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» Thursday, May 4, 2006

Peter Hain

Asked whether the Prime Minister had asked Peter Hain to offer Peter Law a peerage, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he was somewhat surprised to have to comment on this on Election Day, especially as Peter Hain had already categorically denied it. We associated ourselves with Peter Hain's remarks and fully supported what he had said. Asked whether the Prime Minister thought Peter Hain's denial was enough, the PMOS reiterated that Peter Hain's denial left no room for any doubt.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Cabinet

Asked if the Home Secretary had reported to Cabinet today, the PMOS replied that he had run over the ground, which had been covered in his statement yesterday. The Prime Minister had reiterated his point which was that this was a problem which had been there for decades, but which we were now addressing.

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

Foreign Prisoners

Asked what specific human rights challenges the government had won, the PMOS said that he had given an answer yesterday and journalists could look up the briefing note to see it.

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

Home Secretary’s Statement

Asked whether the Government was prepared to derogate from the European Commission for Human Rights in order to get legislation through, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that as we had said yesterday, if, whenever we got the legislation through, people wanted to challenge it in the courts, then they could. What people should not assume, however, was that we had to go down the road of derogation, because if people looked at past experience on the whole series of issues that were contested in courts, then the Government had won. The PMOS said people should not make assumptions and not address hypotheticals.

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

Reshuffle

Asked if there was a big enough envelope to plan a reshuffle, the PMOS said that he had absolutely nothing to say about what happened in the FA. That was entirely a matter for them.

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

Bonuses

Asked if the Prime Minister would have approved of the handing out of performance-led bonuses to 70 senior managers of the Immigration and Prison services, the PMOS said that it was entirely a matter for the managers of the services how they managed it. However, the PMOS pointed out that whilst everyone was aware of the problems in some areas, equally, in other areas, such as asylum, we had seen significant progress.

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

John Prescott

Asked by the Sun if the Deputy Prime Minister had broken the Ministerial Code in any way, and was there an inquiry being conducted about it, as there appeared to be some confusion about it all, the PMOS replied that whilst there might be some confusion in sections of the media, despite us indicating that there were no inquires, people kept saying otherwise. The PMOS reiterated the position from yesterday which was that the media reports were wrong.

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

Peter Law

Asked if the Prime Minister had sanctioned a peerage to Peter Law, the PMOS said that it was not only a party matter, but also, as people knew, the PMOS did not talk about the nomination process for the House of Lords.

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

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» Thursday, May 4, 2006

Peter Hain

Cabinet

Foreign Prisoners

Home Secretary’s Statement

Reshuffle

Bonuses

John Prescott

Peter Law

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