Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Al Qaeda/Terror Legislation, Five Year Plan, Italian Ransom, Northern Ireland, Trevor Phillips/Education, MRSA and Roger Liddle re Europe.
Al Qaeda/Terror Legislation
Asked how many Al Qaeda trained operatives did the Prime Minister believed were "at large" in the UK, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) told the journalists what the Prime Minister had said both last week during an interview, and the week before during PMQs. The Prime Minister had said that there were several hundred people who were of concern to the police because of suspicions about terrorist intent. That remained the position, and therefore, what Sir John Stevens had said did not come as any surprise. The PMOS said it was a subject that was not just of concern here, but also throughout Europe and the rest of the world, and this was why there would be a representative at the conference on Terrorism in Madrid this week. What this underlined was that the threat from Al Qaeda and from other terrorist groups was very real, and therefore the precautions that had to be taken against those threats had to match the nature and extent of the threat.
Asked what happened if the Government was not able to get its latest anti terror legislation through, and was there a "Plan B", the PMOS replied that the Government remained determined to get the legislation through. The PMOS had said last week that the Government’s position remained that it thought it had struck the right balance, and that position had not changed at all since then. Therefore, the Government was determined to get this position through. The PMOS reminded people that if the police and security services had information that they believed an individual was involved in terrorism of some kind, but they did not have concrete evidence, the choices were either leaving the suspect at large or detaining them. With the new control orders, there would be a range of measures, which would be an improvement on the current situation.
Put that the Home Office had said that their assessment of the legislation meant that if it did go through, only twenty people would be subject to the control orders, not hundreds, as the Prime Minister and Sir John Stevens had said, the PMOS said that as he had told people last week, these individuals were of varying concern. Therefore, the response had to equally be varying and flexible between monitoring surveillance or other measures. The PMOS also emphasised that the control orders themselves varied in the restrictions that could be applied to an individual - from monitoring to house arrest. What was needed was a flexible system that was capable of responding to the varying degree of risk as identified by the police and security services. The PMOS said people needed to reflect on the fact that we had now had the chairman of the ACPO committee on terrorism saying he believed these measures were necessary. Sir Ian Blair, the current Commissioner had also said that he thought the control orders could be implemented. Sir John Stevens, the previous Commissioner, had also underlined what he saw as the real nature of the threat. There was a threat, and we needed to be flexible in our response to that threat.
Put to him that the Prime Minister had commented in a Scottish Newspaper that he would not "rule out putting control orders on those who protested about the G8 Summit", the PMOS said he had not seen the precise quote. He reiterated that it depended entirely upon the nature of the threat which any individual was judged to pose. Therefore, if someone did pose a terrorist threat, then we had to respond to that threat. If we had intelligence but we could not convert it into hard evidence, then we had to have the ability to impose controls. The PMOS said it was in terms of the nature of threat, and the police would have to have the range of implements to use, depending on the nature of the threat.
Asked what happened to the Belmarsh people once they had been released from custody, the PMOS said he could not comment on individual cases. He said that the Government must have the range of powers that the police and security services needed, and Sir Ian Blair had underlined that they were workable to deal with the nature of the threat. We would act on police advice.
Asked if there would an extension of the sitting, as Thursday was the last day for any terror bill debates, the PMOS said those were matters for the business managers.
Asked if the Government had sought a draft order to renew the existing legislation, the PMOS replied the journalist should speak to the Home Office, as he was not aware they had done so.
Five Year Plan
Asked to clarify what a Five Year Plan was, and were they backed by documents, the PMOS said that if the journalist examined various departments’ Five Year Plans, he would see the depth of the plan. The PMOS explained that it was work that was developing an overall strategy for five years within a department, and setting that out. It had been set out to Parliament, and the statement to Parliament was what the plan contained. It was a clear vision of each subject matter of the Government’s approach.
