Downing Street Says » 2006 » May

» Monday, May 15, 2006

Criminal Justice System

Asked about the Chancellor's role in ensuring our security, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he was not aware of the reference because it was a party event. However, the fact of the matter was that the Treasury had always had a role in providing the funds for security. The Prime Minister often praised the role of the Chancellor in sustaining a strong economy and it was frequently part of what the Prime Minister said that the Treasury had provided the funds needed for security.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Third Terror Speech

Asked when the Prime Minister would make his third speech on terror in the United States, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that as we had said all along, it was dependant on the timing of the formation of the new Iraqi Government, and while that was nearly there, it was not quite. Clearly, that provided a context in which the Prime Minister could then speak about other matters, so that was what we were waiting for.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

Chavez

Asked if the Mayor was running his own foreign office, the PMOS said that the Mayor would speak for himself. In terms of President Chavez it was a private visit. Asked if he was welcome to Downing Street, the PMOS said that was a hypothetical question but the Prime Minister had acknowledged President Chavez at the meeting in Vienna on Friday.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Human Rights

Asked to clarify what was and was not being said about the Human Rights Act, the PMOS said that the essential point was that we seemed to have problems in this area which other countries did not, even though they were also signatories of the European Convention and had human rights legislation of the kind that we had in Britain.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

DPM Questions

Asked whether the Deputy Prime Minister would conduct the parliamentary questions session on Wednesday and what would he be answering questions on, the PMOS said that the Deputy Prime Minister would answer questions on the role of the Deputy Prime Minister as a part of Cabinet Office questions. Journalist should speak to the Cabinet Office for further detail.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Criminal Justice System

Put that in his speech this morning, the Prime Minister was admitting that after nine years, there was still a huge problem with the Criminal Justice System, and what had gone wrong, the PMOS said that he did not want to comment directly on this morning's speech, as it was a party speech. However, the Prime Minister had been quite open in the past about saying that the Criminal Justice System was part of the public administration, which in his view whenever he came to office, was least fit for purpose. In terms of various measures that had been taken over the years, much had changed in that time. The essential point that the Prime Minister was making was that there did need to be a switch in balance between the rights of the individual and the rights of the community as a whole. That was essentially where the Prime Minister's analysis was at the moment.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

CBI Speech

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that the Prime Minister would, in his speech to the CBI tomorrow, deliver a strong defence of economic liberalism in a wide-ranging speech, which would say that the modernisation of public services in 21st century was essential. The speech would cover economy, education and skills, the NHS, energy policy, science, pensions, regulation, the WTO and the EU.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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