Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Olympic torch, income tax and Zimbabwe
Olympic Torch
Asked whether the Prime Minister shared the concerns of the IOC President over the interruptions to the Olympic torch relay, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) told the assembled press that the Prime Minister was asked a question on this subject this morning in his press conference with Kevin Rudd. As the Prime Minister had said, he wanted to and did pay tribute to the police for the way they had managed the event yesterday. In relation to the protests that we had seen yesterday, this was a democratic country, people in this country were perfectly entitled to express their democratic right to protest, as long as they abided by the law. The vast majority of the protests were peaceful and law-abiding.
Asked under whose authority the Chinese security were operating, the PMS said that it was his understanding that these were the torchbearers; the MET police were responsible for security yesterday. Asked if the Prime Minister had made a conscious decision not to touch the torch, the PMS replied that it was never the case that the Prime Minister was going to be a torchbearer and the arrangements yesterday were exactly as they had always been planned.
Asked whether the Prime Minister was concerned about the behaviour of the Chinese security, the PMS replied that it was the MET Police that were responsible for managing the security for yesterday’s event,
Income Tax
Put that David Cameron had vowed to challenge the abolishment of the 10p income tax band, the PMS said that it was not for him to respond specifically to David Cameron. More generally, it was the Prime Minister’s view that we set a stable course by going ahead with the Government’s policy to cut the basic rate of income tax by 2p in the pound to 20%; that we go ahead with our proposals in last year’s Budget and this year’s Budget, to raise child benefit and Child Tax Credits; that we went ahead with proposals to raise the pensioner tax allowance that was also an integral part of last year’s Budget as well as widening the Working Tax Credit.
Asked for a comment on the Select Committee report, the PMS said that the Treasury had been responding to that yesterday. As we had made repeatedly clear with regard to the 10p rate, the reform we made to the 10p rate was an integral part of last year’s Budget; that Budget included a reduction by 2% of the basic rate of income tax from 22% to 20%, which would benefit millions of people.
Asked whether the Prime Minister was satisfied with the take-up rates for tax credits, the PMS replied that the Government always wanted to ensure that those people entitled to tax credits and benefits received them. The Treasury and HMRC had been conducting intensive work in recent months and years in order to publicise the availability of the working tax credit and to ensure as many people as possible that were entitled to it, claimed it.
Put that people had been expecting changes around the edges, the PMS reiterated that this was a coherent package of reforms that resulted in a simplification and reform of the tax system, at the core of which was a 2% reduction on the basic rate of income tax, increases in pensioner tax allowances and an increase in tax credits to channel some of the money back to the lowest paid.
Asked if there was anything planned to help childless couples, the PMS said that these were matters that got addressed in the usual way by the Chancellor in the pre-Budget report and the Budget. A significant amount had been done to help both childless people and people with children, through the significant expansion in support for these groups since 1997.
Asked whether the Whips were worried about the issue and whether the Prime Minister would be meeting with MPs himself, the PMS said that the Prime Minister kept in touch with his parliamentary colleagues and others all the time. This was a normal part of him undertaking his responsibilities. As and when the Prime Minister got asked about the subject, he would be more than happy to explain the Government’s position.
Zimbabwe
Asked if there had been any change to the situation in Zimbabwe, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had been talking about this at his press conference this morning, so the PMS referred people to the language that he used there. The Prime Minister had made two main points; first, that it was now over a week since the elections were held and we still had not seen the full publication of the election results and that was clearly a matter of concern. Secondly, if the election did go to a second round and obviously this was a matter to be resolved by the relevant authorities within Zimbabwe, it must be held in a way that gave far greater respect to electoral standards, including a role for the Southern African Development Community.
Asked if the Prime Minister was happy with Thabo Mbeki’s comments on the situation, the PMS said the Prime Minister had had a two hour meeting with Thabo Mbeki yesterday and had been speaking to other African leaders in recent days and over the past week, including President Kuffour of Ghana, President Museveni of Uganda and Kofi Annan as well as Thabo Mbeki.
There would be continued discussions between both the Prime Minister and African leaders in the period ahead and between the African leaders themselves.
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