Morning press briefing from 8 May 2008
Briefing from the Prime Minister's Spokesman on: Northern Ireland Investment Conference, Scotland and Burma
Northern Ireland Investment Conference
Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting with Michael Bloomberg at the conference, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) replied that there was nothing specific in the Prime Minister's diary, but he did not know whether he would meet Michael Bloomberg at the conference. Although they did meet in New York a few weeks ago.
Asked if this would be the first time the Prime Minister had met the new Taoiseach in his new capacity, the PMS replied that this was correct, although they had known each other as finance Ministers previously.
Asked what was on the agenda for the meeting with the Taoiseach, the PMS replied that this would be their first meeting in their new jobs, so it was an opportunity to talk about where we were on the peace process, European issues, and maybe the economy among other issues.
Scotland
Asked if the Prime Minister had responded to David Cameron's letter on Scotland, the PMS replied that the response was released last night.
Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to Wendy Alexander ahead of First Minister's question time later today, the PMS replied that it was not for him to answer questions on conversation between the Prime Minister and one of his Labour Party colleagues. But the Prime Minister did speak to his Labour Party colleagues as well as Government Ministers all the time as you would expect.
Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken with Sir Kenneth Calman in the last 24 hours, the PMS replied that he had not to his knowledge.
Asked if the Prime Minister was surprised by the First Minister's comments in the Guardian today about the possibility of forming the next Government with the Tories, the PMS replied that he did not think the Prime Minister would have read the comments in the Guardian this morning.
Burma
Asked for any more information on Burma, the PMS replied that Foreign Office consular officials had been alerted to 17 Britons whose friends and relatives believed to be in Burma and who had not made contact since the typhoon struck. The Foreign Office have said that the non-contact could be down to a number of factors including communications problems resulting from the cyclone. We had seen this morning the issue about UN planes not being able to enter as they still did not have permission to land, and on the question of access to Burma for international staff, we were getting mixed signals at the moment. Some agencies appeared to quickly have received visas, others notably the UN team in Bangkok were still waiting for permission to enter the country. In a situation like this clearly every hour counted, and we were continuing to press the Burmese for speedy access.
Asked if there was any action in the UN to press them further, the PMS replied that at the moment this was being conducted through the Embassy, but best to check with the Foreign Office - he was sure that we would be wanting to use all of our channels to put as much pressure on as possible.
Asked for any reaction to the Chinese beginning to put pressure on Burma, the PMS replied that we had not said anything specific on that point up to now, but obviously Burma was something that we had been talking to the Chinese about for some time now. It was best to check with the Foreign Office, but he was sure we were in regular contact with the Chinese along with a number of other key international partners.
Email the Prime Minister