Downing Street Says » 2007

» Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Passport Fraud

Put that it had been revealed that there were more than 10,000 false applications for passports last year, and did the Prime Minister have confidence in the passport service, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that first of all, people should recognise the huge progress that the Passport Agency had made in recent years. Secondly, it was not just a matter of saying that there were 10,000 false passports out there and then doing nothing about it. Rather, each and every one was being followed up to ensure that those responsible were caught. Thirdly, what this underlined, was that adults would now have to have face-to-face interviews, and that procedure was being brought in from May for people over 16. The other answer to this problem was biometrics, which was why the ID card was relevant in this regard as well. Therefore, there was clearly an issue here, but it was not an issue that was being ignored, as it was being actively engaged on, both at policy level and in terms of recalling these fraudulent passports.

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

Lord Turnbull

Asked whether Lord Turnbull should apologise for comparing Gordon Brown to Stalin, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had made his admiration for the Chancellor's record as Chancellor very clear yesterday. In terms of who had said what, in the interests of good government, it was a wise rule that said that civil servants should not become the story.

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

Open Skies

Asked if we recognised the Financial Times report about "open skies", and was the Prime Minister going to talk to President Bush about it, the PMOS replied that as the Prime Minister had said in Brussels recently, there were discussions going on with our European partners, as well as with the US in the interests of trying to open up markets on both sides of the Atlantic. However, it was better that those discussions continued in private.

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

Northern Ireland

Asked for an update on Northern Ireland, the PMOS replied that next Monday 26th remained the deadline. The PMOS told journalists that over the weekend, there had been an Army helicopter crash in Crossmaglen, and there had been some disturbances with local youths who had attacked the ambulance crew, and then the police around the helicopter. This morning, the local MP, who was a Sinn Fein MP, had not only condemned the attacks on the police and ambulance crew, but he had also said that local people should go to the police with any information. The PMOS said that if anyone had sketched out that scenario in Crossmaglen even six months ago, it would not have been believed. There was real progress, and the electorate recognised that there was real progress, and therefore, what we were waiting to see was whether that translated into a devolved Government as the public clearly wanted by 26th.

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

Sexual Orientation Regulations

Asked to respond to criticism that there had not been enough Parliamentary debate about the Sexual Orientation Regulation legislation, the PMOS responded that lack of debate was not how he would characterise this subject. As many of the journalists who had sat through lobbies at the time could recall, debate was one thing that was not in short supply at the time. The issue had been well aired, and everyone knew the issue and they recognised that the Prime Minister and the Government had tried to come to a reasonable situation in which people could work through the difficulties. That we had done.

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

Police Inquiry

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

» Monday, March 19, 2007

200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Asked why the House of Commons was to debate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, since this was not a legislative matter, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that it was a matter that was of deep interest to a large section of the population of this country. Therefore it was right and proper that the Prime Minister had expressed his regret on the issue, and that it was part of the debate this year of all years. It would be inappropriate not to recognise that. Asked if someone had been found to speak for slavery, the PMOS replied this was a superficial point. Many people in this country felt very deeply about slavery and therefore it was important to recognise that, and important that we did not reduce it to simplicity.

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

Iraq

Asked if the Prime Minister would be marking the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq with a statement or comment, given that the President of the United States had made a statement, the PMOS replied that we were not planning anything in particular, but the Prime Minister had made his views on the current situation in Iraq remarkably clear. Taking the overall feed out of the opinion polls, the Sunday Times poll showed that 2 to 1 were in favour of the current regime rather than under Saddam; 2/3 of the Iraqi public had confidence in the Iraqi police and army (from USA Today/ABC/BBC poll); 56% did not think it was a civil war; and 94% did not want the country divided along ethnic lines (BBC poll). Whilst everyone recognised the difficulties, equally people should be clear about the underlying Iraqi sentiment.

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

Northern Ireland

Asked if the Prime Minister would be seeing Ian Paisley this week to talk about power sharing, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that it was likely that there would be a meeting. What was important was that the message from the election was very clear; people wanted to see devolution and they wanted to see it by next Monday. What we now had to see was whether politicians would listen to that voice.

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

Prison Sentences

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with what Lord Falconer had said recently about geriatric "lifers", the PMOS replied that what Lord Falconer was doing was setting out Government policy. Government policy was that those who posed a serious risk to the public should stay in prison.

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

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» Tuesday, March 20, 2007

Passport Fraud

Lord Turnbull

Open Skies

Northern Ireland

Sexual Orientation Regulations

Police Inquiry

» Monday, March 19, 2007

200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade

Iraq

Northern Ireland

Prison Sentences

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