LOBBY BRIEFING: 4PM TUESDAY 20 NOVEMBER 2001

AFGHANISTAN

EU Arrest Warrants

Asked to comment on today's Telegraph story on Europe-wide arrest warrants, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the final list of offences which would be covered by the legislation was still being discussed. The list would only include offences where there was a sufficiently similar corresponding offence in the UK and throughout Europe. There would be no question of a UK citizen being prosecuted abroad for something trivial which would go unpunished here. For example, in a country where racism was an offence, the corresponding offence in the UK could be incitement to racial hatred, but no decisions had finally been taken.

British Forces/Centcom

Asked if there were doubts about the deployment of British or German forces given that the Prime Minister had not even mentioned the subject in his speech today, the PMOS said no. The forces had been made available if required and were under Centcom command. It was for the US to draw down any deployments and assets which had been provided by many different countries in consultation with its allies.

Asked if the Prime Minister shared Clare Short's concern that the US command structure on the ground did not appear to be taking the concerns being expressed by the aid agencies particularly seriously, the PMOS said we had always acknowledged that this was a complex situation. This size of the refugee problem, which had existed even before September 11, had obviously added to the difficulties. In our view the military and humanitarian co-ordination had been working well. Of course there were always ways it could be improved. However, the situation in Afghanistan had made things difficult for the World Food Programme, the Coalition and aid agencies in terms of getting aid into the country under a Taliban regime which had obstructed and seized deliveries, had held people up at gunpoint, had blocked paths and had mined routes. We might not have got everything right but what we had achieved had been very significant. That was not to say that we couldn't do more. Of course we would.

Asked about the possible deployment of additional British troops, the PMOS said he had nothing to add to what he had said this morning. Asked when a decision might be made, the PMOS said that the notice to move had been shortened to forty-eight hours. They could obviously be kept at that point for a period of time. As the situation developed, decisions would be taken, as you would expect. There was no rule book which stated that our forces were only allowed to remain at a high level of preparedness for a certain length of time. We would have to wait and see how things unfolded.

Asked to comment on reports that the UN-convened meeting for ethnic and tribal groups inside Afghanistan might take place in Berlin next Monday and whether British troops might be deployed before then, the PMOS said he was unable to take things further than he had this morning. In consultation with our allies, and in particular with the US, we would take the decisions that we believed were the right ones to take. At the moment there was a difficult and fast-moving situation on the ground in Afghanistan. We had to be alive to the problems, the difficulties and the opportunities. As he had said this morning, people should be reassured by the fact that we were taking some time over this issue. There was always a trade off between speed and getting it right. He pointed out that the shortened notice to move, of itself, had never been a deployment.

UN-Convened Meeting

Asked about UK representation at the UN-convened meeting for ethnic and tribal groups, the PMOS said that this was a UN-led initiative and we would be happy to have people like Stephen Evans or Robert Cooper there if it was thought to be helpful. However, the most important thing was the fact that the talks were taking place and that we now appeared to be mapping out a way forward. Clearly the most important attendees were the different ethnic groups themselves. Asked if he was implying that the Coalition would not be represented as such, the PMOS said that it would be represented by having Mr Brahimi leading the talks. There was a specific UN Security Council mandate which he was taking forward and this was one of the Coalition's objectives.

PM'S SPEECH/EURO

Asked why the Prime Minister had talked about the Euro in his speech in Germany today when we had indicated that Europe would the subject of Friday's speech, the PMOS said that all the Prime Minister had said in relation to the Euro was that the position had not changed. He had simply restated Government policy. The primary focus of his speech today had been the power of the international community and centre-left values. In that context, he had also talked about the way a Europe which stood united in the way it had following September 11 was able to achieve more in these sorts of circumstances. Pressed further, the PMOS repeated that the Prime Minister had restated Government policy on the single currency. He added that we were used to the fact that if we said 'Euro' rather 'single currency' that meant we were warming up, whereas if we said 'might' rather than 'may' it meant we were cooling down. The policy was the policy and had not changed. Perhaps the Prime Minister had decided it was best to state the policy, as if he hadn't all interpretation of his speech would have been put through the prism of the Euro and why he hadn't mentioned it and the deep and meaningful significance of that.

Questioned about the Prime Minister's remarks about economic integration, the PMOS said it was statement of fact that the single market existed and that there was economic integration with the single currency. That was a reality. Our position was well known. However, it was in our interests for the Euro to be a success. We had always acknowledged that it was an economic union and that there were potential benefits to our membership should the economic conditions be met.

Asked to comment on the latest OECD growth figures which showed that the British economy looked to be in a better position to ride out the global economic turndown than the Eurozone economies, the PMOS said that the Pre-Budget Report next week would contain our own growth forecasts. We had always said that the tough decisions we had taken in relation to the economy, both on monetary policy and on fiscal policy, meant that we were better placed to weather some of the difficulties. However, this was a global economy and no country could be immune to what was happening elsewhere. In terms of the single currency, journalists would be pleased to know that the policy was the same as he had stated four minutes ago.

GIBRALTAR

Asked if it was the case than any constitutional shift in Gibraltar's status would be put to a referendum, the PMOS said that the position remained as he had set out this morning. Under the 1969 Accords, there could be no change in sovereignty without the consent of the people. Should that happen - and no one was saying that it would - then yes, there would be a referendum. He added that the focus of the talks today had been on practical improvements that would benefit the people of Gibraltar, not the issue of sovereignty.

Back to Behind the News