Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Spanish bomb attacks, Constitutional Reform Bill and Guantanamo Bay.
Spanish Bomb Attacks
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the Cabinet this morning had been deeply saddened and shocked by the news from Madrid today. The death toll as a result of the attacks was continuing to climb. The Cabinet had sent a collective message of condolence to the Spanish Government, and the Foreign Secretary had spoken to his Spanish counterpart. In a statement in Downing Street before Cabinet, Mr Straw had underlined that he regarded the attacks as an assault on the principle of democracy, coming, as they had, three days before the Spanish elections. The Prime Minister had said to Cabinet that, "This terrible attack underlines the threat that we all continue to face from terrorism in many countries, and why we all must work together internationally to safeguard our peoples against such attacks and defeat terrorism". We would remain in contact with the Spanish Government throughout the day.
Asked if there was any suspicion that the Madrid bombings were anything other than the work of ETA, the PMOS said the Foreign Secretary had noted that all the information he had received, including that from his Spanish counterpart, had indicated that ETA was responsible. However, we did not know that for certain at this stage. Asked if the Prime Minister was intending to speak to the Spanish Prime Minister today, the PMOS said it was not impossible.
Constitutional Reform Bill
Asked where we were on the next steps for the Constitutional Reform Bill, the PMOS said that discussions were continuing in the normal way about how to take the measures forward. Asked if an announcement was expected today, the PMOS said no.
Guantanamo Bay
Asked the Government’s view on the issue of awarding compensation to the five detainees who had now returned to the UK and had been freed, the PMOS said that it was important for people to see this issue in the context of needing to strike the right balance between respecting people’s rights on the one hand, and maintaining security across the world on the other. We understood the difficulties involved in getting that balance right. We welcomed, for instance, the responsible way in which representatives of the three individuals from Tipton had dealt with the issue so far. We hoped that would continue. Asked if the Government would apologise for the delay in taking up the cases of the former detainees while they had been held in Guantanamo Bay, the PMOS pointed out that there had been seven visits by officials to check on the detainees’ welfare there. The first had been in January 2002. This had been followed by visits in February 2002, May 2002, November 2002, April 2003, September 2003 and March 2004. We had been the first country to see our nationals in Guantanamo Bay - and, as far as we were able to ascertain, our officials had visited more often than the representatives of any other Government. Asked about the physical condition of the five individuals who had been freed, the PMOS said he did not think it would appropriate for him to comment on that matter.
Asked if the Government would agree with the five individuals’ claim that their release was proof of their innocence, the PMOS said that the police had detained them for questioning and had subsequently released them. That had been the right way to handle the matter. The correct procedures had been followed from the moment they had landed in the UK to the time of their release.
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