Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Reshuffle and Fox Hunting.
Reshuffle
Asked again if the reshuffle would be taking place today, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the position on this issue had not changed since this morning. He pointed out that the Prime Minister had been quite busy today with a number of diary engagements, including PMQs, attending his weekly Parliamentary Committee meeting and hosting a meeting with the President of Romania in Downing Street. Once he had made up his mind and had decided he was ready to announce a reshuffle we would let people know. Questioned as to how long the Prime Minister had spent at the House today, the PMOS said that he hadn’t timed him. He thought he had stayed the amount of time he usually stayed in the Commons after PMQs. Asked if the Prime Minister had any diary plans for this evening, the PMOS said that he had a social engagement. Asked if there was a desire for the reshuffle to be completed prior to tomorrow’s Cabinet and Political Cabinet, the PMOS said that the reshuffle would happen when the Prime Minister was ready.
Fox Hunting
Asked when an announcement would be made on fox hunting, the PMOS said he did not think that journalists would have much longer to wait. DEFRA would be answering a PQ on this issue a little later this afternoon. Asked which Minister was in the lead on this matter, the PMOS said that it was the responsibility of the Rural Affairs Minister, Alun Michael. That said, it was important for journalists to remember that the issue would be put to a free vote.
Asked to set out the Prime Minister’s personal view on fox hunting, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had expressed his opinion in the past. It had not changed. Journalists were just as able to look it up as he was. Put to him that the policy had changed since the Prime Minister had expressed his view, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister’s view was on the record. They could go away and read it for themselves. Asked why the Prime Minister didn’t adopt the same position when answering questions about Iraq for example, the PMOS pointed out that the position on Iraq was constantly evolving. Nor was it a matter for a free vote in the House. Asked if it was fair to say that the Prime Minister did not support a ban on fox hunting in the light of the fact that he hadn’t voted for such a thing in the Commons, the PMOS repeated that the Prime Minister had expressed his personal view on the issue in the past. Equally, it was important to recognise that it was a matter for a free vote in the House. In answer to further questions, the PMOS said that our approach to this issue was the same as our approach to other matters requiring a free vote in the House. As we had made clear consistently, the Prime Minister believed that a free vote meant that individual MPs had a right to reach their own view and vote accordingly. Asked if the vote in the Commons next week would be a free vote, despite the fact that the Bill would be a Government Bill, the PMOS said that it would remain a free vote. He cautioned journalists against getting too ahead of themselves at this point. The PQ would be answered shortly, at which time these questions would be addressed. In the meantime, a little patience wouldn’t go amiss.
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