» Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Operation Crevice Court Case

Put that Lord King, former Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), had suggested that the ISC should have some independent investigatory capacity, and asked whether this would be something that Downing Street would consider, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that as the Prime Minister had said at PMQs, firstly this was a genuinely independent committee, secondly it was made up of members from all sides of the House, and thirdly they had had the ability to ask for any information they required. There was no record of them having been refused access to material that they felt they needed. We needed to judge it on that basis.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Operation Crevice Court Case

Put that Lord King, former Chair of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC), had suggested that the ISC should have some independent investigatory capacity, and asked whether this would be something that Downing Street would consider, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that as the Prime Minister had said at PMQs, firstly this was a genuinely independent committee, secondly it was made up of members from all sides of the House, and thirdly they had had the ability to ask for any information they required. There was no record of them having been refused access to material that they felt they needed. We needed to judge it on that basis.

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

Local Elections

Asked if the Prime Minister would be voting tomorrow, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had traditionally not voted in Sedgefield council elections as he received his services in London, and there were no contests in London tomorrow.

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

Operation Crevice Court Case

Asked what the response from Downing Street was following the claims by the BBC that the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) had not been given all the photographic evidence when they should have been, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman said firstly the version of events put forward is not one that is universally accepted. Secondly the PMOS could not speak for the ISC because it was an independent committee. Thirdly it was precisely to go over all the evidence that the Prime Minister asked Paul Murphy and the ISC to review the material. Therefore this was precisely the sort of issue that the ISC would now be able to consider in the round having the full transcript of the court and being able to ask whatever questions it wanted.

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

Electoral Reform

Asked if the Prime Minister was confident that the measures the Government was taking in attempting to tackle electoral corruption and fraud, the PMOS said in terms of that you do have to look back at what has been done in the past. New measures were introduced in time for the May 2006 elections that worked well in deterring fraud and we are confident that further measures in the Electoral Administration Act of 2006 will ensure that the 2007 elections are even more secure. This was a matter that under constant review.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (2)

Prime Minister

Asked if it was correct that the Prime Minister would first inform HM the Queen, the PMOS said he was glad the reporter had asked the question. The distinction to bear in mind was that the Prime Minister was not announcing his resignation as Prime Minister next week. That is not what he would be doing. What the Prime Minister would be doing would be setting out his intentions but he would not be resigning as Prime Minister next week. Asked if he was resigning as leader of the Labour Party, the PMOS said it was a Party, not Government matter and the question the PMOS had been asked was about the Prime Minister's role as Head of Government. After the Prime Minister has announced his intention he will remain Prime Minister. Asked if the Prime Minister would not go and see the HM the Queen next week but after the leadership contest has been concluded, the PMOS said at last the penny had dropped. Asked if the Prime Minister would have an Audience as normal next week, the PMOS said again there are normal Audiences but that was not affected by next week's announcement. Asked would it not be odd of the Prime Minister not to mention at the Audience that he was leaving, the PMOS said that as the lobby knew the PMOS did not brief in any way on the conversations the Prime Minister has with HM the Queen. Asked what the opposite of kissing hands was, was it goodbye hugs, the PMOS said that there was a real danger of everyone getting ahead of him or herself.

Briefing took place at 9:00 | 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.

Downing Street Says...

The unofficial site which lets you comment on the UK Prime Minister's official briefings. About us...

Search


May 2007
Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
« Apr   Jun »
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  

Supported by

mySociety.org

Disruptive Proactivity

Recent Briefings


Archives

Links

Syndicate (RSS/XML)

Credits

Enquiries

Contact Sam Smith.

This site is powered by WordPress. Theme by Jag Singh