Downing Street Says » Iraq Inquiry-Des Browne

Asked what part of "no inquiry" did Des Browne not understand, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that if people actually read the interview in full, it was very clear that what Des Browne was saying was precisely what Margaret Beckett and others had said. That was, that this was not the time to be discussing these matters, but rather, it was the time to get on with the job we were doing in Iraq and to support our troops. Des Browne did make a slip of the tongue, but he had openly acknowledged that, and did so immediately after the interview last night. The PMOS said that none of us were immune in doing so.

Asked if Mr. Browne had to be prompted to clarify, the PMOS said that he did not. Des Browne realised very quickly after the interview, and then phoned to explain that it was a slip of the tongue.

Asked whether was the truth not very simple, and in fact, Des Browne had let the cat out of the bag in that there would be an inquiry, the PMOS said: no. The message that we were getting across very firmly yesterday, and the one that we meant was that we acknowledged that we learnt lessons as we went along on Iraq, and that people would want to learn lessons when it was over. What we did not focus on now was what people would do afterwards. What we focused on now was actually improving the situation in Iraq, as our troops were doing in Operation Sinbad in Basra, as DFID was doing in its reconstruction effort in Southern Iraq, and as we were doing throughout Iraq. What we most of all concentrated on was supporting the Iraqi Government as it took control of more of the Iraqi army – it was already in charge of two battalions out of ten – and as it took charge of more provinces in Iraq. The PMOS said that people had heard the Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister set out his position on what he hoped would happen in Iraq, and that was also what we hoped.

Put that in terms of slips of the tongue, Des Browne used the word "inquiry" twice, and it was not an inadvertent mention of "inquiry", the PMOS said that it was all in the one answer. The PMOS said that anyone who had made a slip of the tongue, and he was not accusing any of the lobby of ever doing so, knew that once a word stuck in one’s mind, it stuck.

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» Wednesday, November 1, 2006

Iraq Inquiry-Des Browne

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