Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Energy, MP’s pay, Tony Blair and Party funding
Energy
Asked about the Government paying for the disposal of nuclear waste, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that John Hutton had been quite clear on this during the course of the day. The Government had no intention of subsidising new nuclear facilities, but the White Paper made clear that in extreme situations, in an emergency for example, then obviously it was the Government’s responsibility to intervene and deal with that.
Asked if this was only in the case of a nuclear accident, the PMS replied that it was not specified exactly what those circumstances would be, but clearly in extreme circumstances it would fall to the Government to intervene. But John Hutton had been making very clear today that there was no intention of the tax payer subsidising new nuclear facilities.
Asked if it was the case that communities, subject to the White Paper being published, who put themselves forward to host disposal sites would be eligible for a package of benefits, the PMS replied that it was best to check the detail with the department, but it was his understanding that the Government took responsibility for legacy waste, and that BERR had been making clear at their press conference this afternoon that in the future there may be some shared facility for legacy waste and new waste. In that sense the Government would take responsibility of its share of the costs in relation to legacy waste.
MP’s Pay
Put that this would be the last time that MP’s decide their own pay, and asked what system the Prime Minister favoured, the PMS replied that this was all subject to a review as Harriet Harman announced at Business Questions earlier today.
Asked if the review would be published next Wednesday, the PMS replied that there were two separate reviews here - The Senior Salaries Review relating to 2007 pay would be published on Wednesday, and separately at some point there would be a review that would deal with the future.
Asked if the review would be subject to a vote in the House, the PMS replied that it would depend on exactly what was recommended. The general expectation was that any change would require primary legislation.
Asked who would carry out this review, the PMS replied that we had asked, and he understood that he had accepted, Sir John Baker, the current but soon to be retiring Chair of the Senior Salaries Review Body.
Asked if it was fair to say that MPs would be given a vote on whether they would be allowed to vote on their own pay rises, the PMS replied that if there were to be any change in the system, then it was reasonable to anticipate that a change would require primary legislation.
Asked if the MPs failed to heed what the Prime Minister has said on the current round, and did accept the SSRB recommendation then there was nothing the government could do about that, the PMS replied that it was a free vote by convention, but the Prime Minister on behalf of the Government made clear his position.
Tony Blair
Asked if the Prime Minister was informed in advance of the former Prime Minister taking the job in a bank, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not informed by the Committee in advance, along with normal convention. And he was not involved in the Cabinet Office process, and independent process - the normal convention when it comes to serving Prime Ministers in relation to jobs taken by ex-Prime Ministers.
Asked if the Prime Minister was informed by the ex-Prime Minister, the PMS replied that he did not know the answer to this.
Asked how often the Prime Minister spoke to Tony Blair, and how often did they speak, the PMS replied that he did not want to go into the detail, but they spoke on a regular basis, not least because of the very good work Mr Blair was doing in relation to the Middle East Peace Process.
Party Funding
Asked if the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police yet, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had not been interviewed by the police.
Asked if the PMS would inform journalists if any other members of the Cabinet were to be interviewed by the police, the PMS replied that he was spokesman to the Prime Minister, he was not a spokesman to individual Cabinet Ministers.
Asked if anyone from No10 had been in contact with the police as part of this inquiry, the PMS replied that when the inquiry was launched, the Prime Minister wrote to Commander Mawer of the Metropolitan Police, and said that we would not be commenting publicly because we wanted to give the police space to conduct their investigation properly. The only exception to that was that we would confirm if the Prime Minister had been interviewed.
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