Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Northern Ireland, Trident, Police Inquiry
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister had any views on the comments made by Peter Mandelson on Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that as was made clear on the Today programme, the peace process was about balancing risks. It was about trying to bring both sides along. The ultimate test is whether you succeed in that process or not. He added that in Peter Mandelson’s time as Secretary of State we both achieved devolution and stood devolution down again. Looking back what it was all about was bringing all sides along to where we are now. Where we are now is that we have had an election in which the very clear message on the doorstep was that the public want their politicians to get on with it and deal with domestic Northern Ireland matters.
Trident
Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting Labour MPs today to urge them to vote for Trident, the PMOS said he was not aware of any plans at this stage. Asked if the Prime Minister would be taking part in the vote, the PMOS said he was sure the Prime Minister would, but he would check. He added that the basic argument on Trident remained essentially as that set out originally. You have to make a decision now because of the long lead times involved and because of the need to tell industry what your intentions are. If you don’t do so then you are de facto making a decision not to replace Trident. That was the hard reality. That is why we need to make the decision this year.
Put to him that people such as Mikhail Gorbachev and Neil Kinnock were bemused as the rush for a decision and that no one else had said that a decision needs to be taken this year, the PMOS said that if the reporter looked at the time it takes to develop with industry, the plans to build a replacement, then that is what it is calculated on. The people we have to listen to are those actually who would be bidding to build Trident and they need the seventeen years to get from concept to reality.
Put to him that there was only one ship builder who could do this and that was BAE Systems and it was in their interests to advise the Governemnt that it needed to be done ASAP, the PMOS said equally if a decsion was delayed you are effectively deciding that you’re not going to build Trident and you’re not going to build Trident in this country. Therefore you have to ask yourself the question, do you want to out yourself in that position. Given the international context, and given the need to send a signal to the industry that is why you have to make a decision now. You cannot run away from the choice.
Asked abnout the Secretary of State for Defence’s remarks about extending the life of Trident rather than replacing it, the PMOS said that you can only extend the life of the existing fleet by a certain degree and that was taken into account when the calucataions were being made. The experience with previous systems is that in the last couple of years of any system they become unreliable. You cannot afford that as a country because you do not know the international context in which that would be happening.
Asked what sort of whipping there would be tomorrow, would there be a three line whip for members of the Government, the PMOS said that he was not aware of the precise whipping plans but he would get back to the reporter.
Asked if the Prime Minister had been made aware of any further Ministerial resignations, the PMOS said he was not aware of any. Asked if there was any information regarding the replacement for Mr. Griffiths, the PMOS said he was not aware at this stage.
Police Inquiry
No.
Asked if there was any comment regarding the lifting of the injunction by the judge yesterday in the cash for honours inquiry, the PMOS said that firstly the reporter must remember that the injunction was not sought by No.10 but by the police and it involved the police and the Attorney General. Secondly what was said about inaccurate reports still stood because the original reports suggested that there was an email and that email was to named individuals. It was neither sent nor received. So what was said previous still stood on the record.
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