Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Employment Statistics, President Bush, Iran, Ken Livingstone and Margaret Hodge.
Employment Statistics
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) drew journalists’ attention to the latest employment figures which showed that levels had now reached 28.15 million - the best since records began. The number of people claiming unemployment benefit had fallen by over 3,000 last month to 926,900 - the lowest since 1975. The unemployment rate was 5%, unchanged from previous months.
President Bush
Asked what assurances the Prime Minister could give to the British public that their right to demonstrate would be protected and whether the rules had been relaxed to allow American security personnel to use firearms, the PMOS said that the Met Police were holding a briefing this afternoon on the President’s visit. At all times, it was important to respect their independent operational role. The Prime Minister had underlined in his speech at the Guildhall on Monday night why he believed it was the right time for the President to visit the UK, pointing to the wider UK-US relationship which was as deep as it had ever been, as well as the huge significance of what was at stake in Iraq, the future of the Middle East and the future of relations between Islam and the West. He had also recognised explicitly - as indeed he had throughout the Iraq conflict - the right of demonstrators to express their opinions and to make their voices heard. However, in any democracy there was a balance to be struck between the right to demonstrate and the right for people, including visitors from abroad, to go about their normal business. That was why we had given the job of striking the right balance to the police who had undertaken this role successfully many times in the past. Questioned further about the right of demonstrators to protest within earshot of President Bush, the PMOS said that issues relating to the handling of demonstrations and where the protestors would be allowed to stand for example were a matter for the police.
Asked to comment on reports that American armed guards operating in this country would be granted immunity from prosecution, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any change in guidelines or normal practice. These were operational matters to be dealt with by the police. Asked if he would agree that it would be a good idea for the Government to give the Met Police a context within which to work, for example by letting it be known that any heavy-handedness on their part would not go down at all well, the PMOS said people recognised that the Met were very experienced in dealing with all kinds of events, both protests and ceremonial, having dealt with something like 3,500 last year. Clearly, they had the experience and knowledge, and it was only right and proper for them to be given the operational independence to make the necessary decisions on their own. Asked if he was suggesting that it was the Met’s responsibility to decide whether US armed guards should be allowed to use their weapons with immunity, the PMOS acknowledged that he wasn’t an expert in this area, but said that there was nothing that led him to believe that standard procedures were not being followed.
Questioned as to whether the Home Secretary would be involved in the policing of the visit in an advisory capacity, the PMOS said that normal procedure would be followed. Asked if ‘normal procedure’ meant keeping demonstrators out of sight, as happened when the former Chinese President, Jiang Zemin, had visited the Foreign Office, the PMOS said that he had no intention of getting drawn into a discussion about that particular visit because he was not aware of all the details. As he understood it, it was entirely the Government’s wish that normal procedures should be applied during President Bush’s visit. Put to him that it was surely standard procedure for FCO Ministers to be involved in preparations in advance of visits from overseas guests, the PMOS pointed out that there was a distinction to be made between practical information being conveyed by the Government and the Met’s operational independence.
Asked when the Prime Minister had extended his invitation to President Bush and why he had decided that it should be a State Visit, the PMOS pointed out that it was HM Queen who had extended the invitation - hence the term ‘State Visit’. The Foreign Secretary had answered this point in his interview on the Today Programme this morning.
Iran
Asked if the Prime Minister shared Jack Straw’s view that there was a difference of emphasis between the UK and the US over the treatment of Iran, the PMOS said that he was not aware of Mr Straw’s exact comment. However, it was important to recognise that there had been a multi-lateral approach to Iran, with the UK, US and EU all showing the Iranian authorities that we shared the same objective. Most dispassionate observers would acknowledge that this approach was bearing fruit inasmuch as it was persuading the Iranians to fulfil their international obligations. Of course that was not to underestimate the difficulties and sensitivities that existed. However, the important point was that the international community had well and truly made its voice heard in Tehran.
Ken Livingstone
Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting Ken Livingstone today or whether he had any plans to do so in the near future, the PMOS said that as a Civil Servant he was unable to comment on party political matters. Generally speaking, however, he was not aware of any meetings between the Prime Minister and Mr Livingstone today.
Margaret Hodge
Questioned by the Evening Standard as to whether the taxpayer would have to pay the costs of Margaret Hodge’s defence in any libel action against her, the PMOS said that as journalists were well aware, it wasn’t his policy to respond to hypothetical questions, particularly when it involved the law. Asked to clarify the rules governing Ministers, generally, who faced legal action, the PMOS said that this question would be answered if and when the circumstances arose. Asked why he was not prepared to rule out the possibility that the taxpayer might have to pay for Mrs Hodge’s defence, the PMOS said that he would still decline to respond to a hypothetical situation, despite the journalist’s apparent desperation to write the story he wanted to write.
Asked if the Prime Minister supported Mrs Hodge’s decision to write to the Chairman of the BBC, the PMOS said that she had issued a statement on this issue yesterday and his colleague had spent a large chunk of yesterday morning’s briefing answering questions about it. Mrs Hodge had said this morning that she had nothing further to add to this matter- and neither did he. Asked if the Prime Minister thought she had been wise to write to the BBC, the PMOS repeated that he had no further comment to make about this issue. Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister retained confidence in Mrs Hodge, the PMOS said that Mrs Hodge remained a member of the Government.
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