Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Aids, Reshuffle and EU Commissioner.
Aids
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister would be hosting a breakfast in Downing Street tomorrow morning at which he would outline the Government’s strategy to tackle Aids in developing countries. Hilary Benn, adults and young people affected by Aids and the heads of key international agencies, including the Chief Executive of UNAIDS, Peter Piot, would also attend. A message would also be transmitted from Nelson Mandela as co-chair of the International Aids Trust. The Prime Minister would spell out how £1.5bn announced in the CSR would be spent on Aids and he would make clear how political will and leadership had to be teamed with financial commitment to tackle this issue. Aids would, of course, be the centrepiece of the UK’s presidency of the G8 next year and the focus of the Commission for Africa which was launched by the Prime Minister in February. He would also announce £150m for Aids orphans and children made vulnerable by Aids, doubling the UK’s contribution to the UN’s Global Fund to fight Aids, taking the total to over £150m over two years. He would also make clear that the strategy would have a clear emphasis on care and treatment, as well as prevention. The Prime Minister would say tomorrow that, "Ignoring the issue of Aids is simply not an option. This is a tragedy that spans personal and global scales and it is appalling that life expectancy is some of the worst affected areas is falling back to pre-1950s levels. But this is not just about the millions of personal and family tragedies, appalling though these are. Already fragile economies are seeing their working age populations destroyed. Quite simply, we cannot hope to tackle poverty on a global scale without addressing Aids. Today’s strategy will place Britain at the forefront of this response". The PMOS took the opportunity to point out that tomorrow morning’s event had been timed to co-incide with the international conference on Aids in Bangkok.
Reshuffle
Asked if a reshuffle was imminent, the PMOS said that his answer to the same question this morning had not changed. Put to him that if a reshuffle did not happen before the summer recess, it would ‘become a major industry’ between Thursday 22 July when Parliament was due to rise, and 6 September when it was due to return, the PMOS said that he had nothing to add to what he hadn’t said before about this issue.
EU Commissioner
Asked if the appointment of the UK’s EU Commissioner was linked to a reshuffle in the sense of timing, the PMOS said that as he had advised journalists on a number of occasions in the past, the deadline for a decision on Britain’s EU Commissioner was the end of this month. That remained the position.
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