Downing Street Says » 2006 » October

» Friday, October 13, 2006

Northern Ireland

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that the Prime Minister's party had worked until late last night, and we had seen the parties last night. The parties then went away and reflected on where we were, and had come back this morning with the results. The PMOS said that he was not going to get into the details of what the responses to the reflections were. It was tough. It always was. However, we were still in business, and that was important, but the old cliché of having to wait and see still stood.

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

Iraq-Troops

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed that the presence of British troops in Iraq had exacerbated the problems of violence, the PMOS said that the way that the interview with General Sir Richard Dannatt was presented did raise questions. The person who had addressed those questions was the General in his interview today. In those interviews, the General had said that we were going to see this through, and on record, that we would stand shoulder to shoulder with the Americans. The General had said on record three weeks ago that he was planning force packages in Iraq (i.e. troops) for 2007 to 2008. The General had also said that he remained committed to the vision of a unity state of Iraq with a democratically elected Government, security forces that underpinned that Government, and a prosperous economy. As the General had said, we did not see a cigarette paper between that position, and that of the Prime Minister or the Secretary of State for Defence. The General believed that a lot of the comment that had surrounded the interview had got a bit fanciful.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

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» Friday, October 13, 2006

Northern Ireland

Iraq-Troops

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