Downing Street Says » Attorney General Statement

Asked why Lord Falconer and Baroness Morgan "set out" his Parliamentary Written Answer of 17th March 2003, the PMOS said that as he had said in the morning lobby, he was not going to get involved in commenting on leaks or internal processes. The Attorney General had set out his position very clearly in a press statement overnight.

Put to him that the words had been the Attorney General’s "judgement, views and words" and what was understood today was that they had not been "set in the order which they appeared", and that other people had done so instead, the PMOS repeated again what he had said this morning. The PMOS read out to lobby the Attorney General’s statement from last night. The PMOS said the government had not moved "one iota" from the position that was outlined by the Attorney General on 17th March 2003.

Put to him that what was outlined in that statement was contradictory from that which appeared in the Butler Inquiry, the PMOS for him to comment on it, would mean he would have to comment on a leak, which he would not do.

Put to him that Lord Butler had confirmed on Sky this morning that the Attorney General had set out his views, there followed a brief discussion amongst the two journalists involved about whether the piece had indeed been showcased on Sky. The PMOS likened the two journalists to Morecambe and Wise, and wondered who would be Ernie…

Asked again if the Attorney General had written his own words, the PMOS said that the Attorney General had "explained his genuinely held, independent view".

Asked who had written Lord Falconer’s statement on the Royal Wedding, the PMOS said that as people knew, the Lord Chancellor was a very learned man.

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So, an implicit confirmation from Downing Street that the neither the Attorney General nor the Lord Chancellor are capable of doing their own joined-up writing.

How surprising is that?
Comment by Chuck Unsworth — 25 Feb 2005 on 11:55 am | Link
Oh come now; surely we all knew anyway that anything these lackeys say is already written in Downing Street and then passed on for them to memorise "as their own words". I’d love to have seen the AGs reaction when he arrived at No. 10 before the Iraq invasion, and Alistair Campbell handed him a scap of paper and said "here y’are mate, here’s your advice on the legality of the conflict…"
Comment by PapaLazzzaru — 25 Feb 2005 on 12:10 pm | Link

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» Thursday, February 24, 2005

Attorney General Statement

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