Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraq, Trident, Sudan, Ofsted and Police Iquiry
Iraq
Asked to clarify what Margaret Beckett had said in the House of Commons regarding Iraq, the PMOS said what she meant was what she had said before, and what the Prime Minister had said in his interview with Pakistani television, which is there is Operation Sinbad going on in Basra at the moment, which is going reasonably well and dependent on the outcome of that will depend on whether we can transfer Basra to the Iraqis. You have to see how Operation Sinbad goes, and as Margaret Beckett said it may have implications for troops. In terms of troop numbers, until you see how that goes any speculation about troop numbers is precisely just that, speculation. The starting point is the substance on the ground, the conditions that are there, and that will be affected by Operation Sinbad and the ability of the Iraqi forces to deal with those conditions. Those two things are what you make the judgement on, and that is conditions based.
Asked what the Secretary of State had meant by "with confidence", the PMOS said what the Secretary of State was reflecting was our experience to date with Operation Sinbad, but we do not take anything for granted. In terms of Operation Sinbad this was half way through and again nothing is taken for granted in terms of the remaining half until that is accomplished. What we are seeing is increased capability on the Iraqi forces side as was seen in the way in which they dealt with Al-Amarrah where the militants overtook a city for a while and then the Iraqi forces, with us in the background, retook it. There are reasons why we think it is going reasonably well, but we take nothing for granted. Asked if there was an end date for the operation, the PMOS said that Operation Sinbad would last until about February time, but again it would depend entirely on the progress of how it goes.
Asked if the Secretary of State meant February when she spoke of a possible handover in the Spring, the PMOS said that judgements could not be made about timing until it was known if the operation as a whole has been a success. Asked if the timing of the handover would be in any way be dependent on the Baker- Hamilton process, the PMOS said that the way in which this would be dealt with depended on circumstances on the ground, and it depended on the capability of the Iraqi forces to deal with those circumstances on the ground. That depended on how Operation Sinbad goes as a whole. Asked if the decision was purely a military consideration, the PMOS said it had always been made clear that it was also down to the Iraqi government.
Asked what Operation Sinbad was, the PMOS said that Operation Sinbad went through the Basra area dealing with the problems of militants and terrorism in that area, and it was an operation that had been going on for some time. Asked if the operation involved a gradual handover, the PMOS said no, but that the Iraqi forces were very much at the fore of the operation, which was another illustration of how the Iraqi forces capability was increasing all the time. Asked if he was confident that there would therefore now be a process of handover to the Iraqi forces of Basra, the PMOS said that the situation was judged step by step. So far the operation had gone well but nothing would be taken for granted in terms of the rest of the operation.
Asked if in the two provinces that had been handed over had we vacated the province or were troops still hanging around, the PMOS said that there were different stages in the process in terms of transfer and withdrawal of troops. Transfer was one thing, withdrawal another. There was the capability to go back in if necessary but again it would be best to judge it province by province at the appropriate time. Asked how many troops were involved in Operation Sinbad, the PMOS referred the journalist to the Ministry of Defence.
Asked if there would be a phased withdrawal, the PMOS would not be drawn on speculating about troop withdrawal as decisions were based on circumstances at the time, not on speculation now. Asked about the differences between transfer and withdrawal of British forces, the PMOS said that in terms of the assessment it was pointless him doing the hypotheticals, but it would be better to do Operation Sinbad and then make the decision.
Asked, given all the caveats, and that Margaret Beckett had raised a timeframe, if the PMOS was cautiously optimistic, the PMOS said that Operation Sinbad was going well, the strategy all along had been, as the Iraqi capabilities grew, for us to hand over control which had implications for our troops but it was best to take it step by step.
Asked whether No10 had seen the speech before had been delivered, the PMOS said yes. Asked if we were to withdraw troops from Iraq would they be considered instead for Afghanistan, the PMOS said that it was a hypothetical question. Asked then if it all went well in Afghanistan those troops could then go to Sudan, the PMOS said that went too far even for a hypothetical.
Trident
Asked if it was correct that MPs would not be given a vote option by option, the PMOS said that what the Prime Minister had said was these were matters that would be discussed through the normal channels. This was a step by step process; there would be discussion of the strategic context, then a white paper and then a debate and a vote. Asked if there would be a presentation by Des Browne to Cabinet on this, the PMOS said he would brief on Cabinet, after Cabinet, not before Cabinet. Asked, as it would be a Government proposed motion, would the vote be whipped, the PMOS said he would not be drawn. Asked if the PMOS could confirm that Trident would be on the agenda for Cabinet this Thursday, the PMOS reiterated that he would brief on Cabinet after the event, not before.
Sudan
Asked if the call to President Bashir would contain a tone along the lines of do this or else face other measures, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister would be very clear to President Bashir that we believe there is a way to improve the situation in Darfur in a short time scale if the Kofi Annan plan is adhered to, if not the President will be very clear as to what the alternative would mean for him and his government.
Ofsted
Asked as the Ofsted report showed many schools still underperforming if it made the Government feel the need to rethink its education policy, the PMOS said that the report had showed, and what the Chief Executive of Ofsted had said, was it showed that schools were improving, but what Ofsted, quite rightly, were doing was constantly raising the bar, and it was against the rising bar that schools were judged. Even if the figures are taken as presented 90 percent of the schools were good or very good; that is a good figure.
Police Inquiry
No.
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