Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Tuition Fees, Hutton Report, Northern Ireland and Europe.
Tuition Fees
Asked when the Higher Education Bill would be published, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said we anticipated that an announcement about the timing of the Bill would be made shortly. A final decision had not yet been taken at this stage. Asked if he was implying that the Bill might not be published this week after all, the PMOS said that we had never confirmed that it would be published this week. He repeated that an announcement would be made shortly.
Asked if the Prime Minister was aware of any changes to the legislation on tuition fees which might make the Bill more bearable for backbenchers, the PMOS said that the principles of the issue remained unchanged. He took the opportunity to draw journalists’ attention to international comparisons which showed that, in countries such as Australia, New Zealand and Canada, variable fees could be introduced without adversely affecting participation from less well-off families. Asked about the possibility of shifting the threshold over which students would pay back what they owed and whether student debt would be written off after twenty five years, the PMOS commented that though we were at the beginning of a New Year, it seemed that journalists were still insisting on jumping ahead hypothetically in advance of reality. We would discuss the detail of the Bill once it was published. Asked to confirm that the issue of variability remained non-negotiable, the PMOS repeated that the principles of the policy remained unchanged. The international comparisons to which he had referred earlier clearly reinforced that point.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be chairing any meetings on the Higher Education Bill this week, the PMOS said that journalists could safely assume that the Prime Minister remained as fully engaged in this issue as he was in respect of other issues. Pressed as to whether the Prime Minister would be meeting the Chancellor and Education Secretary this week, the PMOS said that, as journalists were well aware, it wasn’t our policy to brief on every single meeting the Prime Minister had. That said, they could take it that he remained fully engaged in this matter, as you would expect.
Hutton Report
Asked when the Hutton Report would be published, the PMOS said that publication was entirely a matter for Lord Hutton. Asked when the Government would announce the format of its response, the PMOS said that we would make an announcement when we were in a position - and when it was appropriate - to do so. Obviously we remained in contact in the interim with the Secretariat which was serving Lord Hutton. In the end, however, it was entirely a matter for him to decide when to publish his report. Asked if the Prime Minister was planning a meeting with Lord Falconer in advance of the Report’s publication, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any special meeting that had been planned in that regard. Asked what arrangements had been made for the Opposition parties to see the Report in advance of publication, the PMOS said that we would announce the relevant details at the appropriate time once we had a better idea as to when the Report would be published.
Northern Ireland
Asked for a reaction to Jeffrey Donaldson’s defection to the DUP today, the PMOS said that it was entirely a matter for Mr Donaldson and the DUP. All he would say was that, as we had underlined following the elections in November and the Prime Minister’s meetings with the DUP leadership and the other Northern Ireland leaders before Christmas, the onus was on the parties to respect the overwhelming majority of opinion - as expressed through the elections - to see devolution up and running. That remained our goal. We were now going into a review period which would give the parties a chance to put forward their ideas as to how that could be achieved. Put to him that Mr Donaldson’s defection meant that the DUP would have an extra Minister in the Assembly, the PMOS said that it was important for people not to jump ahead. In the first instance, it was necessary for the parties to reach an agreement on how to revive the Executive. The DUP had said they wanted to be positive. We would wait and see what that meant in reality. Equally, there was an onus on the Republicans to give greater clarification than they had been prepared to do before the elections. The basic fundamentals did not change just because of the decision of one or two individuals. We would wait and see how things panned out. In answer to questions about the review, the PMOS said that we had asked for ideas from the parties by the end of the year. Now was the time to study the proposals and talk to our Irish colleagues about them.
Europe
Asked for the Prime Minister’s reaction to comments by Romano Prodi regarding a two-tier Europe, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had already underlined the importance of finding a way to ensure that a Europe at twenty-five actually worked. Indeed, that was precisely how we had approached the European Council before Christmas. We continued to believe that it was a Europe at twenty-five which should move forward. We would have to wait and see how that view could be turned into reality.
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