Downing Street Says » 2006 » January

» Thursday, January 26, 2006

Bullying

Asked about allegations of bullying at the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM), the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that John Prescott's Office had responded earlier today, saying that the ODPM did not tolerate bullying or discrimination. A program of bullying awareness training had been put in place for all senior and middle managers to ensure the organisation created a positive climate for all staff and that the right procedures were in place to deal with cases where staff were not treated with dignity or respect. Asked if John Prescott would be taking the training, the PMS said that journalists would have to ask the ODPM.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Afghanistan

Asked if there had been a decision on numbers of troops being sent to the area, the PMOS said that a decision had been taken on the operation on Afghanistan, which included numbers.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

Palestinian Elections

Asked what the reaction was to the Palestinian elections was, and would we be willing to work with a Hamas government, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that first of all, people should wait for the full election results. In terms of Hamas, the Prime Minister had set out a position very clearly earlier this week in his press conference where he said that whilst we recognised electoral mandates, equally people had to be clear that we could only do business with those who renounced terrorism. That was the key distinction: did people support terrorism, or did they not?

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Other Business

Asked what the Prime Minister might be doing tomorrow, the PMS said that she thought she spotted a reshuffle question in there somewhere. Asked if there might be a reshuffle the PMS said that she had nothing to add to her colleagues reply this morning (which had been that we anticipated a quiet week).

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Truth

Asked how important did the Prime Minister think it was for people in public life to tell the truth, the PMOS said he thought he knew where the question was going, and he was not going to go down a party political route. The PMOS said the Prime Minister believed it was important that people told the truth.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Education White Paper

Asked what could be made of the interpretation from the Prime Minister's words at PMQs that he had agreed to implement the Education White Paper in full, the PMOS replied that one should be wary of over-interpretation.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Home Office Statistics

Asked what did the Prime Minister think about the Home Office statistics that showed that violent crime and robbery were on the increase, the PMOS said that what the journalist had left out that overall crime had continued to go down. There were, as we had recognised, particular issues and concerns of those categories which were being dealt with. The PMOS said that in terms of public discussion, it did not help to produce statements that did not recognise that overall, crime continued to decrease.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

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