Press Briefing: 11am Friday 5 November 2004

Briefing from the Prime Minister's Spokesman on: Black Watch, MRSA, North East Referendum and Pension Rises.

• Downing Street press briefings explained

Black Watch

Asked why The Secretary of State for Defence did not give the statement to the House of Commons on the deaths of the Black Watch soldiers killed in Iraq last night, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that Adam Ingram had taken part in a procurement debate in the House and at the time the MOD had wanted to make a statement as quickly as possible.

When asked again why Geoff Hoon had not given the statement when he had been in London last night, the PMS repeated that the MOD wanted to make the statement as quickly as possible.

Asked to respond to the recent comment by the brother of one of the Black Watch soldiers killed yesterday that his brother had not wanted to be deployed further north in Iraq, the PMS replied that as the Prime Minister had indicted earlier, today was the day for thinking of the relatives of those who were killed yesterday in Iraq and of the regiment as a whole.

Asked about the future of the Black Watch, the PMS answered that as Geoff Hoon had stated, decisions were still to be taken

MRSA

Asked why it was acceptable that John Reid was announcing that the National Health Service was going to cut MRSA by half in 4 years time, the PMS replied that the Government was doing as much as it could to deal with the problem and clearly wanted to improve the situation. She advised journalists to approach the Department of Health to discuss specific targets.

North East Referendum

Asked if the Prime Minster had spoken to the Deputy Prime Minister with regards to the North East Referendum result, the PMS said that she was not aware that they had spoken.

Asked what the Prime Minister's thoughts on the results were, the PMS said that the Government had wanted to give the choice to the people of the North East. They had made their decision and we respected that decision.

Asked if the two other local referendums would go ahead, the PMS replied the Government wanted to take stock in those areas before a decision was made.

Asked why the Prime Minister visited the area only once, the PMS replied the visit had been part of the political campaign and not something she could comment on.

Asked if the recent referendum campaign had been a waste of money with regards to publicity, legislation etc, the PMS said that the Government would disagree. This was a devolution issue. Similar issues had been discussed in other parts of the country and people had voted in favour of more local accountability. The Government had wanted to give the people of the North East a choice, through referendum.

Asked if the Prime Minister still had full confidence in the Deputy Prime Minister, the PMS replied of course he did.

Pension Rises

Asked if the Prime Minister supported the pension rise for judges, the PMS replied that it was being looked at by the DCA and was something that was kept under regular review.

Asked if the Prime Minister backed them personally, the PMS said she had not asked him.