Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Education, Iraq/President Bush and Margaret Hodge.
Education
The PMOS informed journalists that the Prime Minister, together with Charles Clarke, would be visiting a secondary school in Southwark today where he would set out plans to overhaul secondary education in the five worst performing boroughs in London, namely Haringey, Hackney, Islington, Lambeth and Southwark. The aim of the so-called ‘London Challenge’ was to convert every secondary school into a specialist school over the next three years, have at least eleven academies and build a further three new schools. Every secondary school would be an ‘extended school’, which would mean that they would have health and education services. There would also be significant refurbishment of secondary schools that needed it. This showed the Government’s determination to raise standards in those areas which were particularly difficult.
Asked to explain the significance of today’s announcement, since it appeared that a similar announcement had been made by the Prime Minister and Charles Clarke during a visit to the Globe Theatre earlier this year, the PMOS said that he would not dispute the fact that we had said in the past we would focus on secondary schools in the worst boroughs in London. Today we were seeing the publication of papers which would set out what we were planning to do in more detail. In no way was he suggesting that the Government was turning its attention for the first time to some of the problems of secondary education in inner-London boroughs. On the contrary. As journalists would no doubt remember, the Government had launched its ‘Excellence in Cities’ initiative in the last Parliament, and today’s event was clearly complementary to that.
Questioned as to whether the ‘London Challenge’ was a unique initiative, with the regions being neglected ‘as usual’, the PMOS said that he would dispute the premise of the question. It went without saying that we wanted to raise standards in all our schools across the country. However, there was a recognition that there were particularly deep-rooted problems in secondary education in inner-city London. Of course that was not to suggest that there weren’t problems in other parts of the country. There were, which was why the Excellence in Cities initiative had been introduced, for example, which went wider than London.
Iraq/President Bush
Asked if the issue of Iraq had been discussed in Cabinet this morning, the PMOS said only in terms of the brief mention of President Bush’s visit to the UK next week. The Prime Minister had said that he was looking forward to the debate on policy issues, including Iraq, when the President was here. No one was under any illusion that there were strong views on both sides of the argument to the war. The Prime Minister had also taken the opportunity at Cabinet to pay tribute to the Italian Government and Prime Minister Berlusconi who was playing a very important role in the reconstruction effort inside Iraq. Put to him that the fact the Prime Minister was looking forward to a debate with President Bush suggested that the two leaders held different views on Iraq policy, the PMOS said that that was to misunderstand what he was saying. He was making the point that the visit would underscore a vigorous public debate in relation to security issues for the twenty first century and how we developed a common approach to tackling some of the difficult issues which faced the world, such as the Middle East peace process, HIV/Aids and the problems in Africa. The State Visit would be an important event. The UK and the US were very close allies. We had close trade links, close political links and a very large number of shared values. As the Prime Minister had said on Monday, it was exactly the right time for President Bush to visit the UK.
Asked if the Government agreed with US Administration’s reported U-turn on Iraq in terms of its desire to speed up the transfer of power to the Iraqi people, the PMOS acknowledged the fact that there had been a lot of ‘chatter’ in today’s papers regarding exit strategies. Our exit strategy was exactly the same today as it had been on day one - a free and prosperous Iraq for the Iraqi people by the Iraqi people. We would stay until the job was done. Of course there were ongoing discussions about the political process. That should not come as a surprise to anyone. However, the Coalition would not be bombed, terrorised or intimidated into leaving Iraq until the job had been completed. It was important to reflect on what had happened yesterday. Italian Carabinieri, who had been working with the Iraqi people to try to help them build up their own police force to improve security in Iraq, had been killed. The terrorists, who stood for nothing apart from hatred and bloodshed, obviously wanted to turn the clock back. However, our determination and resolve to see the job through remained absolutely undiminished for all the reasons the Prime Minister had set out in his speech at the Guildhall on Monday night. Asked if he would accept that the US’s determination to see things through was not of the same nature as the UK’s, the PMOS said no.
Asked if the Prime Minister believed that more power should be given to the Iraqi Governing Council (IGC) and whether the option of turning the IGC into an interim governing authority was under active consideration, the PMOS said that there were clearly issues relating to the transfer of power. As we had underlined from the outset, we wanted to transfer power and sovereignty to the Iraqi people as quickly as possible. Equally, we were well aware of our responsibilities as part of the Coalition to ensure that issues of basic governance and security were dealt with during this transitional phase. We were not in a position to simply walk away from those responsibilities - and nor would we ever want to do so. He pointed out that there had been an agreement in UN Resolution 1511 that power should be transferred to the Iraqi people as quickly as possible. Under the terms of the Resolution, the IGC would submit a timetable and programme for a constitution by 15 December. Discussions were taking place as part of the ongoing contacts in order to meet those obligations. In the meantime, we would remain in Iraq until the job had been done.
Asked who the insurgents in Iraq might be, the PMOS said we had always acknowledged that there might be terrorist influences - people who had entered Iraq after the conflict and who wished the Iraqi people and the Coalition ill. There were also clearly remnants of Saddam’s regime still in existence. Put to him that a leaked CIA report appeared to suggest that the insurgents were garnering support from ordinary Iraqi people who wanted the US out of Iraq, the PMOS said that despite recent events, appalling though they were, it was important not to lose sight of the positive things that were happening in Iraq. As the Prime Minister had spelt out very clearly on Monday evening, life was returning to normality in large parts of Iraq in terms of education, the health service and the introduction of a new currency, for example. Of course that was not to suggest that there weren’t security problems and difficulties in certain areas. There were. However, for a country that had been under the lash of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, and had been subjected to the most appalling brutality, life for many Iraqis was returning to normality. That was a good thing, although of course we recognised that the job had not yet been completed.
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned that the US’s decision to step up its offensive against the insurgents meant that we might lose the goodwill of the Iraqi people, the PMOS said it was a sign that appropriate action would be taken by the Coalition to deal with those malign influences who wished ill on Iraq. That was in the interests of the Iraqi people, not against them. As the Prime Minister had underlined many times, our aim was to help make Iraq a better place for the Iraqi people. The remnants of the regime and other outside elements clearly wished to turn the clock back and deny ordinary Iraqis the freedom and prosperity which everyone wanted to see. We would take whatever measures we considered necessary to improve security and send a strong message to the terrorists that they would not be tolerated. Asked for a reaction to the CIA report suggesting that hundreds and thousands of Iraqis were opposed to the US presence in Iraq, the PMOS said we accepted that there were security challenges which the Coalition had to address and would, indeed, do so. He wasn’t doing numbers.
Margaret Hodge
Asked why the Minister for Children had pulled out of an event this morning, the PMOS said he wasn’t aware that she had and referred journalists to the DfES for a response. Questioned as to whether Mrs Hodge retained the full confidence of the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that the position had not changed from yesterday or the day before. Asked what the position was, the PMOS said that journalists could look it up on the Downing Street website. The Minister continued to enjoy the Prime Minister’s confidence.
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