Press Briefing: 11am Monday 24 January 2005

Briefing from the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman on: Jack Straw, Global Warming paper, Northern Ireland, EU Constitution Bill, Ruth Kelly, Guantanamo Prisoners and Immigration.

• Downing Street press briefings explained

Jack Straw

Asked about Jack Straw's meeting with Condoleeza Rice in Washington, and whether it would be concentrating mainly on the relationship with Iran, the PMOS said the Foreign Secretary was not travelling to Washington to deliver a specific message about Iran, contrary to common belief. We expected the talks to cover a wide agenda, especially regarding Israel and Palestine, the upcoming Iraq elections, and our G8 priorities. Our position on Iran was well known to the US, and vice versa.

Asked to clarify what our position was, the PMOS said it was that we wanted to work with our European allies to convince Iran not to develop a nuclear programme. When we were last in the White House, President Bush paid tribute to that work, and the Vice President said that the way forward was through a diplomatic solution. The message going to Iran was very clear, and what was important was that we all united around that message.

Global Warming paper

Asked what status Stephen Byers' paper on global warming had, the PMOS replied that what was important was that there was a debate going on, and we welcomed the report as a contribution towards the debate. It would be discussed with our G8 partners and others. The important thing was that by using events, such as the Science Seminar in February, we develop a world-wide consensus as to the status of the problem, the likely solutions and the way to implement them.

Northern Ireland

Asked what line the Prime Minister was going to take regarding Gerry Adams, the PMOS repeated his words of last week when he said there could be no deal with Republicans unless all criminal and paramilitary activities stopped. In terms of the way forward with Taoiseach, he was going to have a meeting with the Prime Minister and with Sinn Fein, and therefore the two Prime Minister's could compare notes and talk about the positions of the others parties as well. What the people of both North and South wanted was to move forward. He stressed again that we could only move forward with the Republicans if there was a genuine end to all activity.

Asked if the evidence showed, however, that the parties could only move forward after a general Election, the PMOS said that what people had seen between the time of the Assembly Elections and December, was progress of a very real kind. The problem was that activities such as the robbery did throw up questions that had to be addressed. We should not therefore wait for any one event, as history showed that if one waited for events whilst dealing with Northern Ireland, then one could wait a very long time.

EU Constitution Bill

Asked to comment about an article in today's FT that said that the Government was thinking about not pursuing the EU Constitution Bill during our Presidency of the EU but rather leave it until next year instead, the PMOS said he thought the speculation was "fairly old hat". He recommended people waited until the announcement on Wednesday.

Ruth Kelly

Asked if the Prime Minister was relaxed that his Education Secretary sought "spiritual support" from Opus Dei, the PMOS repeated the Education Secretary's words, which were that she had her private religious beliefs and she was entitled to them, like anyone else. Therefore, what was important was her role as a Cabinet Minister, and as Education Minister in particular, and what yesterday showed was that she was very focussed on delivering that task.

Guantanamo Prisoners

Asked for any further information regarding the release of the Guantanamo prisoners, the PMOS said he had no information at the moment to give to people. It would be briefed as and when it happened.

Immigration

Asked if the Prime Minister was against the idea of a quota for immigration numbers, the PMOS said he was not going to get involved in party political matters, but rather, would discuss the subject matter. The Prime Minister had not changed his view, and felt what was important regarding asylum was to recognise the two thirds drop since October 2002 and to recognise the measures that had been taken. In terms of managed migration, it was important to recognise the tough control measures that had been brought in, for example, work permits, and also to recognise the need of the economy for a flexible supply of migrant labour. That was what business leaders and The Treasury said the British economy needed, especially when there were 600,000 job vacancies throughout the country, and in particular in London and the South East. At the same time, we recognised it was an issue on which we needed to be making progress, therefore when the Five Year Plan was announced shortly regarding immigration and asylum, it would show clearly not just the work being done, but a series of further controls. The key to managed migration was flexibility and control.

Asked why there could not be a quota introduced at the level of the 600,000 level, the PMOS replied in terms of seasonal workers, for example, it varied between both seasons and years. Therefore, there was a variation in demand, according to the state of the economy etc. There was a great need to be able to respond flexibly and with tight control.