Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: India/Pakistan, Transport Plan, Iraq, Performance Targets, Asylum and Dome.
India/Pakistan
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister had had a fifteen minute telephone conversation with President Musharraf of Pakistan this morning. He had stressed that everything must be done to reduce tensions between India and Pakistan, and in particular that infiltration across the Line of Control in Kashmir had to stop. As had been reported this morning, President Musharraf was planning to make a statement later today.
The Prime Minister also hoped to speak to Prime Minister Vajpayee of India today. Jack Straw would be travelling to the region from Berlin today and was due to meet both the President and Prime Minister. Everyone recognised that the situation there was very grave. We were doing all we could to try to diffuse it.
Asked whether the Prime Minister had felt in any way encouraged following his conversation with President Musharraf this morning, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was under no illusion that one phonecall from him was not of itself going to de-escalate tensions. He had known that President Musharraf was going to make a statement later in the day before phoning.
However, we would have to wait and see what the President would say. Asked whether the Prime Minister felt that the statement would be positive, the PMOS said we hoped so. But while the President’s words were important, more significant were the actions that would follow what he said.
Asked what the Prime Minister had told President Musharraf today regarding the issue of arms embargoes, the PMOS said that the subject had not been raised during this morning’s conversation as far as he was aware. He took the opportunity to put the story, as reported in today’s Telegraph, into context. He underlined that there was no embargo. There was no suspension of arms.
In terms of Hawks, there was no contract to rule on. There was no deal to assess. Our policy had not changed. All relevant export licence applications for India would be considered on a case by case basis against the consolidated EU and national arms export licensing criteria, as set out earlier this year by Ben Bradshaw. They included a specific reference to the preservation of regional peace, security and stability. Obviously the Government was continuing to monitor the situation in the region very closely.
However, given that no one had applied for a Hawks export licence, there was clearly nothing to rule on. Asked why Patricia Hewitt had signed an Order last Thursday to halt export licences, the PMOS said he was not aware that was the case.
Questioned as to why the Leader of the House had confirmed it was yesterday, the PMOS said that Mr Cook had been commenting on a hypothetical scenario in which he had been asked what he would do in such circumstances were there a deal to assess. Put to him that a deal had been agreed on Hawk advanced training aircraft, the PMOS said that discussions were continuing in relation to a contract.
However, there was no deal to assess at this point. Asked about the other export licences which had been granted, the PMOS repeated that each application would be considered on a case by case basis. This could be turned on and turned off as appropriate. He underlined again that there was no suspension or arms embargo.
Put to him that BAE Systems was being treated unfairly because they were unable to apply for a licence until they had a deal, the PMOS said that that was the way it had always worked. It was only sensible to rule on something when there was something to rule on. Asked whether the Government would provide ‘informal guidance’ if they asked for it, the PMOS said no. The DTI spoke to the industry all the time.
Put to him that the Telegraph journalist who had written today’s report had been encouraged to write it by Whitehall sources and had not made it up as indeed had other journalists working yesterday, the PMOS said he could only set out the Government’s stated position.
Put to him that it was not a matter for Downing Street but the FCO and DTI - who ‘had not been unhelpful’ in this regard, the PMOS said that if there was a contract on which to rule, it was possible for it to be assessed against the criteria which were set down. At the moment, our export licences continued to be assessed against those criteria. There had been no change in policy. If there was an embargo, then that would be a decision taken across Government.
Asked whether the Prime Minister continued to regard India and Pakistan as ‘appropriate’ markets for arms exports, the PMOS said that if there were arms deals on which we had to rule, we would do so at the appropriate time. At the moment, we were concerned with dealing with what was clearly a very grave and serious situation in the region - hence our focus on de-escalating the tension and urging restraint on both sides. That was where all our energies were being focussed. That was precisely why Jack Straw would be visiting India and Pakistan over the next two or three days.
Put to him it was incredible the Government should sanction arms deals if it was trying to de-escalate tensions, the PMOS underlined that there was no arms deal to sanction or otherwise as far as he knew. Challenged that the Government should announce, as a sign of seriousness of purpose, that any further arms deals which had been completed should not be honoured, the PMOS said that that was not the way we operated. If a deal was made, it was best to look at it in light of circumstances at the time, rather than give notional indications about what might happen were X to happen in a region. Pressed as to whether we would re-examine licences that had already been awarded, the PMOS said he was not aware there were any plans to do so.
Asked whether Mr Straw would discuss the Hawks deal with his Indian and Pakistani counterparts during his visit, the PMOS said it was important to keep things in perspective. We could all have lengthy conversations about UK arms policy - a policy which had not changed. The reality that faced us was a bit more serious.
