Press briefing: morning 4 November 2014
The Prime Minister's Official Spokesperson answered questions on internet companies and Iran.
Internet companies
When asked about recent comments by the new Director of GCHQ on the role of internet companies in tackling extremism, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesperson (PMOS) said the Prime Minister shared the views expressed with regard to the use of internet technologies by violent and extremist groups, and the need to do more.
On the question of what more could be done in this area, the PMOS touched on the work of Sir Nigel Sheinwald as the government’s Special Envoy on intelligence and law enforcement data sharing, a part of which would include discussions with US data companies.
Iran
When asked about media reports that Iran had tentatively agreed to ship much of its uranium stockpile to Russia in the event of a nuclear deal with the West, the PMOS said as part of the E3+3 the government had been looking at a number of ways in which the international community could have confidence that the Iranian nuclear programme was a purely civil one. A position the government wasn’t in now, the PMOS added. If that could be done partly in cooperation with other countries, then the UK would certainly look at the ways in which that could be achieved, the PMOS said.