Italian Ransom
Asked what the Prime Minister’s view was about the Italians paying large ransoms for the release of hostages, the PMOS said it was a matter for the Italian Government. The British Government’s policy was clear.
Northern Ireland
Asked what the Prime Minister’s view was regarding the issue of criminality, especially with a view to the response to the McCartney family in Northern Ireland, the PMOS said that what had been said at the weekend by a variety of speakers at the Ard Fheis on the subjects of the McCartney murder, criminality in general, punishments beatings and policing, showed that Sinn Fein had begun to address the issues that were of concern to not only the British, Irish and US Governments, but also to the people in Northern and Southern Ireland. No doubt that would be explored with further contacts with Sinn Fein. The PMOS said the bottom line remained the same: there could only be progress with Sinn Fein and the Republicans if there was a complete end to activity. At least the Ard Fheis meeting showed that there was a process of beginning to address those issues. The McCartney family had said that they were encouraged by Gerry Adams’s comments, but wanted to see progress on the ground. The PMOS said as always, the family had shown real leadership in terms of trying to get this issue resolved.
Trevor Phillips/Education
Asked what the Prime Minister thought about Trevor Phillips’ comments regarding the performance of black children in school, the PMOS replied that what was important was to take note of the figures. The figures had shown some progress, but it had been recognised that there was still an issue of under performance. There had been some progress made in recent years, but we wanted to see that continue. The PMOS said that the proportion of Black Caribbean/Black African/Other pupils achieving five or more A* - C Grades at GCSE grade had improved by more than 2.5% against the average improvement of 1.2%. Obviously, there was a lot more to do, but there was some progress being made.
Asked what the Prime Minister thought about the separation of black boys in class, the PMOS said that different people would take different views on the subject, and Mr. Phillips was entitled to express his view. What was important was to concentrate on whether progress was being made, and turn it around. Some progress was being made, but it was important to concentrate on what was happening in the classrooms.
MRSA
Asked how worried the Prime Minister was about the MRSA problem, even though there had been a "tiny reduction" in the latest set of figures, the PMOS said people should focus on what the figures showed. They showed that there was a turnaround, which was important in the overall trend. It suggested that what was being done was beginning to work. There were two new initiatives started today to help that trend continue which were a new rapid swab technique, and the confirmation from the HPA that they would publish figures every six months to help people keep track. This was an issue, as the Prime Minister had said, that no-one underestimated, but equally, people should recognise two things. Firstly, it had been a problem that had been in gestation for a long time, but secondly, we were beginning to take the measures that were needed to address it.
Asked why the Prime Minister had said we were suffering the same kind of problems with MRSA as other European countries, when the problems in the UK were "clearly" worse, the PMOS said what the Prime Minister was trying to indicate was they we were not alone in this problem. As Lord Warner indicated on the "Today Programme", the genesis of this problem went back quite a long way. What the Prime Minister was saying was that it was not something that was unique to this country, and equally, it was not something that just happened over the last few years.
Put to him that although it was not unique, most European countries had dealt with the MRSA issue "much more effectively that the NHS", the PMOS said that regarding the "past genesis", it did go back many years. Therefore, there were issues of the analysis of the past. What was important now, however, was that there were things being done, and as the latest figures show, the new measures were having an impact on the trend. That did not mean that the Government was saying in any way that the problem was solved, but at least there was a turning point in the figures.
Asked why the Government was "so late in the day" in coming up with a pilot scheme to try and deal with the MRSA problem, the PMOS said what was ignored was the whole range of measures that were being taken. This should not be seen as the only thing that was being done. The two new measures announced today should be taken into context with the entire range of measures in terms of improved cleanliness in hospitals, washing of hands, etc. The important thing about today was that it showed that the measures being taken were beginning to make an impact.
Roger Liddle re Europe
Asked what the Prime Minister thought about Roger Liddle’s remarks about Europe, the PMOS replied that Mr Liddle no longer worked in Downing Street.
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