Downing Street Says » 2005 » December

» Thursday, December 8, 2005

Europe

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to President Chirac, and if not, was he planning to in the next few days, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had not spoken to President Chirac again since Tuesday. The PMOS also said that the system was in touch with representatives of all countries as we approached the final stages of this negotiation. If we needed to speak to President Chirac again, then we would. There was a recognition around Europe that everyone would face difficult choices.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

EU Budget

Asked for a flavour of the bi-lateral discussions the Prime Minister had held so far with other EU Prime Ministers today, the Prime minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that whilst all came with specific issues which he could not comment on, they, equally, all believed that there was a serious basis for possible agreement here. That did not mean that there would definitely be agreement but everybody understood that this was a serious effort. All those we had spoken to so far had supported the review clause with regards to the CAP and the budget. Serious discussions were taking place and would continue. Asked if that included talks with Angela Merkel, the PMOS said that he had been primarily talking about the talks which had taken place today. With regards to the conversation with Chancellor Merkel earlier this week, that had been very constructive. We understood where she was coming from and she understood where we were coming from.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Norman Kember

Asked if the Government considered Abu Qatada an effective spokesman in the hostage situation, the PMOS relied that he had been very careful not to become involved in commenting on this situation. He had taken that position for a good reason, and he was going to maintain that position. The Foreign Office were dealing with it, and he advised people to speak to them for information.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

Law Lords’ Judgement re: Torture

Put that following the Law Lords' judgement on torture this morning, would the Government now say that it would not use evidence gained form torture, the PMOS replied that it was a difficult and complex case, and therefore he was sure that people would appreciate why he would not comment before considering the detail of the judgement, as it was right and proper that it was studied first. We had made it clear that we did not condone torture in any way.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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» Thursday, December 8, 2005

Europe

EU Budget

Norman Kember

Law Lords’ Judgement re: Torture

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