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» Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Iran

Asked if there would be a further statement on the situation regarding the kidnapped naval personnel, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that there would not be another statement.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

Casinos

Asked if the Prime Minister would vote on the casinos issue, the PMOS said that people would have to wait and see what would happen.

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

Rural Payments Agency

Asked if the Foreign Secretary should resign over her mishandling over the rural payments agency, the PMOS said that the answer was no, for all the reasons that we had set out in the past, and the action she had taken when she was in charge of DEFRA to try and resolve this issue.

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

Biometric Seminar

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) began the briefing by saying a few words about the biometric seminar that the Prime Minister would be hosting this afternoon.

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

Biometric Seminar

The Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) began the briefing by saying a few words about the biometric seminar that the Prime Minister would be hosting this afternoon.

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

Casinos

Asked if the Casino policy would stay the same if the Government were to lose the vote in the Commons later today, the PMOS replied that it was best to wait and see how the vote went. Tessa Jowell and her Ministers were in touch with MPs, many MPs had different views on this subject, and therefore there were concerns that could be addressed, equally in the Lords. Again it would be better to wait and see what happened and take it from there.

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

Iran

Asked what the next steps would be regarding the navy personnel being held by Iran, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister would set out the position at Prime Minister's Questions if he was given the opportunity to do so. It would be obvious that he regarded this as a very serious issue. At the same time we were trying to deal with this in a way in which we stated the facts and gave the Iranian Government the opportunity to do what we wished, which was to release our personnel. At the weekend the EU strongly supported our demand for immediate release, and other voices would come into the situation as the days went on. The important thing was that Iran recognised that these personnel were in Iraqi waters not Iranian waters, that was the point of the seminar this morning, and that was what we had been saying since the start. Today we would set out to underline why that was the case. It would then be a matter of Iran explaining to the international community what it intended to do to recognise that situation.

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

Muslim GPs

Put to him that in an interview for Pulse magazine, Patricia Hewitt had said that some Muslim GPs failed to respect the confidentiality of women patients on issues such as domestic violence & sexual health, and was this something that the Prime Minister was aware of, the PMOS replied that he was not aware of what Patricia Hewitt had said, but it did strike him as an issue that was more appropriate for the Health Secretary to deal with.

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

Paddy Tipping

Asked why the unfortunate Mr Tipping was unpaid, the PMOS replied that there was a limit on the number of salaries, and several Ministers had been in that worthy position of not being paid. Asked if this was the second time that Mr Tipping had done this job, the PMOS replied that it was the second time, and he had previously held the post for Margaret Beckett.

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

Darfur

Asked how actively the Prime Minister was pushing for no-fly zone over Darfur, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister said on the record in the press conference in Berlin on Sunday that he personally believed that this was one of the ways forward. His first point however was that the international community needed to recognise that unfortunately the Sudanese Government had not been living up to what they had said they would do, and that while they responded when there was international pressure, once that pressure recedes they don't respond. This was why on Sunday the Prime Minister very explicitly called for a new UN resolution imposing sanctions. But as part of the practical way of which the ongoing conflict on the ground is addressed, the Prime Minister personally believes that a no-fly zone would have a role. But it would obviously take others to cooperate with that.

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

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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» Wednesday, March 28, 2007

Iran

Casinos

Rural Payments Agency

Biometric Seminar

Biometric Seminar

Casinos

Iran

Muslim GPs

Paddy Tipping

Darfur

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