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» Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Northern Irish Grammar Schools

Asked if the Government had changed its plans on abolishing grammar schools in Northern Ireland, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that the position on grammar schools in Northern Ireland remained the same. The position was that there were proposals which were out for consultation. Put to him that he had heard that the Northern Ireland minister had said that it was the Irish Assembly's desire to abolish grammar schools and that if they wanted to they should get on with it, the PMOS said that he thought that might be an inaccurate summary of a recent piece on the 6 o'clock news.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Peerages

Asked if it was possible to withdraw names from the peers list if it had not yet been published, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) replied that as he had said from the beginning, he was not going to give a running commentary on how we prepared the peers list. That had been the tradition and convention, and the longer that this had gone on, the more he saw the wisdom that lay in that convention. Therefore, the PMOS said he would continue with his stated objective of not saying anything until a list was actually published.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Peers List

Asked if Dr. Chai Patel had withdrawn his name from the list of proposed peers, the PMOS said that his answer to all questions on this matter had remained the same since the beginning. That answer was that he would not give a running commentary on the process. The more he had been asked, the more he remained convinced of the merits of the convention which was that we did not discuss this matter at all until the list had been published. Put to him that he had discussed this the other day, the PMOS said that if by discussion the journalist was referring to the time honoured process of journalists asking him questions and him patiently re-iterating his desire not to comment or in other words dodging such questions, then that was setting the bar a little low.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Papal Visit

Asked for information about a possible papal visit, the PMOS said that it was a matter for the Catholic Church, and he was not going to give people any headline at all.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Education Bill

Asked if the Prime Minister had had any meetings with backbenchers today, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister would do everything he could to win the argument right up until the vote. Asked why it was so important to win the programme motion, the PMOS said that he would not get into the party side of the issue but in terms of getting the legislation through the House the Prime Minister had set out his position very clearly at PMQs and he didn't have anything to add to that.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Employment Figures

Put to the PMOS that the employment figures published today had shown one of the biggest monthly rises in 15 years, and what was the reaction to them, the PMOS replied that people should look back at last month's figures which had shown that unemployment had fallen by 2000. It was not therefore possible to say that this was part of a trend, because if people looked back over the last year, employment had risen by 178,000. Therefore, in terms of the overall economy, that was where we were. Clearly, people would be looking to see the particular reasons for last month, and what the figures would be next month.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Middle East

Asked if the Prime Minister had discussed the current situation in Palestine during his meeting with the Egyptian Prime Minister yesterday, the PMOS said that in terms of this particular situation the more important thing was that the Foreign Secretary had spoken yesterday to President Abbas, the Israeli foreign minister and Condoleezza Rice and that was important step in getting relations going forward. Obviously we valued our relationship with Egypt enormously and that was also important.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Education Bill

Asked if the Prime Minister minded having to rely on the Conservative vote in order to get the Education Bill through, the PMOS said that as people knew, he could not get involved in Party political matters. However, the important thing today was what the actual outcome was for schools, pupils and teachers. On that basis, the important thing was that the reforms were carried through.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Pensions

Asked if the Prime Minister was ruling out any compensation for pensioners, the PMOS said that there were a number of important points, as John Hutton had said this morning. First, we all fully understood the anger and frustration of those who had lost out. Secondly, however, it had to be right that taxpayers could not compensate private pensions funds; that was a matter for employers. Thirdly, there was a financial assistance scheme for those pensioners who were especially badly hit, and that at the moment was worth £400 million. Finally, John Hutton had said today that we were looking at that scheme as part of the new current spending review, and how it could be improved. To say that there was no assistance to pensioners was wrong, but equally, however, taxpayers could not compensate for failings of private pension schemes.

Briefing took place at 17:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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» Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Northern Irish Grammar Schools

Peerages

Peers List

Papal Visit

Education Bill

Employment Figures

Middle East

Education Bill

Pensions

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