Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Pakistan/Al Qaida, Iraq, Lords Reform, Budget, European Constitution and Guantanamo Detainees.
Pakistan/Al Qaida
Asked for a progress report on the military operation by Pakistan to root out members of Al Qaida on the border of Pakistan and Afghanistan, the PMOS said that as Geoff Hoon had stated this morning, this was not a UK operation and he didn’t have any additional information about it. Nevertheless, we were watching events unfold with interest.
Iraq
Asked if the Prime Minister would be marking the first anniversary of the Iraq war in any way, the PMOS said no. As we had been saying consistently about Iraq over recent months, the appalling acts of terror by the remnants of the Saddam regime and terrorist organisations should not overshadow the quiet progress being made on the ground in improving the lives of ordinary Iraqi people. For example, 100,000 jobs had been created, 2,300 schools had been refurbished, 600 clinics had been re-equipped, there were now over 100 newspapers being published and courts had opened. Of course that was not to suggest that everything was perfect in Iraq. Clearly it wasn’t. The security situation was a continuing cause for concern and remained an area on which the Coalition was focussing much of its attention. However, it was important to remember that the Transitional Administrative Law had been signed and we were all working towards the date for the handover of power at the end of June. Tuesday’s poll was perhaps the most eloquent account of what life was like in the new Iraq. Iraqi citizens were now clearly able to view the future with considerably more confidence than they had in the past.
Asked if the Prime Minister was disappointed to learn that Sir Jeremy Greenstock would be leaving Iraq before the handover of power, the PMOS said that we had always been aware of the timetable for Sir Jeremy’s work there. Questioned further, the PMOS said that Sir Jeremy had made a significant contribution in Iraq. The Government would continue to be engaged as we sought to handover power to ensure that Iraq was run for the Iraqi people by the Iraqi people.
Lords Reform
In answer to questions about the latest development on the Government’s plans for House of Lords reform, the PMOS said that it was sometimes necessary to be pragmatic in politics. It remained the Government’s view that hereditary peers should no longer sit in the Lords. As Lord Falconer had said in his statement last night, we were not going to let the matter rest. Just because we were not proceeding with the Bill at this stage did not mean that we had given up on the issue. Far from it. However, it was necessary for us to be realistic about events in the Lords over recent weeks and months. For example, the handling of the Constitutional Reform Bill had been virtually unprecedented. As a result, a judgement had been taken not to proceed with the Bill and Lord Falconer had announced last night that the Party would deal with the issue in its next election manifesto.
Asked to expound on Lord Falconer’s threat to review the powers of the Lords, the PMOS said Lord Falconer had been indicating that the Government would be reflecting on recent events in the Lords and the way that Peers were able to obstruct the will of the elected Commons, and would consider how to take things forward. Put to him that the Lords’ ability to obstruct legislation had surely not suddenly come as a blinding flash of revelation to the Government, the PMOS said the Government accepted the fact that it did not have a majority in the Lords. No one was suggesting that legislation should not be scrutinised. Of course it should be - hence the Lords’ important function as a revising chamber. However, legitimate scrutiny was one thing, the sort of behaviour we had seen in the Lords recently was entirely another. The Government had taken time to reflect on what had happened and had reached the judgement that the Bill would not be passed in present circumstances. As Lord Falconer had indicated, it was clearly best to acknowledge such a thing at the start and concentrate on other legislation which was in train at the moment.
Put to him that the Government could have proscribed the powers of the Lords had it completed all the stages of reform quickly instead of waiting seven years to do so, the PMOS said that these were clearly very complex issues. He pointed out that had the Government not set up Joint Committees, not offered free votes on the issue and not tried to find an emerging consensus, the same journalist would be criticising us for railroading through legislation and abolishing a thousand years of history at a stroke. The point he was making was that there were real issues which needed to be looked at. The Government would reflect on them in slower time.
Budget
Asked for a reaction to a report by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) criticising the figures in the Budget, the PMOS said that financial commentators and organisations were perfectly entitled to express their views. However, it was widely acknowledged that the Chancellor’s forecasting had proved accurate in the past. All Government growth forecasts were based on prudent assumptions. This year was no different.
European Constitution
Asked if the Prime Minister was hopeful of a breakthrough in the negotiations on the European constitution in the light of Poland’s decision to back down on its objections yesterday, the PMOS said that the Government had always approached this matter in a constructive way. We had always maintained that for an EU to function at twenty-five, changes would need to be made. We had also said that it would be helpful to delineate the competencies of Governments and the competencies of the European Council and European Commission. The stumbling block at the European Council last December had related to the issue of vote-weighting and had involved Spain and Poland. There had now been a change of Government in Spain. We would have to wait and see how that might affect the dynamic of this particular discussion. He said that had also seen what the Polish Government had said. It now fell to the Irish Presidency to examine how this particular issue could be resolved. If progress could be made, then obviously people would want that to happen - the sooner the better. No one was under the impression that the European Council next week would see the resolution of these issues. However, we would have to wait and see how things panned out in terms of whether the Irish considered it worthwhile to push for a deal under their Presidency. Everyone was aware of the British Government’s red lines. Equally, it was important to recognise that the issue which had been the stumbling block last December was not one where we had been central to the debate.
In answer to further questions, the PMOS said that it was important to be clear about the history of this issue. As the discussions at the European Council in December had shown, the centre of gravity regarding our red lines was with us. However, as the Prime Minister had said in his press conference after the talks had broken down, all these issues would have to be revisited in any event because the IGC stood as a whole. Unless there was unanimity, there was no agreement. Subsequent to the European Council, the Irish Presidency had been having preliminary discussions with different countries to find out where things stood. In that vein, the Prime Minister had met with the Taoiseach in Dublin last week. There had never been any anticipation that things would be resolved by next week. Whether the Presidency considered that there had been movement in any direction, and whether things were looking more optimistic for the summer, we would have to wait and see.
Guantanamo Detainees
Asked if the Government was concerned that the five former Guantanamo Bay detainees were free to roam the streets, despite the anxieties expressed by the US authorities and British MPs, the PMOS said that he did not have anything to add to what he had said about this issue at yesterday morning’s press briefing and what the Home Secretary had said in response to David Davis. These had been very complex and challenging issues for the British and US Governments to address. The fact that the discussions had been protracted underlined the complexity of those negotiations. When the five individuals had returned to the UK they had been interviewed by the police and subsequently released.
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