pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5705" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/14/5705" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a briefing from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today, the PMS replied that he was not in a position to confirm anything and that it was best to speak to the MoD.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had any regional visits planned for this week, the PMS said he currently had no plans for a regional visit.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15552.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-14 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-14 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-14 10:00:54" post_name="miscellaneous-4" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Miscellaneous" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5706" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/15/5706" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be giving a statement on Iraq soon, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that there was not anything specific planned at this point. Des Browne made a statement about a month ago on the troop situation and as and when he was able to update the Commons then he would do so. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the First Minister regarding having a wider enquiry into the violence between football fans in Manchester last night, the PMS said that we would need to look at exactly what the First Minister had said. The Prime Minister was asked several questions about this at the press conference this morning and we were still assessing the situation.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the Migration Impact Fund which had been mentioned in the Queen's Speech, the PMS said that this had been around for a while; this was one of the measures, not the most significant, in the White Paper on the rights and responsibilities of British citizenship which was published in February and was part of the Immigration and Citizenship Bill. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was trying to signal a different position regarding 42 days, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was not trying to signal any change in his position on 42 days at all.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15565.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-15 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-15 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-15 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-15 15:45:58" post_name="miscellaneous-5" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Miscellaneous" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5707" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/16/5707" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Put that Unison had said that they were ready to call for a summer of strikes, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister's position on this was that of course he respected the very good work that many people in the public sector did and acknowledged that it was important that we value the work that many hard working nurses and healthcare workers for example do. However it was also very important that we maintain our discipline when it came to public sector pay. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The difficult decisions we had taken on public sector pay in recent years has meant that the Bank of England had been able to reduce interest rates on a number of occasions in recent months. Put that Unison should not run away with the idea that the Prime Minister was in a weakened position, the PMS replied not at all.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15577.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-16 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-16 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:58" post_name="strikes" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Strikes" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5708" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/16/5708" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would address the issue of Scottish independence in his speech on Saturday, the PMS replied that it would not be a speech on Scotland particularly. Asked if he would discuss his own religious beliefs, the PMS advised people to wait until tomorrow, but when speaking to a Church of Scotland audience, it would be surprising if he did not make some reference to his own upbringing. However, it had not been the Prime Minister's habit to talk about his own individual religious views.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if people should read anything into the fact that it was almost 20 years to the day that Margaret Thatcher had made her controversial speech to the same audience, the PMS said no.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15577.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-16 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-16 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:57" post_name="prime-ministers-speech" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Prime Minister's Speech" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5709" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/16/5709" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was happy for taxpayer's money to be spent on stopping the publication of MP's expenses, the PMS replied that as we had always made clear, this was a matter for the House authorities. The Prime Minister had made clear that he was relaxed about the disclosure of his expense details, but this was a process being led by, and was a matter for the House authorities. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister was minded to unilaterally publish his expense details to show that he was relaxed, the PMS said it was the Prime Minister's view that it was right that these matters were dealt with by the House authorities.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked how the Prime Minister felt about his address being published, the PMS said that of course there were security implications, but these were really matters for the House authorities. The PMS reiterated that the Prime Minister was relaxed about the disclosure of his expense details, but on issues of security, it was best that the experts on security were allowed to give their view.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15577.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-16 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-16 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:56" post_name="mps-expenses-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="MP's Expenses" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5710" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/16/5710" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if it was the case that the Prime Minister had changed his mind and would actually prefer not to lose the vote, the PMS said it was the Prime Minister's view and the Home Secretary's view that there could be no question on any compromise over 42 days. They were both strongly of the view that it was necessary to put in place legislation on a precautionary basis, to enable terror suspects to be held for more than the current 28-day limit.