Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Robin Cook, Terror and Ethnicity
Robin Cook
Asked if the Prime Minister might cut short his holiday to attend Robin Cook’s funeral, the PMS so that at the moment we did not have any information on the nature of the funeral or when it might be. She was not aware that the Prime Minister had any plans to return from his holiday, but clearly if there were some sort of memorial service in the future he would attend. The Deputy Prime Minister was in charge whilst the Prime Minister was away and he would attend any funeral if it was appropriate.
Terror
Asked whether the charge of treason might be used against those charged with terror offences, the PMS said that obviously there were discussions going on about the appropriate measures to take against individuals. She was not going to get into a discussion about whether one charge was better than another. It was important that the right charge was brought. It was a question of people looking at the options they had available to them. The Prime Minister had set out his position at his press conference on Friday.
Asked what David Blunkett’s role was with respect to this area of policy, the PMS said that David Blunkett was the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions. The Deputy Prime Minister was fulfilling his usual role, which he had performed since 1997, of being in charge whilst the Prime Minister was away. While he was in charge, clearly he spoke to his Cabinet colleagues. This weekend he had spoken to four or five of them, some of whom were on holiday. Asked if David Blunkett’s role was consultative, the PMS said that the Deputy Prime Minister spoke to his colleagues regularly, he had spoken to Jack Straw, Ian McCartney amongst others over the weekend and he would continue to do so. Put to her that David Blunkett seemed to be suggesting that he had a special overseeing role, the PMS underlined that the Deputy Prime Minister was in charge while the Prime Minister was on holiday. Asked if David Blunkett was among those the Deputy Prime Minister spoke to on the weekend, the PMS said no. Asked if therefore the Deputy Prime Minister might be having a word with David Blunkett in light of his comments, the PMS said that that was a matter for the Deputy Prime Minister. Asked of David Blunkett had been attending COBRA meetings, the PMS said not to her knowledge.
Ethnicity
Put to her that Hazel Blears seemed to be easing off on her suggestion that ethnic minorities could be referred to in hyphenated form, such as ‘Asian-British’, the PMS said the she felt this story had been somewhat over-written. The idea had been suggested to Hazel Blears, it was not something she was suggesting. It was something which had been put to her and would be further discussed in meetings as she visited different parts of the country. There was no prescription here. This was something that had been raised with her and she had mentioned it in an interview. It was not something the Government was proposing or suggesting.
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