Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Security and Counter Terrorism, EU Veto on Home Affairs, Britishness and G8 and Russia
Security and Counter Terrorism
Asked if there was anything else the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) could say on what had been said by the Prime Minister, the Chancellor and the Home Secretary regarding detention, the PMOS said that it would be better to leave any comment until Thursday. However the important thing was that the position has always been, for instance on questioning suspects, that we want to have a longer period but there needs to be a consensus. We do what we believe is necessary to support the police and it will be in that general ethos that the proposals to be published on Thursday will be seen.
Asked what status the announcement on Thursday would have, would it be a draft bill or a set of proposals, the PMOS said that there would be a definite set of proposals which will then go out for consultation. Asked if that would mean as a bill, the PMOS said he would check the precise procedural status and get back.
Put to the PMOS that there does not seem to be any consensus at all on even the 28 days clause, and did the Prime Minister still think 28 days was necessary, the PMOS said that if the reporter actually looked at what had happened opinion wise on a variety of fronts since the matter went through Parliament, you have seen various people say that they now recognise there is a need for a longer period from people who were opposed to it in the first place. The entire point of an exercise such as this is to build consensus. Certainly if you look at the evidence as it came out of cases that did support the suggestion of a longer period. In some of the cases to date the police have found that they have used up the entire period. The reasons why were because of the complexity of the cases but also the fact that often there were a multiple use of languages and dialects, and computer systems and that was what made the evidence gathering process that bit more difficult.
Asked if the Prime Minister would go along with the idea of a document setting out the detailed examples and evidence, the PMOS said that there was evidence from the police presented the last time, so while certain people chose to reject the evidence we should not establish the myth that there was no evidence. Put to the PMOS that when the Home Secretary saw the evidence he was convinced, the PMOS said that at the time there was evidence for an extended period at the time.
Asked to give examples of people who had changed their minds once the legal evidence had been produced, the PMOS said it wasn’t for him to highlight but if you looked at the views of the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee, he had seemed to indicate he now recognised the need for a longer period of some duration.
EU Veto on Home Affairs
Asked if the Prime Minister intended to give up the veto on justice, the PMOS said that firstly this was not Europe week, that would be in two weeks time. Secondly, in terms of the overall issue our position has been that we would retain control of our law and order policy and that is what we will do. Asked if the Prime Minister would accept a time limiting op out, the PMOS said that he would not get involved in the detailed discussions two weeks ahead of the EU Summit or hypothetical and speculative territory. The basic principle was that we retain control. Put to the PMOS that the Chairman of the Home Affairs Select Committee thought it should be a matter for hot discussion, the PMOS said he did not think page two of the Daily Telegraph qualified as a matter of hot discussion.
Britishness
Asked what the Prime Minister thought about the idea of a Britishness day, the PMOS said that if reporters looked at what the kernel of the Prime Minister’s approach to this issue had been in a series of speeches, it was that on the one hand, we should pursue integrating people into the community at large while at the same time recognising diversity. Therefore these are ideas put forward as part of that debate and therefore what the Prime Minister does is welcome the debate. Asked if the Prime Minister saw anything new in the debate, such as every home having a flag outside as in America the PMOS said what was happening was a move from the general principle to specific proposals and what is right and proper is that there should be a debate. Asked if the Prime Minister would be taking part in the debate, the PMOS it was up to the Prime Minister to decide.
Put to the PMOS that the Prime Minister’s speech yesterday did not have the usual section about how good it was that we all had shared British values that were good for everybody and everyone shared a common value while retaining the right for our own faiths, the PMOS said that the fact that the reporter had so succinctly put forward the Prime Minister’s views perhaps suggested that the Prime Minister had got his message across.
G8 and Russia
Asked what kind of co-ordination was there for a common response to President Putin and what did that do to the prospects for a bilateral between the Prime Minister and President Putin at the G8, the PMOS said he wanted to make one point. There was one thing that people need to be careful about; obviously President Putin’s comments means that there will be a general discussion about this issue at some stage during the summit, but let’s be clear, the kernel of the summit remained Africa and Climate Change. That remained the case, so therefore that was the subject where there will be the most discussion. The PMOS added in response to the reporter’s question, there was not that much needed in terms of coordination. If you looked at the EU Informal Summit in Lahti, the EU was not shy in putting forward its views to President Putin on that occasion. If you looked at the EU/Russia Summit recently, the same thing happened. It was not a question of people ganging up on Russia, it was people expressing their views and concerns but also a desire to have a genuine, constructive relationship.
Put to the PMOS that in the past Chancellor Merkel amongst others, have talked about having talks through NATO, and that a common NATO position would be very different, the PMOS said that that the universality of the views at Lahti showed such uniformity already more or less existed.
Asked if the UK understood something of President Putin’s concerns about America placing bases in places that were once part of the Soviet Union, the PMOS said firstly, the missile defence system is not a defence system against Russia, because given where they are placed it would not be effective given the number of Russian missiles, the missiles were to be aimed at rogue states. Secondly, the reality is that the countries which have chosen to host these sites are sovereign countries and they should be seen as sovereign countries which are capable of making up their own minds about whether to host the sites or not. The issue of sovereignty is at the kernel of the dispute, whether these countries do have the right to make up their own minds or not. Our view is that sovereign countries should, as they are democratically selected countries.
Asked if there had been a British response to President Putin’s remarks, the PMOS said it was for Russia to decide what sort of relationship it wanted, we wanted a constructive relationship both politically and economically but Russia had to decide if it shared the values of diplomacy, politics and economics.
Asked if that meant including the rule of law in relation to Litvinenko, the PMOS said that the issue was on the agenda already. It was not off the agenda in any sense. It was a very serious crime that was being investigated with very serious evidence has been presented to the Russians and we expected an equally serious reply, and a formal reply.
Put to the PMOS that on the point of sovereignty, could the Russians have not said the same about Cuba at the time of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962, the PMOS said that there are many, many things that can be debated in lobby but if the reporter didn’t mind at the time of the Cuban missile crisis the PMOS was a bit young. Put to the PMOS that the Russians may have a point that there are bases very close to their borders, the PMOS said that as he understood it the US had done all it could to show the Russians precisely that the bases are defensive, the countries who are hosting the bases are democratically elected governments which have a right to make up their own minds.
Asked what the likelihood of a bilateral between the Prime Minister and President Putin was at the G8, the PMOS said he hoped he’d indicated that it was likely that the Prime Minister would have a bilateral with President Putin since these were normal at G8.
Asked if it was correct to characterise the remarks made by President Putin as a huge setback for prospects of a decent relationship with Russia, the PMOS said he thought it all depended on what happened next.
Asked if this reinforced the need for an independent nuclear energy policy, the PMOS said that one of the reasons for having a diversity of supply was precisely so you did not become over dependent on one single source.
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