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;This was the right thing to do to protect the public and it reflected the increasing complexity of terror trials. As the Prime Minister himself had said, there was a consensus that it may be necessary to hold individuals beyond 28 days, but the debate was about exactly what mechanisms were in place, to enable you to do that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The Government had published its very detailed proposals on what the specific judicial and parliamentary mechanisms might be and that's what was currently being considered by Parliament. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked repeatedly if the package from last November was still the package that was going to be voted on or was there going to be changes, the PMS replied that the package that was on the table was the package that was on the table. The key issue for the Prime Minister was that we did introduce legislation that enabled people to be held if necessary beyond 28 days.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if he recognised the specific suggestions in the Guardian, such as bringing down the period of parliamentary oversight, the PMS said he did not want to get into specifics. The Government had put forward its proposals and these were now being considered by Parliament and in due course would be voted on by Parliament. The key point from our point of view was that we did think there was a consensus on the need to hold people beyond 28 days and we thought the differences between the various parties was much less than was sometimes made out to be.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that there had been a suggestion that the extension from 28 days to 42 days would involve tagging or a bail system, the PMS replied that we had made clear at the time that that was not a proposal that had ever been considered in any serious way by the Home Secretary.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15577.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-16 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-16 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:55" post_name="42-days" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="42 Days" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5711" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/16/5711" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister listened to the Bee Gees every day, the PMS said the Prime Minister listened to a wide range of music.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked about the extra &amp;pound;200million of funding for the Ministry of Defence and whether it was coming from outside the MoD or from within, the PMS said that as the Treasury had been making clear in response to enquiries, what we were talking about in this case was flexibility within the settlement to make the necessary medium-term changes we needed to make.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the decision by Willie Walsh to waive his bonus this year, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought it was a matter for Willie Walsh.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15577.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-16 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-16 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-16 10:00:54" post_name="misc-71" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5712" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5712" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) began by clearing up some questions from that morning's lobby briefing. Asked what the format would be for the Prime Minister's meeting with the Dalai Lama at Lambeth Palace on Friday, the PMS said that the Archbishop of Canterbury had invited them both to Lambeth Palace for an inter-faith meeting, which they would both attend. This would be followed by a private meeting between the Prime Minister and the Dalai Lama.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;In response to the statement on Burma by the ASEAN Foreign Minister's this morning, the Prime Minister welcomed the outcome of the ASEAN Foreign Minister's meeting today, in particular their decision to set up an ASEAN-led taskforce to help deliver aid to Burma, using close contact with the leaders of the ASEAN countries as well as the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which Government Minister's would attend the Champions League Final in Moscow on Wednesday, the PMS said that Andy Burnham and Gerry Sutcliffe would attend.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister spoke about in his speech earlier that day, the PMS said that the Prime Minister talked about what was happening in global oil markets and global food prices among other things. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister was planning to vote on the Embryology Bill, the PMS said that he was planning to vote, both today and tomorrow.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15593.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 15:45:58" post_name="misc-72" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5713" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5713" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify where the Prime Minister was on the Embryology Bill, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister was in favour of all three clauses.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked to clarify that the Prime Minister was in favour of removing the need for a father clause in IVF, the PMS replied that this was correct.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would vote, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was planning to vote.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had expressed a view on an abortion time limit, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister answered that question for himself at his press conference on Thursday, where he said that he was in favour of the existing position.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15592.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:58" post_name="embryology-bill-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5714" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5714" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details about the Prime Minister's meeting with the Dalai Lama, the PMS replied that as we had previously said, the meeting would take place at Lambeth Palace.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Archbishop of Canterbury would be present for the meeting, the PMS replied that he would be there as well.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the meeting would simply be a handshake, the PMS replied that we were talking about a proper meeting. He was not sure what the exact modalities would be, but it would be a substantial meeting.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be words following the meeting, the PMS replied that there would be pictures afterwards.