Downing Street Says » 2006

» Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Information Commissioner

Asked whether Downing Street had any plans to publish details following the Information Commissioner's suggestion that the Prime Minister's meetings with Rupert Murdoch could be listed, the PMOS said that he did not think that was official yet but we would obviously consider carefully what the Commissioner said. Asked why the government was resisting, the PMOS said that it was important that the Prime Minister be able to have private conversations with individuals, as had been the case for any Prime Minister. Put that it was the fact of the meeting not the conversation that was of public interest, the PMOS said that it was still important that the Prime Minister could have private conversations with individuals without having them listed every time, and that included the media, even the ones present in this briefing room.

Briefing took place at 16:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

Extradition

Asked whether the Prime Minister was prepared to suspend the extradition treaty with the US until Senate ratification, the PMOS pointed out that we had the exact same situation with the EU as with the US, as such that was the spirit with which we approached this issue. Put that it was not reciprocal with the US, the PMOS said that we had expressed our view in the hope that it would be ratified. People should not pretend that this was a US specific issue as we had the same relationship with the rest of the EU.

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

Liaison Committee-Muslim Engagement

Asked why the Prime Minster had taken a belligerent tone as Muslim representative's reaction to those comments seemed to show they had not helped improve relations, the PMOS said that the response from within the Muslim community was not as uniform as was being suggested. The Prime Minister's comments should not be a surprise as we had ruled out a public inquiry in the past. When you had 70 ongoing investigations, as Peter Clarke from the Metropolitan Police had confirmed yesterday, the argument for not diverting attention, energy and resources away from those investigations was a powerful one. In terms of what we had done there was no point hiding the fact that we strongly disagreed with the suggestion that nothing had been done in the last year. Of the 64 recommendations that the various working parties had come up with 27 were for government. Two had been completed: One, extending provision of equal opportunities and recent equality law to cover discrimination on the grounds of faith and two, ensuring that the youth green paper was accessible to Muslim youth. There were another 17 of the government recommendations either in progress or already happening. This included an FCO and Home Office programme for young Muslims to visit Islamic countries.

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

» Monday, July 3, 2006

Afghanistan

Asked why Des Browne was not able to give the Statement to the House of Commons, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that his understanding was that Des Browne was in his constituency in Scotland, but they should check with his office. It was important to bear in mind that there was a process where the military commanders on the ground assessed the situation and then reported back to their superiors in London. Then the Secretary for State for Defence and Prime Minister were given the appropriate advice. People needed to take into account that process rather than jump ahead of that process. Without giving a running commentary the PMOS suggested that journalists were in danger of jumping ahead of the process.

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

Economy

Asked for further detail on the wealth creation figures, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that these figures showed the degree of growth in the economy in the UK. Wealth creation by large companies in the UK increased by 10% on last year which was greater than France and Germany. The UK had more companies in the top league than any of its European counterparts.

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

Deputy Prime Minister

Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the Deputy Prime Minister enjoying junket at the home of the new Dome owner who hoped to turn it into a casino, the PMOS said that there were a number of assumptions in that question/statement which had already been challenged by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office. The PMOS read out the statement released on the weekend by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office:

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

Afghanistan

Asked of it wasn't time for the Government to make a statement about Afghanistan, the PMOS said that in terms of troop numbers that was a matter for the operational assessment on the ground and discussion between the commanders on the ground and staff here. In terms of the role of the UK in Afghanistan, that had been set out by John Reid and by Des Browne and no doubt Des Browne would continue to set out the analysis of the situation. Above all what was important was to remember what the mission was there to achieve. The mission was there to help the first democratically elected Government in Afghanistan to extend its control into the Southern area of the country and stop the Taliban wrecking that process of building infrastructure, building local economies, and building local administrations.

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

CBI

Asked if there was a response to the new head of the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), Richard Lambert's comments, the PMOS said that those comments should be viewed against the context of the DTI announcement on the value added scoreboard. This measured the wealth created by the top 800 British and top 700 European companies. It showed that the top UK companies were out performing the rest of Europe. UK wealth creation by large companies had increased by 10% on last year, which was more than France and Germany. The UK had more companies in the top league, 197 out of 700, than any of its European counterparts. UK companies had a higher wealth creation efficiency, adding even more value at less cost, than their comparators.

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

90 Days

Asked to respond to the Home Affairs Committee's account of the vote for 90 day detention of people suspected of taking part in terrorism, the PMOS said that he was glad that question had been asked. He pointed out that if people cast their minds back to the debate he had had with the lobby in this very room last autumn they would recall that we reported at the time that the Prime Minister had had two very detailed meetings with Senior officers from the police and security services. Senior police officers including ACPO had made representations to MPs and had been criticised at the time for politicisation. We had spelled out very clearly what the case was, starting from the fact that you had to intervene very early in the investigation cycle. There was also the fact that you had to allow a lot of time for de-encrypting computers. Also many of the sources for such information came from multiple countries and that the information was expressed in multiple languages and dialects. That was the detailed basis on which we made the case for 90 days. As we had made clear at the time our view about the need for that period hadn't changed since then.

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

Other business

Asked to comment on the Deputy Prime Minister's decision to stay at a private home on a US visit, the PMOS said that had been dealt with by the Deputy Prime Minister's Office and he had nothing further to add.

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

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» Tuesday, July 4, 2006

Information Commissioner

Extradition

Liaison Committee-Muslim Engagement

» Monday, July 3, 2006

Afghanistan

Economy

Deputy Prime Minister

Afghanistan

CBI

90 Days

Other business

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