Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Russia, Police Inquiry and Scottish First Minister
Russia
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with President Bush’s characterisation and comments of the pressures facing dissidents across the world, especially with regards to Russia and its reform process, as it appeared to be "derailed", the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that as he had said this morning, people had to only go back to the EU Summit at Lahkti to see that there were concerns across Europe about developments and relations with Russia. As the PMOS had said yesterday, it was up to Russia to decide what sort of relationship it wanted; we wanted it to be constructive, but part of being constructive meant sharing the same values both politically and economically. The question was: would Russia want that too?
Asked if we felt that Russia was taking their lead from China by having democratic reforms take second place behind economic ones, the PMOS replied that people had to look at each country on its own merits. The key point for Russia was that if it wanted, for example, to have international investment one a sustained basis, then it had to provide a stable environment within which that investment could take place. It was a matter for Russia to decide whether that happened or not.
Put that stable did not necessarily mean democratic, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had in the past expressed concerns about human rights and liberty issues within Russia, and we had not been shy about expressing those views. Equally, however, there were two sides of the coin, and in terms of the economics, it was a simple fact of history that democracies tended to be more stable places in which to invest than in countries run differently.
Police Inquiry
Asked if the Prime Minister or any other Downing Street staff members had been re-interviewed by the police in the last few days, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had not been interviewed. With regards to development s today, today was a simple formality, and the rest was a matter for the CPS.
Asked if the Prime Minister had been interviewed, would journalists have been told, the PMOS replied that on the occasions that the Prime Minister had been interviewed, he had always told journalists.
Asked if £750,000 was money well spent on the inquiry, the PMOS said that this was now a matter for the CPS, and he did not want to say anything which would pre-judge or got ahead of where we were. People should respect the fact that the CPS was going through a process and that process should be allowed to continue.
Asked if we were confirming reports that John McTernan and Jonathan Powell had been told that they would not face prosecution, the PMOS replied that emphatically, we were simply saying that this was now a matter for the CPS and the CPS alone. It was be totally wrong for us to make any comment, let alone a running commentary.
Scottish First Minister
Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Scottish First Minister, the PMOS said that he was not aware that the Prime Minister had spoken to any First Minister in the busy period since we had returned from Africa.
Put that it had been said in the Scottish Parliament last week that the fact that the Prime Minister had not yet congratulated Alex Salmond four weeks after he had become First Minister was a "snub" to Scotland, the PMOS said that what was important was that the normal processes of Government continued. If there were particular issues, then they would be raised in the appropriate way, but the PMOS pointed out that the Prime Minister’s diary had been very full in recent weeks.
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