Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Russian election, energy companies, ID cards, Iran, Israel, Prince William, benefit system, EU referendum and second home tax
Russian Election
Asked for a reaction regarding the Russian election, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister had written a letter of congratulations to President Medvedev saying that he looked forward to seeing him at the G8 summit in July. We had always said that we would look for opportunities to improve our relationship with Russia and hoped to see greater Russian cooperation on a number of issues, but we should judge the new Government on its actions and the results of those actions.
Asked if there was concern about the electoral procedure, the PMS said that it was a bit too early to reach any judgement on that at this point.
Asked if there was any reason why there was a letter rather than a phonecall, the PMS replied that sending a letter of congratulations was quite a normal thing to do; there were no current plans for a call or a meeting but, as already stated, the letter had said that the Prime Minister looked forward to seeing President Medvedev at the G8 summit in July.
Asked if that could be interpreted as a gentle warming towards Russia, the PMS said that he would leave the interpreting to the journalist.
Asked what we wanted Russia’s cooperation on, apart from the Litvinenko case, the PMS replied that the Litvinenko case was obviously the main issue of concern we had with Russia at the moment. However, Russia had an important role in many of our international priorities, for example, energy security, climate change and international peace and security. Continuing to engage with Russia on these issues remained important to us.
Asked if the Prime Minister’s letter brought up any of those issues, the PMS said that he did not want to get into exactly what the letter did and did not say; it was a letter of congratulations to Mr Medledev. Our concerns regarding the Litvinenko issue, in particular, were very well known to the Russians.
Energy Companies
Asked for guidance on the meeting with energy companies, the PMS said that, as had been made clear at the weekend, suggestions of some sort of Downing Street summit with the energy companies were wide of the mark. It was not surprising that the Treasury and BERR spoke to the energy companies on a regular basis. Ministers were concerned about the effect that price rises had on vulnerable customers in particular.
Asked if that ruled out a windfall tax, the PMS replied that he did not think journalists expected him to comment on tax matters ahead of the Budget.
Asked if, rather than a summit, there had been any talks going on, the PMS said that it was not for him to get into specifics; these were issues that the Treasury and BERR were leading on. Of course there were meetings taking place with all sorts of companies, including energy companies, all of the time. The PMS went on to repeat his response to the specific suggestion that was made in one of the papers yesterday that there had been a big Downing Street summit; these reports had been wide of the mark.
ID Cards
Asked if the Jacqui Smith speech on ID cards would be a u-turn by the Government, the PMS replied that journalists should wait for the speech and said that people should not get too carried away.
Iran
Asked if the Prime Minister welcomed the Iranian President’s visit to Iraq, the PMS said that we did not have a specific comment on that.
Asked if the Prime Minister was aware of the Iranian President’s comments that the US was more responsible for terrorism and death in Iraq than others, the PMS replied that that was not something that we would accept, whoever said it.
Israel
Asked if there had been any contact with Israel over the past couple of days, the PMS said that, as people would expect, we were in contact with our key allies on a regular basis, including Israel. The PMS then went on to reiterate the Foreign Secretary’s comments at the weekend that we supported the UN Secretary General’s call for all parties to step back from the brink of even deeper and more deadly clashes.
Prince William
Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it would be a good idea for Prince William to serve in the frontline, the PMS replied that these were decisions that were best made by the individuals concerned and military commanders based on an assessment of what was in the interests of the security of the individuals concerned and the wider security of our armed forces.
Asked if the Prime Minister was quite happy to see if it could be done, the PMS said that he did not want to get into specific cases; the Prime Minister had made his position clear in relation to Prince Harry in recent days, but these were decisions that should be taken by the military.
Benefit System
Asked about the current benefits for couples, the PMS replied that the current benefit system supported children in poverty by providing incentives for people to get back into work. It was the Prime Minister’s view that the benefit system was there to help ensure that the poorest and most vulnerable people in society got the help they needed.
Asked if that was happening, the PMS replied that, in the Prime Minister’s view, that was happening, but of course we needed to continue to do more and that was why he was talking about the need to go further on addressing child poverty in his speech at the weekend.
EU Referendum
Asked for the Prime Minister’s thoughts on the issue of an EU referendum, the PMS said that the Government’s position on that was well known and had not changed. This was not a Constitution; all 27 leaders agreed that the Constitutional concept was abandoned.
Second Home Tax
Asked about second home tax, the PMS replied that that was a matter for the Treasury to consider as part of the Budget. However, they had made their position quite clear.
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