» Wednesday, March 1, 2006

Tessa Jowell

Asked whether the Prime Minister had meant to widen the scope of the inquiry to include the Home Office, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the Prime Minister had not widened the scope of the inquiry. All he had said was that if any future allegations were made the government would respond to them. In terms of the Home Office it had already responded, not just mildly, but with a categorical denial that anything untoward had happened in its dealings with the Italian government’s request. So in terms of the specific issue, the Home Office had already responded.

Put to the PMOS that the Prime Minster had used the future tense in his answer, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had been referring to any possible future allegations that may or may not be made. No matter which way you looked at this the Home Office’s reply had been categorical, it had rebutted the allegation and the fact that some newspapers had chosen not to make that the lead did not surprise him but it did not change the facts one iota. Asked if he was in that case suggesting that Sir Gus O’Donnell would not then look into the Home Office, the PMOS said that as journalists were aware he, as the PMOS, had so far been very careful not to say what Sir Gus O’Donnell would and would not do as that was a matter for Sir Gus O’Donnell himself.

All he would say was that he would be surprised if Sir Gus O’Donnell did not take account of the categorical denial by the Home Office. No one had produced any evidence to call that denial into question. Asked if the Prime Minister thought Sir Gus O’Donnell should not look into the Home Office, the PMOS said that Sir Gus O’Donnell, himself, would take account of the fact that the department against whom the allegation had been made had categorically denied the allegation and the fact that nobody had produced any evidence to support the allegation.

Put to the PMOS that it would be easier just to explain what Sir Gus O’Donnell’s remit was which did not constitute giving a running commentary, the PMOS replied that just because journalists said it was not a running commentary did not mean that it was not. Sir Gus O’Donnell would reply in his own way to Theresa May – full stop. The PMOS repeated the phrase: in his own way – full stop.

He would not say anymore about what he would reply about because to do so would mean falling precisely into the territory that journalists were trying to tempt him into. The PMOS thanked them for the invitation but declined the kind offer. Asked whether Sir Gus O’Donnell was expected to reply tomorrow and secondly what was the difference between a Home Office denial and a Tessa Jowell one, the PMOS said that the Home Office had established all the facts and had based their reply yesterday on all the facts. The timing of Sir Gus O’Donnell’s reply remained a matter for Sir Gus O’Donnell. His own hunch, as he had suggested yesterday, was that it would take a little while longer. His sense was that it would not be too much longer at all, though not today. He had not changed his view of that hunch.

Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken mistakenly at PMQs, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister’s answer was looking forward to any possible future allegations that may or may not be made whereas others seemed to be focused on looking back. The Prime Minister was fully aware of the Home Office’s denial, but the Prime Minister understood the question to be about whether future allegations would be investigated to which he had said yes. Asked whether the Prime Minister would do anything to correct the impression given to those in the chamber at PMQs of a widened inquiry, the PMOS said that he himself had just cleared up any misunderstanding.

Asked whether the Home Office denial referred to obstruction or its method of response, the PMOS said that the Home Office response was that there had not been anything abnormal about the way in which it had handled the matter. The complaint from the Italian prosecutor had been that the Home Office should have sent its reply directly to him. As he had said in general terms this morning if you got into a situation where an individual prosecutor could demand and execute extradition against any individual from another country that would very quickly become a situation, which nobody would tolerate. Such a policy would cause lots of complaints as it would open the way for all sorts of maverick extraditions.

Asked whether it was helpful for David Mills to be giving a running commentary about his investments, the PMOS said that David Mills was not a member of government and he would not comment on him.  Asked whether the Prime Minster had met Tessa Jowell after PMQs, the PMOS said he was not aware of a meeting. Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Tessa Jowell on the phone, the PMOS said, as was his usual practice, that conversations between the Prime Minister and any secretary of state were private and he did not get into detailing such discussions. Asked whether Tessa Jowell continued to have the full confidence of the Prime Minister, the PMOS said yes. To be clear this was spelt Y-E-S, since earlier this week some journalists had misspelt that as N-O.

Asked whether this had affected the Prime Minister’s relationship with Silvio Berlusconi, the PMOS said, as he had this morning, that the Prime Minister continued to have a high regard for Silvio Berlusconi. They had dealt with a number of hard foreign policy issues together and the Prime Minister had a high regard for how Silvio Berlusconi had handled himself during those decisions. Asked if they had spoken recently, the PMOS said that he was not aware that they had.

Briefing took place at 13:00 | Search for related news

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