Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: PM’s Press Conference, Clare Short, Hutton Inquiry/PM, Alastair Campbell, PM/Lord Falconer, BBC, WMD/Niger/Uranium and Tony Martin.
PM’s Press Conference
Asked why the Prime Minister’s monthly press conference, initially scheduled for today, had been cancelled, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that it hadn’t been cancelled, merely postponed to Wednesday. He pointed out that we had informed news organisations of this fact towards the middle-to-end of last week. He apologised if there had been any communications problems, but said that we could not assume responsibility for the internal communications of the various media organisations. Asked why the press conference had been postponed, the PMOS said that it had been postponed for purely logistical reasons.
Clare Short
Asked for a reaction to Clare Short’s comments in an Independent newspaper interview today in which she had described the Prime Minister as a ‘neo-conservative’, the PMOS said he did not think that anyone reading the interview this morning would be in the least bit surprised by anything Ms Short had said, particularly since she had expressed similar sentiments in the past. We would let her speak for herself. Put to him that she had accused the Prime Minister of lying about President Chirac’s position in the run-up to the war in Iraq in terms of the suggestion that he had been going to veto any UN Resolution, the PMOS said that this was an old record which had been put back on the turntable. We had heard this comment before and we had responded to it at the time. That response still stood.
Hutton Inquiry/PM
Asked if the Prime Minister would be giving evidence to the Hutton inquiry before he departed for his holiday, the PMOS said no. It was entirely a matter for Lord Hutton to decide who he wanted to see and when. Asked when the Prime Minister was due to begin his holiday, the PMOS said that we never provided details about the Prime Minister’s holiday, as journalists were well aware.
Alastair Campbell
Asked by the Newcastle Journal whether it would be possible, in the interests of regional newspapers who appeared to have been excluded from ’selective briefings’ about the future of the Prime Minister’s Director of Communications and Strategy, to restate the Government’s position regarding Alastair Campbell, the PMOS said that Mr Campbell had now gone on holiday and we wished him well. He would return in September. Asked if Mr Campbell would return to the same job, the PMOS said yes. Asked to confirm that there were no plans for Mr Campbell to leave Downing Street, the PMOS said that he spoke as he found today - and that was the position today. Put to him that almost every national newspaper had carried a story about Mr Campbell leaving in September, the PMOS said that the position was as he had set out. Mr Campbell remained Director of Communications and Strategy in Downing Street. He had now gone on holiday and would return in September. End of story.
PM/Lord Falconer
Asked if the Prime Minister concurred with Lord Falconer’s observation that he would stand for a third term, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had stood at the last election. He believed in taking one Parliament at a time. Questioned as to whether Lord Falconer had ‘turned rogue’ and had been speaking without the Prime Minister’s knowledge, the PMOS said that he had nothing further to add to what he had already said about the matter.
BBC
Asked if it remained the case that the role of the BBC Governors would be reassessed as part of the review of the BBC Charter, the PMOS said that the Government’s position on the BBC remained that set out by Tessa Jowell. As she had underlined yesterday, there were two separate issues which should not be confused or conflated. In the first instance, there was Lord Hutton’s inquiry into the circumstances surrounding Dr Kelly’s death. In the second instance, there was the ten-yearly Charter review.
WMD/Niger/Uranium
Asked for a reaction to the findings of a Five Live investigation which had cast doubt on the Government’s claim that Iraq had tried to acquire uranium from Niger, the PMOS said that he was not across the detail of Five Live’s investigation. All he would point to was the September dossier which had stated that Iraq had sought to obtain uranium from Niger. This information had been based on intelligence received from two different overseas sources. It was the judgement which had been made at the time, and we had no reason to doubt it. Put to him that the Prime Minister of Niger had denied yesterday that Saddam Hussein had sought to buy uranium from him, the PMOS said that the information contained in the dossier had been based on an assessment made by the JIC. We continued to stand by their judgement.
Tony Martin
Asked the Prime Minister’s view on reports that Tony Martin was selling his story for hundreds of thousands of pounds, the PMOS said that this was a matter which should be handled by the appropriate authorities. Downing Street was not one of them.
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