Downing Street Says » Leo Blair

Asked when the Prime Minister had been told about a plot concerning Leo Blair, the PMOS said we did not talk about security matters, and that this story illustrated precisely why we were wise not to talk about security matters.

Asked if there had been any review of security as a result, the PMOS said again that we did not talk about security matters.

Put that the PMOS’ words about being wise not to talk about security actually gave some credence to the story, the PMOS said it was simply a statement of fact.

Asked why was it wise not to talk about security, the PMOS replied there were, as we had always said, real life security concerns, and we had to address those. The best way to address them was by not talking about them.

Put that the Prime Minister had already been challenged by Fathers4Justice, and was he concerned about the way in which people were able to breach security, and was it a feeling generally that people were taking protests beyond disruptive stunts to something that threatened security, the PMOS said that in general, as we had said in the past, the Prime Minister’s view was that people did have a right to peaceful protests. It must be peaceful, however, and the overwhelming public view was that people harm their causes by engaging in protests that were not peaceful.

That had been our approach to groups like this one all the way through. In terms of specifics of what groups may or may not get up to out side the peaceful protest area, that was a matter for the police to deal with, and we were quite content to leave it up to them.

Put that the Prime Minister had said before that access for fathers was an issue that had to be looked at further, and was there anything further at the moment, the PMOS replied that nothing had changed in this area at the moment.

Put that Fathers4Justice had always been seen as "pranksters", and was there now likely to be a change in police attitude to them, the PMOS said he did not agree, as the whilst the media view may have been that they were "pranksters", but the authorities’ view was that people who broke not only the rules, but also the law were treated a certain way, no matter who they were. That was entirely appropriate that they should be.

Asked if the police were therefore likely to adopt a more positive approach to people like Fathers4Justice, the PMOS replied that these were operational decisions for the police, and we were quite content to leave it up to them to deal with.

Asked if the Prime Minister’s opinion of the CSA was still the same as it was a few months ago when he said it was "not up to the job", the PMOS replied that his view was that we did need to look seriously at the role of the CSA and see whether, as currently constituted, it was fit for the purpose. That process was going on, and John Hutton and the DWP were involved in it.

Asked when the DWP’s outcome on the role of the CSA might be expected, the PMOS said that there was urgent work going on, but the PMOS said it was up to the DWP to announce when they were ready.

1 Comment »

"Put that the PMOS’ words about being wise not to talk about security actually gave some credence to the story, the PMOS said it was simply a statement of fact."

No doubt said with a smug grin…!

"…the PMOS said that in general, as we had said in the past, the Prime Minister’s view was that people did have a right to peaceful protests…"

…"just as long as they do it somewhere a long way away. and in groups of less than 2. in total silence. or else…"
Comment by PapaLazzzaru — 19 Jan 2006 on 11:58 am | Link

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» Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Leo Blair

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