Downing Street Says » 2004 » November

» Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Northern Ireland

Asked "what the score with Northern Ireland" was, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that in terms of today's meeting, the talks had been serious and constructive. The parties would want to reflect over the coming days, but time was getting short for people to make up their minds. He was not going to get into a game of precise deadlines, but the Leeds Castle talks earlier in the year had established that there was a basis for progress. The PMOS continued that the question now was: had the talks maintained that analysis? The answer was yes, they had. He said that people could not make other people's minds up for them, as they needed to have the space and privacy to do that for themselves. The PMOS had said earlier in the week that this was an important week and an important time, and he had so far not seen anything to disagree with that.

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

Drugs

Asked what the Prime Minister was going to say tomorrow about drugs, the PMOS said people would have to wait and see tomorrow.

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

Impeachment

Asked if the Prime Minister was worried that he was going to be impeached, the PMOS said that he had talked about this in the lobby earlier in the day, and had nothing to add from then. He repeated let us see what happened, as it was not something that was regarded as a current procedure.

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

Jack Straw/Ariel Sharon Talks

Asked if the Government viewed Ariel Sharon's sore throat as a snub to Jack Straw, the PMOS replied that the important thing was that Jack Straw had seen the Israeli Foreign Minister, and rather than concentrating on sore throats, it would be better to look at what the Israeli Foreign Minister had said. This was a very positive statement, that said there was an opportunity, and paid tribute to the role that Britain was playing by trying to get the two-state solution up and running. He reiterated that people should ignore snubs and concentrate on the substance, because it was this that would decide whether there would be a two-state solution to be had.

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

Queen’s Speech Legislation

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Peter Hain's comment that the risk would be lower under a Labour Government because of the measures being brought in to deal with the terrorist threat the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that as a civil servant he could not get into party political matters but what he could stress was the threat that we faced was real. Unfortunately we only had to look at examples such as the Madrid bombing to understand the reality of that threat. What the Government was proposing to do was to take measures which allowed it to address that threat in a way that was practical, sensible and commensurate with the nature of the threat. In terms of underlining the very real nature of the threat the Prime Minister agreed with that.

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

Northern Ireland

Asked if there would be an outcome or public statement from today's talks the PMOS said that he doubted that the Prime Minister would say anything. The Taoiseach may say something on departure. As he had said all week it was an important week but he doubted if there would be any big announcement today. It was largely a matter of how the parties respond but we would have to wait for developments.

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

Zimbabwe

Asked if the Government would get involved in the row over British cricket journalists in Zimbabwe the PMOS said that the Government's position was clear. The people who were taking the lead in this were the cricket authorities because they themselves had rules on media accompanying tours so therefore it was right that the cricketing authorities take the lead in expressing their view.

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

Impeachment

Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the fact that 23 MP's had signed a motion to have him impeached the PMOS said that was their right to do so but we should wait and see what actually happened.

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

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» Wednesday, November 24, 2004

Northern Ireland

Drugs

Impeachment

Jack Straw/Ariel Sharon Talks

Queen’s Speech Legislation

Northern Ireland

Zimbabwe

Impeachment

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