Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: 2018 World Cup, Road pricing, Merkel meeting, Cannabis use, Iran, Afghanistan, Flexible working, Counter terrorism, Police inquiry and Avian flu
2018 World Cup
Asked whether there were any reservations in bidding for the 2018 World Cup given that the possible cost to host the 2012 Olympics could rise to £8billion, the PMOS replied that regarding the Olympic bid, we should wait until we had the facts on costs, as discussions were currently being held on this. Secondly, it was important that we put ourselves in a position to competitively bid for the 2018 World Cup and to host future major sporting events. We were keen to support the FA if they decided to bid to host the World Cup.
Road Pricing
Asked if he still thought that e-petitions were a good idea, and what numbers would have to be reached before Government put its hand up and retreated, the PMOS replied that it was always a good idea when there was a lively political debate. We had always recognised that there was a lively debate around transport as it was an issue that directly affected people’s lives. Therefore, the livelier the debate, the better. But the debate in itself would not produce a solution. The crucial point about this issue was that doing nothing was not an option. Congestion would get worse and worse if we did nothing. Therefore this was a debate that we needed to have. We had to be clear about the terms of the debate, as it was not about immediately stepping to a national pricing scheme. It was about setting up pilot schemes to find out the facts, and then to learn from these experiences, and then decide where we go. In that process we would not only educate ourselves in Government about how to deal with the issue of congestion, we would also hopefully educate the public as well. We recognised, and Douglas Alexander had recognised this from the start, that we needed to convince people with evidence, not just rhetoric. The way to find out the evidence was to have precisely the pilot schemes that we were having.
Put to him that we could not just ignore this petition if it got to 2 or 3 million names, the PMOS replied that it was not a matter of numbers. As had been said before, we needed to recognise and address these strong feelings and we needed to convince people. But that in itself did not equal a policy. We had to come up with a policy, and then convince people of the merits of that policy. The way to do that was to base our argument on facts and experiences, and the way to get those was to have pilot schemes.
Put to him that people might have thought that by setting up a system of e-petitioning on our website, it would be a matter of numbers, the PMOS replied that petitions had always been a part of how we operated in Downing Street. All we had done was change the format. This was not a new concept. Petitions were a way of measuring how strong people felt about an issue, but the onus was also on people to produce positive alternatives, and then to debate those alternatives. That was what political debate was about.
Asked if he agreed with a Department of Transport official, who said at a seminar last week that the important thing was that 50 million people had not signed the petition, the PMOS replied that this was of course factually correct, but he would not necessarily put his full weight behind that argument. The argument was how do you set out to try and establish the experience and facts with which you could then move forward. The pilot schemes were precisely the way of doing that.
Merkel Meeting
Asked for some more information about the Prime Minister’s meeting with Chancellor Merkel on Tuesday, the PMOS replied that we supported Germany’s agenda for the EU Presidency and the G8 and the talks would concentrate on the following areas:
- In terms of climate change, we needed to work towards an agreement with the G8+5 on the elements of a post-Kyoto framework including a global stabilisation goal, and carbon trading system. This should be a framework that included not just the US, but also China and India.
- Secondly, we needed to try and push forward the Middle East peace process and work out how the EU could take the lead in building Palestinian capacity. When the Prime Minister went to the Middle East before Christmas, he had identified building Palestinian capacity as one of the main things that we needed to do, and we needed to work with President Abbas to achieve this.
- Thirdly we were now at a critical stage in terms of getting WTO agreement, and we need to push that forward, not just with the EU, but also the US, and the developing countries as well.
- And finally on Africa, we needed to make sure the Gleneagles promises were delivered, and also increasing the pressure on President Bashir of Sudan to end the violence in Darfur.
Asked if they would be discussing the European Constitution, the PMOS replied that the Constitution would not be the main focus of the EU Summit in March, and the issue surrounding the Constitution would be discussed later in the year.
Asked if they had a view on support for the new Palestinian Government, the PMOS replied that this was an issue that would also be discussed at the GAERC today. The important thing here was that we had been clear all along that we were prepared to deal with the National Unity Government, so long as that Government did recognise the Quartet principles and previous agreements, and was committed to non-violence. Those were the principles that were laid down, not by any one individual country, but by the United Nations and the international community as a whole. We believed that this was the basis on which to proceed. Put to him that on that basis we wouldn’t recognise the National Unity Government as they did not recognise Israel, the PMOS replied that we would wait to see where we ended up when a National Unity Government was formed and on what basis it was formed.
