Press briefing from the Prime Ministers Official Spokesman on: Security Briefing, Angela Merkel Meeting, Pensions, EU-Canada Summit, Gas supplies and EUROMED Summit
Security Briefing
Asked if the briefing on security to Cabinet today had been a long planned meeting, or was it something that had recently come up, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that it was not an overnight operation, but rather, a chance to update the Cabinet in the same way that representatives updated the Cabinet Committee about ten days ago. As then, it was a sobering, realistic assessment of the threat we faced. It also gave Cabinet a chance to express its full support for the police and the intelligence agencies in the very good work they were doing.
Asked if there had been any change in the advice given about the assessment position, the PMOS replied there was not. What was important was that the threat remained very real, and therefore the Cabinet as a whole needed to understand the nature of the threat, the operations that were being undertaken to counter the threat, and what needed to be done in the future.
Angela Merkel Meeting
Asked what might be on the agenda for this afternoon’s meeting, and also how was her working relationship with the Prime Minister rated, and was she an important ally for the EU Budget, the PMOS said that it was polite and wise to let Chancellor Merkel to speak for herself. What was important was that Britain and Germany recognised that we were at an important point on Europe, especially with regards to deciding a future direction of Europe and in meeting the opportunity and the challenge of globalisation.
Pensions
Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the Chancellor was trying to "destroy" the Turner Report before it had been published, the PMOS replied that his understanding was that the Treasury was disputing that interpretation this morning. As John Hutton would lay out, the important thing was that we waited for Adair Turner’s proposals before commenting, and also that we underlined the principles on which our response would be made. Those principles were that our proposals would be fair, affordable, encouraged people to save more.
Asked if the notion of "soft compulsion" fair and affordable, and were the linked-earning affordable, the PMOS said it would be better to wait until the report was published before commenting further.
Put to the PMOS that in the past, the Prime Minister had proposed a restoration of the link, the PMOS said again it was better to wait for the report. In terms of issues such as pensions credit, the commitments were there for the public, and they would be lived up to.
Asked if the Prime Minister believed that any discussion of the basic state pension would be outside of the remit of Adair Turner, the PMOS replied that on all of this, it was better to have an adult discussion on the basis of what we knew was in the report, rather than speculation about what might be in it. Lord Turner had been asked to do a serious analysis of the whole issue and we were sure that was what he would have done.
Asked that no matter what was in the report, how important was it that all Government departments involved in it supported the Prime Minister, the PMOS said that what was important was that we assessed the findings as they were in the report and that we responded in a way which translated John Hutton’s key principles into our proposals. That we would do.
Asked if the Prime Minister was expecting the options to lean in one direction, the PMOS replied that the Prime Minister was expecting it to be a serious analysis of both the issues and the responses that we should make to that. We would receive the report, but certainly in terms of the way Adair Turner had gone about his work, we believed it to be very serious.
Asked if the Prime Minister had read the report yet, the PMOS said the proper proprieties would be observed.
Put that it must be a matter of fact that someone in Government had a copy of the report, the PMOS said again the proper proprieties would be observed, and he was not going to get into a running commentary.
Asked if there was no prospect that this would "be kicked into the long grass", and this was a report that would be acted on sooner rather than later, the PMOS said "no" to the first part of the question, and the rest followed from that reply.
EU-Canada Summit
Asked what might come up at the EU-Canada summit later today, the PMOS told the journalist that the common issues that occur when several world leaders meet were: terrorism, trade with WTO, development, our G8 agenda and climate change. That would form the basis for the discussion.
Gas supplies
Asked if there were any emergency plans for gas supplies, the PMOS said that on the one hand, we were being accused of holding secret meetings because there was about to be a fuel crisis, and on the other hand, we were accused of not doing enough. The PMOS said that somewhere in between lay the truth in the sense that there had been a lot of thought and effort put into this, and as a result of that, we were in a better position than ever before to anticipate and address any issues that arose.
Asked if that meant we were "half guilty", the PMOS replied that people knew what he was saying, and Channel Four could work it out!
EUROMED Summit
Asked for further information regarding the EUROMED Summit in Barcelona, the PMOS told journalists that in terms of the Barcelona Summit, what was important was to first of all recognise the importance of the Summit. This was the first gathering of this collection of countries at Head of Government level, and it brought together thirty five EUROMED countries, including twenty five EU countries. It also included other countries around the Mediterranean such as Turkey, Israel, Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia, Egypt, the Palestinian Authority, Jordan, Syrian, Lebanon, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Libya and Mauritania.
This was the only forum, apart from the UN, which brought together this mix of countries including Israel and the Palestinian Authority, and their neighbours. It was again partly about trade between these countries, with the aim being to create a Euro/Mediterranean free trade area by 2010. It was also about the increase in co-operation on issues such as terrorism, immigration and cross-cultural tolerance which were very important issues for this collection of countries. It would also provide the Prime Minister with the chance to meet the Palestinian leader, Abu Mazen which would be important.
The PMOS said that in terms of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), it represented nearly half of humanity, a quarter of global trade, and a third of world governance, so it was a mighty meeting. With regards to the issues, terrorism was a very real issue, especially when the number of Commonwealth countries that were victims of terrorism, included Kenya, Tanzania, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, India, and the UK. In terms of trade, all the main WTO groupings were represented at CHOGM, and therefore, it did give us a chance to send a very strong signal ahead of Hong Kong. In terms of development, what we agreed on African development at Gleneagles was part of the agenda. Those were the key issues.
The PMOS said that tomorrow morning, there would be a opening ceremony, and an executive session, and there would also be two bi-laterals. In the afternoon, all the leaders would go into a retreat, where they would hold informal, private discussions.
Asked if the Prime Minister was seeking an agreement on terrorism, and was he looking for support from other countries, the PMOS replied that the important thing in terrorism was to create the mechanism for co-ordination. Also needed was not only an understanding of the security measures, but also the Prime Minister had highlighted many times how we tackled the ideology of terrorism, and how a consensus of toleration and moderation could be built. Again, the Commonwealth was a very important part of doing that, because if people had grievances, the way to express them was through politics, and not terrorism.
Asked for further details about trade, the PMOS said we wanted an ambitious outcome from the Doha round, which did not finish in Hong Kong, but Hong Kong was an important stepping-stone to doing that. Therefore, what was important was that the groupings represented in the Commonwealth used their influence within their individual groups to press for an ambitious outcome.
Put to the PMOS that the problem is not with the UK, but rather with other countries in the EU, the PMOS said that in terms of reaching deals, a growing consensus was important. In terms of people signalling political will, that also was important, so people should not downplay the importance of CHOGM.
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