Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Prime Minister, Alexander Litvinenko, Operation Crevice Court Case, Northern Ireland , Memos and Dustbins
Prime Minister
Asked if any light could be cast on the timings of the Prime Minister’s announcement today that he will be making an announcement next week, was it something the Prime Minister had long planned to do today or was it a comment off the cuff, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said given the subject he would not classify it as an off the cuff comment but he could not really go beyond that. Next week begins Tuesday in Northern Ireland and that was as far as he would go.
Asked to clarify if what the Prime Minister had said this morning on television, the Prime Minister intended to announce his plans for departure next week, the PMOS said that that is what the man had said on the sofa and he was the man who knew. Put to him that it was thought that ’sofa government’ had been brought to an end, the PMOS said that unfortunately GMTV could not change their set.
Put to him that the Prime Minister could effectively make a Party announcement at this stage in Northern Ireland but it was thought that he’d prefer to keep that day clear, the PMOS said Northern Ireland will be a big day and everyone recognises that. Certainly in terms of our approach it has always been that we have wanted to mark the occasion, and mark the occasion appropriately, but also let people focus on the achievements of local politicians and not distract from that in any way.
Asked if the Prime Minister was marking the 10 year celebrations in any way, the PMOS said that what the Prime Minister had said on the television this morning still stood, and he understood there had been a party event.
Asked if there would be any champagne parties in Downing Street this evening, the PMOS said that if there were he had missed out on them.
Asked who was in charge of the Prime Minister’s leaving card and present, the PMOS said that he thought the reporter was getting ahead of himself.
Asked if there would be a Prime Ministerial news conference in May, the PMOS said that we were only just in May and there was plenty time yet.
Put to the PMOS that it was the Prime Minister’s birthday, 10th anniversary in Government and he was shortly departing did this mean the Prime Minister would be having a joint party, the PMOS said he could see the game the reporter was playing and asked forgiveness if he didn’t join in.
Asked if the PMOS was able to say how the Prime Minister would make the announcement next week, the PMOS said he could not.
Alexander Litvinenko
Asked if the Prime Minister had discussions recently with the Attorney General regarding Alexander Litvinenko, the PMOS said not that he was aware of. He PMOS added that obviously the Prime Minister was kept aware and up-to-date with the relevant parts of the investigation but he could not go into any detail. Asked specifically if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Attorney General, the PMOS said he did not get into the details of internal discussions within Government.
Operation Crevice Court Case
Asked, by ruling out a public inquiry, if the Prime Minister understood the hurt and frustration that would be caused to the victims and relatives of victims of the 7/7 bombings, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister understood, not least because two Cabinet Ministers have been regularly meeting with the relatives. Equally however what he has to take cognizance of is not just what he knows from the briefings he gets himself from the intelligence agencies but also the conclusions of the independent Intelligence and Security Committee which has been fully aware of all the relevant material, all the way along and came to the conclusion that the prioritisation by the intelligence services was understandable. A judgement that, while the committee will go over the territory again now the court case has been completed, yesterday its chairman said he did not think would change. The other argument which we have made right from the beginning was that given the very serious nature of the level of threat that we still face we would not want to do anything that diverts senior members of the intelligence community away from their task at this crucial time.
Asked if it was not part of the problem for families and victims if the Chair of the committee thinks the conclusions of the committee will not change after they have looked at it all again, would the Chair be carrying out a thorough investigation which is what the families and victims want, the PMOS said that that assumption only worked if you started from the presumption that the Chair should reach some other conclusion. The committee have gone through this matter in very close detail, but they came to their conclusions very seriously. This was something where, yes we do have to show that we understand the position of the relatives but we also have to show very good understanding of the unique pressures, the unique circumstances and the unique difficulty faced by the intelligence agencies. We do have to be very careful that we do not divert them unnecessarily from their task.
Asked if the Prime Minister still had confidence in the Home Secretary and did the Prime Minister think the Home Secretary had mislead Parliament following the Home Secretary’s statement to Parliament yesterday, the PMOS said yes the Prime Minister still had confidence in the Home Secretary.
Asked why there would not be a public inquiry following the conclusion of the court case, as after 9/11 the US had conducted a full public inquiry, including having the heads of the intelligence agencies subjected to a public inquiry, what is it about this country that is so different, the PMOS said that we have different systems and different ways of doing things. The advantage of the Intelligence and Security Committee (ISC) is that because they’re security cleared to the highest level they can have full access to the relevant material and therefore they can make a judgement in the round. This is what they have done. It was a very serious process, it was taken very seriously and they did make recommendations and those will be taken seriously. Equally however, what we should not do is either ignore the fundamental fact that Operation Crevice was a success and the result of that was that many lives were saved. These both involved very difficult decisions and sometimes those decisions that in retrospect and hindsight people can arrive at different conclusions.
Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the ISC had the power and access it needed to fulfil its role, the PMOS the ISC does have the access, it is truly representative of all parties and therefore it is the relevant committee.
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister had a role in Northern Ireland in the next few days when the devolved administrations get up and running again, the PMOS said a full brief will be given nearer the time but Dr. Paisley did invite the Prime Minister to go to Northern Ireland on the day. Asked if the Prime Minister had any role in restarting the Assembly, the PMOS said no but again, Dr. Paisley invited him during PMQs. Asked if Dr. Paisley had invited the Taoiseach, the PMOS said that was a matter for the Stormont. The PMOS added that it was an occasion where all the parties in Northern Ireland want to celebrate the success of the peace process, and he expected all those who had contributed to be represented.
Memos
Asked if the Prime Minister had sent any memos to the Chancellor, the PMOS asked if the reporter could be more specific, the reporter repeated the question with no further detail, the PMOS said that if he looked puzzled that is because he was and he did not comment on internal communication either.
Dustbins
Asked if the PMOS could explain the Prime Minister’s thinking over his comments made this morning regarding dustbin collection, had the Prime Minister taken the bins out recently, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister started off quite rightly saying that it was a matter for local government, the Prime Minister then went on to express a personal position which was a traditionalist position. The Minister responsible for this has also said it is a matter for local government and said that different areas have different needs.
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