Downing Street Says » Lord Mayor’s Banquet Speech

Asked for information regarding the Prime Minister’s speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet and if there would be anything on Iran, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that it would be a wide-ranging foreign affairs speech and it would be surprising if there was not some mention of Iran; the Prime Minister had been talking yesterday about Iran during his interview on the Adam Boulton show.

Asked if the Prime Minister believed that the US was Britain’s most important ally, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made clear on many occasions that he believed the United States was Britain’s most important bi-lateral relationship. That had been the position under Prime Minister Tony Blair and that was the position under Prime Minister Gordon Brown; the position had not changed.

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Admiral Fallon’s comments in the Financial Times that "bellicose comments" were "not particularly helpful", the PMS said that the Prime Minister’s view was that we needed to keep up the diplomatic pressure on Iran. As he had said yesterday, there were some signs that sanctions were having an affect and we were expecting a report from the International Atomic Energy Agency shortly; if that showed that Iran was continuing to defy the international community, then we would have to consider the case for further sanctions at the UN.

Asked if the Prime Minister would be wearing white tie, the PMS said he would be wearing white tie.

Asked why the Prime Minister was wearing white tie tonight when he had not done so in the past, the PMS said that that was the decision he had taken.

Put that the speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet could be an opportunity to clarify the recent misunderstandings between the US and the UK and asked to give an example of what those misunderstandings could have been, the PMS said that he did not think that there had been any misunderstandings on our part; the Prime Minister had always been very clear about the importance he attached to the relationship with the US.

Asked if the Prime Minister thought that the UK had been joined at the hip with the US, the PMS said the Government had made its position clear on numerous occasions in July when the issue came up; as had been said before, the Prime Minister believed that the relationship with the US was Britain’s single most important bi-lateral relationship.

Asked if it was the Prime Minister’s position that Iran should unequivocally have no nuclear programme whatsoever, the PMS said that the Prime Minister’s position was that Iran must comply with previous UN resolutions.

Asked if the Prime Minister would reflect, at the Lord Mayor’s speech tonight, on the fact that General Musharraf implied that Britain was content with his continuing rule, the PMS said that it was the Government’s view that it was vital that the constitution was restored and that other restrictions were lifted immediately. Without this the British Government would seriously doubt whether any elections could be held in free and fair conditions. Without the lifting of the restrictions that had been imposed, for example on the media and on individuals’ movements, the Government seriously doubted whether any elections could be held in free and fair conditions.

Asked if there was a Commonwealth Ministers meeting today, the PMS said that there was a meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (attended by Mark Malloch-Brown). This was a preparatory, not decision-making meeting, ahead of the main meeting, which was taking place at a later stage in Kampala.

Asked if Pakistan would feature in the speech at the Lord Mayor’s Banquet, the PMS said that it would be surprising if there were not some mention of Pakistan in the speech.

Asked if a possible suspension from the Commonwealth would be on the agenda, the PMS repeated that it was a preparatory meeting, not a decision-making one. The meeting was taking place today so it was best to wait until the meeting had happened and then speak to the Foreign Office.

Asked about the Prime Minister’s reported comments re regretting having appointed Mark Malloch-Brown as foreign minister, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had full confidence in Lord Malloch-Brown.

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» Monday, November 12, 2007

Lord Mayor’s Banquet Speech

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