No. 10 Morning Press Briefing From 5 Dec 2007

Briefing from the British Prime Minister's Spokesman on: Romanian Prime Minister, housing market and Lord Ashdown.

Morning press briefing from 5 December 2007

Romanian Prime Minister

Asked what the Prime Minister would discuss with the Romanian Prime Minister, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said it would be a fairly wide-ranging discussion, taking stock of the live items on the EU agenda.

Asked if there would be much on migration, the PMS said he would not expect too much on that front.

Put that they would presumably discuss Kosovo, the PMS repeated that it would be quite a wide-ranging discussion but it would be surprising if Kosovo did not come up.

Housing Market

Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the Financial Service Authority (FSA) announcement on the housing market, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was obviously very supportive of the independence of the FSA and that their statements spoke for themselves.

Lord Ashdown

Asked repeatedly if the story in the Guardian was right about Lord Ashdown becoming super-envoy to Afghanistan and when a decision would be made, the PMS replied that ultimately this was a decision for the UN Secretary General to make, no doubt in consultation with key allies, but we were not at that point at the moment. It was difficult to say when a decision would be announced but the PMS said he would anticipate something in the not too distant future.

Asked for the Prime Minister's view on Lord Ashdown and his work in other fields, the PMS said that the Prime Minister thought Lord Ashdown served with distinction in the Balkans but we were not going to get into the business of commenting on individuals in relation to this specific appointment at this point in time.

ENDS

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