Downing Street Says » 2004

» Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Iraqi Deaths

Asked if the Prime Minister was going to hold an inquiry into the civilian deaths in Iraq, the PMOS replied that as we had said before the Ministry of Health in Iraq was keeping a log of civilian deaths, and had done so for since April this year.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (13)

College Course

Asked how the addition of a college course in wheel clamping was contributing towards the Government's aim of Education being the number one priority, the PMOS said he confessed that he was not aware of such a course, but thanked the journalist for helpfully pointing it out.

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

» Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Northern Ireland

Asked if Bertie Ahern's recent comments about there being news this evening about the Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that it was better for people to wait and see. There was intense discussions going on, and we hoped that we would be in a position where the people of Northern Ireland could judge for themselves what we would put forward tomorrow. The important thing to remember was that people would be able to judge how much progress had been made over the past year, and also if there was a gap remaining, how narrow the gap was. The other important issue was the two Prime Ministers would continue to push for a successful outcome.

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

Mercer Bill

Asked what the Prime Minister's view on Michael Howard's challenge to give him "a fair wind" on Patrick Mercer's Bill, the PMOS replied that not only had the Mercer Bill had not been published, so any answer would be theoretical, but also, regarding the need for clarification, we had clearly conceded there was some confusion about the defence of reasonable force. This was a matter for the Home Office to study, as he had indicated earlier in the day and during the week. The key test for any other proposal was whether it was practical, and whether it could be applied in court to any other case. The law as it stood at the moment, did allow for reasonable force to be applied, but that needed to be clarified.

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

Northern Ireland

Asked if the Prime Minister was confident of progress in Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said that we aimed tomorrow to be in a situation where whatever happened the people of Northern Ireland would be able to judge for themselves. We had said all long that the people of Northern Ireland had a right to know what it was that had been proposed and debated on their behalf. The good news this morning was that the gap is narrow, but we would have to wait and see whether it could be closed. Asked if the Government hoped that people power would help close the gap between the parties, the PMOS said that people had a right to know how the last months of tense and constructive negotiations had been spent. The important thing was that people needed to know that progress was being made. Of course we hoped to be in a position to say that a deal had been done, but whatever the case, people had right to know whether progress had been made in addressing the issues that were set out over the passed year. Asked if the public would have the opportunity to express themselves through a referendum the PMOS said there weren't any plans for a referendum. We will set out in a very clear way, the issues we had discussed and where we believe we were and people would be able to judge from that, that progress had been made.

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

OECD

Asked about the UK's position in the OECD education tables, the PMOS said that if journalists looked at what the Daily Telegraph had said and what the OECD had said the two directly contradicted each other. The OECD actually says that the figures were not reliable enough to draw firm conclusions from. Unfortunately the Daily Telegraph had drawn firm conclusions. The Department of Education would address the issue of getting reliable figures.

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

Other Business

Asked who would be the UK representative at the inauguration of Hamid Karzai as the first elected President of Afghanistan, the PMOS told journalists that it would be Bill Rammell. Obviously President Karzai was very well aware of our congratulations for his election which represented a very significant moment in Afghanistan's history. You only had to observe that this would be the first elected President in Afghanistan's history to understand the significance of the event.

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

» Monday, December 6, 2004

Sir Alan Budd’s Inquiry

Asked for guidance about when, and in what format Sir Alan Budd's report would be made public the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he could not give any information on when and in what format it would come out because these were matters for Sir Alan Budd and since John Gieve had asked for the report it would be a report to him in the first instance. Asked if Sir Alan would also look at the role of civil servants or if he was constrained to looking at the visa matter the PMOS said that Sir Alan Budd would report within his terms of reference. The PMOS said it was a matter for Sir Alan to interrupt his terms of reference and a matter for the Home Office to talk about his terms of reference not for him to. In response to the suggestion that the Prime Minister had said, at his monthly press conference, that if people raised other issues that Sir Alan would look at them the PMOS said that said it was still a matter for Sir Alan.

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

Burglary/Home Intruders

Asked if the Government intended to obstruct the Private Members Bill to allow householders to use all necessary means the PMOS said, as he had said in the morning, people should first of all recognise that the law already allowed the defence of "reasonable force" to be used. However what it did not allow was an "active retaliation". However if there was confusion about that it was obviously an issue that did need to be clarified. There was already a murder review being conducted in the Home Office and no doubt this was an issue that would be considered as part of it. As Lord Falconer had indicated this morning he believed we were talking about an issue of clarification for this process. The Government's attitude would be dictated by what it believed was a genuine area for concern but as he had said the law already clearly allowed a defence by reasonable force. If that was not clear to people then that was an issue to address.

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

Pakistan

Asked if the Prime Minister had mentioned anything about Pakistan's movements towards democracy the PMOS said that the issue had been discussed and the position was as he had set out earlier today.

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

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» Wednesday, December 8, 2004

Iraqi Deaths

College Course

» Tuesday, December 7, 2004

Northern Ireland

Mercer Bill

Northern Ireland

OECD

Other Business

» Monday, December 6, 2004

Sir Alan Budd’s Inquiry

Burglary/Home Intruders

Pakistan

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