Downing Street Says » Deputy Prime Minister

» Friday, April 28, 2006

Deputy Prime Minister

Asked for any developments on whether Sir John Bourn would be making an inquiry into whether the Deputy Prime Minister might have breached the Ministerial Code, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that as he had said all week he was not going to speak for other departments and their responsibilities. Asked if it was true to say that Sir John Bourne would only investigate something if he was invited to by the Prime Minister or by a permanent secretary and not in any other circumstance, the PMOS said he didn’t want to get involved in a hypothetical or process discussion on this. Sir John Bourn had set out his role when he had been appointed. People should speak to the Cabinet Office for any detail on that.

Put to him that in his interview in The Mirror, the Prime Minister had said that he had asked the "appropriate questions" and asked what he meant by that, the PMOS pointed out that he had also said that he wasn’t going to get into detailing his conversations with the Deputy Prime Minister, or indeed any of his Cabinet colleagues. Asked if by the phrase "appropriate questions" the Prime Minister had asked if the Deputy Prime Minister if he might have done anything to breach the Ministerial Code, the PMOS said that, despite repeated invitations, he was not going to get into detailing private conversations between the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues.

Put to him that it was his job as the Prime Minister’s Spokesman to elucidate the Prime Minister’s words, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister’s words spoke for themselves and he had nothing to add. Asked if the Prime Minister had seen or spoken to the Deputy Prime Minister in the last 24 hours or had any plans to meet him, the PMOS repeated that he did not brief on discussions between the Prime Minister and his Cabinet colleagues.

1 Comment »

Two Shags = Deputy Prime Minister of Great Britain.

Should he resign?

Do you need to ask?
Comment by Mr Pooter — 1 May 2006 on 7:57 pm | Link

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