Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: EU-Latin America Summit in Vienna, Pensions, Human Rights Act and President Chavez-Latin America
EU-Latin America Summit in Vienna
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) told journalists that when the Prime Minister arrived in Vienna, he had met the Taoiseach informally. He then went to a session with Prime Minister Bachelet of Chile, and he then met President Lula of Brazil. The Prime Minister would also meet President Fox of Mexico, as well as Chancellor Merkel. The Prime Minister had attended the first working session on climate change and energy this morning, and he would have informal discussions with several other leaders over a lunch. This afternoon, the Prime Minister would attend a working session on trade, and there would also be a session with President Barosso of the European Commission as well. The PMOS said that as people could see, he had also done a short press conference, with the main focus being on trade, and pensions.
Pensions
Asked what the Prime Minister had said about pensions, the PMOS replied that what reflected the Prime Minister’s view was that we needed to take a step back and recognise that deciding the future of pensions was one of the biggest decisions and issues that the Government could face. With the help of Lord Turner, however, we did now have a basis for moving forward within Government. The basis was that the Prime Minister believed this would form the core of the consensus in the country as a whole about the way to move forward on pensions. The final details were being worked out, but we would see again the link with earnings within the broad timescale as outlined by Lord Turner. The PMOS said that he was not going to get into further details, as the final details were still being arranged, but there was a broad agreement within Government, and it was a significant achievement by any standard.
Asked if they could be affordable, and had they been watered down, the PMOS replied: no. Whenever Lord Tuner’s report came out, the Prime Minister made clear almost immediately that we welcomed the broad outlines of what Lord Turner had said, and we would look at the details. One of the issues that had been examined was that it was affordable, and we were not going to do anything that was not affordable. Whenever people saw the final package, they would see that it did address the issues of concern that Lord Turner’s report was primarily designed to do, and it was affordable for the country as a whole.
Asked if we could rule out any tax rises to pay for it in the future, the PMOS said that the journalist was "long enough in the tooth" to know that if the PMOS was to comment on tax questions, he would not be around much longer! The PMOS said that he did not "do" tax, as it was for other people, mainly the Chancellor.
Human Rights Act
Asked if the Human Rights Act had been abused by some criminals and lawyers, the PMOS replied that as he had said yesterday afternoon, first and foremost, we had to address the question that had been raised by legal experts, that we should not mix up the Human Rights Act and the European Convention, and we had to be careful about that. Secondly, we should recognise that other countries in Europe were signatories to both, and they did not have the problems that we had. These were matters that in particular cases were being tested before the courts, and the Prime Minister had made clear his determination to do everything to ensure that public safety and public concern on these matters was addressed, and he would continue to do so.
Put that David Cameron had said that the Tories were looking to scrap the Human Rights Act, and was the Government still fully committed to it, the PMOS said people had to look at the benefits of the Human Rights Act and the benefits of the Convention in protecting British citizens. Therefore, people had to look at the upside. In terms of the operation of the Human Rights Act, and in terms of the interpretation, those were matters of public concern which the Government had said that we would ensure were addressed, and we would do so. What was important was that we saw the outcome that process was testing before we took any further steps.
President Chavez-Latin America
Put that last time President Chavez visited in 2001 he saw The Queen and the Prime Minister, but this time, he was not doing so, and was the complete breakdown of communication with a major oil producer a good thing, the PMOS replied that in terms of the visit, it was a private visit, and he was not going to comment on private visits. With regards to Latin America as a whole, yes, countries like Venezuela were important countries, but we should not lose sight of the overall picture in Latin America, and the overall direction there. If people looked at the role President Lula, or President Fox, for example, was playing, it was a vitally important role. The dialogue took place at many different levels throughout Latin America, and we should not lose sight of that picture.
Asked if the Prime Minister had met, or would meet President Chavez at the summit, the PMOS said we should wait and see what happened at lunch. Given the nature of the numbers of leaders involved, such events had a dynamic of their own. The visit to London was a private visit, therefore the PMOS could not comment. In terms of the overall picture, the Prime Minister’s primary focus today was on trade, and that was why he was seeing the people he was seeing.
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the need to protect British companies such as BP, the PMOS replied that obviously, one of the roles that the Government had was to represent the interests of British companies such as BP and British Gas in these issues. Primarily, however, this was first and foremost a matter for the countries concerned, and the PMOS said that he did not want to talk about internal decisions for particular countries. It was in countries’ own long term interests to ensure that foreign investment was protected and was seen to be worthwhile, not just by the countries, but also by the companies concerned. It was simply a statement of the obvious that companies would not invest in countries if they believed that that investment was put at risk.
Asked if there was concern that Venezuela would put up oil prices, the PMOS replied that again, he did not want to interfere in countries’ domestic affairs. It was a statement of the obvious that it was in the interests both of the producer countries, and also of the consumer countries that we had stability in energy markets. Therefore, what people should bear in mind was that it benefited both sides to have as much stability as possible.
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