Number 10 Press Briefing - Morning From 15 September 2010
From the Prime Minister's spokesperson on: Human rights, Andy Coulson, the Papal visit and unemployment figures.
Human rights
Put that the Foreign Secretary had said in his speech this morning that the UK Government would still raise human rights issues with emerging economies and would the Prime Minister take the opportunity in his next meeting with Chinese delegations to raise human rights issues as well, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that we would take all opportunities to raise these issues with other countries.
Andy Coulson
Asked if the Prime Minister’s view of Andy Coulson’s role had changed and whether he still had full confidence in him, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister’s view had not changed and he still had full confidence in him.
Asked if Andy Coulson was being provided with legal advice by the Government, the PMS said he was not.
Papal visit
When asked for a comment on whether the Prime Minister thought that the Pope’s visit should be a State visit, the PMS referred people back to the comments put out yesterday afternoon. The State visit had been long established and the Prime Minister was keen it was a success.
Unemployment figures
Put that the trade unions had said that things would get worse, the PMS said that the unemployment figures we saw today were encouraging. We would have to go through a process in the coming years of trying to rebalance our economy to increase the number of private sector jobs.