We were talking about a very grave situation between two countries - both of whom had a nuclear capability. The international community had to do all it could to urge restraint on both sides and to try to encourage the de-escalation of tensions in the region through dialogue. No doubt there would be plenty of opportunity for discussion about this issue at tomorrow’s NATO/Russia Summit in Rome. Jack Straw was visiting both India and Pakistan to discuss what could be done to cool things down.
Asked to explain exactly what the international community could do to help de-escalate tensions, the PMOS said he was not pretending that Jack Straw was visiting the region with a plan in his pocket. Patently that was not the case. However, it had to be of value if senior representatives of the international community were going to the region to underline to both sides the seriousness with which the world was viewing the situation, to warn of the dangers and for the need for cool heads to prevail.
Questioned as to whether he would agree that Britain ought to play a special role in helping to sort out the situation given the Prime Minister had said in the past that the UK had a particularly close relationship with both countries and in light of the fact that there was such a large Kashmiri community here in the UK, the PMOS said the fact that Jack Straw was visiting the region and the fact that the Prime Minister had spoken many times to President Musharraf and Prime Minister Vajpayee obviously counted for something in such a situation.
However, he was not pretending that we were acting as brokers of some sort of agreement or anything else. Quite clearly we were not. What influence we had we would endeavour to use.
Asked whether we would go ahead with our plans to help train Pakistan’s armed forces, the PMOS said that as we had stated post September 11, it was important for General Musharraf to do all he could to crack down on terrorist activity against Kashmir and India. We acknowledged that he had already taken some steps.
However, the international community was continuing to reinforce the need to stop infiltrations across the Line of Control in Kashmir. President Musharraf would be making a speech this afternoon and we would wait to hear what he had to say. This was our current focus.
Transport Plan
Asked how comprehensive the review of the Ten-Year Transport Plan would be, the PMOS said it had always been accepted that there would be an opportunity to update the Transport Plan post the CSR to take account of the developments that had taken place in the intervening two years, such as the decision on Railtrack for example. However, we would have to wait for the review.
Asked what kind of review we were expecting, the PMOS said that the Ten-Year Plan set out the investment plan to deliver the Government’s policies. The Government was about developing more choice in the transport system so that people had the option of using better quality public transport as an alternative to the car. Stephen Byers had set out yesterday where the centre of gravity lay at DTLR and the Government in relation to car usage. We would have to wait for that review in the context of the CSR.
Iraq
Asked for a reaction to reports that the US had postponed plans for military action against Iraq and whether the Prime Minister was partly responsible for this change of tack, the PMOS said that the situation remained as set out on many occasions in the past. Everyone would accept that we had to address the issue of weapons of mass destruction (WMD). It was pointless to bury our heads in the sand and pretend they did not exist. Obviously they did. WMD was something the Prime Minister had been highlighting as an important issue both before and after September 11, but had underlined that the question of how to deal with it was a matter for discussion. No decision had been taken on military action against Iraq. As the US Administration had demonstrated post-September 11 in relation to Afghanistan, it was clear that they set great store by dialogue with their international partners.
Performance Targets
Asked for a reaction to today’s Independent story which had reported that the Government was about to abandon a third of its performance targets, the PMOS said he did not recognise the story. Once again, journalists would just have to be patient and wait for the CSR. No one had ever said that every single target which the Government had set out was immutable. Target-setting was important inasmuch as it focussed minds on specific outputs. The CSR would set out funding streams for public services for the next three years to which targets would be attached.
Asylum
Asked when the consultation document on managed migration would be published, the PMOS said shortly. It would focus on the issue of holiday and seasonal workers in relation to managed migration and skills shortages and look at how they could be used to help tackle illegal working and abuse of the asylum system.
Asked what contribution the UK would be making to the EU meeting on Thursday to discuss strengthening the EU’s external borders, the PMOS said that Angela Eagle would be attending. The meeting should be seen as a staging post for the European Council in Seville. The Justice and Home Affairs Council would be doing some of the preparatory work following the letter the Prime Minister had sent to Prime Minister Aznar a couple of weeks ago and the issues which Mr Aznar had said he wanted to raise at Seville.
Asked for the Government’s position on EU border police, the PMOS said that contrary to the way it had been reported in some quarters, no one was talking about a fortress EU. However, it was clear that the border issue was important and that certain measures could be taken to reduce the number of asylum seekers entering the EU.
For example, the Anglo-Italian initiative in the Balkans had addressed successfully the asylum issue at source by discouraging and acting against people travelling into Europe in the first instance. The EU had to look at the lessons that could be learned from that measure and apply that sort of initiative widely. Post-Tampere, no one was under any illusion that we were not as far forward as we would like to be - hence the measures to be discussed at Seville.
Dome
Asked when an announcement on the Dome would be made, the PMOS said that we did not yet have a signed deal. However, we believed we were on course to make an announcement shortly - which should be this week, given the Lords was still sitting.
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