Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Hutton Inquiry, Lockerbie, Guantanamo Bay and Global Warming.
Hutton Inquiry
Asked if the Prime Minister knew when he would be giving evidence to the Hutton Inquiry, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said no. It was up to the Inquiry to decide when people should appear before them. Asked to explain how any evidence session would fit into the Prime Minister’s diary given the fact that his days were booked up far in advance, the PMS reminded journalists that the Prime Minister had stated he would give evidence to the Inquiry if he was required to do so. That position had not changed. Asked if that might entail cancelling long-standing engagements, the PMS said that that was a hypothetical question since we did not yet know when the Prime Minister might be called upon to give evidence.
Asked for a reaction to reports relating to comments about Dr David Kelly which had been attributed by some in the media to the Permanent Secretary at the MoD, Sir Kevin Tebbit, the PMS referred journalists to the statement which the MoD had put out at the weekend about this matter. Put to her that Sir Kevin’s comments appeared to imply that ‘common gossip’ about Dr Kelly was prevalent in high-level Government circles, the PMS repeated that the MoD had put out a statement dealing with the issue at the weekend. Questioned as to whether Downing Street would ‘unreservedly condemn’ the comments were it to be discovered that Sir Kevin had indeed made them, the PMS again referred journalists to the MoD’s statement over the weekend. She had nothing further to add about this matter.
Asked about reports of a third dossier on Iraq, the PMS said that if she was being asked about the story in the Economist on Friday, she would repeat what the FCO had said at the time: there was no third dossier in the pipeline. We were, however, expecting the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) to produce a report on their work at a time of their choosing. There were no plans for another dossier to be published. Questioned as to whether the ISG might produce an interim report, the PMS said that it was up to the ISG themselves to decide whether to do so or not.
Lockerbie
Asked to confirm reports that a meeting to settle the Lockerbie issue was scheduled to take place shortly, the PMS said that a series of discussions had taken place with the Libyans over recent weeks and months. There were still a number of steps to be gone through, including a trilateral meeting between the US, UK and Libya which was due to happen within the next week or so. Asked what we were expecting to come out of the meeting, the PMS said she did not think it would be helpful to pre-empt the outcome of the discussions.
Guantanamo Bay
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister was satisfied with the progress of the discussions relating to the British detainees at Guantanamo Bay, the PMS agreed that progress had indeed been made regarding this matter. However, discussions were continuing, as demonstrated by the Attorney General’s visit to the US twice recently. Asked if the Government was hopeful about an American delegation’s visit to the UK, the PMS said that discussions had already taken place about the issue and further discussions were obviously on the cards. We would have to wait and see how things panned out.
Global Warming
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the effects of global warming in the light of the recent hot weather, the PMS said that she hadn’t spoken to the Prime Minister today - and certainly not about the weather recently.
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