Morning press briefing from 28 March 2008
Briefing from the Prime Minister's Spokesman on: Heathrow, Basra, Mortgages and Misc
Heathrow
Asked if the Prime Minister had a view regarding what happened at Heathrow's Terminal 5 yesterday, the Prime Minister's Spokesman (PMS) said that these were all matters for BA and BAA.
Asked if the Transport Secretary was getting involved, the PMS replied that it was best to speak to the Department of Transport about that.
Basra
Asked for the Prime Minister's view on the current situation in Basra, the PMS replied that our general position on what was happening in Basra was that this was a deployment by Iraqi security forces; the fact that the Iraqi security forces were able to engage in this way in Basra was a recognition of the training and support that they had been given in recent years. They were now in a position to take on a greater degree of responsibility for their own security.
Asked if the Government was confident that the troops were still willing and able to support the Iraqi troops, the PMS replied that we had provided air support and other specialist support including medical care at our field hospital, but it was not really appropriate to comment on operational matters.
Asked if the argument against having an inquiry was that it would be a distraction, the PMS said that that was correct.
Mortgages
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that some mortgage lenders were now withdrawing mortgages, the PMS replied that what was happening at the moment in the mortgage market was a reflection of the global financial situation; this was something that was affecting all countries around the world. The Prime Minister understood the concerns of mortgage holders at this time as a result of the difficult global financial conditions that we faced. Over the past couple of years we had taken some quite tough and not very popular action, in relation for example to public sector pay, in order to keep inflation under control. Inflation remained close to its target and that meant that the Bank of England had been able to cut interest rates several times in recent months.
Put that the markets were not responding, the PMS said that the Bank of England had been able to cut the base rate and that that partly reflected the fact that wage inflation had remained subdued, particularly in the public sector. Mortgage markets were affected by global financial conditions and what we were seeing at the moment was considerable uncertainty in global financial markets.
Asked if the Prime Minister was a mortgage holder, the PMS replied that it was not usual to comment on the Prime Minister's individual financial arrangements.
Put that the Chancellor had a mortgage with Northern Rock, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister understood the concerns that mortgage holders had at the moment as a result of the difficult circumstances in the global financial markets.
Misc
Asked for the Prime Minister's thoughts regarding Alex Salmond's multi-option referendum idea, the PMS replied that he would not comment on specific proposals or ideas from Alex Salmond. In general the Prime Minister's position on the Union, the importance of the Union and the support of the Union, both in England and north of the border, had been set out very clearly in his article in the Telegraph earlier in the week.
Put that there was a new British Ambassador to Moscow and asked if this meant that Britain was looking for a fresh start regarding relations with Russia, the PMS replied that in general we wanted to have a constructive relationship with Russia; as we had always made clear, that had been our position for some time and that remained our position. It was not about individuals, it was about the commonality of interests that we shared, particularly on the economic side.
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