Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq, Unemployment Statistics, OECD Education Report, University Finance and Berlin Meeting.
Iraq
Referring to a report in today’s Metro newspaper, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that US forces in Iraq had not detained any British citizens. The Commanding Officer of Abu Gharib prison, General Janis Karpinski, had stated clearly that there were no British citizens in detention. What might have started this story off were claims by some of the prisoners that they were British in the hope that this might secure better treatment.
Unemployment Statistics
The PMOS said that the unemployment figures which had been published this morning showed that the number of people out of work and claiming benefit had fallen to its lowest level for twenty-eight years last month. Between May and July, there had been 27.93m people in work in the UK - a new record level. He presumed that the usual D Notice procedures would apply.
OECD Education Report
In the light of reports today about the publication yesterday of the OECD’s report on international educational comparisons, the PMOS pointed out that the findings were based on historical data and referred to the attainment of adults who had left school before 1997.
University Finance
In answer to questions about the Prime Minister apparently saying to the PLP that there would be a ‘debate’ about top-up fees and whether this indicated a change of policy, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister remained absolutely behind the policy which had been set out in the higher education White Paper, which had been published to Parliament in January. He regarded this issue as very important both in terms of improving access to higher education and also in ensuring that we had enough funding for the sector to thrive in this country. The next stage in the process was to move on to legislation. Obviously he had no intention of pre-empting what might or might not come up in the Queen’s Speech. However, it was important to recognise that there was always a debate when an issue reached that point in Parliament. The Prime Minister remained convinced that this policy was absolutely the right thing to do. Asked to rule out the possibility of any compromise, the PMOS said he did not think it would be helpful to get drawn into attempts to preview the next stage of the process. Suffice to say that the Prime Minister was committed to the policy and committed to the principle.
Berlin Meeting
Asked if the Prime Minister viewed his meeting in Berlin on Saturday with Chancellor Schroeder and President Chirac as a bridge-building exercise for the US and European partners, the PMOS said he wouldn’t characterise the meeting in that context. The Prime Minister was Prime Minister of the UK and would be attending the meeting in that capacity. There were a number of issues which the three leaders believed it would be useful for them to talk through. Iraq was obviously one such issue. No one had ever concealed the fact that the UK, France and Germany had held different views about the military conflict. Nevertheless, everyone wanted to see a stable, prosperous Iraq. It was now a question of working out how we could all work together to achieve that objective. An informal lunch/meeting of this nature would also allow the three leaders to range more widely over other issues of common interest. For example, the fact that it was taking place only weeks before the IGC in Rome was indicative of a very substantial European agenda. It went without saying that the US was not part of Europe.
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