Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: 27th June, BAE, Quartet, Breakfast and Police Inquiry
27th June
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) began by running through the logistics for tomorrow.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be spending his last evening in No10 tonight, the PMOS replied that that was correct. Asked if the Prime Minister would be making any public appearances apart from PMQs tomorrow, the PMOS replied that he was not aware of any plans for him to do so.
Asked if Mrs Blair would be accompanying the Prime Minister when he met The Queen, the PMOS replied that Mrs Blair would accompany the Prime Minister to the Palace. Asked how the Prime Minister would resign in terms of ceremony and kissing hands, and would he hand over a seal of office, the PMOS replied that he was sorry to disappoint but it would just be a conversation.
Asked if it was technically the case that we would be without a Prime Minister during the hiatus between Tony Blair resigning and Gordon Brown accepting, and asked if that were the case, what would happen in the event of an emergency, the PMOS shared his briefing note with Lobby. It read:
At what point does Gordon Brown become Prime Minister?
When the Queen asks him to form a Government
Who is in charge in the interim?
Don’t be so silly!
The PMOS added that given the relative shortage of time, and the expertise in getting cars in and out of the Palace, "don’t be so silly" covered it.
Asked if we were expecting an announcement from the Quartet soon, the PMOS replied that the journalist should ask the Quartet.
Put to him that Winston Churchill hosted The Queen for dinner, and asked why Tony Blair would not be doing so, the PMOS replied that history was history. In terms of today, there were no plans for a dinner.
Asked to characterise the mood in Downing Street, the PMOS replied that everyone was getting on with the job. Those at the press conference this morning would have seen a very good, serious press conference about a very serious issue. This reflected well the mood in Downing Street. Looking back at the last six months since the turn of the year going through what had actually been achieved in that period, whether it was public services, or Northern Ireland, or the G8 issues of climate change and Africa, or the EU treaty, any Government and any Prime Minister would regard those achievements as quite substantial. President Bush, in the White House press conference spoke of the Prime Minister "sprinting to the wire" - that was what he had done.
Asked to comment on the story in the Mirror today that Gordon Brown wanted the Prime Minister out of Downing Street by 2pm tomorrow, the PMOS replied that this question was beneath comment.
Asked how the Prime Minister would be spending the rest of his last day in Downing Street, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister would be working.
BAE
Asked if the Government had any regret for closing the investigation now that the Justice Department had opened it, the PMOS replied that we had no comment to make whatsoever. Asked if we stood by the decision, the PMOS replied that there were two distinct issues: our position on the investigation in this country which had not changed; and we had no comment on what happens in the US. It would be wrong to do so in this country, and wrong to do so in any other country.
Asked if our officials would take part in the investigation, the PMOS replied that he did not give a running commentary on legal proceedings in this country, and neither would he give a commentary on proceedings in other countries.
Asked whether we were willing to cooperate with the investigation, the PMOS replied that we had no comment.
Quartet
Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on what role the Quartet should currently play in the current situation in the Middle East, the PMOS replied that without going down the road Lobby wanted him to go down, the situation in the Middle East was very serious. The Prime Minister had often made clear his view of the urgency with which the issues should be addressed, and the basic outlines of an approach he had given many times. Clearly recent events had given that situation added urgency, and no doubt this would be what the Quartet would be considering. It was good that they were meeting. But in terms of what the outcome would be, that was a matter for them.
Breakfast
Put that Governor Schwarzenegger praised the great English breakfast he was given this morning, and asked what he had for breakfast, the PMOS replied that he had one or two other things on his mind this morning other than this question, although the Governor did genuinely thank the staff for a good breakfast.
Asked if the Prime Minister had any special requirements for breakfast tomorrow morning, the PMOS replied that he was not sure he liked the overtones of that question. But he thought it would be breakfast as usual.
Asked if Governor Schwarzenegger had given the Prime Minister a guitar, and if so what sort of guitar it was, the PMOS replied that journalists would read all about it in due course.
Police Inquiry
Asked, probably for the last time, if there had been any contact with the police, the PMOS replied that his answer still had not changed.
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