Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Uganda, storms, Scotland, Europe, cost of military operations, NATO summit and budget
Uganda
Asked what was discussed at the Prime Minister’s meeting with the President of Uganda earlier today, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS), replied that they discussed the situation in Kenya, the situation in Darfur, obviously regional issues for Uganda, they also discussed the Prime Minister’s speech on international institutions and had a general discussion about development and Africa issues.
Storms
Asked if it was right that the Prime Minister had been to two COBRA meetings on the weather, the PMS replied that it was his understanding that the Prime Minister participated in a conference call of COBRA yesterday afternoon.
Scotland
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Alex Salmond that the £400million Council Tax benefit that goes to Scotland was part and parcel of Scotland’s funding, the PMS replied that he would have to check the detail on that point.
Europe
Asked about the discussion between the Prime Minister and Peter Mandelson, and Peter Mandelson now staying in Brussels, the PMS replied that journalists would not expect us to comment on the Prime Minister’s private conversations. Regarding the issue of the next Commissioner, it was still very early days.
Asked if the Prime Minister was disappointed that other people had been talking about his private conversations, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister accepted that this was an inevitable fact of being Prime Minister.
Put that he had briefed on their meeting at the time, during the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Brussels, the PMS replied that we had said in general terms that they had had a discussion about world trade issues and other European issues.
Asked to describe relations between Mr Brown and Mr Mandelson, the PMS replied that he thought that they had a constructive meeting when they met in Brussels, and they spoke regularly as people would expect the British Prime Minister and the British European Commissioner to do.
Asked if the Prime Minister thought Peter Mandelson was doing a good job, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had no difficulty with the job that Peter Mandelson was doing. The Prime Minister would be quite comfortable for him to say that he thought Mr Mandelson was doing a good job.
Asked what the Prime Minister hoped to get out of this week’s European meeting, the PMS replied that it was a little early in the week for that, but this was the spring council meeting where they normally talked about economic reform and economic issues, so a lot of the focus would be around the economy and the next steps to reform and strengthen the European economy.
Cost of Military Operations
Asked what the Prime Minister would say to the contention that operations in Iraq were bleeding resources and leading to overstretched and under-equipped troops in Afghanistan, the PMS replied that operational expenses were always funded on top of the MoD settlement. So the MoD receive their normal settlement in the normal way, and then they get operational costs met in addition to that, so there was not a pound for pound trade off.
NATO Summit
Asked what the Prime Minister hoped to get out of the forthcoming NATO summit, and would it be another opportunity to ask NATO to contribute more troops to Afghanistan, the PMS replied that it was a bit early for this as the meeting was several weeks away. But he was sure that subject would come up among a number of other issues.
Budget
Asked about energy companies and windfall tax, and was this now completely off the agenda with proposals for pre-pay meters, the PMS replied that these were budget matters, so it was best to speak to the Treasury on that, but the Treasury had been making the position reasonably clear.
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