Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Reshuffle, Pensions and Fox Hunting.
Reshuffle
Asked if the reshuffle would be taking place today, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we would let people know as and when it happened. Asked if the Prime Minister had met the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister today, the PMOS said that it wasn’t our policy to brief on individual meetings. Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister had met the Chancellor and Deputy Prime Minister last night, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister met his ministerial colleagues on a regular basis, as you would expect. Asked if the Prime Minister had been in contact with Alan Milburn within the last day or so, the PMOS repeated that it wasn’t our policy to brief on individual conversations.
Asked about the Prime Minister’s engagements for this evening, the PMOS said that it wasn’t our practice to brief on the Prime Minister’s every movement. That said, he would no doubt want to try to catch a little of the England match tonight. Asked if the Prime Minister would work in his office in the House of Commons after PMQs today, the PMOS said that it was the Prime Minister’s custom to stay on in the House for a short time after PMQs in order to meet ministers and backbenchers. Today would be no different.
Asked if there would be a Political Cabinet on Thursday, the PMOS said yes. It would take place after the regular weekly Cabinet. Asked if that meant that any Cabinet changes would have been made prior to those meetings, the PMOS said that any reshuffle would happen when it happened. Asked the timing of Cabinet, the PMOS said that he would find out. Put to him that his uncertainty about the timing would appear to be an indication that the reshuffle would take place tomorrow, the PMOS said that it wasn’t an indication of anything. All it meant was that he hadn’t had a chance to find out a definite time for Cabinet.
Asked if he would accept that it was damaging to the Prime Minister’s personal image for it be made known that the Chancellor had effectively stood in the way of Alan Milburn’s potential return to Cabinet, the PMOS said that as the Prime Minister had pointed out in his press conference yesterday, there had never been a reshuffle that hadn’t been preceded by piles of speculation. That was simply a fact of political life and was something with which we had to live. The important thing was that the end result was the right one. The Prime Minister would take his time to ensure that it was. Asked to characterise the relationship between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister and the Chancellor continued to work closely together, not only for the benefit of the Government but for the benefit of the country as well. Asked if the Prime Minister was happy to see the Chancellor continue to be the driving force in such policy areas as pensions and welfare, the PMOS pointed out that the Chancellor had an input into both those areas due to the nature of his job. However, actual decisions were taken by Cabinet as a whole. This was a collective Government under which all ministers had their own jobs to do. Asked if the Chancellor’s job was safe, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister’s view in terms of how well the Chancellor had handled the British economy had not changed.
Asked why the Prime Minister appeared to be unable to stop people briefing against others - supposedly on his behalf, the PMOS said we had to accept that such things were a fact of political life. He pointed out that it was his official job to brief on the Prime Minister’s behalf - and no one could accuse him of briefing on or off the record in order to fuel any of the speculation surrounding the reshuffle.
Pensions
Asked if Downing Street would recognise the suggestions of some city commentators that pensions policy provision had become ‘a bit of a basket case’ under this Government, the PMOS said it was clear that the Government had addressed both the immediate and longer term issues on pensions, which all Governments were having to deal with. For example, we had introduced the Pension Credit in October 2003. In addition, the Pensions Bill would include the Pension Protection Fund. We had also set up the Financial Assistance Scheme to help those who had already lost their pensions. In order to address the longer term issues, we had asked the Pensions Commission, under the leadership of Adair Turner, to undertake a review. This was due to report in the autumn.
Fox Hunting
Asked if an announcement on fox hunting would be made today, the PMOS said that as the Prime Minister had told journalists in his press conference yesterday, Parliament would be the first to be informed about any announcement on fox hunting. Asked repeatedly if a Parliamentary Question (PQ) by Paddy Tipping MP asking whether the Secretary of State for DEFRA would make a statement on fox hunting would be answered today, the PMOS said that the usual Parliamentary procedures would apply, as you would expect. Asked what was so difficult about confirming whether the PQ would be answered today or not, the PMOS said that any Parliamentary Question which was tabled would obviously be answered in the normal way. It wasn’t our practice to brief on every single one that came along. Asked to confirm suggestions that the PQ had been tabled solely to put pressure on DEFRA, the PMOS said that he wasn’t aware of such reports. He repeated that the PQ would be answered in the normal way. Asked how long it would take, the PMOS said that we tried to answer PQs as quickly as possible. Put to him that it sometimes took Departments weeks to reply, the PMOS said he did not think that was normally the case.
Asked if the Prime Minister would take the opportunity to express again his personal view on fox hunting, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any plans for him to do so at this stage. Asked to remind journalists what his views were, the PMOS said that they were on the record and could be easily found through Google.
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