Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Euro.
Euro
The PMOS said that the Prime Minister had set out to his colleagues this morning the process through which Cabinet would reach a final decision on the Euro. That process was in line with the Government’s policy since 1997 which had stated that it would be a Cabinet decision. The process was as follows: Eighteen technical documents and studies would be sent to Cabinet Ministers over this weekend. During the course of next week, the Prime Minister and Chancellor would have joint trilateral discussions with Ministers to discuss them. This would be followed by an initial discussion at Cabinet next Thursday on 22 May. On 26 May, we would circulate the Treasury assessment to all members who would be asked to read it over the Whitsun break. There would be further trilaterals with the Prime Minister and Chancellor in the week commencing 2 June. A Special Cabinet would then be convened on either 5 or 6 June for a final discussion on the Euro as well as a discussion on the Government’s wider European strategy. The actual announcement on the Euro would be made in the House of Commons on Monday 9 June. This process underlined the fact that no final decision had yet been taken. It also underlined the point that the whole Cabinet would be involved and that all the relevant factors would be taken into account. Frankly, it also meant that it was pointless asking either Downing Street or Ministers to go beyond the process which he had just set out.
Questioned as to whether the assessment would be reached by both the Prime Minister and Chancellor after the trilaterals or by one or the other, the PMOS said that the whole point about consulting Cabinet members was to involve them in making the final decision. It went without saying that there would be a full discussion which would result in a final decision being made. As journalists would expect, we had absolutely no intention of giving a running commentary on the process as it unfolded. Asked whether Cabinet would take a vote, the PMOS said that there would be a constructive discussion, as there had been this morning, from which a consensus would obviously emerge.
Asked if it was possible for the Chancellor to tell Ministers that the five tests had not been met - but that the Cabinet could still recommend that the issue be put to the country via a referendum, the PMOS suggested that journalists were ‘overcomplicating’ matters and insisted that he would not be drawn into a hypothetical discussion. Asked if the five tests were solely Treasury tests or whether Cabinet would play a part in assessing whether they had been met, the PMOS said that there was a process to be gone through which would lead to the final decision.
Questioned as to whether the circulation of the assessment on 26 May following the trilateral discussions would be the Treasury’s assessment of the five tests or if it would be a ‘political’ document, the PMOS said that he had no intention of going beyond what he had already said. It would be a collective decision which would be reached by the process he had set out. As part of that process, all sorts of factors would be taken into account and all sorts of issues would be discussed. However, he was not going to pre-empt what they might be. Asked if the assessment would state whether the five tests had been met or whether it would simply be an explanatory document designed to allow others to form a view, the PMOS said that the assessment would be made through the process he had already set out. And in that process, there was a clear distinction between the assessment and a final decision. That final decision would be announced on 9 June. Pressed as to whether the assessment would draw a conclusion or if it was a technical civil service document about which politicians would later reach their own judgements, the PMOS repeated that the final decision would be made as a result of the Cabinet process. Asked to provide a definition of the word ‘assessment’, the PMOS said that it wasn’t his job to give dictionary definitions of words which were perfectly obvious. Asked to explain the distinction between ‘assessment’ and ‘decision’ the PMOS said that it was perfectly evident. The assessment was part of the process of reaching a decision. Asked if it would be possible to have an assessment which stated one thing and then come to a completely different decision, the PMOS said that there was a process of reaching a final decision which involved the full Cabinet. The assessment was obviously a very important and vital part of that. Asked if he was saying that it was the final decision which would cover the future, the PMOS said that the final decision was the final decision. Asked if he was implying that the assessment told us where we were now but did not indicate in which direction we might be heading, the PMOS repeated that the assessment was a vital part of reaching the final decision which, as he had underlined many times, would be reached collectively by the Cabinet.
Put to him that the ‘running briefings’ over the past few weeks had indicated that the Chancellor and Treasury had already reached a decision and whether it was possible for the Chancellor’s assessment to be overturned collectively by the Cabinet, the PMOS repeated that he had no intention of answering hypothetical questions. He added that while he would be the first to admit responsibility for many things, in no way could he be held responsible for these so-called ‘running briefings’. As we had said last night, what mattered were the words of the Prime Minister, Chancellor and those who were authorised to speak on their behalf. He had set out the process to journalists by which a final decision would be taken. Any suggestion that that decision had already been made was premature to say the least.
