Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Geoff Hoon, Anti-social behaviour, Panorama/Hutton Report and Tuition fees.
Geoff Hoon
Asked if the Defence Secretary had informed the Prime Minister of his plans to live and work in the US in the light of reports today, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said he did not recognise the journalist’s description. Nor was he aware of any conversation relating to the suggestion.
Anti-Social Behaviour
Asked for how long the Prime Minister and the Home Secretary had been considering extending spot fines to pre-sixteen-year-olds for anti-social behaviour, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had been replying to a specific question at PMQs today and had said that the existing policy would be examined further. The PMOS referred journalists to the Home Office for further detail. Asked from what age the Prime Minister believed that spot fines should be given, the PMOS said that it was a question of looking at how successful the existing policy was and then deciding what the next step should be. Put to him that the Prime Minister had said that he wanted to extend the spot fines to pre-sixteen-year-olds as soon as possible, the PMOS said that it made more sense to allow the policy to be formulated before setting out further details which went beyond what the Prime Minister had said in PMQs today.
Panorama/Hutton Report
Asked for a reaction to Panorama’s John Ware who had said that BBC executives had "bet the farm on a shaky foundation" in relation to Andrew Gilligan’s claims, the PMOS said that journalists should exercise a little patience and wait until the Hutton Report was published next week. Asked if Downing Street had been aware of the interview with Dr Kelly, the PMOS said that he would be breaking his own rules were he to answer the question, so he wasn’t going to.
Asked to confirm reports that Lord Hutton would make his statement after PMQs next Wednesday, the PMOS said that it was entirely up to Lord Hutton to decide when to make any announcement about timings. Asked if there was an understanding that Lord Hutton would not be making his statement at the same time that the Prime Minister was doing PMQs, the PMOS assured journalists that common sense would prevail. Lord Hutton would make an announcement about timings when he chose to do so. Asked if the Opposition Leader would be able to participate in PMQs next Wednesday if he was reading the Hutton Report and observing the ‘lock in’ arrangements that had been put in place while he was doing so, the PMOS said he didn’t think that the Opposition Leader was being subjected to a lock-in. As we had made clear, the Opposition parties would be given access to the Report from 6am on Wednesday. Asked if the Prime Minister would do PMQs on Wednesday or whether he might delegate responsibility for that to the Deputy Prime Minister, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any changes to the usual PMQs arrangements.
Tuition Fees
Asked if the Prime Minister was ‘annoyed’ at the Chancellor’s reported ‘lack of effort’ in changing people’s minds on the issue of tuition fees, the PMOS said the Prime Minister believed that the Chancellor had made a perfectly clear statement that he fully supported the policy on tuition fees, as indeed did the rest of the Cabinet. Rather than focus on rumour and speculation, it was important for people to turn their attention to the actual issue itself. This was clearly a complex matter about which people obviously needed to think carefully. However, considered judgement would suggest that no one had put forward a viable alternative to what was being proposed. The Government’s proposals aimed to help poorer students, removed up-front fees and also provided more money for universities. People should listen to the real arguments rather than claim and counter-claim.
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