Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Northern Ireland, Incident in the Persian Gulf, Europe, Nigel Griffiths and Police Inquiry
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister would be seeing Doctor Paisley this afternoon, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister had been in contact on an hour by hour, day by day basis, but it would be for the party to publicise any such contact rather than us.
Asked which Minister would be making the statement on Northern Ireland on Tuesday, the PMS replied that she did not have any update on the position set out by the Leader of the House yesterday.
Asked to comment on the assertion by Gregory Campbell that "Monday was simply not doable", the PMS replied that nobody underestimates the difficult decisions that had to be made, but it was now time to call on the parties of Northern Ireland to make those decisions, and it was right that they should do so. Again, as the Leader made very clear yesterday, Monday was the day for either dissolution or devolution. Nobody was in any doubt about that.
Asked to clarify exactly when the deadline was, the PMS replied that the deadline would be at 00:01 on Tuesday morning. Put that there could therefore be further negotiations on Monday that the Prime Minister could be involved in, the PMS replied that it was not impossible.
Put that given the history of deadlines in Northern Ireland, there were still people within the DUP who believed that the Prime Minister was bluffing, the PMS replied that we could not have been any clearer than we had been.
Incident in the Persian Gulf
Asked for any information on the incident in the Persian Gulf involving British and US servicemen, the PMS replied that we were aware of reports and the Ministry of Defence would be issuing a statement shortly. Asked if the Prime Minister was being kept informed, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would of course be kept informed of anything of significance.
Europe
Asked for details on the Prime Minister’s movements over the weekend, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister would be travelling to Berlin on Saturday to participate in the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Treaty of Rome celebrations.
Asked for the Government’s position on a reference in the Berlin Declaration that a Constitution could be completed by June next year, the PMS replied that decisions on the future of the Constitution would be for discussion at the European Council in June. Asked if we would object to a declaration with a specific reference to the European Constitution, the PMS replied that the Declaration was not the place for getting into any detail, but we should not be talking about the contents of the Declaration before it was published. Asked if the Prime Minister had seen the declaration yet, the PMS replied that the normal diplomatic drafting channels were underway and active. Asked to clarify what that meant, the PMS said it meant exactly what she said.
Nigel Griffiths
Asked if there had been an announcement about a replacement for Nigel Griffiths, the PMS replied that no announcement had been made.
Police Inquiry
No.
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