Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq and Reshuffle.
Iraq
Questioned about President Chirac’s letter to the Queen today, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said we welcomed unreservedly both the content and sentiment of the letter, the sentiments directed at our troops serving in and around Iraq at the moment and the fact that the thoughts of the people of France were with the soldiers. Asked if the President had also written to the Prime Minister, the PMOS said no. The President, as Head of State, had sent his letter to the British Head of State, as was entirely appropriate. Asked if Downing Street had been aware that the letter was being sent, the PMOS said that the letter should be viewed in its own right, dealing, as it did, with the issues which had prompted it, rather than as part of a diplomatic exchange.
Reshuffle
Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to announce any Ministerial changes tomorrow, the PMOS said that we never commented on reshuffles. It had been put to him at this morning’s briefing that his esteemed colleague had said yesterday that an announcement would be made shortly, to which he had replied that obviously the timeframe had become still shorter in the intervening period. He would point out this afternoon that the timescale was shorter still. Asked whether any announcement would be made this evening, the PMOS said he did not think that journalists would be troubled with the issue tonight. Asked if he was implying that journalists should make sure that all their colleagues came into work tomorrow, the PMOS said that the media’s staffing arrangements were entirely a matter for them, not him.
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