Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Lords Reform, BAE, Zimbabwe, Iraq, Health/Chancellor and Tube.
Lords Reform
Asked whether the Prime Minister would return from the Anglo-French Summit in Le Touquet today in time to vote, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the Prime Minister hoped to be back in time. Providing the timing of the Summit and his return flight allowed for it, he would do so.
Questioned as to why the Prime Minister was ‘busting a gut’ to be able to vote this evening when his voting record in the House showed that he wasn’t usually bothered about such things, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister voted whenever he had the opportunity to do so. He recognised that this was an important constitutional matter. Like any other MP, he wished to exercise his free vote if he was able to do so.
Asked whether Robin Cook would be ’safe from the chop’ in the next Cabinet reshuffle if he voted against the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that we never commented on reshuffle questions. People should remember that tonight’s vote was a free vote. The Prime Minister had taken a conscious decision to allow that because, as he had said in the Commons last week, he recognised that there was a range of opinions and each was perfectly valid. It was important for people to focus on the substance of the argument. Mr Cook had put forward his view in favour of an elected Second Chamber. Equally, the Prime Minister had expressed his strong opinion that the Second Chamber should be a revising Chamber so that the possibility of conflict over the legitimacy and role of the Commons could be avoided. The views were out there. MPs and Peers could make up their own minds this evening when they voted.
Asked if the Prime Minister believed that a wholly appointed House of Lords was a more democratic House of Lords, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister believed it was important for the Lords to be representative of the country as a whole. It should also have a clear role - to revise the work done by the Commons, not act as a challenger to its electoral validity. Of course he recognised that there was a range of views on this matter and he accepted that different people held different opinions. That was precisely why he had decided there should be a free vote this evening. Put to him that the Government’s election manifesto had stated that it wanted a more representative and democratic Second Chamber and whether this could be achieved through a wholly appointed House, the PMOS said that as a Civil Servant it was not his job to comment on party matters. However, the Prime Minister had clearly listened to people’s opinions about this matter and had set out his view to the Commons last week.
Questioned about the next steps after tonight’s vote, the PMOS said that once the outcome of the vote was known, it would be for the Joint Committee to consider what it believed was the best way forward. The Prime Minister had set out his strong view that the selection of members in the Second Chamber should not challenge the electoral validity of the House of Commons.
BAE
Asked if he recognised a report in today’s Telegraph suggesting that the Prime Minister had intervened to make sure that BAE was the lead contractor on the Government’s aircraft carrier order, rather than French company Thales, because he was ‘miffed’ with President Chirac, the PMOS said he didn’t recognise the story. It was wrong and complete nonsense.
Zimbabwe
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister had known two weeks in advance that France was intending to invite Robert Mugabe to its Franco-African Summit in Paris, the PMOS said that, as we had acknowledged repeatedly, informal discussions had been taking place. However, France had not put in a formal written request until Thursday 23 January 2003. Asked if the British Government had opposed the invitation to Mr Mugabe from the outset, the PMOS said that he had no intention of getting into detail of the informal discussions which had taken place. He reminded journalists that we had always made clear that in our view the existing sanctions should be rolled over and enforced.
Iraq
Asked if he recognised a BBC report this morning which claimed that British Army Commanders had been told to prepare for an occupation of Iraq lasting up to three years, the PMOS said that it wasn’t our policy to discuss troop deployments. What he would say, however, was that the same source had made predictions about Afghanistan which did not prove wholly accurate. Asked if plans were already being drawn up to decide who was going to do which job in Iraq post-Saddam, the PMOS said that obviously the necessary arrangements were being made, as you would expect. Asked if that meant that we had a timescale to rid Iraq of its WMD, the PMOS repeated that he was not going to get into a speculative discussion about troop deployments or future plans for Iraq post-Saddam.
Asked if Britain was committed to a UN Administration in Iraq rather than a US-led Administration, the PMOS said that we were committed first-and-foremost to the issue of disarming the Iraqi regime of its WMD. The UN’s demands had still not been met and it would therefore be premature to start discussing what action we would take if Saddam continued to refuse to comply. Asked if he would accept that one of the reasons why the Prime Minister wanted a second UN Resolution was because it would make a UN Administration more likely in Iraq than a US-led Administration, the PMOS said that the reason why the Prime Minister preferred to have a second UN resolution was because it would show that the international community respected any judgement or Resolution passed by the UN. Mohammed ElBaradei had stated today that both he and Hans Blix agreed that time was running out for the Iraqi regime. As he had said, we were not looking for peace at any price. The onus remained on Saddam.
Health/Chancellor
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Chancellor’s view that a further extension of market mechanisms into the health service could have a damaging or even catastrophic effect, the PMOS said that the Chancellor had been making the point yesterday that we needed to put in extra investment - tied to reform - and use market forces where appropriate, all of which the Prime Minister agreed with. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Chancellor’s particular words about the health service, the PMOS said that we agreed with what the Chancellor had said in his speech yesterday to the Social Market Foundation.
Tube
Asked what the Prime Minister believed the best aspect of the Tube deal was for Londoners, the PMOS said that the best aspect was that it removed any uncertainty about the future. We could now get on with investing the £16bn we wanted to put into the Tube over the next fifteen years and continue the work which had already begun so that Londoners could see the money pouring in and improvements being made. Any shadow of uncertainty resulting from the Mayor of London’s position had now been removed.
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