» Friday, June 18, 2004

Euro 2004

Asked if the Prime Minister had watched the England v Switzerland match last night, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been at the European Council meeting in Brussels yesterday. However, he had managed to see parts of the game. Like anyone else, he was looking forward to Monday's match against Croatia. Asked if the Prime Minister might be persuaded to fly the England flag in Downing Street were England to reach the final, the PMS said that it wasn't our policy to comment on hypothetical situations. Asked if she was indicating that the idea hadn't been ruled out, the PMS said that it was important for people to take the tournament one game at a time. In our experience, it wasn't helpful to engage in hypothetical discussion about any issues, especially those relating to football.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

» Thursday, June 17, 2004

Fox Hunting

Asked about the comments on fox hunting made by the Leader of the House in the Commons today, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that she hadn't seen them. Asked when an announcement would be made, the PMS said that she wasn't aware of the timescale at this stage. If a date had been determined, no doubt the Leader of the House would have announced it.

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

Iraq/Al Qaida

Asked to which particular organisations she had been referring this morning when she had spoken about groups affiliated to Al Qaida operating in a permissive regime in Saddam's Iraq, the PMS said that she did not have the precise details to hand. As she had told journalists this morning, we had always acknowledged that Saddam had created a permissive environment for terrorism and that he had tolerated groups affiliated to Al Qaida operating in Iraq during his regime. The Prime Minister had always made it clear that Iraq under Saddam had been a rogue state which threatened the security of the region and the world. Asked to present the evidence we had to back up that claim, the PMS said that this was nothing new. This was something we had said before. Put to her that the report from the independent Commission in the US investigation the September 11 attacks did not seem to support that position, the PMS said she was not suggesting that there was a direct link between Saddam and Al Qaida. She was simply making the point that his permissive regime allowed groups affiliated to Al Qaida to operate in Iraq. She said later that groups such as Zarqawi and Ansar al Islam had operated in the region.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

Europe

Asked for a reaction to reports that Chris Patten was being considered as a candidate for the job of European Commission President, the PMS said that as her colleague had been telling journalists all week, these were private discussions which would be had by EU Heads of Government around the table in Brussels. That position had not changed.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

Sutton Report/Immigration

Asked how the Government would respond to the management failures in the Home Office as identified by the Sutton report today, the PMS said the report showed that there had been significant failings in terms of how the European Community Association Agreement (ECAA) applications had been handled. A great deal of work had already been done to improve the operation of the Immigration and Nationality Directorate (IND). The Home Secretary would be taking further action to ensure that such a situation could not happen again. The PMS added that Mr Blunkett would be holding interviews this morning in which he would comment directly on the report.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Iraq/Al Qaida

Asked the Prime Minister's view of the relationship between Saddam Hussein and Al Qaida, the PMS said we had always acknowledged that Saddam had created a permissive environment for terrorism and that people affiliated to Al Qaida had operated in Iraq during his regime. The Prime Minister had always made it clear that Iraq under Saddam had been a rogue state which threatened the security of the region and the world. Asked if those Al Qaida affiliates operating in Iraq had been doing so with the tacit knowledge or active endorsement of the regime, the PMS said she understood that the questions being raised today were the result of a report released in the US by an independent Commission investigating the September 11 attacks. Consequently, matters directly relating to these issues should be put to those concerned. Put to her repeatedly that the Government had never suggested the existence of a direct link between Saddam and Al Qaida, the PMS agreed. She was simply making the point that the Prime Minister had always regarded Saddam's Iraq as a rogue state and that we had known that affiliates to Al Qaida had been operating in what had been a permissive regime. Asked why she was suggesting that there was a link between Saddam and Al Qaida when there wasn't one, the PMS said that she was doing no such thing. She was merely setting out what the parameters had been.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

Euro 2004

Asked if the Prime Minister had sent a message to the England team ahead of their match with Switzerland later today, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had sent a message to the team last weekend in which he had wished them luck in Euro 2004. Asked if the Prime Minister was intending to watch the game, the PMS pointed out that he would be attending the European Council in Brussels. However, he would no doubt receive regular updates as the match progressed.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

» Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Euro 2004

Asked if there was any concern within Government that England might be thrown out of Euro 2004 because of hooliganism, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that that was a matter for the football authorities. The Prime Minister had been anxious today to send a message, both to those fans in Portugal and at home, that we in no way condoned such activity. Although we recognised that it was being carried out by a small minority, the message had to be sent loudly and clearly that such behaviour would not be tolerated and the police, both here and in Portugal, had our full support in dealing with it. In answer to further questions, the PMOS said that those responsible for the violence, small though they might be in number, should know that they were bringing shame on England by their behaviour.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Europe

Asked to confirm the reportedly on-the-record view of a senior British official in Brussels that the Prime Minister did not support the candidature of Guy Verhofstadt as European Commission President in succession to Romano Prodi, the PMOS said that he was not aware of the remarks and could not therefore comment. Serious discussions about candidates for this important post were continuing and it was obviously better for them to take place in private between the EU Heads of Government. Asked if the Prime Minister did not support Mr Verhofstadt because he was too anti-American, the PMOS said that he had absolutely no intention of getting drawn into a public discussion about the merits or demerits of individual candidates. Suffice to say that we recognised the significance of the job and that it should be up to EU Heads of Government to discuss any nominations privately. Put to him that the discussions did not appear to be taking place in private if British officials were briefing in public in Brussels, the PMOS said that he would brief in his way, others would brief in theirs. He underlined that we would not be discussing the individual candidates in public. It was a discussion which would be had around the table in Brussels by the EU Heads of Government. Asked to explain why it was perfectly fine for the French and Germans to indicate their support for Mr Verhofstadt, whereas the UK was unable even to hint that we might be less enthusiastic about his candidature than Antonio Vittorino's for example, the PMOS said we would stick to our traditional approach to these matters and leave the discussions to be held in private. Asked if, "in general terms", the UK would favour having someone who was avowedly federalist as European Commission President, the PMOS said that our position on the Treaty and Constitution was very clear. If an agreement was reached, we believed that it would reflect our view that Europe should work together as a group of nations who co-operated on matters of common interest. That was a view widely shared within the EU, particularly by the new Accession countries.

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

Europe

Asked the Prime Minister's view on the prospect of an agreement on the Constitution at the European Council meeting this week, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said the honest answer was that we simply didn't know whether that would happen at this stage. We had set out our position in the IGC White Paper. Our European partners were well aware of our arguments. If our requirements were met, we believed a deal could be possible. If they were not, then that would have consequences as well. The important thing was to recognise that there were twenty-four other EU member states, each with their own position. Issues such as vote weighting, with which the UK had had no particular involvement, had proven to be the stumbling block last December and had yet to be resolved. We would go into the European Council this week hoping a deal could be reached, although such a thing was by no means certain at this stage. Asked to spell out the consequences were our requirements not to be met, the PMOS said that obviously it would mean there would be no deal. However, people shouldn't get too ahead of themselves at this point. The negotiations at the Summit had yet to take place. As he had been underlining over the last few days, we believed that progress had been made on our points. Nevertheless, we felt that further clarification was necessary. People would need to be a little patient.

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

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