» Friday, December 8, 2006
Washington Visit
Put to the PMOS that there had been quite a bit of comment overnight about the extent to which the Prime Minister and President were split over the Middle East, and there had been further comment that the President did not see any linkage between Iraq and a Middle East settlement, and what was the Prime Minister's view, the PMOS said that if people listened to the President's opening words yesterday, he had said that the Prime Minister had told him that he would be returning to the Middle East, and the President had welcomed that and endorsed it. That was important.
Briefing took place at 8:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)
» Thursday, December 7, 2006
Middle East
Asked when the Prime Minister was going to the Middle East, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that he was not going to give out details to people. The Prime Minister had said that he would go before the end of the year, and it was important that we maintained the momentum and keep it moving forward. Since we had last visited the region, there had been the ceasefire, which was important, and there had also been a very significant speech from Prime Minister Olmert, as well as the debate that was still going on within the Palestinian leadership. The important thing was, however, was that we maintained the momentum, and that we built on the work done by the Iraq Study Group (ISG) report.
Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Forthcoming Business
The Leader said that, on Monday, December 11, the House would debate the second reading of the Offender Management Bill (John Reid and Gerry Sutcliffe speaking for the Government), followed by proceedings on the Consolidated Fund Bill. On Tuesday, December 12, there would be the second reading of the Greater London Authority Bill (Yvette Cooper). Remaining business for the week would be: December 13 - second reading of the Justice and Security [Northern Ireland] Bill (Peter Hain and Paul Goggins); December 14 - a debate on Fisheries on a motion for the Adjournment of the House (Ben Bradshaw). On Friday, December 15, the House would not be sitting. Provisional business for the following week - Monday, December 18, the House would debate second reading of the Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill (Tessa Jowell and Shaun Woodward) and, on December 19, there would be a debate on a motion on the Christmas Recess Adjournment (Nigel Griffiths).
Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
House of Lords reform
Asked to indicate the envisaged timetable, Mr Straw said that the Government's response to the Joint Committee on Conventions, chaired by Lord Cunningham, was due before Christmas. It would be followed by a debate on it in the House of Lords where part of the outcome would be a Message to the House of Commons on the conclusion of the Upper House. MPs would then debate it, provisionally, during the first few weeks after the recess.
The Leader mentioned that cross-party group was meeting on the issue of the future composition. He hoped that there could be a White Paper by the end of January or early February, followed by a free vote on composition two or three weeks later, to enable time for it to be digested.
The Government, at that stage, would have to make a judgement whether there was a sufficient consensus to proceed, quite quickly, with a Bill or whether it drew breath. The Leader said that the Joint Committee had managed to achieve a consensus and its report had described the conventions of the relationship between the Houses in greater detail. The issue had been discussed within the cross-party talks.
Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)
Iraq Study Group/Commons statement
The Leader, in response to a question, said that he had not rejected an Opposition request for a statement next week on the ISG report. He pointed out that he had told MPs during Business Questions earlier today that he could not promise a statement.
Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Christmas/celebration
He was asked about the contents of his latest column in his local newspaper. The Leader explained that a number of Muslim friends had indicated to him their irritation that, because of their belonging to a different religion, the implication was they were likely to be against celebrating Christmas. Mr Straw said that it was as much part of their culture as it was for Christians. He had wanted to make the point about the way in which the three religions - Judaism, Christianity and Islam - were intertwined.
Briefing took place at 7:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
» Wednesday, December 6, 2006
Iraq Study Group
Asked if the Prime Minister had seen the leaked report of the Iraq Study Group, the PMOS said journalists should wait for the real thing, they had only a few hours to wait.
Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Prince of Wales’ Conference
Asked if the PMOS could say anything on the Prime Minister's speech later today, the PMOS said he could not.
Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Lecture on Integration and Multi-Culturalism
Asked if there had been any contact from Scotland Yard, the PMOS said no.
Briefing took place at 6:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
» Tuesday, December 5, 2006
Washington trip
Asked what would be on the agenda for the Prime Minister's various meetings in Washington on Thursday 7th December with the US President and leading members of the Congress, the PMOS outlined the main themes for the trip climate change, the G8 actions on Africa, Darfur, world trade, the Middle East, Afghanistan, and the outcome of the Iraq Study Group report published tomorrow.
Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)
Original PMOS briefings are © Crown Copyright. Crown Copyright material is reproduced with the permission of the Controller of HMSO and the Queen's Printer for Scotland. Click-use licence number C02W0004089. Material is reproduced from the original 10 Downing Street source, but may not be the most up-to-date version of the briefings, which might be revised at the original source. Users should check with the original source in case of revisions. Comments are © Copyright contributors. Everything else is © Copyright Downing Street Says.
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