Number 10 Press Briefing - Afternoon Tuesday 23 April
The IMF and a Scottish Referendum were discussed at this press briefing.
Qatada
Asked to endorse the position explained by the Prime Minister this morning on Abu Qatada and to explain what that position was, the Prime Minister’s Spokesperson (PMS) said that our view was that the deadline was at midnight on Monday and we based that view on the Treaty, the legal precedents and on the contacts that we had with the European Court.
Put that Chris Bryant said that the Prime Minister went beyond what he knew the truth to be, the PMS said the Prime Minister set out the position very clearly this morning.
Miscellaneous
Asked about the Prime Minister’s comments on Radio 4 when he said the Government had to do better, the PMS said he was being asked about a number of issues over the past few weeks, he was simply making the point that all governments go through periods when things are going well and less well.
Scottish Referendum
Asked if the Prime Minister had said that he was not fussy about the Scottish Independence Referendum being held in 2014, the PMS said his view hadn’t changed on this issue. We had been consulting on this issue, there would no doubt be some discussions that flowed from that between this Government and the Scottish Government, but he said previously that he thought that a referendum should take place sooner rather than later.
IMF
Put that Alistair Darling had backed the Chancellor and was that welcome support, the PMS said that we thought it was the right thing to ensure that the IMF was properly resourced and able to deal with the risks in the global economy and it was welcome if other people agreed with that view.