Downing Street Says » 2004 » December

» Monday, December 20, 2004

Budd Inquiry

Asked what was going on with the Budd Inquiry Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said, as was said this morning, the hunch was that it would be published tomorrow. Further information about it's publication might be available later today.

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

Alan Milburn

Asked if we were sure that Alan Milburn was working for the taxpayer rather than the Labour Party the PMS said that this question had been answered several times before and his role in Government had been explained.

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

PM Letters

Asked if the Prime Minister signed his own condolence letters in relation to families of troops the PMS confirmed that he did.

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

David Blunkett/Budd Report

Asked if David Blunkett was going to be exonerated, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that it would be better to wait for the Budd Report to be published. The PMOS added that he had dealt with what the Prime Minister had said in a press conference, as had the Prime Minister, by saying that there cannot be any blurring between public and private lives.

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

EU Council Statement

Asked what the Prime Minister was going to say in his Commons Statement about the European Council, the PMOS said we clearly welcomed the start of negotiations in October and that Turkey had agreed to this. We also recognised that it was a hard negotiation, but believed that the outcome was a success for both Europe and Turkey. The Prime Minister said he believed it gave a lie to those people who said there was an inevitable clash between two civilisations; this showed that those in a Muslim country can and should belong in Europe.

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

ID Cards

Asked if the Prime Minister was going to be attending the ID debate later in the House, the PMOS replied that he would be there for the EU Council Statement.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (21)

FOI

Asked why the government was asking civil servants to shred emails in advance of the Freedom of Information Act, the PMOS said it was a normal part of good computer file management. It was the same in any large organisation.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

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