Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Iraq, War on Terror, Fire Dispute, Northern Ireland and Asylum Bill.
Iraq
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister had had a twenty-minute telephone conversation with President Putin this afternoon about the draft UN Resolution on Iraq. It had been a good, constructive discussion. We remained hopeful that there would be agreement on the text, although whether that would happen tomorrow or on Monday had yet to be resolved. Asked for further detail about the phonecall, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had taken the opportunity to explain to the President why he believed that the Resolution was effective. As we had said this morning, it was a very detailed piece of work which set out very clearly the obligations which Saddam Hussein must now meet and how he must fully co-operate with the weapons inspections. Asked whether the Prime Minister was intending to speak to President Chirac on this issue, the PMOS said he was not aware of any plans to do so at this stage.
Asked if the timetable for agreement was ’slipping’, the PMOS said no. There were issues which people wanted to discuss, and quite rightly so. It all depended on when Security Council members felt they were ready to put it to a vote. Obviously it was better to get the right result than push forward too soon.
Questioned as to whether Cabinet had discussed military options today, the PMOS said no. As he had said this morning, we were still some way away from that point.
War on Terror
The PMOS advised journalists that the Home Secretary had published a document as a PQ this afternoon, entitled ‘Counter-Terrorism Action since September 11′. Apart from summarising the action that had been taken since the attacks on the US, it also re-emphasised that the threat from Al Qaida remained, as the Bali bombing had demonstrated. Consequently, everyone must continue to be vigilant. This evening, the Home Secretary was due to meet Tom Ridge, Homeland Security Adviser to President Bush.
Fire Dispute
Asked if Downing Street had been planning to brief the Sunday papers on the Bain Review, the PMOS said no. Asked why the FBU had thought that we were, the PMOS said that that was a matter for the FBU, not him. Asked whether we had been planning to brief other media, not necessarily the Sunday Papers, the PMOS told journalists that sometimes it was better to recognise when a dead story was a dead story. This was a dead story. It was not true. It was wrong. In no respect was it right.
Questioned as to whether Sir George Bain would be publishing an interim report of any kind, the PMOS said that we had asked Sir George to bring some elements of his review forward. We believed that that was what he was trying to do. Asked which elements would be made available, the PMOS said that we were talking about the chapters on modernisation and pay. Asked if we had already seen them, the PMOS said no. Asked to confirm reports that the Review would be published tomorrow afternoon, the PMOS said not as far as he was aware. In the end, it was a matter for Sir George.
Questioned about the other elements contained in the Review, the PMOS said that there were medium to longer term questions relating to overall structures of the fire authorities, such as rotas. We had asked for the more immediate questions regarding pay and modernisation to be brought forward if at all possible. Sir George Bain had said that he would try to do so.
Asked if the Deputy Prime Minister had been involved today in trying to reach a settlement with the FBU, the PMOS said that the negotiations were between the employers and the unions. That said, the Deputy Prime Minister was monitoring the situation, although he was not actively involved in the discussions.
Northern Ireland
Asked the Prime Minister’s view of the arrest of a civil servant working in David Trimble and Mark Durkan’s office, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister’s view was the same as that expressed by Paul Murphy this morning - that the police investigation must take its course and would lead to wherever the evidence led it. It underlined why everybody must do what they could to ensure that trust was restored and that all paramilitary activity was brought to an end. We didn’t want to comment in detail on this particular case because the investigation was ongoing. Asked if we were expecting further arrests to be made, the PMOS said that we had no intention of pre-empting any police action. Nor did we have any intention of commenting on how the police were conducting their inquiry, other than to say that we fully supported them.
Asylum Bill
Asked to clarify the role of the independent monitors who would decide where to site accommodation centres for asylum seekers, the PMOS referred journalists to the Home Office for further detail about the Asylum Bill. Asked if we were confident that we would be able to get the Bill through, the PMOS said we believed that we should, and would, get the Bill through today.
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