Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: World Cup, Hosepipe Ban, Rendition, Knife Crime, Counter-Terrorism and the NHS
World Cup
The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that whilst stories of a Football Association tie being rushed to Downing Street were untrue the Prime Minister had written a letter to England Manager Sven-Goran Eriksson. It said that: "This is just to wish you and all of your team the best of luck in Germany. It’s a great squad, well led and well managed and as you know, with everyone hoping for great things, that’s a tremendous responsibility, but also a fantastic opportunity. Spirits and confidence are deservedly high. We will all be cheering you on. Good luck to you all."
Asked if it was true that Downing Street would fly the flag of St George on days when England were playing, the PMOS said yes, we would fly the flag on match days to mark the special nature of the occasions. Asked if this might not be considered insensitive by Scottish members of the Government, the PMOS said that it was not insensitive to support one of the home countries when they were participating in the World Cup.
As the Prime Minister had said on many occasions, he supported all the home countries whenever they played in international matches. Asked if there might be special consideration for Jack McConnell, the PMOS said that it was entirely a matter for individual ministers. As for the Scottish Executive, it would be constitutionally improper for him to offer any advice whatsoever.
Olympic Announcement
THE PMOS told journalists that the Olympic Delivery Authority and the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games were publishing the Masterplan for the Olympic Park site at 11am today. The PM believed this was further evidence of the excellent progress made since Singapore and a clear demonstration of how legacy was being placed at the heart of the Olympic project.
Hosepipe Ban
Asked to comment on reports that Downing Street was flouting the hosepipe ban, the PMOS said that without wishing to lose some of the non-gardening members of the lobby, this was a story of a ‘bowser with a douser’. In response to perplexed expressions from journalists the PMOS went on to say that we were fully complying with the hosepipe ban, even though as part of the royal parks Downing Street was technically exempt from the ban. We had invested in a small portable container called a bowser, which was essentially a very large watering can. It held approximately 6 watering cans worth of water. The gardener used the bowser with a trigger action douser which had more accurate spraying and minimised water wastage. Although it might look like a hosepipe, it wasn’t.
He apologised for taking up valuable briefing time on this, however it appeared that the Evening Standard considered the matter to be of grave importance. Asked if this was not just a good way of getting round the hosepipe ban, the PMOS said that this was not a way round the hosepipe ban, it was a way of complying with it. The objection to hosepipes was that they wasted lots water needlessly. This system of delivery was very targeted to where it was needed. Not only was this legitimate, it was actually a very good way of using water effectively.
Put to him that it was still filled up from the tap, the PMOS said that all watering cans were filled up from the tap. He pointed out that Downing Street was a listed building and thus it was not possible to interfere with the lead pipes, therefore we couldn’t have a water butt at present although we were investigating various possibilities.The PMOS added that the trigger mechanism on the bowser was powered by a 12 volt re-chargeable battery rather than petrol because it was greener.
Rendition
Asked for a reaction to the European Council Report on rendition, the PMOS said there was no new evidence in the report and therefore he had nothing to add to his previous comments on the matter. Asked if the Government was acknowledging that some CIA flights had landed and taken off in Britain, the PMOS said that we had acknowledged that there were four requests on 1998, two of which were granted. Those were the only requests we had had. Nothing had changed. Asked if he was rejecting the claim that we were involved in the transportation of detainees through the UK, the PMOS said that we had set out the facts on this. He would not give publicity to a report which said nothing new.
Knife Crime
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the Leader of the Opposition that Radio 1 should stop playing certain types of Hip-hop music on Saturday nights because it was encouraging the ‘knife culture’, the PMOS said that this issue needed to be examined fully and a considered response given. He was not going to give a knee-jerk response on this.
Counter-Terrorism
Asked where the Prime Minister stood on the argument between the Respect Party, the Police, and members of the Muslim Council concerning the methods employed by the Police during counter-terrorist operations, the PMOS said that as the Prime Minister said in his web-interview yesterday, he believed that everyone should support the Police in facing what was a very real threat. That was right and proper. It was only 11 months ago, to the day in fact, that the nature of that very real threat was all too obvious. The Prime Minister believed that was the view of everyone in our society, including the Muslim community. It was certainly the view expressed to him by members of the Muslim community. Put to him that no one had elected these self-appointed members of the Muslim community, the PMOS said that the Muslim community as a whole expressed its view not just through one outlet but through a variety of ways and was fully supportive of the police.
Asked if he believed it was highly irresponsible to call for non-cooperation with the Police, the PMOS said that anyone who made a call like that had to explain how that helped to fight the kind of terrorism that we saw in London on 7th July last year, and how it would help protect the community at large.
NHS
Asked to respond to claims by Dr. Miller that the Private Finance Initiative was wasting the NHS’s money and that there was too much money spent on consultancy, the PMOS said that we should be clear what Dr. Miller had said. He had said that it was important to recognise improvements, that the Government deserved credit for the extra money being put into the NHS, and that the deficit issue was not a crisis. The facts were that there had been 81 new hospitals opened since 1997, as a result of the PFI initiatives. Two Hundred & Fifty Thousand people had been treated in independent treatment centres. Furthermore if you looked in detail at Sir Ian Carruthers’ report today he talked about an NHS which was improving greatly. That did not mean that it was perfect, it meant that the investment had resulted in real change. You could see that, whether you looked at the figures for heart operations, cancer treatment or A&E waiting times. That was what was important.
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