Downing Street Says » 2007

» Tuesday, February 20, 2007

ID Cards

Asked to clarify the Prime Minister's email response to an e-petition on ID card security, the PMOS replied that he was somewhat surprised by the story in the Daily Telegraph. Not least because, going back to an article that the Prime Minister wrote for the Telegraph on 06 November 2006, he explicitly discussed precisely what he said in response to the e-petition on ID cards. This was not a new issue. The figure of 900,000 crimes was in the cost report in October 2006; it was one of the five core reasons on the face of the ID Card Act when it was introduced; even going back to the draft Bill in April 2004, it was made clear that the police would be able to check crime scene fingerprints against those held on the national identity register; and the Prime Minister explicitly discussed the issue in his press conference in November 2006 as well. Again, this issue was not a new one.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (3)

Iran

Asked if there was any comment on the BBC 10pm News report on America's plans for Iran, the PMOS replied that the best answer came from the US themselves. The State Department Spokesman had said "We are convinced that sooner or later, the cost for Iran would be so high that they would have to come to the negotiating table. I don't believe that a conflict with Iran is inevitable, we've got time". The PMOS's equivalent in the White House said on 16 January 2007 "We are not planning on invading Iran". The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman reaffirmed on 06 January 2007 "Israel too prefers this issue to be resolved through diplomatic channels". The Prime Minister had also indicated on numerous occasions, that he believed nobody was preparing for war. That remained very firmly our position. There were signs that pressure on Iran was working - there was clearly a debate taking place within Tehran. We were not overstating that, we were not claiming that we had succeeded, as we had to see this in concrete terms through the UN, but the united resolve was beginning to bear in on Tehran. This was not the moment in any way to release that pressure.

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

Police Inquiry

Asked if there had been any contact from the police, the PMOS replied that there had been no contact with the Prime Minister from the police.

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

Misc

Asked if the Prime Minister would be attending the unveiling of Margaret Thatcher's statue, the PMOS replied that he did not know but would check.

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

» Monday, February 19, 2007

House of Lords Reform

Asked what had prompted the Leader of the House to change his mind, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that this was a matter for the Leader of the House to brief on. We had made clear from the start that this was a matter for the House and for Parliament.

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

Gun Crime Summit

Put to him that he had mentioned this morning that a gun crime summit would take place in the next few weeks, but John Reid had since confirmed that it would take place on Thursday, the PMOS replied that this showed how much progress could be made in a few hours! Asked what happened, the PMOS replied that earlier today he was being cautious as it was proving difficult to get an early date that suited everybody, but we managed to get a date in the end.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

Road Pricing

Asked what the Prime Minister would be saying in his reply to the 1,605,764 who had signed the road pricing petition, the PMOS replied that at the risk of stating the obvious, the journalist would have to wait until Wednesday. Pushed again for an answer, the PMOS replied that first and foremost, the Prime Minister welcomed the debate. The Prime Minster recognised that there were strong opinions on this issue, and that there were strong opinions even before the e-petition. All the e-petition did was give people the opportunity to express those strong opinions. Equally however, the Prime Minister believed that congestion was an issue that we could not do nothing about, we had to do something. That was why the Government was proposing the ten pilot schemes, to learn from the experience about what was possible and what was not possible. He also believed that whilst people felt strongly about this issue, if they rejected the way in which the Government was going, then the onus was on them to come up with positive alternatives. Just burying our heads in the sand and doing nothing about the problem was not an option.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (9)

Security Services Report

Asked if the Prime Minister thought it was fair that the Security Services could tap the phones of MSPs and MEPs, but not MPs, the PMOS replied that the conventions on this were laid down some time ago. The Government came to the position it had after serious consideration of the issue.

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

Health

Put to him that a poll in the Times this morning said that most doctors now believed that this Government essentially wasted tax payers money on reforms, and an internal Department of Health report said that 96% of officials in the Department had no faith in their leadership, which must mean the Security of State, and asked what was the PM's view on these, the PMOS replied that we should look not at polls but at the facts.

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

Operation SINBAD

Asked if there would be a Prime Ministerial statement now that Operation SINBAD had finished, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that as the Prime Minister had said yesterday, SINBAD had now been completed, and it was being assessed. What we had always said was that at some stage, there would be a statement, and that was still the case. In terms of the timing, people should wait and see.

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

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» Tuesday, February 20, 2007

ID Cards

Iran

Police Inquiry

Misc

» Monday, February 19, 2007

House of Lords Reform

Gun Crime Summit

Road Pricing

Security Services Report

Health

Operation SINBAD

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