Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Cabinet, G8 and Olympic Logo
Cabinet
Asked who would chair Cabinet on Thursday, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that it would be Jack Straw. This was in line with protocol arrangements for what happens if the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister could not do PMQs.
Asked why we were holding Cabinet since the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister would not be present, the PMOS replied that there would be a discussion on counter-terrorism and counter-terrorism measures, and the Home Office would be publishing proposals on that tomorrow.
G8
Asked about the Prime Minister’s interview with the Guardian where he said he believed that he could get a deal with the President on emissions at the Summit, the PMOS referred the journalist to what the Prime Minister had actually said, and what he himself had said earlier this week. We were still very much in favour of a target, we believed a target was right, and we were aiming to get a target. But the question was how far could we get at this Summit. It was encouraging that President Bush had said last week that firstly there should be a global framework for finding a solution, and secondly that there should be a limit of some kind on global emissions.
The key question was what was the process to get to that agreed target. Because it was not just a matter of the US, it was also India and China. The reality was that the US would not move unless India and China also moved. It was important that we pushed as hard as we could at this Summit, and that we get a process for continuing that movement. Thinking back to Gleneagles, we were nowhere near this kind of language. Now how far can we push along the track on this? And what was the process for keeping going after this? That was why we welcomed the US proposal for a meeting in the autumn, but it had to be clear that this was part of the UN process. It was encouraging from the Guardian piece this morning that a US official was quoted saying that their process in the autumn would be complimentary to the UN process, not an alternative. We needed to get this tied down.
The main thing was to have a process coming out of this Summit that would continue the momentum that was created and has been going since Gleneagles.
Olympic Logo
Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on the Olympic logo, the PMOS replied that this was a case where the Prime Minister would probably want to express that himself.
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