Downing Street lobby briefing on Cabinet, Russia and sexual harassment
2 min read
Here is a summary of this afternoon's briefing for lobby journalists by the Prime Minister's official spokesman.
CABINET
Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson updated Cabinet on the military action against Daesh.
The spokesman said: "Cabinet was told that Daesh's so-called Caliphate is almost defeated in Syria, while in Iraq its territorial control is near an end. Clearance operations are continuing, but the Iraqi security forces are making rapid progress. The UK has been the second largest contributor to the coalition's military campaign, taking part in 1600 air strikes and with 1400 military personnel across the region. The UK has helped to train 60,000 members of the Iraqi security forces.
"In Iraq, more than two million people have returned to their homes in areas liberated from Daesh. The UK is providing over £200m in assistance for Iraqi civilians. In Syria the UN estimates over 400,000 people have died, half of its population have been displaced during the conflict, 13.6m people remain in need of urgent humanitarian assistance and the UK is providing £2.46bn in response to the Syrian crisis - our largest ever response to a single humanitarian crisis. The Prime Minister thanked the Armed Forces for their excellent work and said our priority is to ensure that we minimise the threats to the UK and protect our wider interests in the Middle East for the long term by helping to ensure political stability in Iraq and Syria."
Cabinet was also updated on the Northern Ireland Budget Bill, and the Prime Minister said she had spoken to the DUP and Sinn Fein leadership in recent days to urge them to come to an agreement on restoring power-sharing at Stormont.
RUSSIA
Following the Prime Minister's Guildhall speech last night in which she accused Russia of interfering in western democracies, the spokesman insisted that the UK's electoral systems were "among the most robust in the world".
He said: "We continue to make sure that we take all possible steps to protect the integrity of our electoral systems. We haven't seen any evidence of any successful, direct interference in UK democratic processes."
SEXUAL HARASSMENT
On claims by TV produce Daisy Goodwin that an aide to David Cameron touched her breast at a meeting in Downing Street, the spokesman said: "It's something that we would be concerned about. We're looking at it and wherever an allegation is made we will make sure it is treated with the utmost seriousness."
