Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Forest Gate, Anglo-French Summit, Baroness Thatcher, FTSE100 Breakfast
Forest Gate
Asked if the Prime Minister had been given any briefings about the Forest Gate situation, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that there was a police investigation on going, and as with any other police investigation, it was right and proper that we allowed it to continue. It was also right and proper that we underlined our full appreciation of the work done by the police, and our support for them.
The PMOS said that in this situation, others could say whatever they liked, but the authorities had to be much more circumspect, and the PMOS said that he hoped people understood the reasons why.
Put that there were very good reasons to clarify things, given the tensions in the community, the PMOS said that when there was a live investigation going on, it was perfectly understandable why people were being circumspect, and it was right and proper that they should be.
Asked if the stance was roughly the same as the Metropolitan Police Anti Terrorism Chief’s which was it was better to be safe than sorry, the PMOS said that he had in the past talked about the very real nature of the threat that we faced. That threat remained as real today as in the past. Therefore, that was why the police had our full support in carrying out their duties. The PMOS was not going to get drawn on the individual case in any way.
Asked if there was any response to the 7/7 Bombing report, the PMOS said that we would study the report in detail. The PMOS said that firstly, nothing should take away from the overall impression that people had of how the emergency services worked on that day, which was of an individual level. On the systemic level, the emergency services had put into place the plans that had been carefully drawn up for such an eventuality, and nothing should take away from the very real heroism that individuals showed on that day, and the very real strength that the planning showed in terms of response. The PMOS asked if there were lessons that inevitably people could learn as they went from plans to reality? Of course, and those already in many ways had already been learnt. If people looked at the communications, they were part of that. In general, however, nothing should take away from the magnificent response of people on the day.
Asked why a former Scotland Yard detective said the police had to change their approach from the days of the IRA, the PMOS replied that people who were no longer in the job were free to say whatever they liked. However, those who were in the job had to get on and do the job, and that was what they were doing.
Anglo-French Summit
Asked what was on the agenda for the Anglo-French summit later this week, the PMOS said there would be the full range of EU issues. The delegation would consist of the Prime Minister, Margaret Becket, John Reid, Des Browne, David Miliband, Geoff Hoon, Jim Knight and Malcolm Wicks, and issues such as climate change, defence co-operation, and issues such as the Middle East and Iraq would be discussed. The PMOS said also that EU energy strategy would come up too, as it was one of our issues we had in common with the French at Hampton Court.
Asked further about the environment issues, the PMOS said that we were continuing to implement the strategy that was outlined both at the G8 and then at Montreal. We were working towards implementing that agenda, and the key things that we had to achieve was progress, not only in how we increased spending on R&D, and we had heard in the White House’s press conference how much they were spending on R&D, but how we shared that technology within India and China. The PMOS also said we had to work towards a stablisation goal and get international agreements behind that. Montreal was important in that regard, but we wanted to carry that forward.
Baroness Thatcher State Funeral
Asked if Baroness Thatcher would receive a state funeral, the PMOS replied that he would not discuss anything of that nature.
FTSE 100 Breakfast
Asked for further details about the Prime Minister’s breakfast tomorrow, the PMOS said that we had been in discussions with some of the largest FTSE 100 companies during the last six months to discuss whether members of their boards would be interested in joining the boards of NHS foundation trusts. The Prime Minister would meet with some of the interested companies tomorrow to discuss how best this could be achieved, and the aim was to share experience and get commercial expertise into these areas. The PMOS said that it was an extension of what we had been doing in terms of bringing in independent, outside expertise into the health service.
Asked if the breakfast was a recognition that much more financial control was needed in the NHS, the PMOS said that it was a recognition that we needed to increase the pool of advice that was available to the NHS, just as we did throughout the public services.
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