Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Parliamentary Standards, Northern Ireland and European Summit/IGC.
Parliamentary Standards
Asked for a reaction to the Shadow Chancellor’s suggestion this morning that some members of the Cabinet who had ’shady pasts’ had been investigated by the former Parliamentary Standards Commissioner, Elizabeth Filkin, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he was not aware of what or to whom the Shadow Chancellor had been referring. Put to him that the names of John Reid and Peter Mandelson had been mentioned, the PMOS said that all those issues had been dealt with at the time and he would decline journalists’ kind invitation to get involved in other matters going in the building where he was currently giving the press briefing.
Northern Ireland
Asked for an update on Northern Ireland and whether he could confirm reports that a poll might be held on a Saturday, the PMOS said that the position hadn’t changed since the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Taoiseach, Gerry Adams and David Trimble earlier in the week. There was still a positive atmosphere and real discussions were continuing. That said, people should not get ahead of themselves. The discussions were ongoing and had not yet concluded. There was still work to be done and that would take a bit of time. Everyone was therefore right to remain cautious at this stage. It went without saying that it was important to get the substance right before beginning to speculate about election dates.
European Summit/IGC
Asked the Prime Minister’s thoughts on President Chirac representing Chancellor Schroeder at the European Summit on Friday, the PMOS said that as he understood it, there were particular circumstances which meant that the German delegation were anxious to return to Berlin early. This was entirely a matter for President Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder. He pointed out that it was not the first time that this kind of thing had happened. The Benelux countries, for example, had used this device in the past. Germany and France’s actions simply served to underlined the point that this Summit was not a decision-making summit. It was the start of a process of negotiations on the IGC - it was not the end. Asked if he was indicating that the discussions at this week’s Summit were ‘not necessarily significant’ for the UK, the PMOS said that if he was being asked about Britain’s red line areas, it was important to be clear that they were not going to be the main focus of the discussions this week. Questioned as to whether the issue of an EU Foreign Minister would be raised, the PMOS said that discussions were continuing about this matter. However, it was unlikely to be raised during this Summit. Discussions were expected to focus on issues such as the head of the European Council, vote weighting and QMV.
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister had changed his mind about leaving the Summit early in order to deal with a ‘turbo-charged’ President Chirac, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any plans for the Prime Minister to leave early. He would depart at the time he had always intended to depart. As he understood it, the Italians had planned for the Summit to end at mid-morning on Friday.
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