Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: ISC Report, Hutton Inquiry, Draft EU Constitution, Anglo/French Meeting, Geoff Hoon, Iraq and Northern Ireland.
ISC Report
Asked if the Prime Minister had received the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on Iraq, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) confirmed that he had. He had received it within the last hour. It would be published to Parliament on Thursday.
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister had a policy regarding the number of asterisks contained in the published version of the report and who would be the one to make the decision, the PMOS said that there was no ‘policy’. Any decisions of that order would be made on the grounds of protecting intelligence, sources and national security. If any judgements had to be made of that sort, they would be made by those qualified to make them.
Hutton Inquiry
Asked if the Prime Minister believed that Jack Straw should give evidence to the Hutton Inquiry in the light of the documents to which today’s Independent newspaper had drawn attention, the PMOS said that as Lord Hutton had underlined in his initial statement on August 1, the judgements as to who should appear before his Inquiry were entirely a matter for him, and for him alone.
Asked if Downing Street had received any indication that the Prime Minister might be recalled to give evidence during the second stage of the Inquiry, the PMOS said that any correspondence regarding stage two between the Inquiry and those individuals who had already given evidence would obviously remain confidential until such time as the Inquiry decided it wished to announce anything further. Asked whether the Prime Minister had received any correspondence, the PMOS said he would refer journalists to the answer he had just given.
Draft EU Constitution
Asked if the draft EU Constitution was a ‘tidying up exercise’ which did not need a referendum, as the Government had consistently stated, or whether, as Peter Hain had commented, it was ‘absolutely fundamental’ and would define the relationship between Britain and the EU, the PMOS said that the Foreign Secretary had dealt with the point about referendums in his interview on the Today Programme this morning. Our position had not changed. He pointed out that a large number of other EU countries were not holding referendums on the IGC either, just as they hadn’t in the past. In answer to further questions, the PMOS drew journalists’ attention to the foreword to today’s White Paper which had been written by the Prime Minister in which he had noted the significance of the IGC and had underlined that we would only accept a final text which made it clear that areas such as tax, defence and foreign policy would remain the province of the nation state. Consequently, provided there was clarity on those points, the reforms should be welcomed, particularly since they did not alter the fundamental constitutional relationship between member states and the Union.
Asked if the quotes in today’s Times report attributed by Mr Hain to the Prime Minister regarding the IGC were correct, the PMOS said that he had not attended the meeting which Mr Hain had described. No one was suggesting that this issue was anything other than significant. However, the Government’s position on a referendum on the IGC remained as stated many times in the past by the Prime Minister, Mr Straw and others.
Asked the Prime Minister’s reaction to Chancellor Schroeder’s warning last week against tinkering with the EU blueprint drawn up in the Convention, the PMOS said the Prime Minister believed that there had been a lot of detailed discussion in the Convention and that the product which was now before us was a good framework. We felt comfortable with our position in this debate. The first IGC meeting was to take place on 4 October in Rome. As before any IGC, the British Government was publishing a White Paper on the stance it was taking. This was a negotiation. Different countries were going to come at this from different perspectives - and of course discussion would continue after Rome. Questioned further, the PMOS said that had no intention of providing a running commentary on each European member state’s position. Nor was he going to get into the detail of our negotiating position. Asked if a date had been set for the completion of the IGC process, the PMOS said no. It would depend on the positions adopted by different countries and the results of negotiations which would be had in the months to come.
Asked if our attitude towards France and Germany at the UN regarding the issue of Iraq would have a detrimental effect on the UK’s negotiating position relating to the draft EU Constitution, the PMOS said no. It was important to distinguish between the different issues being dealt with in the EU and those at the UN. The purpose of discussion at the UN was to try to accelerate the process of giving sovereignty and governance back to the Iraqi people, as well as achieving a greater internationalisation of the efforts inside Iraq. The conversations and discussions relating to that were continuing. People had to exercise a little patience and wait and see how they panned out. He saw no particular read across between the issue of Iraq and the draft EU Constitution. It was perfectly commonplace for there to be discussions going on at the same time on different issues at the UN and in the EU without them overlapping.
Asked about the shift in the balance of voting strengths among EU countries, the PMOS reminded journalists that there had been a detailed discussion about vote weighting at Nice which had related to an EU of twenty five and which had come to a conclusion about the issue.
Anglo/French Meeting
Asked for further detail about the Prime Minister’s meeting with the French Prime Minister at Chequers on Thursday and whether the issue of Iraq would be raised, the PMOS said that we would preview the talks nearer the time. No doubt a whole range of issues would be discussed, as you would expect.
Geoff Hoon
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister retained full confidence in his Defence Secretary, the PMOS said yes.
Iraq
Asked how much Iraq was costing the UK, the PMOS reminded journalists that the Chancellor had said in his Pre-Budget Report that there would be a £1bn special reserve initially, which he announced in March 2003 would increase to £3bn. He was uncertain precisely how much had been spent so far, but as he understood it, it was around the £1bn mark.
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister and Taoiseach were due to meet on Saturday, the PMOS said that he was unable to confirm anything at this stage. The two Prime Ministers met on a regular basis, both at European Summits and bilaterally. They had not seen each other since the summer holidays and were therefore both keen to meet up in the not-too-distant future. He told journalists to ask him again later in the week.
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