Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq, PM Health, Northern Ireland and Crossrail.
Iraq
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Foreign Secretary had spoken in Brussels this morning about the appalling acts in Iraq in the last few days. The Prime Minister utterly condemned these evil and wicked attacks. The terrorists and criminals responsible were obviously the enemies of the Iraqi people inasmuch as they were deliberately targeting those organisations that were helping to work towards a free and stable Iraq. Needless to say, that work would continue. The Prime Minister would be sending a message to Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the UK’s representative in Iraq, setting out his admiration for the professionalism and courage of those British officials who were working inside the country.
PM Health
Asked for a reaction to a story at the weekend reporting comments by President Clinton suggesting that the Prime Minister had known he had been suffering from a heart condition, the PMOS said that our response to last Sunday’s events had been based on the opinion of those who had been responsible for the Prime Minister’s medical care. We were slightly mystified by this story, as this was the first time that the Prime Minister had suffered from such a condition. The Prime Minister did not have, and had never had, a heart condition. Nor had he ever had this complaint before. If he had it would have needed treatment in the past, which, as we had underlined many times, he had not had. Questioned as to whether he had said he had experienced palpitations before, the PMOS said that he did not have in his possession a list of everything the Prime Minister might or might not have said to every single person he had met in the last few years. He repeated that our response to the incident had been based on the clinical advice of doctors. It had never happened before - and, as we had said last Sunday and Monday, there was no reason why it should reoccur. Asked if he was confident that the Prime Minister had not suffered from a similar condition in the last five years, the PMOS said yes.
Asked to explain how President Clinton had managed to get his facts wrong, the PMOS repeated that we were slightly mystified by the story because if the Prime Minister had suffered from such a condition in the past, he would have needed treatment - which he had not had. All we could go on was what the clinicians told us - and they had said that it had not happened before and there was no reason why it should reoccur. Asked if the Prime Minister might have told President Clinton that he had suffered from palpitations in the past but had not had treatment for the condition, the PMOS said that he had not been present at every single conversation the Prime Minister had had with President Clinton.
Asked if the Prime Minister was able to recall any comments he had made about his health which might have given rise to the weekend’s reports, the PMOS said that he hadn’t asked him. He repeated that our response had been based on what the clinicians had told us. He said that as he understood it, President Clinton’s office had been querying the story themselves. He suggested that journalists posed these questions directly to them. Asked if he would check with the Prime Minister whether he had suffered from a similar condition in the last few years and report his findings back to journalists at this afternoon’s briefing, the PMOS said that he had already answered the question and repeated that what we were saying had been based on what clinicians had told the Prime Minister himself. If we were saying that the Prime Minister did not have, and had never had, a heart condition, obviously we would not make such a statement unless we were confident that was the case - and the only people who were able to make that judgement were those in the medical profession. Put to him that his response could be seen as disingenuous in the sense that although the Prime Minister might not have a heart condition, he might have suffered a similar non-serious attack in the past to the one he had experienced last Sunday, the PMOS pointed out that if the Prime Minister had suffered from such a condition in the past, he would have had to have been treated for it. As we had been underlining consistently, he hadn’t been treated for this condition before. Last Sunday’s incident was just one of those things. He had been treated for it at the time and had since made a full recovery.
Asked to comment on the theory that the Prime Minister had suffered from palpitations in the past about which he had complained to friends like President Clinton, but had not bothered to have the symptoms checked by a doctor - which would have meant that clinicians would not have had an accurate record of his medical history, the PMOS said that the condition from which the Prime Minister had suffered was a very specific complaint for which cardio-version treatment had been required. He had not received this treatment in the past and the clinicians did not see any reason as to why he should need it again.
Pressed repeatedly as to whether he would ask the Prime Minister directly if he could recall a conversation about his health with President Clinton, who would surely not have made anything up, the PMOS repeated that he hadn’t spoken to the Prime Minister in detail about every conversation he had had in the past few years with other politicians. If the doctors were saying that he did not have, and had never had, a heart condition, then surely that was the case. Challenged persistently that the only way to clarify matters was for him to ask the Prime Minister about the issue himself and then report back his response to journalists, the PMOS said that we were also mystified by the story because the Prime Minister did not have, and had never had, a heart condition - as the clinicians themselves had told us. Put to him that this wasn’t a medical story but a story based on reported gossip between two political leaders and that he was leading journalists down another road to avoid answering awkward questions, the PMOS said that he would disagree. He was unable to account for the reports at the weekend. All he could point to was the reality of the situation in terms of the medical treatment the Prime Minister had received last week. He thought it was a medical story. Asked if he would ask the Prime Minister directly if he could recall a conversation about his health with President Clinton, the PMOS said that he would ask the question for the sake of completeness. However, he did not think his answers would be any different.
