Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Russia, CBI Speech, NATO Speech, Police Inquiry, Northern Ireland and Middle East
Russia
Asked if Peter Hain was speaking for the Government when he made his comments over the weekend, and was the Government going to make a statement, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that in terms of Peter Hain, the Prime Minister and other Ministers had repeatedly underlined our concern about some aspects of human rights life in Russia. In terms of this particular case, however, we did have to proceed carefully, as there was a police investigation ongoing, and we did have to wait for its outcome. Therefore, it was premature to be drawing any conclusions at this stage.
In answer to the question of whether the Prime Minister had spoken to President Putin, the PMOS said that he had not.
Asked about the COBR meetings, and who was chairing them, the PMOS replied that COBR had been meeting regularly, as people would expect, not least because of the health protection aspect. The Health Protection Agency (HPA) had made it clear that the measures it had taken were precautionary, and that was sensible, and we needed to co-ordinate the various aspects of that. In terms of the police investigation, that was a matter for the police to carry forward. With regards to who was chairing them, the PMOS said it was initially John Reid.
Asked to characterise the Ministerial contact with the Russian Government, the PMOS said that on Friday, the FCO had met the Russian Ambassador and asked Russia to co-operate with the investigation and make available any relevant information. That was all we could sensibly say at the moment.
Asked if there had been any response from the Russian Government, the PMOS said he was not aware of any at this stage, but they had made their official response available for people to look at.
Asked if it was a Minister who had met the Russian Ambassador, the PMOS replied it was FCO officials.
Asked if we regarded it as our financial responsibility to help out foreign nationals when relating to matters of personal security, the PMOS said that when it came to security issues, people should not expect him to comment on it. If there were security concerns, then they were acted on, but the PMOS said that he was not going to get into talking about particular groups.
Asked if the Russians had provided any information, the PMOS said that again, it was about co-operation. In terms of going forward, it was a matter for the police.
CBI Speech
Asked for further information about the Prime Minister’s speech to the CBI Annual Conference later this morning, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister would use his remarks to set out how the Government was embarking on a radical programme of regulatory reform. All departments would be required to set out simplification plans by the end of the year to reduce by 25% the red tape they currently oversee through form filling, inspections and record keeping. The PMOS gave some examples: simplifying the sources for advice and information on employment law, the same on the content of health and safety advice, and reducing the number of forms needed in the planning system.
NATO visit
Asked what the Prime Minister would be seeking in Riga, the PMOS replied that if people looked back at what the Prime Minister had said in PMQs last week in answer to the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister had expressed having been to Afghanistan last week his determination that we did everything we could to support the Afghan Government, not just because it was important for Afghanistan, but also because it was important for the wider conflict against extremism and terrorism. Everybody knew that there were certain requirements that we had to meet if we were to do that, and as the Prime Minister had said at PMQs, part of that was seeing whether other nations would change some of the caveats around how they used their troops. That was part of what we would be trying to explore in Riga. These were matters first and foremost for NATO, but what the Prime Minister would be setting out, based partly on his personal experience in Afghanistan, was that nobody should underestimate how important and crucial this was for NATO. The PMOS said that it was a significant moment for NATO.
Asked if the Prime Minister was hopeful that some nations would provide more troops, but if nations did not want to send troops, would they provide equipment like helicopters instead, the PMOS replied that there were different ways for countries to help, be that through logistics, or civilian staff etc. The important thing was that we looked at the tasks as a whole, and answered the need as a whole. The PMOS said that people should not get ahead of themselves, as there was some evidence of some rethinking going on, but people should wait and see.
Asked if changing caveats was opposed to extra troops, the PMOS said that there were different levels of requirement. What the Prime Minister had said last week was that changing caveats would be one way of helping to resolve the overall situation.
Police Inquiry
No.
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting the Taoiseach today, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any plans to do so. As people would expect, we had been in close contact with the Irish Government following events on Friday, and therefore, the PMOS said that he did not think a meeting was necessary.
Asked what would happen next, the PMOS replied that firstly, Ian Paisley had confirmed our interpretation of what had happened in the Assembly. What Ian Paisley had said on Friday afternoon was that as long as Sinn Fein supported the police, then he would take up the position of First Minister in an executive Government. The PMOS said that we would have to move forward to the next stage, which was resolving the question of Sinn Fein and their supporting the police, but also other matters as well. Therefore, we would keep going. Friday was an interesting day in many ways, but the bottom line was that we knew that if we got to the position of setting up a Government, we knew that it had to based on power sharing and support for the police. However, we also knew who, provided the electorate agreed, would be First and Deputy First Ministers. We were in a position to proceed, but we had to address the big issues.
Asked if we were prepared to wait until Sinn Fein decided to have a conference on policing, the PMOS said that the timetable remained as set out. The PMOS said that he was not going to get into guessing when people would hold meetings, as that was up to them. What everybody knew was what the basic requirements were, therefore we should wait and see where we got to.
Middle East
Asked if there were any plans for a bilateral meeting with President Bush at Riga, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any plans.
Asked was that not curious, given the talks about Iraq the PMOS said no, as we were in regular contact with the Administration, and as people knew, the Prime Minister spoke regularly with the President via the video link.
Asked if the UK had played a role in facilitating the ceasefire in the Middle East, the PMOS replied that he was not aware of any direct role, but this was one of the things on which we had been working progressively behind the scenes. The PMOS said that he was not going to claim any direct role, but we positively welcomed the ceasefire.
Asked if the Prime Minister was planning a trip to the region before Christmas, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister’s plans remained as they were. The weekend’s developments encouraged us to believe that progress was possible. It was a very difficult situation, but there did seem to be a willingness to try and move things on, and the way in which the ceasefire had come about between Israel and Palestine was encouraging. However, as they had recognised, it was a situation which required both patience and determination, and we would do all we could to help them.
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