Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Paris, Russia, Security at Labour Party Conference, IRA decommissioning and July Bombing review.
Paris
Asked what the objective behind the Paris trip was, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that the trip was to prepare for the Informal European Summit at Hampton Court later in the month.
Asked whether the focus of the summit would be on securing a trade deal by the end of the year, or discussions about the EU budget, the PMOS replied that both issues would be discussed. The Prime Minister at the UN had put a heavy emphasis on making efforts to get a WTO deal by the end of the year, and the EU as well as the US and other developing countries all had parts to play in that.
Russia
The PMOS told journalists that President Putin would be presenting medals to British submariners who had helped with the rescue of the Russian submarine.
Asked what would be on the EU/Russian agenda, the POS said that it was a six monthly event that the EU and Russian had which would cover the full range of issues, but there would be particular focus on the world economy, energy, climate change, and a continuing discussion on G8 commitments. What was also important for their bilateral relationship was that Russian would take over the G8 Presidency from Britain, with their focus primarily on energy.
Security at Labour Party Conference
Asked whether there would be a security review carried out in light of the response to the incident where a minister was speaking was interrupted by someone in the audience, the PMOS replied it was a matter for the Labour Party.
IRA decommissioning
Asked to comment on the Sunday Independent’s report that the IRA was still holding on three hundred protection weapons, the PMOS pointed out what the Head of the Decommissioning Body said last week which was that he believed that all IRA weapons had been decommissioned. That was supported by the two independent witnesses. The PMOS said that was the body that had dealt with decommissioning and that was their report. In terms of the story, the PMOS noticed that it had been based on anonymous sources. The PMOS reiterated that the Decommissioning Body had said that all IRA weapons had been decommissioning in the full glare of publicity.
July Bombing review
Asked if there were any further details following Sir Ian Blair’s meeting regarding offering greater protection for police, the PMOS said there were not.
delicious
digg
facebook
