Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Bob Geldof, Tuition Fees, Hutton Report, WMD and Aviation Security
Bob Geldof
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister would be meeting Sir Bob Geldof this afternoon, together with Hilary Benn, to discuss Africa and wider development issues. This was the latest in a series of reasonably regular meetings between the Prime Minister and Sir Bob and had been long planned. They had last met just after the appointment of Baroness Amos as International Development Secretary last year.
Asked how the Prime Minister would respond to Sir Bob’s request for him to make Africa the centrepiece of Britain’s EU and G8 Presidencies next year, the PMOS said that it would not be helpful to pre-empt today’s meeting before it had happened. However, it went without saying that the Prime Minister valued the work which Sir Bob had done on issues relating to debt, development and Africa. His track record spoke for itself. Questioned further, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had signalled his commitment to Africa through his support for the NEPAD partnership. It was obviously high up on his international agenda, which was one of the reasons why he was seeing Sir Bob today.
Tuition Fees
Asked again when the Higher Education Bill would be published, the PMOS said that a final decision had not yet been taken. It was not the case that we had a date but were refusing to tell anyone what it was. If he was able to tell journalists then he would. Asked if the delay was due to the fact that the ‘package of concessions’ had yet to be finalised, the PMOS said it was because discussions were still ongoing within Government. It was important to get the detail right. There was really no great drama or excitement about this. The reality was much the same as what was happening up and down the country: people had been away for Christmas. Following their return to work, they were having meetings about forthcoming business and so on. Decisions would then be made and the results announced shortly. Questioned further, the PMOS reminded journalists that we had said before Christmas that the Bill would be published soon after the Commons returned from its winter break. That position had not changed.
Hutton Report
Asked to confirm that the Hutton Report would not be published next week, the PMOS said that any issues relating to the timing of the publication of the Report was being handled by the Hutton Inquiry team. The person who would determine the date for publication was Lord Hutton himself. We had always said that he should have as much time as he felt he needed to carry out his work. We would not be the ones to make the announcement on timing.
Asked for a reaction to recent statements made by Greg Dyke and Gavyn Davies in the media reassuring BBC employees about their jobs and underlining that there would be no further reforms of the Corporation, the PMOS said that he had absolutely no comment to make on either statement. Asked if he could give all Government employees a similar assurance about their jobs, the PMOS said that as we had underlined consistently from the outset, we would not be commenting on Lord Hutton’s Report until it had been presented to Government and published.
Asked to explain why the Government had felt the need to make a fresh submission to the Hutton Inquiry after it had closed in November, as reported in today’s FT, the PMOS said that a considerable amount of evidence which had been given to the Inquiry had been published. He did not propose to get into the detail of anything subsequent to that other than to say that there was nothing unusual about the processes that had been used. Pressed as to why the Government had felt the need to make a fresh submission, the PMOS said that any questions about information given to the Inquiry should be put to the Inquiry and not to him. Questioned as to whether the fresh evidence would be published, the PMOS said that we had submitted material to the Inquiry. Lord Hutton was considering all the evidence and would publish his Report. Put to him that it was actually up to Downing Street to decide and that we could do so if we wanted to, the PMOS said that the position we were in was straightforward. We had no intention of publishing anything or saying anything. We were waiting for Lord Hutton to finish his Report and present it.
WMD
Asked the Prime Minister’s view on President Assad’s comments in today’s Daily Telegraph, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister had set out his position in respect of Syria on the flight back from Basra on Sunday evening when he had made it clear that it was important for us to continue to engage with Syria and offer the country the possibility of partnership. That was what had motivated the Prime Minister to visit Damascus in 2001 and had been behind the return visit by President Assad to London in 2002. It was obviously important for all countries in the region to do whatever they could to crack down on terrorism. Put to him that President Assad had stated that it was perfectly legitimate for Syria to possess WMD and that he had no intention of giving them up, the PMOS said that we had repeatedly urged Syria to sign, ratify and comply with the relevant international conventions in respect of WMD. Although they had signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty, they had yet to sign either the Biological or Chemical Weapons Conventions. That was an issue which had obviously been raised with the Syrian Administration.
Asked if the Prime Minister had been surprised by the President’s remarks, the PMOS said that President Assad obviously spoke for himself. As the Prime Minister had said on many occasions in the past, it was important for us to engage with Syria. Equally, Syria needed to understand the terms of any partnership deal. The country had to show that it was doing everything possible to renounce terror. Indeed, there were already some positive signs of this through the closure of offices belonging to terrorist organisations in Damascus. However, it was important for all issues relating to terrorism and WMD to be addressed if we wanted to see a peaceful and stable Middle East.
Asked if he would agree that it was odd to give the red carpet treatment to someone who admitted he had WMD and had no intention of giving them up, in contrast to the way we had behaved towards Saddam Hussein, the PMOS said that no one had ever suggested an equivalence between Saddam and President Assad, as the Prime Minister had made crystal clear on many occasions. Journalists were well aware of Saddam’s history of violating countless UN Resolutions on his WMD. It was precisely that which had caused the conflict earlier this year. We had always maintained that there was an opportunity for dialogue on this issue with Syria. That was why the Prime Minister had felt it important to visit Damascus to make the point about terrorism, for example, to a Syrian audience on Syrian soil.
Aviation Security
Asked if Downing Street was aware of any ‘political interference’ from Washington in the light of delays of BA flights to the US, the PMOS said that such decisions had clearly not been taken for political reasons, which he thought people accepted.
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