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15592.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:57" post_name="dalai-lama-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Dalai Lama" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5715" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5715" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for any reaction to the BAe news, the PMS replied that we had no particular reaction to that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there had been any information requested from the Ministry of Justice, the PMS replied that he would need to check on that.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15592.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:56" post_name="bae" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="BAE" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5716" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5716" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked on Lord Malloch-Brown's comments on Burma if the Prime Minister had any indication what breakthrough we might expect imminently, the PMS replied that obviously Lord Malloch-Brown had been on the ground in Burma, and had been meeting with representatives of the regime. Aid was trickling into Burma, but clearly there needed to be a much greater effort on the part of the Burmese authorities in order to ensure that the aid did get through.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Lord Malloch-Brown seemed to be suggesting that this was going to be the case, the PMS replied that it was best to wait and see.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15592.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 11:00:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 11:00:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:55" post_name="burma-9" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Burma" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5717" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5717" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had sympathy with Labour MPs signing the EDM on Vehicle Excise Duty, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been asked about this several times in the last few days, and had made his position clear on this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what his position was, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister's position was that the majority of car owners were no worse off or better off as a result of the changes made in the Budget this year. But of course it was also important that we continued to take action to deal with the environmental consequences of vehicle emissions.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any question of changing policy, the PMS replied that the whole point of what we were trying to do was to ensure that in the different bands for Vehicle Excise Duties there was a range of different vehicles. So if you wanted to purchase for example a low polluting family car, and pay lower VED, then you would be able to do that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the whole point here was that this was retrospective, the PMS replied that this was not coming into effect until 2009 at the earliest. It was not retrospective in the sense that you were not paying tax that was due on previous dates. The tax only became due in 2009.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15592.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 11:00:54" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:54" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 11:00:54" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:54" post_name="vehicle-excise-duty" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Vehicle Excise Duty" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5718" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5718" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if there would be a Government representative at the Champions League final, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not going, but he would check if there were any other Ministers going.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be cheering for Manchester United, the PMS replied that he was sure the Prime Minister would be cheering for the English team.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where the Prime Minister would be watching the match, the PMS replied that he would imagine that the Prime Minister would try to watch some of it in the flat in Downing Street.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15592.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 11:00:53" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:53" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 11:00:53" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:53" post_name="champions-league-final" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Champions League Final" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5719" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/19/5719" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if Dawn Primarolo would make a better job of explaining what a unit of alcohol was than the BBC did this morning, the PMS replied that he was sure the Department of Health could give a very clear answer on that.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what would be on the agenda for the meeting with the Jamaican PM, the PMS replied that we might be able to say more on that tomorrow, but he was sure they would discuss a range of bilateral issues.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more on the Ed Balls announcement, the PMS replied that he thought this was about how some aspects of education policy were provided, but best to speak to the department to see if they had anything further to say on that today.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked for more on Rachel Lomax and timings, the PMS replied that this was really a matter for the Treasury to take forward.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be staying up late to watch the by-election results, the PMS replied that he had no idea.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15592.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-19 11:00:52" post_date_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:52" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-19 11:00:52" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-19 10:00:52" post_name="misc-73" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5720" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/21/5720" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister would be watching the game and if so who with, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would almost certainly watch the game in the flat in Downing Street after the IOC event but that he was not sure who he would be watching the match with. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked which team the Prime Minister was supporting, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was a Raith Rovers supporter, so like most neutrals he was looking forward to a great game.