Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: European Constitution and Immigration Summit.
European Constitution
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister would be making tomorrow’s Statement to the Commons on the EU White Paper and the EU Constitution, not the Foreign Secretary as advised this morning. Asked to explain the change, the PMOS said that given the importance of the Statement and how it would be perceived, it was thought that the Prime Minister should make it. The Foreign Secretary would no doubt have lots of chances in future to debate this matter more fully. Asked if he was acknowledging that the Statement was going to be ‘important’, the PMOS said everyone knew that the European Constitution was an important issue. Asked if the referendum would be mentioned, the PMOS said that the Statement was about the EU Constitution and the EU White Paper. Asked if the change had anything to do with the Opposition’s demand for a Private Notice Question today, the PMOS said that the importance of how the matter would be perceived in the House was clearly a reflection of how it would be perceived in the country as a whole. As the Prime Minister had told the House today, he was more than keen to debate the reality not the myth and to take on the arguments. As we had said after the European Council in Brussels last month, the sooner people were able to judge the reality of the Constitution for themselves - if one was agreed in June - the better.
Asked if the Prime Minister would underline the importance of the Parliamentary process, the PMOS said that it was important to engage in proper Parliamentary scrutiny about the detail of what had actually been agreed - and, just as importantly, what had not been agreed - rather than deal in headlines and soundbites, perceptions and myths. Asked how long the Parliamentary scrutiny might last, the PMOS said that if the Constitution was agreed in June, it would probably take until October/November for it to be transformed into a legal document and translated into the various EU languages. How long the British Parliamentary process might last was not something he was prepared to predict. In answer to questions about precedence, the PMOS said that the public would expect Parliament to do its job and carry out its scrutinising role.
Asked why the Statement hadn’t been made today in the light of the endless articles and reports which had been written about the subject over the weekend and today, the PMOS said that in the light of Parliamentary procedure it had been thought more appropriate to give a considered Statement tomorrow. Asked if Cabinet would be convened to discuss the issue, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was in regular contact with Cabinet colleagues, as you would expect, and discussed a variety of issues with them in different formats.
Immigration Summit
Asked about the Prime Minister’s immigration stocktake in Downing Street tomorrow afternoon, the PMOS said that it would be a continuation of the work programme which had been established at the first ’summit’. Those Departments which had been represented at the first meeting would also be represented at the second.
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