Asked if the eighteen documents would contain a clear recommendation from the Chancellor, the PMOS said that these technical documents were studies of the various issues relating to the matter. As the Chancellor had warned his colleagues this morning, they were detailed and lengthy studies which required considerable effort to carry. They were heavyweight in every sense of the word.
Put to him that it seemed the assessment of the five tests was no longer the responsibility of the Treasury because it could be changed by the trilateral discussions, the PMOS pointed out again that there was a distinction between an assessment and a decision. Nothing he had said today changed the nature of that distinction. There was a process by which Ministers would arrive at the final decision. That process would give the Cabinet the chance to study the Treasury’s technical documents. They would be given the opportunity to discuss them with both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor next week, which would be followed by an initial discussion on the matter at next Thursday’s Cabinet. They would then be asked to study the Treasury assessment over the Whitsun break. After that, they would be given further opportunities to discuss the issue with the Prime Minister and Chancellor. This would then be followed by a Special Cabinet and finally an announcement on June 9. This was a process which clearly showed Cabinet Government at work. It was a process based on the technical work done by the Treasury, which would be fully discussed with the Cabinet both individually and collectively. It therefore lived up to the Government’s promise made in 1997 that this would be a Cabinet decision.
Asked if the assessment would be amenable to change after this weekend when the Cabinet would be asked to read the eighteen technical documents, or if the purpose of the exercise was to give Ministers the chance to understand the context in which the assessment had already been more-or-less finalised, the PMOS said it was more the latter than the former. He repeated, however, that there was a distinction between an assessment and a final decision. Asked how many Cabinet Ministers would be invited to participate in the first round of trilateral discussions with the Prime Minister and Chancellor, the PMOS said that all of them would be involved.
Asked if the purpose of setting out the process today was to encourage journalists to tell their viewers/listeners/readers that everything was ‘up for grabs’, the PMOS said no. He observed that there were two aspects to this which appeared to be running in parallel. There was the speculation in terms of the so-called ‘running briefings’, and there was the reality which was the process through which a final decision would be made. That decision would take into account all the comparative work which had been done and all the relevant factors.
In answer to further questions, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister and Chancellor had had all the discussions they would be expected to have had on what was clearly one of the most important decisions this Government was going to make. Both he and the Chancellor would go into the trilaterals on the basis of those discussions which, as the Prime Minister had told Cabinet this morning, had worked very well. The process - which involved the whole Cabinet in the final decision, as was entirely proper - was continuing. Asked if this was a genuine process of consultation, the PMOS confirmed that it was. Put to him that the trilaterals were merely ‘window-dressing’ since it was the Treasury who ultimately would be making the economic assessment, the PMOS said that the eighteen technical documents were detailed studies of the all the relevant issues. It was therefore important for Ministers to be given the chance to understand in full the technical detail of the issue. They would also be given the chance to study the assessment and have further trilateral discussions after that. Far from being window-dressing, this was a process which involved the whole Cabinet and showed Cabinet Government at its very best.
Asked if it was still possible that the process might lead to a recommendation to scrap the pound and join the single currency, the PMOS said that he had no intention of getting drawn into a speculative discussion about the outcome of the process. People had to exercise a little patience and wait for the announcement on 9 June.
Asked if he would agree that the question was as much a political issue as an economic one, the PMOS said no. He underlined that there was nothing he had said which changed either the nature of reaching the decision or the factors which would be taken into account. As we had said from the outset, the decision would be based on the five tests. That had not changed. Asked if the Prime Minister had made up his own mind about the assessment during his intensive discussions with the Chancellor over the last few weeks, the PMOS said that he had no intention of providing a running commentary on the Prime Minister’s state of mind on this issue. He would be talking to his Cabinet colleagues and they would reach a collective decision which would be announced on 9 June.
Asked if the timetable had been thrashed out at Cabinet this morning or whether the Prime Minister had presented the plan to Ministers who had simply agreed to it, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had set out the process this morning, which had been warmly welcomed by all members of the Cabinet because it had confirmed what they had already known - namely, that this would be a collective Cabinet decision.
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