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked who was representing the Government in Moscow, the PMS said that it was Andy Burnham and Gerry Sutcliffe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had a view about whether or not Joey Barton should be allowed to carry on playing football after his release from prison, the PMS said that he had not heard the Prime Minister express a view on that subject and had not asked him. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15596.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-21 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-21 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-21 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-21 10:00:57" post_name="football-11" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Football" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5736" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/20/5736" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on the three-line whip on attendance this evening at the House and whether or not this made it a free vote, the PMS said it was a free vote and MP's could vote as they wished.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if Cabinet had discussed the debates on the Embryology Bill given that it went quite well for the Government, the PMS said not that he could recall. It was a free vote yesterday, so it was a victory for those people who were supportive of the position that won the vote. When Geoff Hoon talked about parliamentary business, he was talking more about future parliamentary business. &lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15598.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-20 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-20 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-20 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-20 15:45:57" post_name="embryology-bill-7" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Embryology Bill" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5737" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/20/5737" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked about today's immigration figures, the PMS replied that on asylum, we had seen a fall in the number of asylum applications including dependents in the first quarter of this year, compared to the last quarter of 2007. On a calendar year basis, applications in 2007 were at their lowest level since 1993, while across Europe, applications had risen by 10 per cent.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister thought it was a good thing that fewer Eastern Europeans were registering for work in Britain, the PMS said that we did not have a quota on overall immigration. These were decisions that got taken by individuals and by individual companies. Migrant workers did make a positive contribution to the UK's economy but we did not have a view year-on-year as to what exactly the right number was. These were decisions for the people concerned and for the companies concerned.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister thought was keeping people away from registering for work in the UK, the PMS repeated that these were all matters for individuals to decide. What we were clear about was that people who did come here to work should make a contribution.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;42 days&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if there was any discussion over 42 days at Cabinet, the PMS reiterated that there was a discussion about future parliamentary business and its timetable, so it was only in that context that 42 days came up in passing. There was no substantive discussion of where we were on the issue.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;span dir=&quot;ltr&quot;&gt;Agency workers&lt;/span&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether the Prime Minister would agree that a weakened Government had been forced to back down in the face of the unions, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would think that that was complete rubbish. This was an agreement that was reached between the unions and the CBI. It was necessary to have the agreement of both the unions and the CBI in order to ensure that we were not subject to the EU Directive on agency workers; current proposals were for a qualifying period of six weeks rather than 12 weeks, which was the solution that we had managed to broker between the trade unions and the CBI.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;So this was a good deal for Britain, which was why the CBI were a signatory to it. It was a fair deal for the large number of workers who would benefit from this and it was on this basis that we would now negotiate with our partners in Europe. Asked if this was something the Government would have done in any case with the European legislation hanging over it, the PMS replied that the Government thought that this struck the right balance between fairness and flexibility. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The EU proposal in the Government's view would have put our flexible labour market at risk and that was why we were pleased we had been able to negotiate the agreement domestically. Asked if this was more than damage limitation, the PMS said that it was a good deal for the reason that the Prime Minister himself had said last week in the draft Queen's Speech debate, where he had talked about the unfairness of the plight of millions of agency workers. So this was an area the Government did want to take action on, but we had to do it in a way that did not put jobs at risk and did not put our flexible labour market at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if this could be undone by Europe, the PMS replied that in order to secure a carve-out from the EU Directive, there needed to be agreement between the main employment group and the main union group in order to enable a national solution. We would now have to negotiate this in Europe and push for this in Europe, but obviously in the discussions between the TUC, the CBI and the Government, we had been mindful of the European reaction. So, we would anticipate that we should be able to get agreement for this.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked whether Europe could block the bill, the PMS said the first thing that needed to happen, was that we needed to reach agreement between the unions and the employers. We now needed to formally negotiate and get agreement in Europe on the terms of our national agreement, so that we could get a carve-out from the directive. There had been informal discussions with the Commission and the Presidency in recent days and weeks as people would expect. Asked if the Government anticipated any difficulty in securing agreement from other European leaders, the PMS advised people to wait and see. We were confident in our position and we would make the case for a British solution very forcefully.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15598.