Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Queen’s Speech, Iraq, University Finance and Hunting Bill.
Queen’s Speech
The PMOS informed journalists that this year’s Queen’s Speech would take place on Wednesday 26 November. In previous years, the Queen’s speech had been on 24 November (1998), 17 November (1999), 6 December (2000) and 13 November (2002). Asked why it was so late, the PMOS said that it was within the parameters of previous Speeches. He added that the decision was usually made based on the Queen’s diary and also an assessment of how much legislative time was needed for the remainder of the Government’s programme. This date was not out of the ordinary as the comparisons would indicate.
Iraq
Asked when the Iraq Survey Group (ISG) would publish their report and to whom, the PMOS said that when they had something to say publicly, it would be made public. Until then, their work was continuing.
Asked for a reaction to Hans Blix’s comment today indicating that that the more time that passed, the less likely it was that anything would be found, the PMOS said that time would tell. The position remained entirely as the Prime Minister had set out in his last press conference. He hadn’t changed his view. People should exercise a little patience and recognise that the ISG had only been operational for a matter of weeks. There was clearly still a lot of work to be done. The Prime Minister remained confident that the evidence was there.
University Finance
Asked if the Prime Minister had noticed the ‘almost complete absence of support’ during PMQs today when a question had been raised about top-up fees, the PMOS said that he had heard Alan Howarth ask a question about the issue supporting the policy. Journalists could describe the atmosphere in any way they wanted, and no doubt would. What was absolutely clear was that we needed to undertake fundamental reform to higher education funding both to guarantee greater access and ensure that the universities had the funding they needed to meet the challenges of the new century. There was no cost-free option. The Prime Minister remained committed to the policy and the principles which had been set out. Following on from the White Paper, the next stage would be legislation. Obviously he was not going to predict what might or might not be included in the Queen’s Speech. However, during the passage of any Bill, there would be an opportunity for debate and discussion.
Asked if the Prime Minister would really listen to his colleagues’ concerns about the issue following his commitment to do so, the PMOS said that of course the issue would be discussed, in the same way, for example, that the Cabinet had had a very detailed discussion about ID cards for over an hour last week. However, the principle of higher education funding reform, as set out in the White Paper, was one to which the Prime Minister held firm for the reasons he had spelled out many times. He repeated that there was no simple cost-free option. If we wanted to get more money into the higher education system, which was clearly desperately needed, and if we wanted more people to go to university, which the country desperately needed in order to improve its skills base, then the money obviously had to be found from somewhere. It was clear that a balance had to be struck between the state and the individual. Questioned as to whether the idea of a graduate tax rather than top-up fees might be the preferred option, the PMOS said that there had already been a significant discussion about this issue. That had concluded with the White Paper. That was not to rule out further discussion in the future. The principle of individuals paying back some of their fees at a later date based on income was an idea to which he held firm. That hadn’t changed.
Asked if the issue would be discussed at tomorrow’s Cabinet, the PMOS said that it was important to keep the term ‘debate’ in its right context from this morning. He had simply been making the point that when you moved from a White Paper to legislation, there would be a debate at that time. Asked if Cabinet had discussed the issue before the publication of the White Paper, the PMOS said yes. No doubt there would be further discussions about it as well. Asked if there was a commitment to legislate on this issue before the next election, the PMOS said that he had no intention of pre-empting the Queen’s Speech. However, it was clearly an area which the Prime Minister believed needed urgent attention for the reasons he had set out.
Hunting Bill
Questioned as to whether the Parliament Act would be invoked for the Hunting Bill, the PMOS said that we would have to wait and see what happened at the Committee stage and Third Reading in the Lords and subsequently how the Bill would return to the Commons before any judgements could be taken.
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