Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: PM visit to Rome, Lord Woolf/Constitutional Reforms, MMR/GM, Iraq and Six-Term School Year.
PM Visit to Rome
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister was in Rome today to meet with Prime Minister Berlusconi. This was the latest in a series of contacts between the two leaders. Today was an opportunity for them to look forward to the European Council later this month. They had last met at the previous European Council in Brussels.
Asked what the two leaders would discuss, the PMOS said that they would talk about the wider European agenda, such economic reform and the latest position on the European Constitution in the light of the huge amount of work that the Italians had done while holding the EU Presidency in the second half of last year. The Prime Minister had already paid tribute to Prime Minister Berlusconi’s skill and effort in trying to navigate a way through the issue, despite the failure to reach an agreement for reasons which had been well documented. No doubt there would also be discussion about the trilateral meeting last month between the Prime Minister, Chancellor Schroeder and President Chirac. Asked if the purpose of the meeting in Rome today was to placate Prime Minister Berlusconi after he had not been invited to the trilateral, the PMOS said he wouldn’t characterise it in that way. It was part of an ongoing dialogue with a very close European ally. Asked if the Prime Minister would use the meeting today to reassure the Italian Prime Minister that the UK, France and Germany were not trying to dictate the European policy agenda, the PMOS said that as we had pointed out at the time, the trilateral had not been about creating a lead group in Europe. There was nothing surprising about European leaders meeting bilaterally and trilaterally. Last month had certainly not been the first time the Prime Minister had met Chancellor Schroeder and President Chirac in this way. Asked if today’s meeting had been set up after the trilateral, the PMOS said yes. The Prime Minister had spoken to Prime Minister Berlusconi by phone shortly after the trilateral had taken place when both had agreed to meet up today.
Lord Woolf/Constitutional Reforms
Asked for a reaction to criticisms expressed last night by the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Woolf, regarding the Government’s proposals for a new Supreme Court and changes to the asylum system, the PMOS said that Lord Woolf was entitled to put his views, and we would, of course, listen carefully to what he had to say. However, the Government was entitled to take the action it thought was necessary in order both to modernise our constitution and to reform our public services. We believed that the reforms we were making were right. On asylum, for example, everyone recognised the fact that the appeals process at the current time was too long and too complex. It was therefore important to examine how to streamline a system which, at the moment, saw cases often being drawn out over the course of a year, if not longer. Asked if Downing Street believed that the Lord Chief Justice had misunderstood the principle of the rule of law, the PMOS repeated that Lord Woolf was perfectly entitled to express his opinion. However, we believed that the measures we were putting in place were fair and proportionate and would be fully compliant with human rights legislation.
Asked to confirm reports that the Lords Reform Bill had been ‘pulled at the last minute’ last week because of a drafting problem and that it might not be published for another three months, the PMOS said that, as he had told journalists when asked about this issue last Friday, all the necessary processes within Government had not yet concluded. People had been speculating that the Bill might be published at the end of last week. However, we had never finally confirmed this. It was important to exercise a little patience and wait and see how the discussions within Government would conclude. It went without saying that the Government was committed to this piece of legislation and anticipated bringing it forward in due course. He said he did not recognise the three month claim.
MMR/GM
Asked if the issue of MMR had been raised in Cabinet this morning, the PMOS said only in the context of a discussion on GM issues in which the importance of the primacy of science had been underlined. Asked to explain the ‘primacy of science’ argument, the PMOS said that in relation to MMR, for example, it was clear that on one side of the scales stood a vast body of scientific opinion which stated that the vaccine was safe. On the other side, however, stood one research report - about which we now knew even more - which claimed otherwise. The important thing was not to assume an immediate equivalence between two differing points of view when that was not borne out by the overall weight of opinion.
Iraq
Asked for a reaction to David Kay’s latest comments suggesting that he and others had been taken in by Iraqi dissident claims of WMD, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister would be making a speech about Iraq tomorrow in which he would make a more rounded argument relating to proliferation issues and international security threats. In that context, he would obviously address the issue of WMD in his speech.
Asked if the speech was a further attempt to draw a line under the whole issue of Iraq, the PMOS said that he would not characterise it in that way. Iraq would continue to provoke comment and attract attention in the run-up to the handover of power later this year. The Prime Minister had been of the view for some time that it was important to bring together some of the wider issues, such as proliferation, which did not necessarily simply relate to Iraq.
Six-Term School Year
Asked if the Prime Minister was looking forward to a six-term school year, the PMOS said that he hadn’t heard the Prime Minister express a view on the matter. The Department for Education was continuing the debate. Put to him that the Education Secretary had said on the radio this morning that he had approved the idea and had told LEAs that they could go ahead with it, the PMOS pointed out that this did not automatically mean that all schools across the country would suddenly switch to six terms. Asked if Downing Street would like to see the scheme operate nationally, the PMOS said we believed that it was important to extend choice, but local decision-making was obviously essential in such matters.
delicious
digg
facebook
