Downing Street Says » 2007

» Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Russia

Asked if there had been a reaction to the formal announcement by Russia that Mr. Lugovoy would not be extradited, the PMS said that our position was that Russia's refusal to extradite Mr. Lugovoy was extremely disappointing. We deeply regretted that Russia had failed to show the necessary level of co-operation in this matter. The Director of Public Prosecution had carefully considered Russia's offer of a trial under Russian law, but concluded that this was unacceptable. This was a crime that was committed in London, the evidence and the witnesses were in the UK, and we did not have full confidence that a trial in Moscow would meet the standards of impartiality and fairness that would be deemed necessary. Therefore, we remained convinced that Mr. Lugovoy should answer the evidential case against him in a British court. In terms of next steps, at the moment we were reviewing the situation and considering what further steps we could take, but in our view, this response was extremely disappointing and we considered it a serious matter.

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

Queen’s Speech

Asked if the "Green Queen's Speech" would be announcing themes, rather than measures, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be announcing measures, as well as specifying the main Bills that we would expect to see in The Queen's speech, subject to consultation. The PMS said that we would not be publishing draft Bills tomorrow, rather, this would be the Prime Minister in his statement setting out specific measures, as well as what we thought the main bills would be.

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

Terror Trial

Asked if the 21/7 terror trial yesterday affected the Prime Minister's view towards the Human Rights Act, the PMS said that the trial had not ended, and the jury was still deliberating on two further convictions. Therefore, it would be inappropriate to comment further on the trial until the jury had concluded.

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

Holidays

Asked if the Prime Minister had told the Cabinet that they should holiday at home this year, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had issued no such instruction.

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

Alastair Campbell Diary

Asked if the Prime Minister had received a complimentary copy of the diary, the PMS replied that he had not.

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

» Monday, July 9, 2007

Cabinet Office

PM outlines government priorities

The Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) told journalists that the Prime Minister had thanked Cabinet Office staff at a conference today for the manner in which the transition was conducted. He also referred to the announcements last week to put patients first in an improved NHS, setting out the Government's priorities going forward. The Prime Minister made reference to the changes in tuition fees that would mean that the majority of students would now receive grants. He also said that from tomorrow, all children at primary and secondary school would benefit from personalised learning and at all levels raise their performance, which was also the general subject matter of Ed Balls' statement on schools tomorrow. The Prime Minister continued to say that in the days ahead, we would bring forward announcements to put forward affordable housing as well as skills within the reach of more people.

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

Housing

Asked what sort of housing the Prime Minister was talking about, i.e., council housing, private houses for councils, the PMS said that part of that did include social housing, but more generally, it was housing that was affordable for people.

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

Education

Asked if the Prime Minister was saying the same things about education as he did when he was Chancellor with regards to things like mentors for improving literacy or numeracy skills, for example, the PMS said that he had spoken about this at his Mansion House speech as Chancellor, which was the most up to date guide on his thinking about this.

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

Accommodation

Asked if the Whips were moving back into No12 Downing Street, and had the Prime Minister decided where he would live, the PMS replied that there had been no decision made yet.

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

Admiral West

Asked for further guidance on Admiral West's review on security, the PMS said we had received initial and interim findings. This was the start, rather than the end of the process, as the full report with its recommendations would come later. We would take a decision at that point based on security and other considerations as to what we could release into the public domain.

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

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» Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Russia

Queen’s Speech

Terror Trial

Holidays

Alastair Campbell Diary

» Monday, July 9, 2007

Cabinet Office

Housing

Education

Accommodation

Admiral West

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