Cannabis Use
Asked if the Prime Minister thought that cannabis use was a bar to becoming Prime Minister, the PMOS replied that the journalist was trying to invite him, not very subtly, into political debate. He may have lost his voice at Croke Park yesterday, but he had not entirely lost his mind.
Iran
Asked if Downing Street supported the American analysis regarding Iran and its attempts to destabilise Iraq, and was this the reason the Prime Minister had repeatedly warned that there was evidence of Iranian weapons in Iraq, the PMOS replied that going back to the Prime Minister’s press conference held after the EU informal summit at Hampton Court in October 2005, the Prime Minister had spoken for the first time about our concerns about particular types of IED technology and weaponry that was coming in from Iran. Those concerns had not gone away at all. We certainly believed that if the Iranian Government wanted to address those concerns then it could, but we did not see any signs of that it did.
Pointed to the last reply and asked what we were going to do about Iran’s failure to address our concerns, the PMOS replied that we continued to make our case. The Prime Minister had been at the cutting edge of identifying this problem, and would continue to say what was factually the case, that we kept finding weaponry that we did not believe to be sourced from anywhere else.
Afghanistan
Put to him that President Karzai gave an interview over the weekend in which he said the UK needed to get off the fence and get tough with Pakistan about insurgency within Afghanistan, the PMOS that in the course of the Prime Minister’s discussions with President Musharraf when he last visited and in their regular contacts, they had talked about the need to counter terrorism on both sides of the border. The Pakistani Government had made inroads into terrorism on its side of the border, but we obviously encouraged them to do more.
Put to him that the United States seemed to be saying over the weekend that the only way to stop the Taliban from coming in from Pakistan to Afghanistan would be to fire at them across the border, and would this be discussed at President Karzai’s meeting with the Prime Minister later in the week, the PMOS replied that in terms of discussions, it would be a matter raised with the President.
Flexible Working
Asked if the Prime Minister thought that flexible working should be extended to all workers, the PMOS replied that this was an issue where the Government had been at the forefront in terms of helping the development of flexible working. Again this needed to be something that we worked with employers and others on. There was a debate to be had here, so lets have the debate.
Counter Terrorism
Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied that the Home Office did not leak sensitive details of the Birmingham terror raids, the PMOS replied that John Reid had made this absolutely clear. His words spoke for themselves. Asked that if this was not the case, then where did the leaks come from, the PMOS replied that he had long since given up speculating as to who planted such stories. Asked if he believed that the police had leaked the stories, the PMOS again replied that he had long since given up speculating.
Put to him that there had been inquiries in the past into leaks about much less important matters than counter terrorism, the PMOS replied that he suspected the main priority at the moment was to complete an investigation into very serious allegations. He did not want to say anything that would in any way jeopardise that. He would simply point to the fact that the Home Secretary and the Attorney General, on the day of the raids, issued a joint statement appealing for people not to speculate in case it had an impact on the investigation and any subsequent legal proceedings.
Police Inquiry
Asked if the police had been in contact with the Prime Minister or his office, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister was in Chequers and he was not aware of any contact.
Avian Flu
As no question had been asked, the PMOS let Lobby know that David Miliband would be holding a meeting this afternoon with senior officials, veterinary representatives, and representatives of the agencies. Priority number one would be to go over the process of how we had so far contained the disease. Secondly, to find out how the investigation was going into the root causes of the outbreak. And thirdly to liaise about the protection of public health, precisely the role that the Food Standards Agency was set up to achieve.
Asked for a comment on how he thought the Bird Flu crisis had been handled, and whether information was put out into the public domain quickly enough, the PMOS replied that we should deal with the facts, not the speculation. The facts were that in terms of containment, so far, the disease had been contained. Nobody took anything for granted, but so far this had been the case. Secondly, there was now an investigation going on into the root causes. Thirdly, the Government was being led solely by the scientific evidence and scientific advice.
Asked to be more specific about who the Environment Secretary was meeting this afternoon, the PMOS replied that it was people from the Health Protection Agencies, the Veterinary Service and his officials. The department could fill in on the detail.
Asked if COBRAs were still being held on Bird Flu, the PMOS replied that he was not aware of any COBRA meetings.
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