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-20 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-20 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-20 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-20 15:45:56" post_name="immigration-10" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Immigration" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5735" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/20/5735" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on the Police Federation voting to have the right to strike, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister thought it was a matter for the Police Federation, but ensuring public safety and national security were key priorities for the Government and that was why police officers could not take strike action. &lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;The police were not the only group with restrictions on industrial action or chose not to strike on principle; prison officers and the armed forces also had restrictions. We had had meetings with the federation's leadership and other police staff associations throughout the pay negotiations and we would continue to talk to them on this issue.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15598.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-20 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-20 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-20 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-20 15:45:58" post_name="police-strike" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="&lt;strong&gt;Police strike&lt;/strong&gt;" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5733" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/21/5733" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked that in the light of the &amp;pound;2.7billion tax cut, did the Prime Minister still think it was right to deny police officers back-dated pay, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister thought it was absolutely right to take the difficult decisions that we took on public sector pay, including on police pay.  That had helped keep inflation lower than it might otherwise have been, and that in turn had enabled the Bank of England to reduce interest rates three times in recent months.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Court of Appeal's decision on police pay would be made next week, the PMS replied that the process was being judicially reviewed at the moment, but he was not sure of the exact timetable.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if we would abide by the decision, the PMS replied that of course we would abide by any outcome of a judicial review.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked where this would leave Jacqui Smith, the PMS replied that his understanding was that the judicial review was about process, but he was not going to start answering hypothetical questions about outcomes of judicial reviews that had not yet concluded.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15599.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-21 16:45:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-21 16:45:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:56" post_name="police-pay-6" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Police pay" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5734" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/21/5734" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for more details of the IOC meeting tonight, the PMS replied that the IOC meeting was a cross party meeting in order to emphasise to the IOC the cross party nature of the support for the Olympics.  It would include, as well as key members of the IOC, the Mayor of London, the Leader of the Opposition, Don Foster representing the Liberal Democrats, and Tessa Jowell.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15599.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-21 16:45:55" post_date_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:55" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-21 16:45:55" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:55" post_name="olympics-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Olympics" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5731" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/21/5731" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Prime Minister had studied Brendan Barber's speech that he was delivering later today and did he have a view on the threats posed by casino capitalism, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that he was not sure the Prime Minister had had an opportunity yet to look at Brendan Barber's speech.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15599.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-21 16:45:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-21 16:45:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:58" post_name="brendan-barber" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="&lt;strong&gt;Brendan Barber&lt;/strong&gt;" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5732" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/21/5732" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for the Government's position on cluster munitions, the PMS replied that the Government's position was that there were negotiations on cluster bombs underway in Dublin at the moment, and we would not want to pre-empt those.  The Prime Minister had issued instructions to our negotiators in Dublin that we should work intensively to ban cluster bombs that cause unacceptable harm to civilians. We had already gone further than other permanent members of the Security Council by banning two types of cluster bombs, neither of which had a self-destruct or de-activation mechanism.  The Prime Minister had asked the Ministery of Defence to assess the remaining munitions in use to ensure that there was no risk to civilians, and we were absolutely clear that our forces would always operate in strict accordance with international humanitarian law.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked when the Prime Minister asked the MoD to do this, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had asked the MoD to do this as part of the preparation for the negotiations that were underway in Dublin at the moment.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked was meant by &quot;unacceptable harm&quot;, the PMS replied that in a sense this was what the discussion was about in Dublin at the moment.  As he had said, we had already gone further than other permanent members of the Security Council by banning two types of cluster bombs, neither of which had a self-destruct of de-activation mechanism, which he understood was one of the concerns people had about cluster bombs - their inability to self-destruct of deactivate if they did not blow up.  But the Prime Minister had asked the Ministry of Defence to assess the remaining munitions to ensure there was no risk to civilians.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15599.