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» Thursday, July 6, 2006

7/7 Video

Asked if there was any reaction to the video, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we would not be giving a reaction as we thought the attention should focus on the quiet reflection of the nation marking the 7/7 anniversary tomorrow. We did not think anything should be allowed to get in the way of that.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

John Prescott

Asked if the Deputy Prime Minister had attended Cabinet, the PMOS replied that he had.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Deputy Prime Minister

Asked why there was radio silence on whether Sir John Bourne or Sir Gus O'Donnell were looking into the issues presently concerning the Deputy Prime Minister, the PMOS said that he was not a spokesman for the Cabinet Secretary but he was sure that Sir Gus O'Donnell would reply in his own good time. Put that some people might think there was a cover up going on, the PMOS suggested that no doubt Sky would continue to speculate as always but that did not make it right. Sir Gus O'Donnell would, he suspected, reply in his own good time. He had already outlined the Prime Minister's position through out the week.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Olympics

Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that the cost of hosting the Olympics was escalating, the PMOS said that in terms of the costs, DCMS were the department that dealt with that, and we were not going to give a running commentary. However, the important thing was to recognise firstly, that we would of course robustly manage the costs of the Olympics, and we were working with KPMG to review our plans to keep costs down. Secondly, part of what actually won the Olympics was the legacy, in terms of athletics, and in terms of leaving behind not only sports facilities, but also housing etc, as it would be a significant part of London for decades to come. That was why this was not about putting portacabins up on a piece of ground for a few weeks, but rather, it was about leaving a real and very lasting legacy in a part of London which had become rundown.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Rupert Murdoch

Asked about the Freedom of Information request about Prime Ministerial meetings with Rupert Murdoch, the PMOS said that the FOI Commissioner had said that we should publish the dates of official conversations, as defined by the Commissioner, and those could now be found on the Cabinet Office web site. Asked what official conversations meant, the PMOS said it meant conversations that were not political or personal. In other words where official business was discussed. Asked who adjudicated that, the PMOS said it was where official business was discussed or where contacts were otherwise clearly official in nature. Asked what official business was, the PMOS said that the Commissioner had said that there was not a need to reveal the content of conversations.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Blogs

Asked if the Prime Minister or the Government thought that the content of blogs should be controlled, the PMOS replied that he was not aware of nay proposals for a change of policy regarding blogs.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

Afghanistan

Asked if there was anything more on troops, the PMOS said that even though it was old fashioned we needed to make the decision before announcing it. Asked what was different in this request from the Ed Butler one, the PMOS said that was misunderstanding the process. The operational commanders on the ground in Afghanistan assessed their needs; those needs were then passed back to their military superiors in London who in turn passed it up the political chain. What people had seen was each step along that route.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Natwest Three

Asked if there had been any progress on the Natwest three, the PMOS said we were actively considering what we could do but the position remained as it was yesterday.

Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

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» Thursday, July 6, 2006

7/7 Video

John Prescott

Deputy Prime Minister

Olympics

Rupert Murdoch

Blogs

Afghanistan

Natwest Three

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