Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: John Scarlett, Oil Prices, Interest rates and Iraq.
John Scarlett
Asked if Downing Street would agree with the Opposition’s suggestion that John Scarlett’s appointment as Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) was ‘inappropriate’ since his promotion could be interpreted as pre-empting his exoneration by the Butler Inquiry, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that Mr Scarlett’s appointment, like all Civil Service appointments, had been made on merit. She also pointed out that the Butler Inquiry was not retracing the same steps as the Hutton Inquiry. As a press release on 12 February had made clear, the Inquiry would be focussing "principally on the structures, systems and processes, rather than on the actions of individuals".
Asked if the Prime Minister had been consulted about Mr Scarlett’s appointment, the PMS said that as her colleague had told journalists this morning, it was normal procedure for the Foreign Secretary to make the appointment under Section 2(1) of the Intelligence Services Act 1994 on the basis of recommendations from a selection panel following Civil Service Commission practice. In this case, the panel had been chaired by Sir David Omand. Under this procedure, the Prime Minister was consulted at the end of the process.
Asked what was being done to protect John Scarlett’s security given the fact that his identity had been revealed during the Hutton Inquiry proceedings, the PMS said that it wasn’t our policy to discuss the security arrangements for the Chief of the SIS, as to do so would completely defeat their purpose.
Oil Prices
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about rising oil prices, the PMS said that she had nothing further to add to what the Prime Minister had said about this matter in his joint press conference with the Polish President this afternoon. Asked if the Government would halt the increase in petrol prices which had been announced in the Budget if oil prices continued to rise, the PMS said she did not think it would be appropriate to get drawn into a discussion about any kind of fiscal measures which might or might not be taken.
Interest Rates
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the rising level of interest rates, the PMS said that interest rates were a matter for the MPC. She took the opportunity to point out that Britain currently had a very strong economy, with the lowest inflation level for thirty years. In addition, the number of people in work had grown by 1.8 million in the last seven years, and unemployment was at its lowest for a whole generation. The UK also had one of the fastest growing economies in the G7.
Iraq
Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Donald Rumsfeld as the US Defence Secretary, the PMS said that the position of Mr Rumsfeld was a matter for the US Government, not the British Prime Minister.
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Polish President’s view that the Coalition should apologise to any Iraqi prisoners who had been abused, the PMS said that in terms of the allegations relating to the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by British troops, it was important to await the outcome of the ongoing investigations into these matters. Asked if the Prime Minister and Polish President had discussed the issue in their meeting today, the PMS said that she did not have a detailed readout of their meeting. However, the issue of Iraq had been raised, as you would expect. She added that the Cabinet shared the abhorrence which President Bush had expressed yesterday about the mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners by some US troops. Asked to explain why the Prime Minister was willing to express a view about the pictures relating to alleged US mistreatment of Iraqi prisoners when their investigations had not yet concluded either, the PMS pointed out that the Government’s view had been set out very clearly by General Sir Mike Jackson last Friday night when the pictures had first emerged.
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