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-21 16:45:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-21 16:45:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-21 15:45:57" post_name="cluster-bombs" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="&lt;strong&gt;Cluster bombs&lt;/strong&gt;" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5727" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/21/5727" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked for details on the Prime Minister's meeting with International Olympic Committee (IOC) members, the PMS said that the meeting was part of the IOC Coordination Commission's visit to London; it would be a cross-party meeting to demonstrate the cross-party support for the Olympics. The meeting would include the key members of the IOC, the Mayor of London, David Cameron, Don Foster (who will be attending instead of Nick Clegg) and Tessa Jowell. There will also be a reception for around 150 people, including the full IOC Coordination Commission, sports people, London 2012 organisers and Government representatives.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked why the Prime Minister was not meeting the Dalai Lama at Downing Street, the PMS replied that, as had been said on numerous occasions, the Prime Minister was meeting the Dalai Lama in his capacity as a spiritual leader. As far as we were concerned the important issue was the substance of the meeting and the fact that the meeting was taking place at all; on the two previous occasions when the Dalai Lama visited the UK he did not meet the then Prime Minister at all.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that Yvette Cooper and Caroline Flint were meeting with mortgage lenders today and asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that rates had not come down despite moves to improve liquidity, the PMS said that it was correct that a meeting was going ahead and that it was best to speak to the Treasury and DCLG on the specifics. The PMS went on to say that mortgage lenders had welcomed the injection of liquidity at the time and that the latest data suggested that there had been some easing of conditions since that intervention, but you also had to compare that against the counterfactual.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15596.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-21 11:00:56" post_date_gmt="2008-05-21 10:00:56" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-21 11:00:56" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-21 10:00:56" post_name="misc-75" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Misc" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5728" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/20/5728" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;The Prime Minister's Spokesman began by saying that the official Cabinet met for just under an hour and it included an update from Geoff Hoon on Parliamentary business. There was a discussion on Burma, which was led by Douglas Alexander and Lord Malloch-Brown, (who had just returned from Burma), as David Miliband was in the US. There was also a discussion on the economy led by the Chancellor, John Hutton and the Prime Minister, which included issues such as oil and food prices. Finally, there was an update from John Hutton on where things stood regarding the Agency Workers Directive (AWD).&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-20 11:00:58" post_date_gmt="2008-05-20 10:00:58" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-20 11:00:58" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-20 10:00:58" post_name="cabinet-33" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Cabinet" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5729" comment_count="0" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/20/5729" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked if an agreement had been reached regarding the AWD, the PMS said that there had been very constructive discussions between the TUC and the CBI, as well as the Government, on the AWD in recent days and weeks. The PMS went on to say that he was not currently in a position to confirm any announcement, although something was expected shortly from the department. The background was that there was a directive being considered by the European Union and that in this directive, agency workers would have equal rates after 6 weeks employment. It was the Government's view, shared by the CBI, that accepting this proposal would put our flexible labour market at risk. That was why the TUC and the CBI had been trying to find an agreement on an alternative proposal; if we could get agreement between employers and the unions then that should enable us to find a way forward with Europe.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Put that the BBC were already reporting that an agreement had been made, the PMS said that people should expect an announcement from the department very shortly.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the idea of a creating an Agency Workers Commission had been abandoned, the PMS said that this question was about an announcement that had not formally happened yet and it was for the department to make those sorts of announcements. The key point was that we had been seeking to achieve agreement between the employers and the unions, which they would both be comfortable with. In turn, that would then enable us to put a proposition to Europe, avoiding having to accept the 6-week qualifying period, which we believed would put our flexible labour market at risk.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked if the Government hoped to retain an opt-out on the Working Time Directive if agreement was reached in Europe, the PMS said that that was certainly our hope and expectation.&lt;/p&gt;

&lt;p style=&quot;float: right;&quot;&gt;&lt;a href=&quot;http://www.pm.gov.uk//output/Page15595.asp&quot;&gt;original source&lt;/a&gt;.&lt;/p&gt;

" post_content_filtered="" post_date="2008-05-20 11:00:57" post_date_gmt="2008-05-20 10:00:57" post_excerpt="" post_mime_type="" post_modified="2008-05-20 11:00:57" post_modified_gmt="2008-05-20 10:00:57" post_name="agency-workers-directive-2" post_parent="0" post_password="" post_status="publish" post_title="Agency Workers Directive" post_type="post" to_ping="" />
  <downingstreetsaid ID="5730" comment_count="1" comment_status="open" guid="http://downingstreetsays.com/briefings/2008/05/20/5730" menu_order="0" ping_status="closed" pinged="" post_author="2" post_category="0" post_content="&lt;p&gt;Asked what was said about the economy during Cabinet, the PMS said that the discussion had been about what all Government departments could do to help deal with the economic situation in relation to issues such as higher oil and food prices. It was more about those subjects rather than a macro-economic discussion.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;Asked what Government departments could do about oil prices, the PMS replied that this had been something the Prime Minister talked about yesterday, particularly in the Q&amp;amp;amp;A session at the Google event; we could continue to keep up the pressure on OPEC to try to get oil prices down in the short-term, but in the long-term we needed to look at what more we could do to make the economy less dependant on fossil foils. There were short-term issues that needed to be addressed but if we believe