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Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Defence Secretary, Phrase “War on Terror”, Troop Withdrawl, Alan Johnstone, Misc

• Downing Street press briefings explained

Defence Secretary

Asked if the Prime Minister thought the Defence Secretary had the full support of the Armed Forces, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said yes and that the Prime Minister believes that the Defence Secretary has set out the situation honest and frankly.  What was important was that people take a step back and recognise, as the Prime Minister said yesterday, that the crucial point is that our fifteen personnel were released, and they were released without a deal. 

The Defence Secretary has said, in a very open and frank way, that if he asked about the decision made by the Royal Navy today he would make a different decision.  It should be seen in the overall context of a genuine dilemma and that dilemma was that the personnel concerned, or at least some of them, wanted to set the record straight.  There was also pressure, and money available from the media, and the navy took the decision it did.  The Defence Secretary takes responsibility for that, but has said that he would make a different decision today. 

Asked again if the Prime Minister believed the Armed Forces supported the Defence Secretary, the PMOS said again yes.  Asked how the Prime Minister knew that, the PMOS said that he would not get into the processology, even after the Easter break. 

Asked if the suggested official canvas of the Armed forces was true, the PMOS said again, he was not going to get into the processology and added that the Prime Minister believed that the Defence Secretary has been open and frank about this and he should be given credit for that. 

Asked if the Prime Minister or Downing Street at any time, before the sale of the stories happened, were asked for a view or offered a view, the PMOS repeated that he really was not going to get into the processology of this.  It has been set out when the Prime Minister knew, it has been set out how the decision was taken and he had nothing to add to that.

Asked by the reporter from the Herald if the Prime Minister accepted the view that the sale of the stories of the sailors demeaned the Armed Forces, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had been completely open about his view on this and he set that out last week.  There is no point in getting into commentary on the matter.  What we do have to recognise is that people acted in good faith in a particular circumstance.  There were a unique set of circumstances and there was a dilemma.  The reporter went on to pooh-pooh the idea that the circumstances were unique and scoff at what the PMOS had said.  The PMOS responded by saying that in terms of people having to make statements to camera and so on and for the personnel concerned it was fairly unique.  When the reporter again scoffed at the PMOS’s reply. The PMOS said that he doubted that the reporter from the Herald would do that if he had been held in Iran in the way the navy personnel had been.  The PMOS added, despite interjections from the reporter, that people ought to step back and just take consideration of the particular circumstances that the individuals were placed under. 

Asked if the PMOS thought that people would come away from the Defence Secretary’s statement feeling that he had apologised for a mistake, the PMOS said that being asked to give a commentary after a statement was one thing, being asked to give a commentary before a statement is again something he did not generally do.  The PMOS went on to say that what people would see was that the Defence Secretary takes this very seriously, has taken it very seriously and he will be completely open and frank about the way in which decisions were made and his view on what to do now.  Asked if the Defence Secretary would be speaking about the whole incident not just the decision about sailors stories, the PMOS again said he could not pre-empt what the Defence Secretary would say.

Asked if the Prime Minister still had full confidence in the Defence Secretary, the PMOS said yes the Prime Minister had.

Phrase: “War on Terror”

Asked if the Prime Minister had used the phrase “war on terror” since 2006, the PMOS said he did not carry an instant word search facility in his brain and therefore he could not really give the reporter an answer except to say that the Prime Minister had always made it clear that we believe that in fighting terrorism you should both use military means where necessary, but also political means as well.  That was a  constant theme running through the Prime Minister’s every utterance on this subject.  In terms of particular phrases people use whatever phrases they use. 

Asked if by using the term “war” suggests a conclusion, the PMOS said what was important is that we recognise that there are times when you do have to use, however reluctantly, military means but also that there is also the political context in which you do so.  Therefore what you have to do is try and, for instance in tackling the Middle East issue, try and find political ways forward at the same time as you respond to terrorism whether it is in Iraq, Afghanistan or elsewhere.

Asked if what the International Affairs Secretary had said would apply to just him or all ministers, the PMOS said we all use our own phraseology and we talk about terrorism and we talk about the fight against terrorism but we also talk about trying to find solutions to political problems.  Asked if the PMOS himself used the phrase “war on terror”, the PMOS said that he expressed himself in his own way. 

Troop Withdrawl

Asked if the timetable for the withdrawal of troops in Iraq was slipping, the PMOS said that the timetable was as announced by the Prime Minister in the debate subject to the conditions on the ground and he was not aware of any changes.  Asked if it was right to think that this process should start next month looking at what the Foreign Secretary had said on the radio last night about the timetable slipping and the protests in Basra this morning, the PMOS said it did all depend on the conditions on the ground, but he was not aware of anything that substantially changed that.

Alan Johnstone, BBC Gaza Reporter

Asked if there was any comment on the reports that the reporter kidnapped in the Middle East was dead, the PMOS said firstly that our thoughts were with Mr. Johnston’s family, friends and colleague for whom this must be a very distressing period.  We are aware of the reports and our people on the ground are actively engaged into looking into the reports.  We continue to work closely with the Palestinian Authority and we are urgently seeking further information from them and another of other sources. 

Misc

Asked if there were any further details of what the Foreign Secretary will be discussing at the UNSC meeting on climate change, the PMOS said that not at this stage but it would be best to check with the Foreign Office at this stage. 

Asked if the press conference tomorrow by the Prime Minister will be the last one, the PMOS asked if it would be the last time the reporter asks the question?

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