Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Iraq, Nuclear Energy, Royal Mail and Other business
Iraq
Asked if the Prime Minister might be going to Washington or Iraq soon, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he wasn’t in a position where he could give any meaningful guidance, because we did not yet know when the new national unity government might be formed in Iraq. Asked if there was some sort of deadline on Monday 22 May, the PMOS said that Monday was when the Iraqi Prime Minister elect said that he hoped to have a government by.
Nuclear Energy
Asked if there had been a discussion in Cabinet about nuclear energy, the PMOS said no. Asked when Cabinet had last been briefed about the cost of nuclear power stations, the PMOS said that the costs would obviously be a part of the energy review and it would look at the costs on all sides. As he had said throughout the week, there wasn’t any cost free option on the table.
Asked to clarify whether would be a White Paper on nuclear energy, the PMOS said that the precise nature of the paper had yet to be finalised. There were not going to open ended options, but rather recommendations to be consulted on. We should wait and see how formally that was described. Asked if he thought there would be a parliamentary vote, the PMOS said that that would be determined by the outcome of the energy review. Put to him that it seemed sensible that such an important and controversial issue should be put to MPs, the PMOS said that in terms of the options, the time to judge how to handle them was when we knew what they were. The Prime Minister was absolutely firm on the fact that we did have a real issue to address, there was an energy gap and there was an issue about not meeting the Carbon Dioxide emissions target therefore we had to address it. As we said earlier there was no cost free solution, renewable options cost money as well.
Royal Mail
Asked for an explanation for the Government giving £1.75bn to Royal Mail on the day Royal Mail had announced profits of £355m, the PMOS said that the money was allowing Royal to transfer reserves which already existed, so this was not new Government money as such. Furthermore it was an investment on which the Government would receive money back in the future. So it was a sensible way to allow Royal Mail to invest in the future, something which was in the public interest. Asked if the Government would make a profit out of this, the PMOS said that it would, as Royal Mail had said this morning.
Other Business
Asked if there would be further figures on the number of foreign prisoners deported, the PMOS said that we had committed to giving regular updates to Parliament, but it was better that the Home Office decided on the most sensible times to do that. It was in the interests of Parliament and the public that we gave updates at significant points rather trying to keep to a pro forma routine.
Asked for a reaction to Charles Clarke’s criticism of the recent reshuffle, the PMOS said that he didn’t think it was wise to get into the business of commenting on comments. We had explained the reasons behind the reshuffle at the time and had nothing to add to that.
Asked about rumours from Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) that 25,000 police jobs could be lost, the PMOS said that ACPO had already said that story was wrong.
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