Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Al-Jazeera, ID cards, Iran and Prostitution
Al-Jazeera
Asked how Downing Street intended to respond to a request from legal representatives for the Al-Jazeera news network for transcripts or notes of a conversation between the Prime Minister and the President of the United States, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that we would reply properly to any request made to us, however it was not the practice, and nor would it become the practice for Downing Street to release conversations between the Prime Minister and other world leaders, be they President Bush or anyone else.
We could however confirm, as we said yesterday, that the memo did not refer to bombing the Al-Jazeera television station in Qatar, despite various allegations to the contrary. Asked if it referred to bombing Al-Jaezeera stations elsewhere, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any suggestion of bombing any Al-Jazeera building. Asked if the memo referred to Fallujah, the PMOS said that whilst there was a specific issue with regards to Al-Jazeera, he would not get into speculation about the detail of the memo. Asked if, given that he had given some information about the memo, he was now obliged to divulge the entire memo under the Freedom of Information Act, the PMOS said no.
We were commenting on a specific allegation which had been made repeatedly, despite firm denials from the Government, and it was right to clarify that. However it would be wholly wrong to release details of private conversations between the Prime Minister and other world leaders. Asked when we would reply, the PMOS said that we replied to FOI requests within 20 working days.
ID cards
Asked about the discrepancy in the Home Secretary’s interpretation of public opinion polls on the issue of the ID cards, where the actual results reflected a drop from 79% support to 73% support rather than a rise as the Home Secretary had suggested, the PMOS said that the difference between the numbers was only 6% and any policy with over 70% public support after more than a year showed considerable public support. The Home Office would deal with the particular matter of what the Home Secretary said, but over 70% was a pretty solid base of support.
Iran
Asked if the Government was in favour of imposing sanctions on Iran, the PMOS said that it was important to recognise that this was a step-by-step process. The first important thing was to get people to recognise that there had been a development which the international community had to address as a whole. We were getting close to a consensus on that point. The second step was to start the process of agreeing that the best way to go forward was to refer the issue to the Security Council. Once you got to the Security Council, what you did then was another matter.
One particular measure in and of itself was not the aim of this process. Each measure had to convey to the Iranian Government the international community’s disapproval of its actions and its determination to increase the pressure on Iran to reverse its policy. We shouldn’t immediately jump to a specific measure but rather harness as much international support as possible behind slowly increasing the process of putting pressure on Iran. Iran was in a more isolated position today than it was last week. That was right and proper but was not the end of the process.
Prostitution
Asked about the Government’s recent proposals on prostitution, the PMOS said the Prime Minister fully supported the measures which had been proposed today. Fiona MacTaggart had done a very good job of explaining the Government’s approach to this issue. Asked how legalising brothels fitted with the ‘Respect’ agenda, the PMOS said that we were not legalising brothels. The decision to allow 2 women to share the same premises for prostitution had been taken, as Fiona MacTaggart had said, for safety reasons. However if prostitutes were accused of being nuisance neighbours they would be treated no differently from anyone else.
Put to him that allowing 2 prostitutes to work together was the same as legalising brothels, the PMOS said that the Government did not believe that prostitution was in some way inevitable or accepted. However you did have to deal with the reality that, despite the Government’s attitude, people still engaged in this activity and there were dangers associated with that. We had to take action to protect these women and that was why we were taking the approach we were. That should not be translated into approval, it was not. Questioned further about the precise configuration of such brothels, the PMOS gratefully referred journalists to the Home Office.
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