Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Ethiopian kidnapping, Civil Service, Northern Ireland, Nurses’ Pay, Trident
Downing Street press briefings explained
Ethiopian Kidnap
Asked if there was any further update on the kidnapping situation in Ethiopia, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that clearly the Prime Minister welcomed the release of the hostages and thanked both the Ethiopian and Eritrain Governments. The Prime Minister also recognised and thanked the efforts by the FCO, both in the UK and on the ground for securing the release.
Asked if any ransom had been paid, the PMOS replied that he was not aware of any of the details, but people should instead speak to the FCO.
Civil Service
Put that Sir Alistair Graham had written to Sir Gus O’Donnell regarding replacements, the PMOS replied that people should note, as indeed Sir Alistair Graham had done, that it was not custom nor practice to have anybody serve 2 terms in this post. Therefore, there was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of this position. With regarding the timings of replacements, that was a matter for Sir Gus O’Donnell and for the system to get on with.
Put that in the weekend papers, there were stories that we were going to merge lots of "watchdoggery bodies" together, the PMOS said that he was not aware of the collective adjective "watchdoggery", but it was one that we should note, and it could even gain some currency! The PMOS added that people should wait and see what happened, as he was not aware of any immediate plans to do so.
Northern Ireland
Asked whether the Prime Minister would be meeting Ian Paisley this week, and what way might any meeting go, the PMOS replied that we had to see what the parties’ assessment was after the dust had settled on the election result. What nobody had seriously questioned was that the message of the election was that the people of Northern Ireland wanted their politicians to get on with it, and deal with domestic issues such as water rates, health, education and domestic rates. The expectation of the people was that they would do so by 26th March. What we waited to see was the response of Dr. Paisley and others, but Dr. Paisley had said today that he was making "good progress" in terms of moving towards devolution, and that was encouraging.
Northern Ireland Economy
Put by the Guardian that he understood that the Ian Paisley was going to see the Chancellor, and that he also understood that there was a tradition that the PMOS did not discuss tax policy, but were there any further thoughts about corporation tax, the PMOS replied that he would keep to the convention, and instead, let the meeting take place and then respond to it. The PMOS said that he wanted to mark a considerable sign of progress in then process of lobby engagement that the journalist had acknowledged that convention!
Nurses’ Pay
Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it was a good thing for the NHS that nurses in Scotland were paid more than nurses in England, the PMOS replied that that was a matter for the employers. What people had to recognise was that there had been significant increases in nurses’ salaries, but also, in terms of the overall thresholds of what they could earn during their career. There was also a considerable reduction in the demarcation areas so that nurses could do much more in their careers, whether in England or in Scotland. The PMOS said that that was significant progress in terms of both what nurses could achieve in their careers, but also, what they were paid in reality. If people looked at the average salary of a nurse now, it was around £32,000, with a top level near £60,000. Therefore, that was a significant improvement on where things were as recently as 5 years ago.
Put that that still raised an anomaly with nurses in Gordon Brown’s constituency who would receive a pay-rise that he was denying those in England, the PMOS said that devolution was a reality and it did give the devolved bodies the power to decide matters in their own area. Equally, devolved bodies had to live within their means.
Put to the PMOS that the Prime Minister could say to the nurses that he had already raised their salaries by a certain amount, but there was nothing he could do about Scotland, the PMOS replied that the reality was that there had been significant increases in nurses’ pay, as well as what they could achieve during their careers. That should therefore be acknowledged.
Asked if there were therefore no longer national pay scales, the PMOS said that that question was better directed to the Department of Health. However, the basic reality was that nurses were being paid significantly more than they had been.
Put that basic reality showed that there was a two-tier system and that the Government was happy with that, the PMOS said that he disagreed. The basic fact was that nurses in England were receiving much more in their pay packet than they were 5 years ago.
Put again by the Daily Telegraph that that still did not address the basic fact that the Government had no objection to a two-tier system, the PMOS said that there was devolution that did give the administration in Scotland power over certain areas. Equally, we had the fact that there was significant improvement in nurses’ pay, and unless people acknowledged that, they were not seeing the true picture.
Asked if the PMOS was saying that there had been significant improvement in nurses’ pay in England or throughout the UK, the PMOS said that nurses UK-wide had had significant improvements in their pay. What Scotland did was a matter for them.
Asked further about the differences between Scottish and English nurses, the PMOS replied that the reality of devolution was that in the area where Scotland had powers, it had to ability to exercise those powers.
Trident
Asked if the Prime Minister was planning to meet any MPs, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any plans to do so. The Prime Minister had set out the argument, the basic reason for the decision, and why it had to be taken this year.
Asked if we were expecting a lot of resignation statements before the debate got under way, the PMOS replied that he refused to speculate.
Asked if the Prime Minister would attend the debate, the PMOS replied that we would have to see how the day went.
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