Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Reshuffle, Regiments and Belmarsh Prisoners.
Reshuffle
The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) informed journalists that there had been an error on a Press Release issued earlier today. James Purnell would be the new unpaid assistant and Government whip. Tom Watson would now be a paid whip.
Put to her that there had been accusations of a Home Office cover up preventing Sir Allen Budd getting to relevant information, the PMS said that was the first time she had heard any such accusations. Alan Budd had been appointed to carry out an investigation and that was what he had been doing for the last few weeks. His investigation had produced the time-line which the Home Office published last night when David Blunkett’s announced his resignation as Home Secretary.
Regiments
Asked if the Prime Minister had been bluffing when he said the outcome of the review of the regiments might not be what people imagined and the outcome had been exactly as predicted, the PMS said that there had been a lot of speculation about today’s announcement. We had always told people to wait for the announcement rather than prejudge it. The review had been announced in July. The Army had wanted to look at its structure and today’s announcement was the outcome of that review.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be angry if one of his ministers or backbenchers called a fellow Member of Parliament a "back-stabbing coward". The PMS said that she would not comment on statements made by other parties on the floor of the house.
Belmarsh Prisoners
Asked what the Government’s reaction would be to the ruling by the Law Lords concerning prisoners detained without charge at Belmarsh prison, the PMS asked journalists if they had seen the Written Ministerial Statement issued by the Home Office in response to the House of Lords judgement. The PMS quoted the statement made by the Home Secretary saying: "I will be asking Parliament to renew this legislation in the New Year but in the meantime we will be studying the judgement carefully to see whether it is possible to modify our legislation to address the concerns raised by the House of Lords." Asked if they Government would continue to detain the prisoners, the PMS quoted another paragraph saying: "Accordingly I will not be revoking the certificates or releasing the detainees, whom I believe are a significant threat to our security, a judgment upheld by the Special Immigration Appeals Commission, chaired by a High Court Judge." The Statement made it quite clear what the Government’s position was.
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