Downing Street Says

The Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that Cabinet discussed the environment with a presentation by David Miliband which was an overview of environmental policy. Asked if it was true that the Prime Minister had overruled Alistair Darling and had made an EU deal on the environment, the PMOS said what was true was that in terms of the EU and the G8 we believe that this is a critical year on energy and the environment. That has been echoed by Chancellor Merkel who has made energy the subject of the EU Spring Summit. We believe that we have to be ambitious and therefore we have to support the proposals for providing a EU wide target for renewables. We believe that it needs to be set out in a realistic way which would take into account the individual circumstances of each country. But we believe it is right to be ambitious in Europe because that then gives us the ability to ask other countries, including the United States, but also countries such as China and India, to also be ambitious in terms of their approach as well. There is a connection between the climate change bill and the EU energy review as well. The discussions come together.

Asked if this mornings presentation focussed on the energy white paper, the PMOS said no, it was more centred on climate change but as he had said there was a synergy between what you do on climate change and what you do on energy as well. Asked if by synergy that meant nuclear power plants being put out for consultation again, the PMOS said no. He added, with respect, that the energy review was about more than one subject. Nucelar undoubtedly part of that and we are explicit about that, but so too is renewables and there will be a significant increase in the commitment to renewables and to the percentage that they have in the overall energy market. There isn’t a single answer to either the issue of climate change or energy. What you have to have is a multiple approach.

Asked by the Independent why the Prime Minister thought that it was essential for him personally to be at the G8 and EU summit in June, the PMOS said that there were a number of issues coming to fruition which he has been working on for some time. Climate change is one of them, trade is another which he has been very centrally involved in from Gleneagles on, and even before Gleneagles, and there was a thread which ran from Gleneagles to the agenda which the German presidency has announced both for an EU presidency and the G8 summit in June. Asked where the energy summit would be held next week, the PMOS confirmed it would be in Brussels.

Asked if the Home Office was discussed at Cabinet this morning, the PMOS said it had not.

2 Comments »

. . . And what exactly did Cabinet discuss about the alleged ‘Environment’ of Institutional Racism at the General Medical Council (GMC) ?

See http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/GMCRacism

Please kindly respond soon – as I certainly have a jolly good mind of writing a very good piece on the issue !
Comment by Mildred Buckley — 3 Mar 2007 on 8:36 am | Link
I think this is dumb and everyone should just shut up.
Comment by Nick Jessop — 5 Mar 2007 on 1:47 pm | Link

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» Thursday, March 1, 2007

Cabinet

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