Asked about Mrs Blair’s visit to Washington, as reported in Saturday’s Daily Mail, and whether the Prime Minister would be accompanying her, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any plans for the Prime Minister to do so. Asked if Mrs Blair would be going, the PMOS said that he hadn’t checked Mrs Blair’s diary. Asked the current state of play regarding the award of the Congressional Medal to the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that the situation had not changed as far as he was aware. There were a number of procedures which had yet to be completed in the US.
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister was planning any meetings with the key players prior to the UUP meeting on Wednesday, the PMOS said that there were no meetings he could point to. However, there had been a lot of contact at all levels and involving both sides over the weekend, as you would expect. The Prime Minister himself had been involved in what had clearly been intensive discussions. Without over-stating anything, the fact that all sides remained willing to engage was a positive sign. However, that was not to under-estimate the difficulties. There were clearly particular problems in resolving them in the run up to the election. That said, people were continuing to make the effort and working the phones. Asked if the 26 November date for the elections was set in stone, the PMOS said that that was the date.
Asked to clarify how much detail had been provided to the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach by General de Chastelain regarding the latest IRA act of decommissioning, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had had good reason to make his comments to the House last week. He had had an hour-long meeting with the Taoiseach and the General in Northern Ireland last Tuesday. Without breaching the confidentiality of those discussions, the PMOS said that he would refer journalists to the words of the Taoiseach on Friday evening on the Dunphy Show in the Irish Republic where he had said, "I know it is a significant act because General John de Chastelain wasn’t able to tell Tony Blair and I everything, but I have more detail than I can say because I am bound by some of these rules too". Asked to confirm that both the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach had known more than General de Chastelain had said in public, the PMOS repeated that the Prime Minister would not have said what he had said unless he had good reason to do so. He had had an hour-long meeting with General de Chastelain. The fact that the General’s report to the two Prime Ministers had been very short was a strong indication that they had all clearly been talking about something for that hour.
Asked to remind journalists why there was a need for confidentiality, the PMOS said that it had been set down in the legislation when the Decommissioning Commission had been set up. As the Prime Minister had said in the House, the question was whether we were now at a different stage in the process whereby people needed more detail in a way that could create more confidence. For perfectly honourable reasons, General de Chastelain had said what he had said on Tuesday because of the strictures by which he was bound. Put to him that the General had breached his obligations by discussing the issue in more detail with the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that he had no intention of getting drawn into a discussion about the nature of any conversation the Prime Minister might have had with the General. However, as both the Prime Minister and Taoiseach had stated, they had said what they had said for good reason.
Asked if the Prime Minister had found a way of providing more detail about the act of decommissioning, the PMOS said that he would have liked to be able to stand up in front of journalists this morning and announce that the difficulties had been resolved. However, he was unable to do so. It was important for people to exercise a little patience while things were being worked through. Obviously the problems were more acute given we were in the run up to the election period. Asked to explain why that was the case, the PMOS pointed out that the particular problem of resolving the issue now when we had an election date meant that the dynamic in Northern Ireland had changed. Asked if it was the case that we were unable to push through the legislation for the elections until these difficulties were resolved, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware. The Government had announced the date of the elections and that was what we were working towards.
Asked to confirm reports suggesting that the Provisional IRA had been happy for General de Chastelain to pass some confidential details to the two Prime Ministers on condition that it did not go any further, so that their word would be enough to convince others involved in the process, the PMOS pointed out that the General had said what he had said within the constraints under which he had been operating. The problem was that despite the significant act of decommissioning, it had not engendered the necessary confidence because of a lack of detail. It went without saying that everyone was continuing to do all they could in an attempt to resolve this issue.
Crossrail
Asked for a reaction to a report this morning claiming that the Treasury was blocking progress on the Crossrail project because the private sector was refusing to get involved, the PMOS said that the Treasury had denied the story. A team, headed by Adrian Montague, had been asked by Alistair Darling to look at the Crossrail scheme and make recommendations to the Governments as to how it could be delivered. Mr Montague was due to report back in the New Year. We would await his findings before making a complete evaluation.
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