Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Police Inquiry, Arts Speech, Arts Speech, Ethiopia Kidnap, House of Lords Reform, Northern Ireland and BBC Documentary
Police Inquiry
Put to him that earlier today he had denied leaking details of the email, which the CPS had also denied, however Scotland Yard had not commented, and did he think they should, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that it was a matter for the police.
Arts Speech
Asked for more detail on the Prime Minister’s arts speech, the PMOS replied that it was a speech on the arts and would follow the seminar held by the Prime Minister last week on the same subject. This was one of the Prime Minister’s "Our Nation’s Future" speeches.
Asked that despite being one of the "Our Nation’s Future" speeches, would this speech be focusing on the arts, the PMOS replied that it would. Just as the Prime Minister had made speeches on welfare reform, defence, and foreign policy, so this was an overview speech that would look at the place of the arts in society in general.
Asked if we had said how many "Our Nation’s Future" speeches there would be, the PMOS replied that we had not.
Asked why the arts was chosen as a subject for the speech, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister believed that the arts was an important part of our culture, reflected the diversity of our society, and was something that was undergoing a transformation. It, genuinely, was one of the treasures of this nation, but was one that had to keep developing, and Government support for the arts had to keep pace with that development.
Ethiopia Kidnap
Asked for clarification on the Ambassador’s call for a "restraint" in the media, the PMOS replied that the UK Ambassador in Addis Ababa had said that this was time for media restraint, and we would support that. Any speculation could only be harmful to those we all wanted to help. The Foreign & Commonwealth Office were in the lead on this, and we would say nothing more than they were saying.
Asked if the Prime Minister was being briefed on the issue, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister was being kept fully informed, and had been from the beginning. People should not read anything into that, this was a situation where it was best that the FCO stay in the lead and we would be saying nothing.
House of Lords Reform
Asked if he could tell Lobby precisely how the Prime Minister would vote on Lords reform on Wednesday, the PMOS replied that he could not.
Asked if he would signal at any stage before the vote which way the Prime Minister would be voting, the PMOS replied that the journalist should ask him again on Wednesday morning.
Asked if the Prime Minister would vote, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister would be voting.
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister would be visiting Northern Ireland towards the end of the month, the PMOS replied that there was an election on Wednesday, the results would come out on Thursday and Friday, and it was best to wait until Friday teatime. But it had been a very interesting election campaign.
BBC Documentary
Asked to comment on the BBC documentary to be screened tomorrow, and the allegation that the Prime Minister offered to hand the premiership to Gordon Brown in the second term if he agreed to adopt the Euro, the PMOS replied that the BBC could do its own publicity and did not need us to do it for them.
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