Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Police Inquiry, Middle East visits, Avian Flu and House of Lords reform
Police Inquiry
Asked if the Prime Minister expected to be interviewed again by the police, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he had checked with people in Downing Street and within wider Government, and the answer was that there had been no contact at all about the possibility of a third interview, and people could draw their own conclusions from that.
Put that it was thought that the Prime Minister might have come back to police with a couple of points, the PMOS replied that he had seen the speculation, but he had nothing to back that up.
Asked if the Prime Minister had met with Lord Levy and Jonathan Powell to discuss the handling of the investigation, the PMOS said that as people knew, we had not been giving a running commentary on the investigation so far, and he was not about to start, no matter how much speculation there was elsewhere.
Asked if Lord Levy was travelling to Israel with Margaret Beckett this week, the PMOS replied that we did not comment on Lord Levy’s movements.
Asked by the Evening Standard why Lord Levy’s movements were "shrouded in secrecy" and why was his role so "murky", the PMOS replied that if someone was involved with a peace process, as Lord Levy was, the glare of publicity was a hindrance, not a help.
Asked that when Lord Levy travelled to Kazakhstan or Brazil, that was on peace process business, not trade, for example, and was everything Lord Levy did related to the peace process, the PMOS said that it was best not to give a running commentary and not to get too heated about it.
Put by the journalist that he was being "passionate", the PMOS replied that "passion" was yesterday’s match at the Millennium Stadium!
Put that the FCO had said that Lord Levy acted as the Prime Minister’s representative in Brazil, therefore, why could journalists not ask questions, the PMOS replied for the same reasons as before. Stating that Lord Levy was the Prime Minister’s representative did not make the need for confidentiality any less.
Middle East visits
Asked to clarify if Mrs. Beckett was going to the Middle East with Chancellor Merkel, the PMOS said: no. The Foreign Secretary would see Prime Minister Olmert and the Israeli Foreign Minister, as well as President Abbas.
Put that on "Newsbeat", it had been implied that the Prime Minister would visit the region soon, the PMOS replied that after the last visit, we had said that it was possible that the Prime Minister would return in the New Year. The Prime Minister remained intensely interested in the area and certainly very heavily engaged in trying to push it forward.
Avian Flu
Asked if COBRA was meeting this morning to discuss the avian flu outbreak, and was there any further information, the PMOS replied that in terms of COBRA, it was better for the department concerned to comment. DEFRA had taken the lead and they had put in place a protection zone of 3 kilometres radius, a surveillance zone of 10 kilometres, and a wider restricted zone. The PMOS said that David Miliband would give an update in Parliament at 1530 this afternoon.
House of Lords reform
Asked if the Prime Minister had a fixed view on the composition of the House of Lords, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister would wait for the White Paper to be published. We would then prepare for the free vote in Parliament, and the Prime Minister, as in the past on other such issues, would not express an opinion in advance of that, because he would not want to be seen to direct a free vote.
Asked if the Prime Minister would vote, the PMOS said that he suspected that the Prime Minister would vote.
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