Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade and Iraq
200th Anniversary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade
Asked why the House of Commons was to debate the 200th anniversary of the abolition of slavery, since this was not a legislative matter, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that it was a matter that was of deep interest to a large section of the population of this country. Therefore it was right and proper that the Prime Minister had expressed his regret on the issue, and that it was part of the debate this year of all years. It would be inappropriate not to recognise that. Asked if someone had been found to speak for slavery, the PMOS replied this was a superficial point. Many people in this country felt very deeply about slavery and therefore it was important to recognise that, and important that we did not reduce it to simplicity.
Iraq
Asked if the Prime Minister would be marking the fourth anniversary of the war in Iraq with a statement or comment, given that the President of the United States had made a statement, the PMOS replied that we were not planning anything in particular, but the Prime Minister had made his views on the current situation in Iraq remarkably clear. Taking the overall feed out of the opinion polls, the Sunday Times poll showed that 2 to 1 were in favour of the current regime rather than under Saddam; 2/3 of the Iraqi public had confidence in the Iraqi police and army (from USA Today/ABC/BBC poll); 56% did not think it was a civil war; and 94% did not want the country divided along ethnic lines (BBC poll). Whilst everyone recognised the difficulties, equally people should be clear about the underlying Iraqi sentiment.
Asked when the Prime Minister changed the objective of the war to regime change, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister had not changed the objectives of the war. As we had said at the time, and as the four inquiries since had underlined, we acted in good faith in terms of the international consensus, including the UN, that Iraq did possess weapons of mass destruction.
Put to him that the Prime Minister repeatedly said in his interview with Sky News that he was right to do it because Saddam was replaced, as if that was the objective, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister said that we believed at the time that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and he has no regrets about replacing Saddam. These were two separate things.
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