Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq, Asylum and Zimbabwe.
Iraq
Referring to a BBC report he had seen earlier today which had argued that we were trying to convict Saddam Hussein on non-compliance and that to do so would be a ‘technicality’, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the whole point of his monologue at this morning’s briefing had been to demonstrate that non-compliance was written into the very fabric of Resolution 1441. Therefore, to describe it as a ‘technicality’ did harm to the English language which not even the BBC should be allowed to commit.
The PMOS drew journalists’ attention to a statement issued by the GAC in Brussels this morning which we welcomed. It underlined that this was the Iraqi Government’s final opportunity to resolve the crisis and called for full and immediate compliance with all relevant Security Council Resolutions. It also stated that the Iraqi authorities must, as an imperative, provide the inspectors, without delay, with all additional and complete information on questions raised by the international community.
Asylum
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister would expect the February asylum figures to show the measures we had put in place beginning to bite, the PMOS said that pre-judging the figures would not be a useful exercise - particularly as some of the measures had only come into operation last November, some were only just coming into effect, while others were not due to come into force until April. February’s asylum figures would not be the deciding factor. We wanted to see the figures improving as a clear trend over a sustained period of time. It would be a mistake to see this as either a tactical manoeuvre in advance of other statements, or as the Prime Minister trying to head off something else. He was deeply serious about tackling the issue of asylum. We had already pushed through a number of measures and would assess whether they were working. If necessary, we would go beyond those measures and think more radical thoughts. Asked why the Prime Minister was reluctant to reintroduce the 30,000 removals target, the PMOS said that it was important to have a system which was effective and sustainable and which would achieve our objective to bring down the number of asylum applications. It was more important to build a robust system than to set arbitrary targets.
Asked whether a review of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) and the UN Convention on Refugees might take place before the end of the year, the PMOS said that we would need to assess whether the measures already being put in place were effective or not. It was not because people had not thought about the Conventions or because they did not have any idea about where we might end up if the issue was discussed. It was simply that we needed to think things through and assess whether the measures that we had taken - which we remained confident were right - were beginning to bite in the way they were intended to do. People needed to take a step back, exercise a little patience and wait for our assessment.
Zimbabwe
Asked for a reaction to the England cricket team’s reluctance to play in Zimbabwe, the PMOS said we understood that the players were in a difficult position. However, as we had been indicating since July - first privately and then publicly - we had always believed that the situation in Zimbabwe would continue to deteriorate. Unfortunately, that was what was happening at the moment. We had underlined from the outset that the issue was a matter for the cricketing authorities because, while we could provide guidance, we had never had the power to instruct them in what they should do.
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