Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: President Bush, Foundation Hospitals and NHS Waiting Times.
President Bush
Questioned as to whether President Bush would be meeting the families of soldiers killed in Iraq, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said yes. The meeting was due to take place tomorrow morning. Today, the President was meeting the families of victims of the September 11 attacks.
Asked for a reaction to today’s Daily Mirror report on security at Buckingham Palace, the PMOS said everyone would acknowledge that the report raised concerns. It was therefore right, as the Palace had announced this morning, for there to be a full investigation into the incident. Asked if the Home Secretary would take full Ministerial responsibility for what had happened, the PMOS said that the Speaker had just allowed an Urgent Question on this matter, which meant that the Home Secretary would be making a Statement in the Commons today. It was only right that we got to the bottom of what had happened, which was why it was important for the investigation to take place.
Asked if we were expecting announcements to be made on the Guantanamo Bay detainees and the issue of US steel tariffs during the President’s visit, the PMOS said that the position on the two issues had not changed. We expected them both to be discussed by the Prime Minister and the President. However, the deadline for the US to respond before the retaliatory tariffs kicked in under the WTO rules was 6 December, not this week. The issue of Guantanamo Bay was complex and discussions were still ongoing.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be disappointed if he was unable to obtain any concessions from the President on the issues of steel, Guantanamo Bay, Iran and the Middle east peace process, the PMOS said that the premise on which the question was based was to misunderstand the nature of the visit. As we had been underlining over the past few days, the UK-US relationship should not be judged on one particular issue at any given time. We had an extraordinarily close relationship with the US in terms of our shared history, shared values and shared world view on security issues for example. The visit this week would serve to deepen those ties and would provide an opportunity for the Prime Minister and the President to continue discussions which they conducted on almost a weekly basis in any event. It was not an occasion for pre-cooked announcements.
Foundation Hospitals
Asked if the Prime Minister was intending to vote on Foundation Hospitals today, the PMOS said yes. Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the vote would be so tight that it was necessary to spend £30,000 flying the Sports Minister back to the UK from Australia, the PMOS said that the Parliamentary arithmetic was not a matter for him. The vote would take place this afternoon. Everyone recognised that it was going to be close. However, the Government was determined to get its programme through. Foundation Hospitals were an important part of our reform agenda for the NHS and this Bill was one of the centrepieces of the Government’s programme. The Health Secretary, John Reid, had given a very articulate explanation on the radio this morning in terms of how the issues of choice and equity were not mutually exclusive. As regards of Mr Caborn, it was important to be clear that he had been in Australia for the Rugby World Cup semi-final. Since this was the last week of the current parliamentary session, there were inevitably more votes this week than at any other time of the parliamentary timetable. Tessa Jowell would be in Australia to attend the Rugby World Cup final and would take with her a message of support for the team from the Prime Minister. Asked if it had always been the intention for Mr Caborn to return to the UK this week, the PMOS referred journalists to DCMS for details regarding flights and the like. He pointed out that no one had known that England would be in the final until Sunday morning. The vote had been scheduled for some time.
NHS Waiting Times
Asked for a reaction to today’s Express story which claimed that the Prime Minister had erroneously stated that the maximum waiting time for an NHS operation was twelve months, despite the fact that the Department of Health had issued a statement two days later saying that 100 people had been waiting more than twelve months for an operation, the PMOS said that it was important to put all these facts into context. In 1997, over 30,000 had been waiting over twelve months for treatment. In contrast, just over 100 people had been waiting more than twelve months at the end of September 2003. Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister would issue a correction to the House, the PMOS said that where the maximum waiting time of twelve months was exceeded, significant pressure was put on Trusts to address the problems. For example, remedial action had been taken in one particular Trust to address the problems faced by a group of patients who had waited more than twelve months last year. It might be the case that on a very rare occasion a patient had to wait more than twelve months, but that was very much the exception, not the rule. Pressed as to whether the Prime Minister would be issuing a correction to the House, the PMOS repeated that the maximum waiting time target was being met in virtually every case in the NHS. There might be rare instances when that target would not be met. When that happened, corrective action would be taken by the Trust concerned to ensure that managers got a grip of the situation.
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