Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iran, Retirement Age, ID Cards, Trident, Drugs Use and Education White Paper
Iran
Asked what was the current position on Iran, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said what the Prime Minister was talking about was continuing the pressure on Iran, on both the nuclear issue and the events in Basra. The PMOS said that remained the position, and the British Government, the United States, and the E3 had a common position and that was important, and we hoped that Iran would listen to that common position. The PMOS said that as people knew, the IAEA had taken the position it had, and the matter would be discussed further at its November meeting.
Asked what came out of yesterday’s discussion, the PMOS said that the journalist was suggesting that yesterday’s meeting should have in some way changed our approach; it did not. The PMOS explained that the meeting was part of the continuing conversation which happened on a regular, weekly basis with the administration of this, and other subjects.
Put to the PMOS that was it not "all talk and no action", the PMOS replied that was not true. In terms of the IAEA, it had its processes, and it was important that we kept to those processes, as well as Iran, and in terms of the position of the United Nations (UN), there were certain procedures that we had to go through. The PMOS said it would be a wrong interpretation of not just our position, but also that of the United States and Europe to suggest that we lacked resolve on this issue.
Put to the PMOS that the President of Iran suspected that Britain was involved in the recent bombings, the PMOS said the FCO had already given a reaction over the weekend and he would not comment any further on it.
Asked if the evidence presented to Tehran would be seen, the PMOS replied that given that evidence was about the construction of bombs, he said it would be rather unwise of the Government to publicise it.
Asked if there was any further information on who provided advice to the ISC, the PMOS said we did not provide a running commentary on advisors to the ISC.
Retirement Age
Put to the PMOS that in Alan Johnson’s interview to the Observer newspaper yesterday, he discussed raising the retirement age to 65, and did this mean the Prime Minister was "braced for a winter of strikes", the PMOS said that people should wait for the Adair Turner report to be published.
ID Cards
Asked if there might be a ceiling cost of ID cards, the PMOS said people should wait for Charles Clarke’s statement tomorrow.
Trident
Asked where the Government stood on Trident, the PMOS said the position had not changed. There would be a decision made at some stage in this Parliament. The PMOS said the story in the Independent was wrong in that the costs were for maintaining the existing Trident and nothing else.
Asked was it not rather difficult to disentangle the current and future costs, the PMOS replied the journalist should speak to the MOD for further details.
Drug Use
Asked for further views about the Prime Minister’s position on his own drug use/non drug use, the PMOS said that as he had said last week, the question really was about other people’s contests, and it would be a mistake for not only him, but also the Government to get involved.
Asked what Downing Street’s position was on the Prime Minister and drug use, the PMOS said the Prime Minister’s views were on the record.
Asked to remind them what that position was, the PMOS said he would not. People could do their own research.
Put to the PMOS that if a minister was caught using Class A drugs, what would happen to him, the PMOS said the question was a hypothetical one.
Education White Paper
Asked why the Education White Paper had been delayed, the PMOS replied that this was the first false premise of the new season! It had not been delayed.
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