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» Tuesday, June 8, 2004

Iraq/Prisoner Mistreatment

The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) advised journalists that Adam Ingram had issued a Written Ministerial Statement this afternoon relating to the number of investigations into allegations of prisoner mistreatment in Iraq. Asked to explain the context of the Written Ministerial Statement, the PMS said that Adam Ingram had announced to the House on 4 May that 33 cases of Iraqi civilian deaths, injuries or alleged mistreatment were being investigated. Those figures had been repeated by the Defence Secretary and by the Prime Minister a few days later. Subsequently, it had been discovered that the actual figure was 61 and that an additional 14 investigations had been initiated since 4 May. This error had occurred because there had been no centralised point in Iraq or the MoD to co-coordinate the allegations being made. That problem had now been recognised and resolved inasmuch as all complaints were now registered centrally by the MoD. As she understood it, any further figures relating to this issue would be reported to the House. Asked if the increase in the figures could be the result of more people coming forward following a greater awareness of the reporting of prisoner mistreatment, the PMS explained that the increase had come about because different parts of the MoD had been investigating different cases without recording them at a central point. Asked to explain the delay in coming forward with the correct figures, the PMS said that the MoD had been doing a lot of work to sort this issue out and to ensure that Parliament was informed of the correct figures as soon as possible. Asked if the Prime Minister would make a Statement to the House to explain how the error had occurred, the PMS pointed out that once the error had come to light, Adam Ingram had taken the first opportunity to issue a Written Ministerial Statement today setting out the position.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

European Constitution

Asked to clarify what the Prime Minister had said in his interview on the Today Programme this morning in terms of whether the referendum on the European Constitution would be held before or after the next General Election, the PMS said that a date for the referendum had not been set at this stage since the Constitution was still being discussed. Suffice to say that the Prime Minister had said that one would take place. Nor was she able to comment on the date of the next general election since that was a matter for the Prime Minister.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

President Reagan

Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending President Reagan's funeral on Friday, the PMS said that issues relating to US protocol had yet to be dealt with.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

President Reagan

Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending President Reagan's funeral on Friday, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that since there were still issues relating to US protocol which had to be dealt with, she was unable to give definitive answer at this stage.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Saudi Arabia

Questioned about travel guidance for those planning to visit Saudi Arabia, the PMS said that it hadn't changed since yesterday. As the Foreign Office had stipulated, people should travel to Saudi Arabia only if was essential to do so.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Iraq

Asked for an update on the UN Resolution on Iraq, the PMS said that she did not want to pre-empt what might transpire later today. However, it was important for people to recognise that a lot of work had been done on this issue. We were very happy with the way things had gone and we were also very satisfied with the language in the Resolution, which was just what we had been looking for. The day the Resolution was passed would be a good day for Iraq and the UN.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

G8

Asked for a reaction to today's Guardian story suggesting that President Bush might be willing to support the UK's debt relief plan for poorer countries in return for backing for a proposal to write off debts incurred by Saddam, the PMS said that her colleague had explained the general principles of the G8 Summit at both of yesterday's briefings. Heads of Government would look at the broader Middle East and also Africa following on from the process begun at Evian. No doubt other issues would be dealt with in the margins of the Summit, many of which might not grab the headlines but which were important nevertheless.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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