Downing Street Says » 2006

» Thursday, July 20, 2006

Recess questions

Mr Straw said he also announced today new arrangements for tabling of questions during the summer recess. This was in response to requests from all sides of the House. There would be a two-week period for tabling and answering of written questions in early September. The request had been made when September sittings of the House had been suspended. MPs individually could ask up to five written questions on three specific dates. There would also be written Ministerial statements as required. The Vote Office would publish the questions in printed form and he had also asked for them to make the information available on the Parliament website.

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

Other

He was asked about his comments during Business Questions relating to a vote by MPs on a replacement for the Trident nuclear deterrent and whether it would take place after the Government had made its decision. The Leader said that, in the normal way, Ministers propose and Parliament disposes. There would be a Cabinet decision at some stage. Mr Straw said he had indicated that there would be a statement about that, and the chances were that it would be in the form of a White Paper. No decision had been made, but there would be a properly-informed debate on a Government motion. He was asked whether, theoretically, it would not go ahead if the House of Commons objected. The Leader pointed out that the House, theoretically, could have objected on the four separate occasions when Iraq had been debated, but it had not done so. The Government had accepted that there should be a vote on the nuclear deterrent, and there would be.

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

» Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Middle East

Asked to clarify the Prime Minister's remarks claiming that Hezbollah's weapons had been supplied by Iran and were very similar to weapons used by militants in Basra, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that there were a range of weapons being used in Lebanon against Israel and Israeli forces. The point that the Prime Minister had been making was that he had serious concerns, concerns which he had highlighted after the Hampton Court summit, about weaponry in Basra being of Iranian design. Those concerns had not declined since Hampton Court, in fact the reverse. Therefore the substantive point he was making was simply highlighting the link between Iran, Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and militants in Basra.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Home Office Reforms

Asked what was happening with the Immigration and Nationality Department (IND) today, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said, without getting ahead of the Home Secretary's statement this afternoon, that today the Home Secretary would be announcing structural changes. Next week he would be announcing changes to the IND immigration criteria. However, it was important to set the scene: this was about making the department as a whole fit for the modern day challenges. This addressed the future challenges, which the Prime Minister set out in his forward to the capability reviews where he outlined five themes that underlined all the reviews: a clear focus on the respective roles, responsibilities and accountabilities of ministers and civil servants; transformation of central headquarters into strategic centres with delivery devolved to the frontline; improving the way that departments engaged with individuals and communities; strengthening the links between the centre and the frontline in particular so that experiences get fed back from the frontline; and delivering a step change in the professional skills of the civil service. We were publishing four reviews today - Home Office, DfES, DWP, DCA - the rest of the seventeen would be rolled out in due course with another batch coming before Christmas.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Other Business

Asked if the Prime Minister or Downing Street had had any approach from the police with regards to an interview about cash for honours, the PMOS said no.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Middle East Crisis

Asked whether the Prime Minister supported moves for an immediate ceasefire, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had all the way through stated that he would like to see the conflict stop now. He had also been making a broader point that the only way to get the conflict to stop was if people believed that there was a process to be put in place that would create a sustainable peace. A quick fix would not do. People could have the pleasure of calling for an immediate ceasefire, but if it did not deliver it was a fairly pointless exercise. A sustainable process was needed that not only delivered peace today, but a peace for the future. Israel was not going to be reassured if it believed that it would continue to be the subject of rocket attacks from Lebanon. There had been no sign that Hezbollah had recognised the need for it to stop its activities. A sustainable process would result in a sustainable peace. We welcomed the efforts of the UN that built on the G8 communiqué. Mark Malloch Brown had spoken this morning supporting the idea of an international force. In addition to this we supported the efforts of Javier Solana. The next steps would be the report back to the UN on Thursday or Friday and the US announcement of a visit by Condoleezza Rice to the region. Those were important steps in the process, but people had to recognise that this would only succeed if there were commitments from both sides to stop, not just for today, but also for good.

Asked what would happen after the UN report, the PMOS said that it would depend on what the report back said and, although Kofi Annan and Mark Malloch Brown had supported the idea, it would have to listen to the view of the UN Security Council as a whole. The G8 could support an idea but the UN had to implement it.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

» Tuesday, July 18, 2006

G8 Statement

Asked about the figure of 5000 people that the Prime Minister had mentioned in his statement and would happen to the 10,000 left behind, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that people needed to differentiate between the number of people who were technically British citizens or dual nationals and the number of people who had requested to leave. It was a fluid situation and as such he would not offer a precise predictions about the numbers that would leave. Put that some people would still have to remain that wanted to get out, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had not been saying that the effort would then end at that point. It would continue, but it was important to distinguish between those that wanted to leave and those who wanted to stay.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

British Motor Industry reception

Asked for further information regarding the event, the PMOS told people that there would be a Formula One car in Downing Street.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Middle East

Asked for further information about the evacuation plans from Lebanon, the PMOS said that we had evacuated 63 of the most vulnerable British nationals yesterday using the three helicopters that we had brought Javier Solana in on. We had six ships either in the region, or heading for the region, with the first evacuation by ship was planned for later today. The PMOS said that we were not giving details of timings or even numbers at this stage because of the security situation on the ground. We had deployed rapid deployment teams from the FCO who specialised in this sort of operation to both Beirut and to Cyprus at either end of the evacuation route. We believed that we had put together an evacuation plan, and we were in touch with people on the ground. The advice at the moment to British nationals was to stay in touch with the embassy, and maintain a low profile where possible.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Cash for Honours

Asked if there had been any requests from the police to interview the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had been rather busy, but there had not been any requests.

Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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» Thursday, July 20, 2006

Recess questions

Other

» Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Middle East

Home Office Reforms

Other Business

Middle East Crisis

» Tuesday, July 18, 2006

G8 Statement

British Motor Industry reception

Middle East

Cash for Honours

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