Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq, Gun Summit, Michael Meacher, Pedantry and Police Inquiry
Iraq
Put to him that the Prime Minister had said yesterday in the House that there were signs that Syria might be able to cooperate over Iraq, and asked what these signs were, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that the Syrian Foreign Minister had been to Baghdad, and our envoy had also been to Damascus. We had always said that we would judge Syria on what it did, rather than what it said. Not just on Iraq, but on Lebanon as well.
Asked what guarantees there were that troops to be withdrawn from Iraq would not end up in Afghanistan shortly afterwards, the PMOS replied that it would be better to wait for the MoD announcement on troop deployments.
Gun Summit
Asked for more information on the Gun Summit, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary would be focusing on three main areas. One was policing and working with communities; the second was powers for the police and the courts; and thirdly prevention, helping local communities to address the problems themselves. We also wanted to learn lessons from Boston, USA and in particular Paul Evans would be attending, former Chief of Police of the city and now Head of the Home Office Police Standards Unit. On legislation, we would bring forward criminalising the act of passing a gun to a younger sibling, friend or girlfriend. This would still count as possession by the person who passes the gun on, so that people could not seek to evade responsibility for their crimes. This power was due to come in later this year, we were now bringing that forward. This was just one example, but it was important that we went through previous experiences and found a tactical way forward. We needed to be careful however that this was kept in context. As the Prime Minister had said, this was a particular problem in a particular community, and should not be read wider than that.
Put to him that last Sunday the Prime Minister had announced a review looking into the way minimum sentences were handed to young people, secondly there was a discussion on membership of criminal gangs, and the third element would now be to bring forward this piece of legislation, the PMOS replied that this was correct. The reason was that a gang member would often hand a gun on to a girlfriend or younger brother for example, so that they could not be prosecuted for possession of the gun. We were now going to make that a criminal act.
Asked if there had been any consultation with the Scottish Executive, the PMOS pointed the journalist to the Home Office.
Michael Meacher
Asked if the Prime Minister wished Michael Meacher well in his endeavours, the PMOS replied that the best thing for him to say was probably that Mr Meacher would get on with his life and we would get on with ours.
Pedantry
Putting himself forward for "Pedant of the Week" the Gallery News reporter asked whether in reply to yesterday’s question about Baroness Thatcher’s memorial statue, the PMOS had said that the Prime Minister had an audience "with" the Queen or "of" the Queen, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had an audience with the Queen. Put to him that it should be an audience "of" the Queen, the PMOS replied that the award was most definitely the reporter’s, but we would check the point.
Police Inquiry
Asked if there had been any contact from the police, the PMOS replied that there had been no contact between the Prime Minister and the police.
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