Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Wanless Report, Libya and Katharine Gun.
Wanless Report
Asked if the Prime Minister would accept the criticism, in the light of recent announcements, that the Government was not particularly joined up and that its policies were shaky and not very well thought through, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said no. The Wanless Report was a piece of work which had been commissioned some time ago and whose remit had been to look into the whole issue of public health. The Report talked about the importance of individuals taking responsibility for their own health, in addition to the importance of the full engagement of the wider community. The issue of obesity, which had been the subject of a paper published last week, was only one aspect of that. As he understood it, a White Paper on obesity would be published later in the year. Put to him that recent proposals, such as the introduction of a ‘fat tax’, subsided gym membership and drug testing in schools, had collapsed almost as soon as they had been announced, the PMOS said that it was important for people to understand what the three proposals were about. As we had stated clearly last week, we had no intention of introducing a so-called ‘fat tax’. That said, it was clearly an important and valuable part of good Government to have a small cadre of people looking in the longer term at some of the challenges facing the community and the population as a whole. The suggestion for subsidised gym membership was part of the Big Conversation consultation exercise, the purpose of which was to debate ideas. We had been consulting for some time about the issue of drug testing in schools and were now publishing guidance on it. It would be discretionary. Headteachers would not be required to test children for drugs at the start of the school day when the register was taken. What we were doing was giving them the power to do so if they so wished. Put to him that the powers already existed, the PMOS said that we would be issuing guidance which would enable headteachers to take this issue forward. Put to him again that the powers already existed, the PMOS said it was true that we were not going to be legislating on this matter. However, until the guidance, which was being produced in consultation with the police, headteachers and other interested parties, went out to schools, the matter had not been taken forward. This was all about schools having the tools at their disposal to deal with the issue of drugs.
Libya
Asked if the Government’s efforts to seek clarification about the Libyan Prime Minister’s remarks yesterday had paid off, the PMOS said that we had now received an assurance from the Libyan Foreign Minister that Libya stood by all its previous commitments regarding Lockerbie and the case of Wpc Fletcher. We had indicated the importance of making progress on the latter issue and the importance of continuing to make progress on WMD programmes. Asked in what format the assurances had been given to the British Government, the PMOS said that it had been done through our diplomatic channels.
Put to him repeatedly that the Libyan Prime Minister’s words surely carried more weight than those of the Libyan Foreign Minister, the PMOS said that he was the British Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman, not the Libyan Prime Minister’s. As Jack Straw had said yesterday, it was important to recognise that Libya had clarified its position on Lockerbie via the letter which they had sent to the UN Security Council last September and by accepting general responsibility in 1999 for the death of Wpc Yvonne Fletcher. Asked to explain why the British Government was satisfied with the clarification from the Libyan Foreign Minister while the US authorities were holding out for a retraction from Libyan Prime Minister himself, the PMOS said that we had been seeking clarification and had now received an assurance from the Libyan Foreign Minister. As we had underlined during his visit to the UK earlier this month, what was important was that progress was made on issues such as WMD and the case of Wpc Fletcher. Put to him that the Libyan Prime Minister outranked the Libyan Foreign Minister, the PMOS said that he was not an expert on Libyan politics.
Asked if he would agree that remarks that were said publicly should be clarified publicly, the PMOS pointed out that Libya had met the requirements of the UN Security Council on the issue of Lockerbie. They had also accepted responsibility for it, agreed to pay compensation to the victims’ families and had agreed to co-operate with any further investigation. As we had made clear consistently, it was important to continue to see progress being made. Put to him that the Libyan Prime Minister’s remarks yesterday showed the letter to the UN Security Council and Libya’s willingness to co-operate in a very different light, the PMOS repeated that we had received an assurance from the Libyan Foreign Minister. The most important thing, as the Libyans understood very well, was that we continued to see progress being made. Asked if he was indicating that the British Government was simply disregarding the Libyan Prime Minister’s remarks, the PMOS said that the way to judge such issues was through the progress that was made on the WMD programmes and the Wpc Fletcher case. Asked repeatedly if the British Government was satisfied with the assurance, the PMOS said that the most important thing was to make judgements about what people actually did. That was what we would continue to do.
Katharine Gun
Asked the Prime Minister’s reaction to the collapse of the trial of the so-called ‘GCHQ whistleblower’, Katharine Gun, the PMOS said that it was a matter for the Crown Prosecution Service who had issued a short statement. We had nothing to add to it.
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