Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: House of Lords Reform, Junior Doctor Recruitment, Asylum and Immigration, Police Inquiry and Paul Corrigan
House of Lords Reform
Asked how the Prime Minister would be voting this afternoon, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that he would be deeply old fashioned and let the Prime Minister vote before informing the Lobby.
Junior Doctor Recruitment
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Lord Hunt on junior doctor recruitment problems, the PMOS replied that the Department had put out their response. The reason we introduced the modernising medical careers structure was because of widely held views that the previous arrangements could be improved upon. The Academy of Medical Royal Colleges and junior doctor groups were part of those discussions. It had now been agreed that we would review the first round and learn lessons to apply to the second round.
Asylum and Immigration
Asked if the Prime Minister would be happy to use the Home Secretary’s phrase that "foreigners were coming to Britain illegitimately to steal benefits and services", the PMOS replied that he had not seen the comments from the Home Secretary so would not comment on them directly. We had made clear that there was a process for assessing those who come to this country, and that process should be, and will be enforced. Equally those who did not abide by that process should leave the country.
Police Inquiry
Asked that given the amount of information that was now in the public domain, could he tell Lobby when Ruth Turner allegedly had this meeting with Lord Levy, the PMOS replied by quoting the Director of Public Prosecutions Ken McDonald who said on Radio 4 yesterday "It is very undesirable that there should be material broadcast in the press relating to the continuing police inquiry. We are all for openness, but while a police inquiry is going on it is very important that there is not public discussion of developments, and I think we should try to avoid that." This was precisely what we had been doing, and the developments of the past few days underlined that in the interests of everyone, including the media, perhaps we should all listen to what Ken McDonald said.
Put to him that Ruth Turner’s parents had told the Standard that she felt distressed and isolated as a result of what was happening, and was No10 confident that it was fulfilling its duty of care to one of its employees, the PMOS replied that he was not going to talk about personal comments about one individual. What he would say was that part of the reason for discouraging speculation surrounding this investigation was that, as some in the media had acknowledged, it resulted in partial accounts. This was unfair on individuals as it put them in an invidious position of not being able to correct these partial accounts. This was something that the media should think about, as well as those who were putting those partial accounts into the media.
Put to him that Ken McDonald’s point did not make any sense since the police routinely talked about ongoing investigations, they held press conferences, put witness and bereaved parents up, the PMOS replied that he was not was not aware that it was common practice to discuss evidence or the nature of an inquiry.
Asked if he had any indication from the police how long the inquiry would go on, and could it be until the end of April, the PMOS replied that we would not be giving a running commentary on how long the investigation would be going on for.
Asked if the Prime Minister was still in regular touch with Lord Levy, the PMOS replied that Lord Levy’s position remained unchanged. The Prime Minister had spoken quite openly about how he values Lord Levy’s role at the press conference in Ramallah.
Put to him that Lord Levy’s lawyers clearly feel that he has been hung out to dry, the PMOS replied that if the journalist looked at exactly what Lord Levy’s lawyers said, it was not about No10. Put to him that Lord Levy’s friends felt that he had been hung out to dry, the PMOS replied by pointing the journalist to his earlier comments about the unfair impact this had on individuals. He stressed again that Lord Levy’s role remains unchanged.
Asked the police question, the PMOS replied no.
Put to him that Lord Levy’s Rabbi said on Channel 4 News yesterday that the smear campaign against Lord Levy had a whiff of anti-semitism about it, the PMOS replied that he did not want to get drawn on what other people had said. He would simply repeat what Ken McDoanld had said yesterday that leaks of any kind in a police investigation were wrong, unhelpful and unfair.
Paul Corrigan
Asked if the Prime Minister regretted Paul Corrigan’s decision to leave, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister valued the fact the Paul Corrigan will still be there for some time.
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