Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: EU Council, Lord Levy’s party, Prisoners and Defence Statement
EU Council
Asked if the agreement between France and Spain changed our position, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that the best person to ask about that was President Sarkozy, which was why the Prime Minister and Chancellor were asking him tonight. In terms of our basic negotiating position, the answer was: no.
Asked if it was right that the Germans would publish their draft today, the PMOS said that they would go through the normal processes, but as always, people should recognise that these would be decisions which would only be taken at the summit. In terms of the basic approach, the Prime Minister outlined our red lines yesterday very clearly.
Asked what the Prime Minister’s reaction was to Gordon Brown’s comments on television this morning that he would have a referendum if needs be, the PMOS said that that was a slight misquotation of what the Chancellor had said. What he said was that he did not envisage a situation arising where we would be in that kind of territory.
Put that the Chancellor actually said the words, the PMOS said that what he had said beforehand, and what the journalist had left out was that he did not envisage us being in that situation. As we had made clear yesterday, we would not agree to a deal that crossed the red lines, therefore, we did not believe a referendum would be necessary.
Asked if the red lines were crossed at all in the constitutional treaty, the PMOS replied that as the Prime Minister had made clear at the Liaison Committee yesterday, he did not believe that they were, but he recognised that there was a lot of opinion in this country that said something different. That was why he believed that we needed to remove those elements that appeared to be constitutional and have an amending treaty. That as why we had lowered the ambition for this so that we could have a practical, pragmatic agreement which allowed a Europe of 27 to work.
Asked if the Prime Minister could bind his successor on a matter of the referendum, the PMOS said that in terms of the future, it was the future, and as people knew, he did not address hypothetical questions. In the end, it was Parliament that decided, as was always the case.
Put that there was only a week to go, and that was that, the PMOS said that the Independent might say that with as much relish as it wanted, but the facts were the facts; he was still Prime Minister, and he would be the one who would represent the Government and go with their position.
Asked what was the Government’s view on legal personality, the PMOS said that this was the second day running that the journalist had invited him to get into the detail of the negotiating position, and he was not going to comment. The Prime Minister had set out very clearly that he would agree to nothing which changed our ability to set our own roles in the criminal justice system, and that would be the case. The details of the negotiation would be for the summit.
Put that the German presidency was quite clear that what was agreed this weekend should be a template for the treaty, and items that were in should be in the treaty, and items that were out would not get in, and also, in Brussels, the institutions and many nation states wanted the foreign policy person to chair the Foreign Ministers’ meetings, to set the agenda and have a bigger role in policy making, the PMOS said that the aim was to get a broad agreement from Friday. In terms of the Foreign Minister, the position of the person who represented the EU was one which we believed should be inter-Governmental, and that person should be answerable to the Council as representatives of the Governments. As the Prime Minister said yesterday, there should be nothing which in any way diminished our ability to set our own foreign policy or defence policy, and to keep our seat at the UN. Those were the basic principles.
Lord Levy’s party
Asked if the Prime Minister was going to Lord Levy’s leaving party, the PMOS replied that he did not know, but it was a private engagement, so he would not comment.
Prisoners
Asked what the Prime Minister thought of the prisoners being let out early to relieve overcrowding, the PMOS said that people should wait for the statements in the Houses this afternoon. The PMOS said that crime was down by over a third; there were 5.8 million fewer offences. That was partly due to the fact that we had more police officers on the streets, but also, because we had been catching more people and giving them longer prison sentences. We had also been convicting more people, and that therefore created more pressures in the prison systems. Since 1997, there had been 20,000 extra prison places built, and in the last 2 years, there had been 3500 extra new places, as well as 8000 more in the pipeline, including 700 this year. However, there were pressures within the system, and we had to recognise that.
Put that it was a question of principle that people should serve their sentence on the ground of the way they had been convicted, rather than release them because of difficulties, the PMOS said that he did not want to pre-empt the statements, but the Prime Minister was very clear on the principle, but we also had to deal with the reality. That reality was that we were sending more people to prison, and that did create pressures.
Asked if the Prime Minister’s view had changed on this, the PMOS said that the message we wanted to send was that we were prepared to introduce tougher sentences and to enforce them where necessary.
Defence Statement
Asked for more information about Des Browne’s statement this afternoon in the House, the PMOS explained that there were two different reports, one (Fulton Report) which was confidential, addressed the questions around the rules of engagement and standard operating procedures used by the Navy in the Gulf. That would be briefed to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee. The second report (Hall Report) addressed the media handling during subsequent incidents, and that was what Des Browne would talk about. At the same time, Lord Drayson would speak in the House of Lords.
Put that if journalists would have access to the Hall Report, did that mean that the Fulton Report was not going to be publicised, the PMOS said it would be clear nonsense to publicise rules of engagement whenever we were dealing with hostile forces.
Put that rules of engagement were one issue, but there were other possible questions, the PMOS replied that they would still remain confidential.
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