Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Queen’s Speech and Northern Ireland.
Queen’s Speech
Asked how many Bills the Government hoped to get through before May the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalist that that was a matter for the business managers.
Asked if the Prime Minister intended to amend the animal welfare Bill to delay the Hunting Bill, the PMOS reminded journalists that Peter Hain had said this morning that if there were a serious proposal emerging from the House of Lords then obviously the Government would look at that. As things stood, whilst the Government had been in favour of a delay, the reality was that it had to decide whether there was any realistic chance of it getting through the House of Lords.
Asked which of the Bills announced today were seen by the Government as priorities, the PMOS said that we should wait and see what happens in the debates.
Asked if any one measure was particularly important with a General Election looming, the PMOS wondered aloud why he didn’t think this would be the last time he would be addressing that sort of question. He said that obviously there would be speculation about the Bills. It was best to leave it to the business managers.
Northern Ireland
Asked to comment on the talks between the Prime Minister and the Taoiseach tomorrow, the PMOS said that he would not give a running commentary, neither would he get into the optimism-pessimism game. Everybody involved recognised it would be an important week. Let’s see where we were at the end of it. He didn’t anticipate any big announcements tomorrow.
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