Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: President Sarkozy, Iraq, The Union, Embryology and Armed Forces Recruitment
President Sarkozy
Asked what the main issues would be on the agenda for the Prime Minister’s meeting with President Sarkozy on Thursday, and would there be a joint deal on nuclear technology, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that they would discuss a wide range of issues including the economy and reform of the international institutions - an issue that they had spoken about at length in the past and which the Prime Minister had spoken about most recently in his speech in India a couple of months ago. No doubt they would discuss a range of live European issues, and other issues such as energy and energy security. On the question of a specific deal on nuclear technology, it was best to wait for the Summit - but the general issues around energy and energy security were likely to come up.
Asked if immigration would be discussed, the PMS replied that he was sure that immigration would come up as well as we were very close neighbours.
Asked if NATO would be discussed, the PMS replied that he was sure all of these issues would come up.
Asked if Sarah Brown would be doing anything with Carla Bruni, the PMS replied that there was a separate event involving Sarah Brown and Carla Bruni on Thursday.
Asked if there was anything in the schedule to enable the two leaders to watch the France v England game, the PMS replied that unfortunately he thought that the match would coincide with the state banquet on the Wednesday evening.
Iraq
Asked if there was any discussion at Cabinet of troops withdrawals from Iraq or a possible inquiry, the PMS replied that this did not come up at Cabinet today.
The Union
Asked if the Prime Minister thought there was a serious threat to the Union, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister’s views on the Union were set out in his article in the Daily Telegraph today, where he did say that there were secessionist forces that were threatening the Union, and therefore those who believed in the merits of the Union should state their case - that was what he was doing quite forcefully in the Telegraph this morning.
Embryology
Asked if the Prime Minister was any closer to making up his mind on embryology, the PMS replied that the situation on embryology, as we had always made clear, was that it was the Government’s view that it was necessary to update the legislation on human fertilisation and embryology. This was an important Bill, and was a key part of the Queen’s Speech. Stem cell and other related research had made a huge difference to the lives of many people in this country, and would do in the future. The Prime Minister had also made clear that where individual MPs had an issue of conscience with particular clauses in the Bill, then that was something that would need to be resolved with the Whips. But it was important to make the distinction between the Bill as a whole, which was a wide-ranging Bill including a number of important clauses which for example reform and modernise the regulatory framework for embryology research, and from the treatment of specific individual clauses where as the Prime Minister has said, people who had conscious issues did need to have an opportunity to express those.
Asked what the Prime Minister’s reaction was to the statements of Cardinal Keith O’Brien, and did he regard them as helpful, the PMS replied that these were controversial matters, there was obviously differences of opinion on this, and people had deeply held views on these matters, but there were people with deeply held views who take a different position from the position that had been expressed by some people over the weekend. That was why it was important that we had a debate on this and heard from both sides of the argument.
Asked if there was a difference between Cabinet collective responsibility and individuals going to the Whips and over issues of conscience, the PMS replied that it was important to make a distinction between the Bill as a whole which was Government business that was in the Queen’s Speech, and individual clauses which may raise particular issues of conscience for specific individuals. In relation to individuals’ concerns about individual clauses, that was a matter as the Prime Minister had been saying that needed to be resolved with the Whips.
Asked if it was fair to say that the Prime Minister would be comfortable with members of his Cabinet on certain clauses voting against the Government or abstaining, the PMS replied that this was an issue that as you would expect, he was discussing with his Cabinet colleagues, he understood the concerns that people had, and he understood that we needed to find a resolution to this.
Asked if he believed that a resolution would be found, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister did believe that a resolution would be found.
Armed Forces Recruitment
Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with teachers’ calls for the Armed Forces to be kept out of schools, the PMS replied that the MoD had made clear that they did not recruit in schools. Single service schools teams visit about 1,000 schools a year between them, but only at the invitation of the school, and with the aim of raising the general awareness of the Armed Forces in society, not to recruit.
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