» Thursday, July 19, 2007

Drugs

Asked if the Prime Minister was entirely relaxed that at least 5 members of his Cabinet and 3 members of the Government had admitted to using drugs, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that he was. It was a personal matter for the Ministers concerned, as the PMS had said this morning.

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

Terror Laws

Asked if the Prime Minister had been in touch with leaders of the Opposition to discuss changes in terror laws, the PMS said that there had been contact and discussion with the opposition parties, and there would certainly be further discussions when things moved forward.

Briefing took place at 15:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments Off on Terror Laws

Russia

Asked if we were satisfied with Russia's answer that drew a line under the issue, the PMS said that he had nothing to add to the Foreign Secretary's statement earlier in the afternoon. As the Foreign Secretary had made clear, we were disappointed with the response from Russia and we thought that the action that they had taken was completely unjustified. We would continue to take this matter forward with the international community over the next few days and weeks.

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

Scottish Civil Service

Put that the most senior civil servants in Scotland had said today that the Executive were moving towards separating the Scottish civil service from the Home civil service, and as the Minister in charge of the civil service, what did the Prime Minister make of it, the PMS said that we had not seen any of the proposals, so it was better not to comment until we had.

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

Paris/Darfur

The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister's meeting tomorrow with President Sarokzy would be a wide ranging discussion, with particular focus on Darfur where Douglas Alexander had just visited. As the Prime Minister had said previously, the situation on Darfur was appalling, with 200,000 dead, 2 million displaced and 4 million people on food aid. The Prime Minister and the President would discuss how we could enhance international efforts to build a comprehensive plan for Darfur. Elements of that would include issues around the speed of deployment of UN and the African Union forces, how we could re-invigorate the peace process, and how we could develop an economic recovery and reconstruction plan for Darfur. As the Prime Minister had said at PMQs yesterday, if the Sudanese government blocked progress, we were ready to impose further UN and EU sanctions.

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

Drugs

Asked what the Prime Minister's view was on Cabinet Ministers' past, and did he feel that he needed to know, the PMS said that the Home Secretary had dealt with this in her interview this morning. As Jacqui Smith had said, and this was something that the Prime Minister would concur with, that it was something that she regretted, but that it was over 25 years ago. She said that she had a responsibility as Home Secretary, just as other Ministers did, to ensure that we now put in place the laws, support and information to ensure that we could bring cannabis use down. That was what we were doing, and it would be a core element of the new drugs strategy.

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

Russia

Asked if there was any advance on what Moscow would say today, the PMS said that we had had no formal response from Russia yet. If and when that happened, we would take it from there.

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

Appointments

Asked if the Prime Minister thought it appropriate for Lord Browne to be appointed to a public office, as he was found guilty of perjury, the PMS said his understanding was that it was an appointment made by the DCMS.

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

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