Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Cabinet, Prince Harry, Congressional Gold Medal, Peter Clarke/Leak, Crime Statistics/Mobile Phone crime, Cabinet Secretaries’ Histories, Anniversaries, Organ removal and Gangmasters
Cabinet
Asked what had been discussed at Cabinet today, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that Alistair Darling gave an overview of energy in the lead up to the Energy White Paper. John Reid had outlined the crime statistics.
Asked if the Deputy Prime Minister had said anything of a valedictory nature today, as he was potentially chairing his last Cabinet, the PMOS said that if he was to comment on the question, it would take him into all sorts of assumptions. The factual position, therefore, was: no.
Prince Harry
Asked whether the Prime Minister had any views on Prince Harry leaving the Army, the PMOS said that when the Prime Minister was asked about it this morning, he said that it was a matter for the Army.
Congressional Gold Medal
Asked why the Prime Minister had not yet picked up his Congressional Gold Medal, the PMOS said that as the Prime Minister had made clear before, he was very honoured to have been awarded this medal. However, there had been more pressing matters, and he would pick it up at the appropriate time.
Peter Clarke/Leak
Put that there were now claims in the media of indications about the leak and where it came from, did the Prime Minister still think that it was not right to have an inquiry into it, the PMOS said that the journalists must have seen more evidence that he had. What was important was as the Prime Minister had said at PMQs yesterday, if people had evidence, then they should come forward.
Crime Statistics/Mobile Phone crime
Asked if the Prime Minister was disappointed in the crime figures, as they showed a big increase in robbery, the PMOS replied that people should keep things in context. Crime overall was down by 35% since 1997, and today’s figures showed a reduction in recorded violent crime, a 10% reduction of violent offences with injury and a 16% fall in firearms offences. In terms of robbery, the PMOS said that again, robbery had gone down over the past five years by a fifth, but clearly, there was still more work to do. Mobile phones were still involved in over 50% of street robberies and that was why we had published regional action plans as well as working with the mobile phone industry to ensure over 80% of stolen phones were now blocked within 48 hours. John Reid had indicated at Cabinet this morning that we were working with the industry on iPhones to try and make sure that the same action was taken on those as they came in. The PMOS said that as the technology changed, so did the challenges, so we had to be nimble in our response, which we were trying to be.
Asked further about the iPhone, the PMOS explained that it was a combination of an iPod and an iPhone, but asked the lobby not to press him further since that was the limit of his, somewhat limited, technical knowledge!
Cabinet Secretaries’ Histories
Asked for information about the written histories of Cabinet Secretaries and the Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC), the PMOS replied that there were a series of official histories, and this commission would take its place in that rich tradition of histories. The official history programme was intended to provide authoritative histories of events in British history, be a reliable source for historians and be a source of experience for future Government use. The PMOS said that Ian Beasley was writing the official history of the Cabinet Secretaries and Dr. Michael Goodman was writing the official history of the JIC.
Asked what the timeline was, the PMS said that the history of the JIC would be from the JIC’s origins in 1936 to at least the end of the Cold War. With regards to the Cabinet Secretaries’ histories, they would explore changes in their roles, with special reference to 1945 to 2002.
Anniversaries
Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to mark personally the 300th anniversary of the Union, and also, did he have any plans to mark the 10th anniversary of being in office next week, the PMOS replied that he was not aware of plans for either.
Organ removal
Asked about the practice of the removal of organs, such as seen at Sellafield and other places, and the following announcement about an inquiry, the PMOS replied that when Alistair Darling had announced that there was going to be an inquiry, he said that it would go where evidence would lead it. Therefore, it was right and proper that they looked at other sites apart from Sellafield as well. The PMOS said that people should speak to the DTI for more details.
Gangmasters
Asked about the BBC allegations regarding the gangmasters and given that Jim Fitzpatrick had said that he was concerned about them, what action would be taken, the PMOS said that first of all, we had to consider the evidence from the BBC investigation. If the evidence suggested that there was a problem, then certainly, it would be investigated very seriously.
Put that there was also a campaign on this and a rally in Trafalgar Square, arguing for people who had been here for some time to be legalised, was the Government sympathetic towards it all, the PMOS replied that we had set out our policy on migration. That policy was that we recognised the benefits of migration, but it had to be migration that brought the necessary skills to our economy. That was why we had introduced the points system for those outside the EU, and that was the basis on which we needed to go forward.
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