Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: EU Rebate, Railway Charging, Pensions and Pope’s invitation to G8.
EU Rebate
Asked whether the Prime Minister’s remarks regarding the rebate meant the rebate "could go altogether", the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said what they meant was they were on the table for discussion if there was a commitment and a process to guarantee reform. So long as the budget remained distorted in the way it was, then we needed the rebate. It was the nature of the budget which made the rebate necessary, both now and in the past, and therefore it was in that sense, not a tablet of stone, but rather a consequence of the problem that was created by the distorted nature of the budget.
Asked why did the Prime Minister tell Parliament on 11th June that it would "not be negotiated away, period", the PMOS said this was because if the budget remained distorted in the way it was, then we needed the rebate. That not just remained the Prime Minister’s view, it was what he had done at the summit. If the budget changed, then the symptom changed as well; the rebate was a symptom of the problem, as the PMOS had been saying for the past month. It was there for a reason, and it was not there as a fixed instalment, and it had always been argued for that reason. If the reason changed, then the justification for the rebate changed as well. What the Prime Minister was setting out was our approach to the negotiations, and we stood by that approach.
Railway Charging
Asked what timescale the Government had to respond on the proposals for train "congestion charging", the PMOS replied the proposal was ATOC’s vision for the next ten years. The PMOS said the ATOC proposal reported that passenger numbers were set to grow by one quarter over the next ten years, and it suggested congestion charging was set to manage travel during the rush hour.
Asked whether Alastair Darling would say if he agreed with the proposal, the PMOS said what we were doing was welcoming ATOC’s contribution and it recognised much of the work we had done through the White Paper. We would continue to engage with the industry and with passengers, and this was therefore part of an overall discussion. The PMOS said this was part of the on-going debate on how we maximised the use of the railways, and he drew attention to the fact that the Government was spending over £80 million a week on the railways.
Put to the PMOS that it seemed bizarre that people were being priced out of their cars onto trains, then out of train onto buses, and eventually people would have to walk, the PMOS said that the important thing was the load was spread on both road and rail, over the day as a whole as much as possible. It was entirely sensible to create incentives on both elements which did that. Clearly, at the same time, capacity had to be expanded, and we were trying to do just that. The PMOS said if people looked at improvements that had been made on the West Coast, progress could be seen, but when there was such a large increase in usage, it also created its own pressures that had to be dealt with.
Put to the PMOS that the disincentive to use trains would be on the individual customer, when it was actually the employers who would have to change their habits in order to shift the burden, the PMOS said that incentives could be created that businesses as well as individuals saw the advantages of travelling at cheaper times. That therefore would affect their behaviour, and such incentive schemes had been shown to work, both in this country and elsewhere. There was evidence that giving people the incentive to travel at different times of day did result in different behaviour. The PMOS said not everyone went to school, or had to travel at 9am, but rather, we could try and organise our days in different ways. Practice throughout the world showed that schemes like this worked.
Asked if in one year’s time, we would be saying "the exact opposite", as it could be a "potential disaster", the PMOS said that this was a consultation programme, and the journalist should speak to the Department of Transport for further details.
Pensions
Asked if the Prime Minister had settled on a final salary scheme for pensions, the PMOS said it was better to wait for Adair Turner’s report.
Pope’s invitation to G8
Asked if the Prime Minister had invited the Pope to the G8, the PMOS replied he had not.
delicious
digg
facebook
