Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: PMQs, US Elections, Brussels and Iraq.
PMQs
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that purely on a factual basis, the Secretary of State, Tessa Jowell had written to the Leader of the Opposition after Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs). She had pointed out the email that had been referred to in PMQs was about the possibility of a future EU Directive, and not the bill that was going through the House about the present current legislation.
US Election
Asked whether there was a likely chance that the Prime Minister would make a response about either of the US Election candidates, the PMOS replied that it depended entirely on what happened in America. He added that the Prime Minister would say something at some stage, but like everyone else, they would have to wait and see.
Asked if the Prime Minister would make any comments by a television clip, or a written statement, the PMOS said again that it would depend on the timings in America, and that they would have to wait and see.
Brussels
Asked for any advance comments on the Prime Minister’s trip to Brussels, the PMOS answered that the Prime Minister Allawi was attending and would be discussing EU help for Iraq, as well as terrorism, terrorism financing, organised crime, and economic reform. As this was a Mid Term summit, many of the usual topics would be brought up as would be expected.
Asked if this meant there would be EU military for Prime Minister Allawi, the PMOS replied that no, there would not be. It was more in terms of finance and aid.
Iraq
Asked about the movement of UK troops in Fallujah, the PMOS replied that he was not going to speculate on military operations, but he stressed that what was important was it was the Iraqi interim government that would make any decision about Fallujah. He also wanted to stress that what was equally important was the possibility in Iraq of a political way through. For that to happen, however, the insurgents needed to recognise that this was the preferred option and to stop the attacks on the multinational and Iraqi forces, and also to stop the use of this as a base to mount operations elsewhere.
Asked what the Prime Minister’s message to the insurgents would be if they did not surrender their weapons, the PMOS said that what was actually more important was what Prime Minister Allawi had said. This was that the insurgents had a choice between recognising remit of the Iraqi interim government endorsed by the UN, and defying it and stopping elections.
Asked if this was a threat for the insurgents to hand in their weapons, the PMOS said that what Prime Minister Allawi had said was that the writ must run and the people needed to have a democratic vote in Fallujah. The choice was in the insurgents’ hands.
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