Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Peter Foster and Spanish bomb attacks / Northern Ireland.
Peter Foster
Asked for a reaction to the latest ‘revelations’ by Peter Foster, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we had nothing to add to what we had said about Mr Foster in the past. Asked if Downing Street continued to maintain that the Prime Minister had never met Peter Foster, the PMOS said that we stood by what had been said. If journalists needed reminding, they could look it up in previous press briefing notes. Today we had other things on our mind.
Spanish Bomb Attacks/Northern Ireland
Asked if any Britons were among the victims of the Spanish bomb attacks earlier today, the PMOS said we had been told this morning that there weren’t any. Since then, however, the death toll had, unfortunately, risen. Consular officials had been to the scene and had set up emergency systems in Madrid. Asked to confirm that Al Qaida was not responsible for the attacks, the PMOS said that we had no reason to believe anything other than the Spanish Government’s view that the attacks were ETA related.
Asked if the Prime Minister made any connection between ETA and the difficulties with the Northern Ireland peace process, the PMOS said that over the past ten years in Northern Ireland we had seen a process of transition away from violence. Unfortunately ETA had not followed that course. As the Prime Minister and Taoiseach had made clear, there could be no halfway house to democracy. The transition from violence to peace was a process that must be completed. That view would no doubt be reiterated when the two leaders met up in Dublin this evening. Asked if the Prime Minister had ever spoken to the Spanish Prime Minister about the problems both had experienced with terrorist groups, the PMOS said he thought the issue might have come up in the past.
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