Downing Street Says » 2006

» Friday, March 24, 2006

Iraq Memo

Asked about a leaked memo of a meeting between President Bush and the Prime Minister reported in the New York Times that suggested among other things that they had agreed 10 March as the start date for war, the PMOS thought that this had not been the first time this story had surfaced and he simply referred the journalist to everything that had been said before. We did not comment on leaked memos as a general rule and we certainly did not comment on discussions involving the US President. In terms of all these matters he again referred journalists to the four inquiries, which had looked into these matters.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Loans

Asked whether the planning laws needed to be changed to save John Prescott from being dragged into rows about donor issues, the PMOS said that John Prescott had not been dragged into planning laws; even the Sunday Telegraph story, which had made claims about John Prescott, had not claimed that.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

» Thursday, March 23, 2006

Working Ministerial Statements

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that the Prime Minister had tabled two written ministerial statements today. The first was about the appointment of Sir John Bourn as the independent adviser on ministers' interests. As journalists no doubt recalled the Prime Minister had announced last week that he would appoint an independent figure. Sir John Bourn was the highly respected Comptroller and Auditor General and he would now advise ministers on ministerial interests and if necessary establish the facts for the Prime Minister. The second that we were publishing, also announced last week, was the details of how the honours system would work now that the Prime Minister would no longer nominate individuals for honours.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

Norman Kember

The PMOS told journalists that at the beginning of Cabinet the Prime Minster had expressed on behalf of the government his very deep appreciation and admiration for the outstanding professionalism, courage and commitment shown by all those, military and civilian, involved in this operation. The Foreign Secretary had also spoken about Mr Kember's rescue on his way into Cabinet this morning. He had said that the rescue was the result of weeks and weeks of careful planning and British forces had played a prominent role in the multinational rescue operation. He could not go into details of the operation for reasons journalists would understand. Mr Kember was well and was presently at the British Embassy in Baghdad. The Foreign Secretary has spoken to Mrs Kember this morning very shortly after learning of Mr Kember's rescue.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

Government Contracts

Asked if the government was happy that Capita had not received preferential treatment, the PMOS said that contracts were dealt with in the usual way, which was by officials not ministers. Asked why then had Rod Aldridge resigned if he had not thought his loan would affect Capita contracts, the PMOS said that it was up to Mr Aldridge to explain why he had resigned. All companies were treated in the same way when applying for contracts, which was through a tendering process.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

European Council

Asked what the Prime Minister was expecting from the summit and how serious was the protectionism proposal being taken, the PMOS said we hoped to press forward with the Hampton Court agenda. For example on energy, which had only increased in significance since it was first identified at our summit at Hampton Court and the events in the Ukraine had further underlined that. There was also economic reform and R&D. In terms of protectionism in general this country had been at the forefront of arguing in favour of completing the single market and was for market liberalisation. We believed that was both in the interests of consumers and also in the interests of industry. Our experience suggested that it also created jobs. As such we were in favour of maximum openness and the performance of our economy suggested that worked.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Iran

Asked whether there had been a policy hardening towards Iran given the leaked FCO memo, the PMOS said that we had not changed our policy towards Iran. We had always been clear that we believed that Iran had to comply with international obligations of the UN, the IAEA and that remained the case. We would work with our partners at the UN to produce whatever maximised the pressure on Iran to comply. We did not give running commentaries on either leaked memos or proceedings at the UN. What mattered was the outcome and the outcome we wanted was maximum international pressure on Iran to comply with its obligations.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

» Wednesday, March 22, 2006

European Council

Asked what the Prime Minister wanted from the European Council, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the Spring Council was now almost always an economic council. As such we would like to see this council take forward the agenda set out at Hampton Court, which was on energy and energy co-operation in Europe as well as further economic reform. Precisely where we got to would be down to the Austrian presidency, but those were the priorities we had identified going into the council.

Briefing took place at 14:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Budget

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman briefed journalists about the Chancellor's Budget. The PMOS said that the Chancellor had given a Budget presentation to the Cabinet this morning. The Chancellor had set out how the UK economy was enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted economic growth, with 2.4 million more jobs than in 1997. However, the presentation had made clear that with global competition growing - especially from India and China - the Government could not afford to be complacent, or for there to be any relaxation of fiscal discipline.

Briefing took place at 14:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

ETA Ceasefire

Asked for a reaction to the ETA ceasefire and whether we supported the Spanish government opening talks with ETA, the PMOS said that we welcomed the ETA statement and we now hoped to see the commitments made in their statement delivered in practice. Any internal decisions that may need to be made about talks were entirely a matter for the Spanish government. One thing we had learnt in Northern Ireland was that it could be useful to have external support but the detail had to be sorted out between the parties on the ground. This would guide our approach.

Briefing took place at 14:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089. Material is reproduced from the original 10 Downing Street source, but may not be the most up-to-date version of the briefings, which might be revised at the original source. Users should check with the original source in case of revisions. Comments are © Copyright contributors. Everything else is © Copyright Downing Street Says.

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» Friday, March 24, 2006

Iraq Memo

Loans

» Thursday, March 23, 2006

Working Ministerial Statements

Norman Kember

Government Contracts

European Council

Iran

» Wednesday, March 22, 2006

European Council

Budget

ETA Ceasefire

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