Press briefing from the Prime Ministers Official Spokesman on: Northern Ireland, Mirror, Angela Merkel Meeting-Europe and Flu vaccinations
Northern Ireland
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned at the message the "On the Runs" legislation might send to future home grown generations of terrorists, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said absolutely not. This applied only to those who committed offences before 1998, and it was prefigured by the agreement that was part of the Good Friday Agreement to release prisoners early. We recognised fully that it did not in any way take away from the pain of those who lost relatives to the IRA, but as we said at the time of the Good Friday Agreement, we believed the prisoner release scheme was the necessary part of getting the agreement, and the legislation for "On the Runs" that was agreed two years ago in a joint declaration, was necessary as a logical extension. The PMOS said we had to accept that it did not in any way take away the pain of those who had lost relatives, but we believed it was necessary as part of bringing the conflict to an end.
Put that during the Good Friday Agreement discussions, there had been talk of using a South African model, and what happened to that idea, the PMOS said the reality was that there were very many different, contrasting and conflicting views on the value of a truth and recognition process within Northern Ireland. Whilst comparisons with South Africa could be useful in some ways, there were also very big differences. The biggest different in Northern Ireland was that there were very conflicting views of the past, and no real agreement about the past within Northern Ireland. That was why it was very difficult to get agreement about how the past could be dealt with. Therefore, what we had done was to take new measures on helping victims, and why the "Cold Cases" review was being carried out by the police. However, the unfortunate but not surprising thing was that there was not an agreement on how the past should be dealt with.
Asked if there had been a political instruction that the hunt for the "On the Runs" should be less than energetic, the PMOS made it clear that at no stage had there been any political decision taken not to investigate cases, and the setting up of the PSNI Cold Cases Review was an indication of that. Equally, in the Omagh case, anyone convicted of the Omagh case would not be a beneficiary of this scheme because that atrocity had occurred after 1998.
Asked how many OTRs would take up the facility, the PMOS replied it was very difficult to estimate because by their very nature, people who were on the run were not part of an easily identifiable group, and therefore, the PMOS said he would not like to get into predicting, but it would be as people came forward to be certified as on the run.
Put to the PMOS that the "On the Runs" were by definition violent and resourceful men and would this therefore lead to a "new wave" of brutal source of gangsters in Northern Ireland, the PMOS replied that the reality was that on all sides in Northern Ireland, there were people who had had a violent past. Some of those were beneficiaries of the agreement on early release for prisoners in 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement. The other reality that should not be lost sight of, however, was that in July, we had the statement from the IRA committing the IRA to stopping all activity. As the IMC Report said, although it was too soon yet to be definitive, there were encouraging signs that that had happened. In terms of the paramilitary organisations, we were seeing progress in bringing the conflict to an end, and ending not only paramilitary activity of the kind that we were used to, but also criminal activity associated with that. That was what was important, and we should wait and see what the IMC Report said in January.
The PMOS stressed that there were signs of real progress and we should not lose sight of that, and that was also why it was necessary to recognise that as the conflict came to an end, really hard decisions such as these had to be made. It was not a decision that people took lightly in any way, but it was one that had to be taken at the end of a conflict.
Mirror
Asked why it was thought necessary threaten the use if the Official Secrets Act in last night’s case, the PMOS said he was certainly not going to give a running commentary on legal proceedings.
Asked several times about the case, the PMOS said he was not going to get involved in any way in a case that was sub-judice.
Asked if the PMOS was able to say in any way whether The Mirror was correct in saying that they had been gagged under the Official Secrets Act, the PMOS replied again he could not get involved in legal proceedings.
Angela Merkel Meeting-Europe
Asked what the expectations of her meeting with the Prime Minister were, and also, was there an expectation that she would be more conducive to business than her predecessor, the PMOS replied that obviously, this would be a chance for the Prime Minister and Angela Merkel to go over the ground. That included the WTO round, budget negotiations, and the general state of affairs in Europe, and all of those matters would probably be part of that discussion. The Prime Minister looked forward to doing business. The PMOS also said it was generally not a good idea to give other political leaders marks out of ten, either when they were in office, or out of office! It was not conducive to diplomatic negotiations or relations.
Asked if there would be discussions of future financing at the EUROMED summit, the PMOS replied it was inevitable that informally, these issues could be discussed, but it was not part of the formal agenda. When several European leaders gathered together, it was quite likely that European future financing would be discussed.
Flu vaccinations
Asked to clarify the figures regarding flu vaccinations that the figures rather than being 11 million at risk were more like 14 ½ million, the PMOS gave some statistics to journalists. Last year, 13 million flu jabs were ordered, of which 11.7 million were used, i.e. there were 1.3 million that were not used. On top of that, this year, we had ordered an additional 1 million, (a 25 per cent increase in total), because of our anticipation that there would be more take-up. Therefore, in total, we had over 14 million available. As things stood, because of the increased awareness, partly because of the fact we had one of the most successful vaccine systems in Europe, along with the media stories on bird flu, meant that we had a 2 million increase in the take-up. Clearly, therefore, the Department of Health (DH) were now looking actively at the figures, and they were trying to put together a way where those practices which were having problems could get additional jabs from reserves that had not run out, but also from practices where there was a surplus. The PMOS said we were also trying to get from manufacturers an additional 200,000 jabs by December.
Asked how the figure could be 25 per cent, the PMOS explained that if 1.3 million that we did not use last year, plus the 1 million extra that we ordered this year, that came to 25 per cent.
Asked if it was right, however, that the Health Secretary added extra people to the "at risk" category that was not taken account of when she came to the preparation of this year’s batch, the PMOS said there was certainly a additional element to the order this year. On top of that, more organisations had decided to give vaccinations to essential workers. The effect of all of this was that this country was going to be better prepared for flu that ever before, but it had caused problems in certain areas and we had to deal with those.
Asked again about the 11 million figure, as it should really have been including an extra 3.5 million at risk added by the Health Secretary in the summer, the PMOS replied that there were 3 millions doses available for "occupational use" (carers and private practice), but what the PMOS said yesterday remained the case: overall, we ordered 14 million vaccines which was a substantial increase from what had been ordered and also used the year before.
Asked if a company decided to give its employees a vaccination, did that stock come from the national stock, the PMOS said that the way in which the national stock was ordered was that GPs, manufacturers and the DH all produced as estimate of how much was needed. This year, they decided to increase that by an additional million and retained the order for the 1.3 million that was not used last year. Clearly, demand appeared to outstrip that.
Asked for the NHS figures, and that there were more relevant as it was a Government department, the PMOS replied that last year, fewer people took up the vaccinations that we had planned for. This year, it seemed to be more.
Asked if was ok to use last year’s vaccinations this year, the PMOS replied no, it had to be reordered. The PMOS explained that 1.3 million were not used last year, but a new stock had to be ordered to replace it, including the 1.3 million. 14.6 million vaccinations in total had been ordered this year. The PMOS advised journalists to speak to the DH for further figures.
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