Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Prime Minister Allawi visit, Cabinet Meeting, Olympics, House Security, Hunting vote and Iraq.
Prime Minister Aallawi Visit
The Prime Minister’s official spokesperson (PMOS) announced that this would happen on Sunday morning at Downing Street.
Cabinet Meeting
The PMOS said that Peter Hain updated colleagues on the events of yesterday and the events in the House. He said it was fair to say that deep concern within the Cabinet had been expressed. It was obviously a matter for the House but it had been agreed that lessons must be learned.
He said that Jack Straw updated colleagues on yesterday’s events in Iraq, including the situation of the British Hostages. There had also been a look ahead to Prime Minister Allawi’s visit.
When asked whether the effects of yesterday’s events on the Olympic bid was raised at Cabinet, the PMOS said it was not. Security was obviously an important issue and was dealt with within the bid and it was clear from discussions the Prime Minister and others had had in Athens, that people did appreciate the high quality of the technical side of the bid.
Asked if an image of "men in tights" in relations to House of Commons security was one Ministers were concerned about in the 21st century, the PMOS said that Ministers were concerned about yesterday’s events for all sorts of reasons, but the primary concern was to ensure that such security breeches did not happen again.
Asked if hunting and the actions of militant pro-hunting campaigners had been discussed, the PMOS said it had not and that the next step for the Hunting Bill was the House of Lords. When he had met previously with pro-hunt campaigners, the Prime Minister had stressed he recognised the strong emotions involved and that he recognised their right to peaceful protest, but it had to be peaceful protest, he also recognised the very difficult job that the Police had to do yesterday. Pictures from yesterday had spoken for themselves, for a small minority it had not been a peaceful demonstration and that had been wrong.
Questioned on whether or not the Prime Minister thought the BBC should have passed on information they may have had about yesterday’s protest, the PMOS said that he was not aware of the specific details and that it was an internal matter for the BBC.
Olympics
The PMOS made a number of points. Tessa Jowell made clear her view, which was underlined by Lord Sebastian Coe, that this bid was winnable and that today’s Cabinet meeting had been designed to show the underlying support for the bid right across government. Lord Coe gave a very impressive presentation and underlined there would be a clear legacy for the UK as a whole if we won the bid. He (Lord Coe) reiterated that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity for the UK, and said he did not envisage this opportunity coming again for decades. The Prime Minister, responding to the presentation, praised the technical quality of the bid, which he believed was superior to that of others, but he underlined that the country, and London as a whole, had now to show it was passionately behind the bid in the coming weeks and months.
Asked for a quote from the Prime Minister, the PMOS said the technical quality of the bid spoke for itself. What would impress the Olympic Committee would be the passion of this country and London for the Olympic bid. He believed that that passion existed and the next few months would be the time for the country to show it really wanted the Olympics to come here in 2012. The Prime Minister believed the Olympic bid committee had done a very good job in bringing together the skills under the leadership of Lord Coe but that we must harness support for the bid right across the country. The bid would benefit the whole country. Lord Coe and his team would organise ways to help people show their enthusiasm for the bid.
Questioned on whether or not the London transport system could cope with the Olympics, the PMOS said that Lord Coe had been full of praise for the transport system and plans for it in terms of how it will be by 2012.
House Security
Asked if Cabinet had discussed what lessons needed to be learnt from yesterday and if there were plans to ban protesting from close proximity to the House, the PMOS said that members of the Cabinet had been very conscious of the fact that there was an enquiry under way and that that enquiry was first and foremost the responsibility of the House authorities. Clearly there would be input from the Government when asked by the House authorities, but that enquiry must be allowed to take place. In terms of demonstrations in Parliament Square, that was the responsibility of a mixture of authorities, Westminster Council and the Highway Agency included, and therefore any discussions should be with them.
Asked about what had happened to a previous law that prevented demonstrations from taking place within a certain radius of Parliament when the House was sitting, the PMOS said it had been his understanding that that law had lapsed. He was not sure of the precise time of when this had happened.
Questioned about whether Cabinet had asked why the demonstration was allowed to take place in Parliament Square, the PMOS said this was one of the issues that had to be looked at but in the proper way.
Questioned about the security of Ministers, the PMOS said that security of Ministers was a matter for the Government, but security within the House was a matter for the House authorities.
Asked if the Prime Minister had confidence in the House authorities, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was confident that these issues were going to be treated with the seriousness they deserved. These matters would be urgently discussed in the House. The Prime Minister went in to the building on a regular and basis and was happy to do so. The lessons of yesterday need to be learned in a calm way and using the appropriate mechanisms. Nobody was trying to down-play what had happened yesterday. It was important that Parliament’s modus operandi and place be respected and therefore that the discussions took place in the proper way, that was what a Parliamentary democracy was about. Anything that disrupted Parliament must be deplored.
Hunting Vote
Asked if the Prime Minister had not voted because of security reasons, the PMOS said the Prime Minister had not voted because he had had other business to attend to. It was up to individual MPs in a free vote to vote whichever way they wished to.
Asked if the Prime Minister thought it would have been better to try and resolve the issue without getting into ‘this mess’, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister and Alun Michael had made repeated attempts to try and resolve the issue. Unfortunately those attempts had not been successful. Therefore the Prime Minister believed it important to build in a delay that allowed people time to adapt. It had been clear yesterday afternoon that it had been successful and a compromise had been reached. As it had been a free vote MPs voted in the ways they had.
Asked about hypothetical scenarios under the Parliament Act, the PMOS would not be drawn and said this matter should be taken step by step.
Iraq
Asked about comments by the Secretary General of the UN, the PMOS made reference to the Attorney General’s statement on July 14, where he said that "my view is that military action taken in Iraq was lawful. That was my independent view at the time and it is still my view. The Government has acted in accordance with my advice at all times." Prime Minister Allawi had said earlier in the week that the violence in Iraq had obviously been disturbing and it was obvious that if that was the only picture of Iraq as a whole, people would question whether things can go forward. Prime Minister Allawi said Iraq was not dominated by that violence and therefore what they were working for, against a tight time deadline, was to have elections in January and that they were determined to do so. What the terrorists wanted was to stop democracy in its tracks in Iraq. All evidence from Iraq showed there was a desire, a real hunger, for Iraqis, without intimidation, to choose their own representatives.
The PMOS drew people’s attention to the fact that people had said elections would not be possible in Afghanistan and the UN had set a target of 5 million registered voters, and at the last count there were over 10 million. Clearly there were still problems in both Afghanistan and Iraq but that shouldn’t be allowed to get in the way of democratic elections.
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