Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Lord Mayor’s Banquet, Working Peers, ID Cards and Terrorist Threat.
Lord Mayor’s Banquet
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister would be addressing the Lord Mayor’s Banquet this evening. The annual event provided an opportunity for the Prime Minister to speak about foreign policy issues. In the light of President Bush’s visit to the UK next week, the Prime Minister would reflect on Britain’s relationship with the United States, as well as our relations with the EU. He would also talk about the inter-relationship between the EU and US. Put to him that it was surprising that the Prime Minister would not be focussing on Iraq this evening, the PMOS said that Iraq would obviously be mentioned, but it would form part of an overall theme which dealt with the US and the EU.
Questioned as to whether President Bush would visit the Prime Minister’s constituency of Sedgefield during his visit to the UK, the PMOS said that we would discus the itinerary of the Prime Minister and President Bush when we were ready to do so - not before.
Working Peers
Asked to confirm a report today suggesting that the Prime Minister was preparing to appoint twenty new Working Peers, the PMOS said that we were in consultation with the relevant people about this matter. Since those discussions were ongoing, he was not anticipating an immediate announcement.
ID Cards
Asked why the Home Secretary would be making a Statement to the House of Commons on ID cards tomorrow, the PMOS said that it followed a Cabinet discussion last Thursday and a subsequent statement setting out our position on the issue. Mr Blunkett would use his Statement tomorrow to give further details. Questioned as to whether Mr Blunkett had decided to make a Statement because he felt that it had been wrong to characterise the proposal as having been dropped, the PMOS pointed out that Downing Street was not responsible for that portrayal. On the contrary. We had underlined that there would be a two-stage process. How the media chose to portray the issue was a matter for them.
Terrorist Threat
Asked for a reaction to a report in today’s Guardian relating to domestic security post-September 11 and whether he could say with absolute certainty that the story was wrong, the PMOS said that anyone who had listened to Sir John Steven’s interview with David Frost yesterday would understand how seriously we regarded the terrorist threat, and therefore the need to prepare for any such attack. What we had done since September 11 underlined how seriously we took the threat. For example, we had toughened counter-terrorism legislation; we had tightened port, airport and border security; we had strengthened our immigration provisions to ensure that those who presented a security risk could not hide behind refugee protection; we had proscribed terrorist organisations; we had published an Extradition Bill to streamline and speed up extradition procedures; we had frozen the assets of international terrorist organisations; we had increased funding for specific counter-terrorist policing, and generally for the security and intelligence services; and we had announced a £330m package in the Budget settlement which would provide funding over three years for counter-terrorism projects in the Home Office, the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister and the Cabinet Office. All these measures were a clear indication of just how seriously we took this matter, and we were continuing to keep them under constant review, as you would expect. Put to him that the list of initiatives he had reeled off did not preclude the fact that some agencies were overlapping and competing with each other, meaning that the sharing of important information might not be happening, the PMOS said that given everything which the Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and other Cabinet Ministers had done, the message going out was loud and clear: since September 11, it was important to step up our response to the terrorist threat, and we all needed to work together to ensure that could happen.
Asked about reports that the Pakistan Embassy in the UK had been bugged, the PMOS said that he didn’t have information on that issue and referred journalists to the Foreign Office for a response.
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