Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Northern Ireland, Drugs, Impeachment and Jack Straw/Ariel Sharon Talks.
Northern Ireland
Asked "what the score with Northern Ireland" was, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that in terms of today’s meeting, the talks had been serious and constructive. The parties would want to reflect over the coming days, but time was getting short for people to make up their minds. He was not going to get into a game of precise deadlines, but the Leeds Castle talks earlier in the year had established that there was a basis for progress. The PMOS continued that the question now was: had the talks maintained that analysis? The answer was yes, they had. He said that people could not make other people’s minds up for them, as they needed to have the space and privacy to do that for themselves. The PMOS had said earlier in the week that this was an important week and an important time, and he had so far not seen anything to disagree with that.
Asked if the talks were teetering on the bring of collapse or success, the PMOS replied that he was not going to get into the optimism or pessimism game, as he had said earlier in the week. It would, in the end, depend on the parties making up their minds. He did not see any sign that the parties were treating the talks as anything other than an important moment.
Asked if there were going to be any more meetings over the next few days, the PMOS said there would be contact, but not at Prime Ministerial level, but the intensive discussions would go on behind the scenes.
Asked if the Prime Minister had seen Gerry Adams this week, the PMOS said he was not aware of a meeting, but we were in contact with all the parties.
Drugs
Asked what the Prime Minister was going to say tomorrow about drugs, the PMOS said people would have to wait and see tomorrow.
Asked again about how the Prime Minister thought the war on drugs were best tackled, the PMOS said he thought the question was same as the previous one, just phrased differently, so he was not going to comment! He repeated, it would be better for people to wait for tomorrow to see what would happen. The PMOS said we would brief as and when.
Asked if the Prime Minister was making a speech on drugs tomorrow, the PMOS said he admired the journalist’s resilience! He went on to say that people would not be surprised if the Prime Minister made some comments on drugs tomorrow, but it would be tomorrow, and he could not say anything further on the matter.
Asked repeatedly when they might receive a brief about the possible drugs speech, the PMOS said people would receive a brief in the normal way, when we were ready.
Impeachment
Asked if the Prime Minister was worried that he was going to be impeached, the PMOS said that he had talked about this in the lobby earlier in the day, and had nothing to add from then. He repeated let us see what happened, as it was not something that was regarded as a current procedure.
Jack Straw/Ariel Sharon Talks
Asked if the Government viewed Ariel Sharon’s sore throat as a snub to Jack Straw, the PMOS replied that the important thing was that Jack Straw had seen the Israeli Foreign Minister, and rather than concentrating on sore throats, it would be better to look at what the Israeli Foreign Minister had said. This was a very positive statement, that said there was an opportunity, and paid tribute to the role that Britain was playing by trying to get the two-state solution up and running. He reiterated that people should ignore snubs and concentrate on the substance, because it was this that would decide whether there would be a two-state solution to be had.
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