Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Iraqi honours, David Blunkett and the Prime Minister’s speech.
Iraqi honours
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) briefed journalists on the the special Honours List for those who had given their services, since January 2003, to the reconstruction of Iraq and towards its transition to democracy.
The list contains 51 names. 35 awards are for members of the Home Civil Service and members of the Diplomatic Service and the remaining 16 are for non-State servants.
The CMG recommendations are for three FCO officials who played a particularly important role in the transitional phase leading up to the transfer of power to the interim Iraqi administration; Paul Harvey, the Governorate Co-ordinator in Kirkuk who rapidly built up a rapport with all the communities in this diverse but ethnically charged northern city; Dominic Asquith, who played a crucial political role as Deputy to the UK Special Representative either side of the transition back to Iraqi sovereignty and who has returned to London as Director (Iraq) in FCO; and Henry Hogger, the Governorate Co-ordinator in Basra, Iraq’s second city, were he was responsible for all aspects of government, a highly unusual role for a British diplomat outside British territory in modern times.
There are CBEs for Giles Denham, a key member of Ambassador Bremer’s team of advisers in the Coalition Provisional Authority who was asked to take forward a range of responsibilities to prepare the interim government to assume sovereignty including establishing the mechanisms for coordinated Cabinet government and Mark Etherington, who was Governorate Co-ordinator for Wasit, one of the most neglected of Iraq’s 18 Governorates. He played crucial roles in promoting and sustaining conditions throughout a particularly challenging period in the province that have allowed Iraqis to begin a political process in the region.
The OBEs include two police officers, Joseph Elder and Philip Read, who played key roles in establishing a training programme for Iraq police officers; Gareth Davies, the Governor of Pentonville Prison, whose responsibilities covered not only prisons but the whole law and order field; Mandana Hendessi, who helped to establish the Women’s Higher Council for Iraq, the main Iraqi body campaigning for women’s rights; Rodney Matthews, a civil engineer who successfully restored electricity, water and proper sanitation to southern Iraq; William Newcombe, leader of the Halcrow Recovery and Infrastructure Group team who successfully completed the refurbishment of 49 public buildings including hospitals, clinics, fire stations and schools in Basrah; Simon Gray from the Bank of England who played a crucial role in the reconstruction of the Central Bank of Iraq; and Helen Mulvein, who drafted much of the key legislation needed to bring into effect the Iraqi Interim Government.
Among the MBEs are Mark Clark who almost single-handedly rebuilt the sports network and managed an Iraqi football team to the semi-finals of the Athens Olympics; Mark Jeffries, who played an important part in the development of an Iraqi Immigration Service; John Hughes-Jones who was involved with police training; Mike Sandy who trained customs and border officers; Wally Weeks, Kevin Thomas and David Keen specialists in, respectively sewage, fuel distribution and road and bridge engineering.
This is just a brief summary, but we have also given you the full list of honours which includes all the names.
David Blunkett
Asked if the Prime Minister still had confidence in the Home Secretary’s ability to do his job, the PMOS said yes. Asked if there had been any discussion of this issue in Cabinet, the PMOS reminded journalists that he had said yesterday that the issue was not discussed. Asked if it had been mentioned, the PMOS said he did not give a detailed commentary on Cabinet meetings. Asked if Mr Blunkett had had a private meeting with the Prime Minister the PMOS said he did not discuss the Prime Minister’s meetings with ministers.
Asked how David Blunkett could do his very demanding job and fight a legal battle at the same time, the PMOS said that people simply had to look at what David Blunkett had been doing during the last 10 days in setting out the vision contained in the Queens speech, following that vision through with media appearances and in his work in Cabinet and his department. As the Chancellor had underlined this morning and other colleagues of his had underlined, David Blunkett continued to do the job he had to do for the Government and the country.
Prime Minister’s speech
Asked for further explanation of the Prime Ministers speech concerning the need for parents to give their children aspirations, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister was building on views that he had expressed before. The view was that as a society, our future and the future of the country is going to based on the skills we acquired. The days when unskilled people could go through an entire career without skills were over. The themes underlying the speech were about giving people the ability to acquire relevant skills. This was necessary for a modern economy at a time when China and India among other developing countries were making rapid progress in the global economy. Questioned further the PMOS said it was about the generational change that we all had to make in recognising the important role that skills would play in the world to come. The changing world was one of the main themes of the Prime Minister’s speech today; opportunity and security in a constantly changing world where we strived to achieve the economic stability the Government believed it has attained.
Asked if there was a particular reason why such a speech was given in Scotland, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister recognised that it was important to set out his vision for the country as a whole, throughout the country. Put to him that the speech was being given in a university where education was devolved away from central Government authority, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister recognised that that the devolved education authority would develop their policies according to the needs of Scotland, but equally it was important for the Prime Minister to spell out that challenges that faced the country as a whole. That meant Scotland as much as Wales or Northern Ireland.
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