Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Government Division, Euro and Clare Short.
"Government Division"
Asked if the Prime Minister accepted that the Government was deeply divided on issues such as foundation hospitals, top-up fees, Iraq and the Euro, and if he would agree that this was the price he had to pay for being radical, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said no. He pointed out that the vote on foundation hospitals had been carried last week. In addition, the policy on the Euro was settled and an announcement was expected shortly. Although people might want to pretend otherwise, this had been - and remained - one of the most united Governments this country had ever had. Granted, there had been a number of resignations in recent weeks in relation to a specific issue. But this was something which had polarised opinion across parties and across the country as a whole. Although there were big challenges which remained in Iraq, it was clear that the prospects for the country were infinitely better than they had been during Saddam’s regime. So no, he did not accept the thesis.
Euro
Asked again about the Cabinet’s position vis-à-vis the Euro, the PMOS said that intensive, detailed discussions between the Chancellor and Prime Minister were continuing. A Cabinet discussion would take place before a final decision was made. That decision would be announced shortly afterwards. Asked if the final decision would be taken by the Cabinet, the PMOS said yes. Questioned as to whether the Cabinet would be able to ‘override’ the outcome of the five economic tests, the PMOS said that Cabinet would discuss the issue before taking a collective decision.
Questioned as to whether any other Ministers were currently involved in the discussions, the PMOS said that at the moment, the Prime Minister and Chancellor were working through the issue on their own. Asked to characterise the tone of the discussions, the PMOS said that they were perfectly good. Everyone accepted that this was a momentous decision for any Government. The policy had been set out by the Chancellor in October 1997 and repeated again by the Prime Minister in February 1999. It went without saying that it was one of the biggest economic decisions any Government could take, which was why there was a lot of detailed discussion going on. Clearly a lot of work had been done by the Treasury.
Asked if the Prime Minister remained committed to holding a referendum on the Euro if, as John Reid had seemed to indicate, it wasn’t a matter of ‘if’ we joined the single currency but ‘when’, the PMOS said yes. Asked if Dr Reid had been right to make that comment, the PMOS said that the policy on the Euro remained as set out by the Chancellor in October 1997. In principle we were in favour of joining a successful single currency, provided the economic tests were met. Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Helen Liddell’s assessment that a sixth economic test was needed - the cost of staying out of the Euro, the PMOS said that the five tests had not changed. Pressed as to whether the Prime Minister agreed with Ms Liddell about the opportunity cost, the PMOS pointed out that such issues could actually be included in the test on inward investment which itself was one of the five tests.
Clare Short
Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister had appointed a member of the House of Lords as Clare Short’s replacement at DfID because he couldn’t find a suitable candidate in the House of Commons, the PMOS said that if people were looking for a precedent, they need look no further than Baroness Chalker who had done Ms Short’s job under the previous Administration. The Prime Minister had considered the matter very carefully and had decided that Baroness Amos was the best person within Government to do the job. Asked exactly how long and how carefully the Prime Minister had considered the matter before appointing Baroness Amos, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had made a judgement this morning after speaking to Clare Short. Once a resignation was confirmed, the Prime Minister had to make a judgement as to who the replacement should be and then speak to that person so that an announcement could be made. It wasn’t rocket science.
Asked why it had been so easy to replace Clare Short whereas other vacancies were taking much longer to fill, the PMOS said that if he was being asked about the delay in replacing Robin Cook as the Leader of the House of Commons, it was important to remember that we had been engaged in military conflict at the time of Mr Cook’s resignation. The other positions which remained unfilled were posts outside the Cabinet. They would be filled in due course. Asked to explain why it was more of a priority to replace the Labour Party chairman than fill a vacancy in DWP, the PMOS pointed out that the Labour Party chairman also held a Cabinet post as Minister without Portfolio. Asked if he was implying that it was more important to fill the post of Minister without Portfolio than it was to appoint a Pensions Minister as well as a Minister with responsibility for domestic security, the PMOS said he wasn’t implying anything of the sort. No one should underestimate the excellent Secretaries of State in DWP and the Home Office who, in any event, led on these issues in the first instance. Moreover, the Home Office for example contained a number of Ministers of State who had shared out Mr Denham’s former responsibilities between them in the interim. Obviously it was important to fill all the vacant posts in the Government, and that would happen in due course. It would not come as any surprise that he was not going to give any guidance on when that might be.
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