Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Prime Minister, Nicolas Sarkozy/Europe, John Reid and Missing Child
Prime Minister
Asked if the Prime Minister would have an audience with The Queen today, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that he would not have one today.
Asked for plans regarding the rest of the week, and could the PMOS enlighten journalists on tomorrow, the PMOS said no, today was today.
Asked if lobby tomorrow might be more informative than lobby today, the PMOS said that he had set such a high standard today that he worried that he wouldn’t be able to meet that standard tomorrow!
Asked if tomorrow was to be treated as a Labour Party matter, the PMOS said that it was entirely a party matter. As the PMOS had said last week, whatever the Prime Minister announced about his intentions as party leader, it did not affect his position at this stage as Prime Minister.
Asked when would it affect his position as Prime Minister, the PMOS replied that people should take one step at a time.
Asked if it was the case that the Prime Minister would not inform The Queen as a formality that he intended to stand down, the PMOS said that he remained Prime Minister, therefore, it did not affect his position as Prime Minister. Therefore, there were formalities associated with being Prime Minister that were not associated with being leader of the Labour Party.
Asked if there might be an audience with The Queen this week, the PMOS said that he was not aware that the Prime Minister was going to have one this week.
Asked if there might be any other contact with The Queen this week, the PMOS replied that we did not brief on any other contact with the Palace.
Asked to clarify that whenever the Prime Minister made his announcement, he would remain Prime Minister and Labour Party leader, he was simply announcing a date, the PMOS said that that was correct.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be making any regional visits tomorrow evening, the PMOS replied not in association with Government business.
Asked if the PMOS could reassure people that whatever happened over the next few days, the Prime Minister was still going to be fully focused doing the job and not a “lame duck” Prime Minister, the PMOS said that the best reassurance was seeing the Prime Minister in action. He would be in action over the coming weeks, both domestically on issues such as health and education, but also internationally, particularly in the run up to the G8 summit and the EU summit. Both of those summits were very important events. The PMOS said that he did not think people would be left in any doubt that the Prime Minister was fully engaged, but the best thing was to watch and see.
Asked if there were still things that the Prime Minister wanted to accomplish in the time he had left, the PMOS replied that there were. The Prime Minister was very focused and Downing Street was working at full steam.
Asked if the Prime Minister saw any merit in splitting up the Treasury, the PMOS replied that his best response to the question was that he briefed on what actually happened.
Nicolas Sarkozy/Europe
Asked how the Prime Minister regarded Nicolas Sarkozy, and was he someone the Prime Minister thought he could do business with, the PMOS said that as people knew, the Prime Minister had met Mr. Sarzoky many times and had expressed his views on him. In terms of getting on with the business, Europe did face major decisions, and the Prime Minister believed that he could work with other leaders in Europe, for example, the German Presidency and Chancellor Merkel to achieve that.
Asked if the Prime Minister thought that Mr. Sarzoky’s election made it more likely that an agreement could be reached on the constitution at the June summit, the PMOS said that he always believed that getting into the “more likely-less-likely” game in any negotiation was a mug’s game. What was important was that people concentrated on the detail, and the Prime Minister had set out very clearly his overall approach to the detail in his press conferences.
Put by BBC24 that there was some concern that the Prime Minister might have negotiated a deal on this at a time of transition in Government, and was there any information about negotiations between the Prime Minister and the Chancellor, the PMOS said that he was surprised at the question, as the journalist had been at the press conferences with the Dutch Prime Minister and also, with Chancellor Merkel. The Prime Minister had set out quite transparently his approach to this issue. What we should aim for was something without the characteristics of a constitution, and people should not expect him at this stage to go into those details when we were still talking to our European colleagues. France was still in the process of transferring from one President to another. The PMOS said that we had been transparent in setting out what we had been aiming to achieve, and in setting out the limits of what we believed was desirable.
Put that the devil was in the detail, and was the Prime Minister consulting the Chancellor on this, as it was a crucial matter of British foreign policy, the PMOS agreed that it was a crucial matter, but the Prime Minister would remain fully engaged as Prime Minister. This would be a negotiation which the Prime Minister would lead on behalf of the whole Government.
John Reid
Asked if the Prime Minister thought that it would be a loss to Government if John Reid stepped down, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had set out his views of Dr. Reid very clearly in his letter.
Missing Child
Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied with the Portuguese authorities about their handling of the missing child, the PMOS said that these were very difficult days for the family, and we fully understood and appreciated that. Equally, it was difficult times for those who were trying to lead an investigation, and we were helping in whatever way we could. We had a certain level of expertise which had been made available and taken advantage of by the Portuguese authorities. In terms of the operational detail, that was a matter for the Portuguese, just as it would be for the police here, and the PMOS said that he did not want to get involved in commenting on that. There was, however, a very deep understanding of the difficult time this must be for all involved.
Asked if the Prime Minister had taken a personal interest in the case, the PMOS replied that he was keeping across it, as was the Foreign Secretary. As people knew, the Ambassador had been with the family and the consul on the ground had spent a lot of time with them as well. We were doing everything we could to help.
Asked if the Prime Minister had a personal message for the family, the PMOS replied that we fully appreciated the difficult times that the family was going through.
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