Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Tuition Fees and Iraq.
Tuition Fees
Asked again when the Higher Education Bill would be published, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that it would be published shortly. Asked to explain the reluctance to be more specific, the PMOS said that a final decision had not yet been made. Questioned as to why people had thought that it would be published this Thursday, the PMOS pointed out that Downing Street had never confirmed that the Bill would be published this week. Asked if a Cabinet Committee was meeting this afternoon to decide on the timing, the PMOS said that it wasn’t our policy to comment on individual meetings. However, as he had said this morning, the Prime Minister obviously remained as fully engaged in this issue as with other issues. Asked if the Prime Minister had any plans to meet Ministers to discuss this policy area, the PMOS said that we had absolutely no intention of providing a running commentary of every meeting the Prime Minister had. Asked if the detail of the proposals would be published at the same time as the Bill, the PMOS confirmed that the aim was to allow people to see the detail at the same time.
Iraq
Asked why there had been a delay in announcing the deaths of two British soldiers in Iraq on New Year’s Day and whether it related in any way to the Prime Minister’s visit to Iraq yesterday, the PMOS said that he was not familiar with the detail of the incident. Certainly he had not been aware of the two deaths when he had accompanied the Prime Minister to Iraq yesterday. If there had been any delay, no doubt it would have been for the usual reasons - to inform next of kin. It went without saying that we were deeply sorry over what had happened and passed on our condolences to the soldiers’ families. Asked for categorical confirmation that Downing Street had not been aware of the two deaths before the Prime Minister’s arrival in Iraq, the PMOS said that he personally had not been aware of the incident in advance of the visit.
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