Downing Street Says » 2005

» Tuesday, July 12, 2005

London Bombings

Asked if there was anything he could say about the ongoing police operation, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the Prime Minister, along with other Ministers, was being kept fully informed. We would allow the police the time and space to carry out that investigation and they had our full support to go wherever that investigation led them. Like everyone else we had to wait for the police to carry out their investigation and then they would report to us the results of it. In response to the suggestion that ii was all looking very encouraging, the PMOS said it would be best for everyone to wait for the police to give us their report and then make an assessment. What it showed was that this was a professional police operation being carried out in a professional police way. We expected that to happen but equally should support the police as it does happen.

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

» Monday, July 11, 2005

Terrorism statement/anti-terror legislation

Asked what the Prime Minister had meant when he said it was plainly sensible to reserve the right to return to Parliament with an accelerated timetable on any further anti-terrorism laws, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we had already said we would come back in the autumn with an anti-terrorism bill and go through the pre-legislation scrutiny process. Today the Prime Minister had been saying that if however before then there was a suggestion from the police, or the authorities that we needed to speed up that process then we would obviously consider that. Right now we were still at an early stage, at the moment of dealing with the aftermath of Thursday's attacks. We had no plans at this stage to speed up the legislative process. All the Prime Minister had indicated was that if that came to be the case then we would come back. Asked if that would rule out before the summer, the PMOS agreed that it most probably would. What we were not thinking of was an "Omagh" style piece of immediate legislation. So far we had not identified that as necessary. What the Prime Minister had simply been doing was reserving the right to change our mind if the advice was that we should. No more and no less than that.

Briefing took place at 16:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

London Bombings

Asked if the Prime Minister had any reaction to police activity in West Yorkshire, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that this was clearly a police operational matter. Journalists could take it that the Prime Minister and other Ministers would be kept informed. We said yesterday that we would give the police and the authorities the time and space they needed to carry out this investigation. We were determined to do so. Therefore it would be a matte led by them, carried out by them and we would be kept informed. We would follow the right and proper procedure throughout.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

London bombing

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) informed journalists that Tessa Jowell would attend the opening of a Garden of Rememberance for the victims of last Thursday's bombings at Victoria Embankment Gardens. Faith leaders would also be present and they would sign Westminster Council's book of condolence. The aim of the Garden was to provide a single place for people to pay their respects to the victims of all four attacks, not least because the necessary security around the bomb sites themselves made it difficult to people to lay flowers. Tessa Jowell would also go to the city hall today to sign the GLA book of condolence with Ken Livingstone. There would be a two minutes silence at midday on Thursday. Asked if the flowers that had already been placed at the sites would be moved, the PMOS said that we recognised that there was sensitivity around that issue. We would try and deal with the issue as sensitively as possible. The Key thing was to strike a balance between people wanting to, quote rightly, pay their respects and on the other hand, not get in the way of the ongoing investigation. That was a difficult balance but the liaison officers would consult with people and make the necessary arrangements.

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

Iraq

Asked if the Government was committed to reducing troop levels in Iraq by the end of the year, the PMOS said that the Government was doing what we said we would do. That was, through the process of 'Iraqization', working with the Iraqi government in the first place, and with our allies in Iraq, we were doing everything we could to build up the capacity of the Iraqi security forces in the hope and expectation that they would increasingly take the load of looking after security in Iraq. That had been our goal since April last year. Therefore it should come as no surprise that we were going through the thinking process of how we achieved that. As John Reid had said, the process of transfer would only come at the point where the Iraqi government and ourselves believed that the Iraqi forces were capable of taking that load. Asked how much progress we had made, the PMOS said it was going forward all the time, not just in terms of the numbers of Iraq forces but also in their quality. It was a matter of judgmens which would be made from month to month.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (8)

» Thursday, July 7, 2005

Transcript of briefing given by the PMOS in London

The Prime Minister returned, as you know, from Gleneagles. He went straight into a meeting of Cobra, where all the main Secretaries of State associated with this terrible tragedy and atrocity were there. He is now currently speaking to the Leader of the Opposition and to Charles Kennedy. He will then make a private visit to the command centre at Scotland Yard. We will then, and again I don't want to give precise times because for obvious reasons, we will then go back to Gleneagles. On Gleneagles, while we have not, as planned, issued our communiqué today on climate change, work has continued, and we will produce our communiqué on climate change, and on Africa, tomorrow, as planned. The African leaders who were planning to come tomorrow to Gleneagles will continue to come. And in terms of the Prime Minister's movements, tomorrow he will come back to London, and it is anticipated he will chair another meeting of Cobra. It is also thought that there will be a further meeting of Cobra, chaired by the Home Secretary, tomorrow morning.

Briefing took place at 18:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Read Tony Blair’s full statement

I am just going to make a short statement to you on the terrible events that have happened in London earlier today, and I hope you understand that at the present time we are still trying to establish exactly what has happened, and there is a limit to what information I can give you, and […]

Briefing took place at 12:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (41)

Summary of PM’s statement on London explosions

Tony Blair has spoken about this morning’s explosions on buses and Tubes in the capital. Speaking from the G8 summit in Gleneagles, he said his thoughts were with the victims and families of those involved in the ‘barbaric events.’

Briefing took place at 12:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

» Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Olympics

Asked if the Prime Minister had any message of sympathy for President Chirac, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said the Prime Minister had already been asked about this during his live broadcast earlier. The Prime Minister had said that "the British had always been magnanimous in victory and gracious in defeat and we should be magnanimous".

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Louise Casey

Asked if Louise Casey had said apologised, or whether she had spoken to the Prime Minister, the PMS said not as far as she was aware.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

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» Tuesday, July 12, 2005

London Bombings

» Monday, July 11, 2005

Terrorism statement/anti-terror legislation

London Bombings

London bombing

Iraq

» Thursday, July 7, 2005

Transcript of briefing given by the PMOS in London

Read Tony Blair’s full statement

Summary of PM’s statement on London explosions

» Wednesday, July 6, 2005

Olympics

Louise Casey

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