Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Smoking, Avian Flu and Informal EU Summit
Smoking
Asked what the current position was on the Smoking Bill, and if it would be published tomorrow, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said the position was the same as it was this morning and yesterday afternoon, and there was no reason to believe that the original timetable had changed.
Asked if it was right to say that people had "come closer together" on the issue over the course of the day, the PMOS replied that he did not give a processology about how we reached decisions; rather he talked about the decisions and he had nothing to add to what he had said this morning and yesterday afternoon.
Asked to comment on the rumour that MPs would have a free vote on different exemptions, the PMOS said he had not heard that rumour.
Put to the PMOS that the Department of Health had said the Bill would now be published on Thursday and not tomorrow, the PMOS replied that his understanding was, as he had said this morning and yesterday afternoon, that he had nothing to believe that the original timetable had changed.
Asked if the Prime Minister had been involved in talks today regarding the smoking issue, the PMOS said that although there had been a general health Stocktake, smoking had not been discussed.
Asked if there were elements of the legislation that could be brought in later on, the PMOS repeated what he had said this morning which was did he think there would be a clear sense of direction after the announcement was made: yes. Did he think that there would be practical issues that still needed to be brought through: yes, probably.
Asked if we were nearer the manifesto today than we were yesterday, the PMOS said it was very kind of the journalist to invite him to comment before the announcement had been made, but he would decline!
Asked if a statement would be made, the PMOS said there would be an announcement.
Avian Flu
Asked if we were expecting a ban by the end of the day, and also how did the Government justify its U-turn regarding the import and export of birds, the PMOS replied that in terms of the ban, it was a decision for the EU. Regarding the second part of the question, situations were responded to as they arose. As he said this morning, the important thing to recognise was that the procedure worked. The bird was found and procedures came into effect. Clearly, however, when circumstances change, we review the situation.
Questioned further about the wild bird situation, the PMOS referred the journalist to DEFRA.
Informal EU Summit
Asked for further information about the Informal Summit arrangements, the PMOS said the Prime Minister would sum up where he believed the consensus was at the end of the meeting. As he said the morning, the proof of the pudding would be in the eating, in the sense that this was the start of two months’ of really hard work to try and make the vision into a reality. The reality was a future financing deal, and also to clear the remaining dossiers. The test of whether Hampton Court worked in the medium to long terms would be the positions taken in the next two months.
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