Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Tourism Breakfast, Afghanistan, Licensing Act, Pre-Budget Report and 2018 World Cup Bid
Tourism Breakfast
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) advised journalists that the Prime Minister had hosted a breakfast meeting this morning for leading representatives of the UK tourism industry. Attendees had included Tessa Jowell, Secretary of State for DCMS, James Purnell, the Tourism Minister, Lord Coe and representatives from Visit Britain, Centre Parcs and the Hilton Group, amongst others.
The meeting had focussed in particular on the benefits which the London 2012 Olympics - the biggest visitor event in UK history - could bring to British tourism. They had also discussed the challenges to ensure that London 2012 beat the £2.5bn which the Sydney Olympics 2000 had delivered for the Australian economy.
Afghanistan
Asked to comment on today’s Guardian splash which claimed that the UK was consulting Australia, New Zealand, Canada and other countries in order to set up a counter-insurgency coalition to combat al-Qaida and Taliban fighters in the south of Afghanistan once US forces withdrew next year, the PMOS said that he was as mystified to see the story on the Guardian’s front page today as he had been to see a report on the same issue on ITN last night. He pointed out that this had first been announced in June 2004 at the Istanbul NATO Summit, at which we had said that the UK would take over command of ISAF from May 2006 to February 2007 and that we would deploy the Headquarters element of the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (ARRC).
Final details of the expansion to the south and east were still being planned. However, it was important to recognise that it had always been the intention to expand into the south. Therefore, the suggestion that, in some way, it was a result of a deterioration in the security situation in Afghanistan was clearly untrue. Questioned as to whether the UK was consulting with Australia, Canada and New Zealand, the PMOS said that we were continuing discussions with our allies, as you would expect. However, we had no intention of providing a running commentary on them.
Licensing Act
Asked if the Prime Minister was worried about the vote in the Commons this evening, brought about by the Opposition in order to delay the implementation of the Licensing Act, the PMOS said that it was a matter for Parliament. That said, it was important to be clear what the Act was actually about. He reminded journalists that previous estimates of the number of premises which would apply for 24-hour drinking had been between 1% and 2%. However, a survey from DCMS showed that only 0.5% of premises had actually applied - roughly 700 of the 190,000 licensed premises in the country. Of those, we believed that only 240 were pubs, bars or clubs - which was less than one per local authority.
The other 460 included supermarkets and retail outlets. Equally, it was important to recognise that the Act would give communities, police, and local authorities extra powers to tackle those premises which got out of hand and breached their licence conditions. Asked whether the vote, if successful, could scupper the timetable of the implementation of the Act, the PMOS said that he had no intention of getting drawn into hypothetical discussions about what might or might not happen should the vote go one way or the other. All he would say was that the Government hoped to win the vote. Asked if the Prime Minister would expect his backbenchers to support what, essentially, had been a manifesto commitment in 2001, the PMOS said yes, particularly since this was a Government Bill.
In answer to further questions, the PMOS said it was important for people to understand that just because premises had applied for a 24-hour licence, it did not mean that they would use it every day. It was most likely to be used for special occasions, such as live football matches taking place on the other side of the world.
Asked if the purpose of the Act was to crack down on binge drinking or to liberalise drinking laws, the PMOS said that most people who behaved well most of the time should have the freedom not to be restricted. However, those who did misbehave - whether individuals or licensed premises - should know that they would have to face the consequences. The Act gave new powers to the police, local authorities and neighbourhoods to take action where and when problems arose. In answer to further questions, the PMOS pointed out that drunken behaviour had not suddenly been discovered in November 2005. It was a problem of which we had been aware for some time and was why we had been developing ways to deal with it, hence the new licensing laws.
Asked if the Prime Minister was disappointed to learn that his own local, the Red Lion in Whitehall, had had its application for a 24-hour licence turned down, the PMOS said that the decision was a matter for the police and licensing authority and therefore, as the PMOS, the regulars should not take it out on him the next time he went there for a drink. Asked if Downing Street had objected to the application, the PMOS said that Downing Street had not been involved in the decision “in any way, m’lud”.
Pre-Budget Report
Asked when the date for the Pre-Budget Report would be announced, the PMOS said that it was up to the Treasury to make the announcement, not him.
2018 World Cup Bid
Asked if the Prime Minister was excited at the possibility of England bidding to host the World Cup in 2018, the PMOS confirmed that we had had preliminary discussions with the FA. However, he had nothing further to say at this stage.
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