Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: economy, Russia and miscellaneous.
Economy
Asked how the forthcoming series of announcements could be characterised, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister would characterise these announcements by saying that clearly we were facing a challenging international economic situation at the moment that was affecting the UK just as it was affecting other countries. We needed to continue to work with our international partners to deal with the international issues around the credit crunch, around global food prices and global commodity prices, but we also need to continue to look at what more we could do in order to help people directly affected by these global challenges. We had already taken action in relation to the housing and mortgage market, and we had already taken action in relation to helping people with their fuel bills, and as the Prime Minister and other Ministers had been saying in recent weeks, we wanted to continue to see what more we could do to help those affected.
Put that this was not an economic rescue plan but help for people who had been afflicted by the economic downturn, the PMS replied that the point at which the Government sets out its overall economic policy was in the Pre-Budget Report and the Budget. But clearly we wanted to see what more we could do in order to help people affected by rising fuel bills and to help people who were affected by what was happening in the housing market.
Asked what the focus of the Prime Minister’s CBI speech would be later this week, the PMS replied that it was likely to be a wide-ranging speech and it was likely to have quite a lot of economic content, as people would expect.
Asked if the Chancellor’s words on Saturday detracted from the purpose of this package of measures, the PMS replied that as the Chancellor was making clear on Saturday he was talking about the global economic situation and how that was affecting the UK.
Put that the Chancellor had gone on TV on Saturday straight after talking with the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that the Chancellor and Prime Minister spoke on an almost daily basis as people would expect, so there was nothing unusual about that. The Chancellor would be the first to point out that he makes his own decisions about what media appearances he does.
Asked if No10 had to agree to interviews that senior Cabinet Ministers gave, the PMS replied that we would normally expect to be informed of interviews that contained significant policy measures. This interview it was a background profile piece.
Asked if No10 was informed on this occasion, the PMS replied that he was not going to get into the specifics of internal discussions, but it was not unusual for Ministers to do background personal profile pieces of this nature.
Asked if the Chancellor was right when he said there was not going to be a reshuffle, the PMS gave his standard answer that we did not comment on reshuffles.
Asked if the windfall tax was now totally off the table, the PMS replied that tax was a matter for the Treasury and was for them to comment on. Clearly as all Ministers had been saying, we want to continue to work in a cooperative way with the energy companies, but nothing was ruled out.
Put that there was a suggestion that some of the energy companies were not being particularly cooperative, the PMS replied that he was not going to get into commenting on specific discussions between the Government and individual companies.
Asked for a response to suggestions of a rift or split between the Chancellor and the Prime Minister, the PMS replied that he did not recognise that at all; the Prime Minister and the Chancellor were working very closely together and were in very close contact in terms of dealing with the economic challenges we faced.
Put that in previous briefings it had been made clear that the Chancellor was safe in his job, and asked if anything had changed, the PMS replied that he was slightly wary of this characterisation; it went without saying that the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Chancellor and was working very closely with him on a package of economic measures to be announced in the next few weeks and months.
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Tony McNulty that it was blindingly obvious that acquisitive crime would go up in the next few years, the PMS replied that Tony McNulty spoke on behalf of the Government and he was the Minister responsible.
Asked who was responsible for the Government’s overall economic policy, the PMS replied that it was the Chancellor.
Russia
Asked what the Prime Minister was hoping for today on Russia, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made his views clear in a comprehensive way in his article in the Observer yesterday. In his view it was vital that we sent a strong and united European Union message today, and we must be clear in our support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and in our condemnation of Russia’s actions. Clearly what happened in August was a significant event, and in light of that it was right that the European Union – in a calm, measured and fundamental way – looked at Russia’s overall relations with the EU, and that was what we would be calling for.
Asked about economic sanctions, the PMS replied that it was right that in light of Russia’s actions we took a measured view of the overall relationship between the EU and Russia, and that was what we would be calling for.
Asked what constructive steps beyond sending a strong message and a show of unity could the EU actually take, the PMS replied that there were a number of constructive steps we could take in relation to supporting Georgia and helping them with their reconstruction. The Prime Minister in his article talked about calling for EU civilian monitors as quickly as possible in support of the OSCE effort in Georgia. We had also called for the consideration for appointing a senior political figure to coordinate the work in the EU and help them with their reconstruction in that way. In relation to Russia we are clear that in the light of Russian actions and in advance of the conclusion of the fundamental review of the EU’s relation with Russia that we are calling for, that we should suspend negotiations on a successor to the partnership and cooperation agreement between the EU and Russia.
Put that Russia had said that economic sanctions would hurt the
EU more than they would hurt Russia, the PMS replied that we though that we needed to take a root and branch look at the EU’s relationship with Russia. One issue that the Prime Minister also mentioned in his article was the fact that what had happened over the last month had strengthened the case for diversifying not only away from oil and gas, but away from dependence on Russian oil and gas. Again that was something that we were looking to discuss with our EU partners later today.
Miscellaneous
Asked if Stephen Carter would be taking on a different role, the PMS replied that as we had been making clear over the past 48 hours when this sentence in one Sunday newspaper first appeared without any substance at all, we did not recognise this story. As he would normally do before any Lobby briefing he had discussed this with the Prime Minister and Stephen Carter, and they told him that there was no truth in these suggestions.
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