Downing Street Says » DWP Announcement

The Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) began by telling the assembled press that the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions would be James Purnell. He added that he had no further announcements to make.

Asked if all the new appointments would be announced by the end of the day, the PMS said that that would be his anticipation for Cabinet posts. Asked to confirm that James Purnell would not be taking up the post of Secretary of State for Wales, the PMS confirmed that he would not be.

Asked if there would be a new department for Wales, Scotland and Ireland, the PMS said he had no further announcements relating to the reshuffle. Asked if Peter Hain had spoken to the Prime Minister by telephone rather than face-to-face, the PMS said that once the Electoral Commission had informed Peter Hain that they had made their decision, he telephoned the Prime Minister and offered his resignation. This happened at around 11:30am.

Asked if there was any delay in Peter Hain giving his resignation, the PMS replied that as Peter Hain had said in his letter, he was clear in his own mind that it was the right thing for him to do to resign. Asked if the Prime Minister was clear in his mind of whether to accept the resignation, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had accepted Peter Hain’s resignation.

Asked if Peter Hain had a future in the Cabinet if his name was to be cleared, the PMS said that it was a hypothetical question, but pointed the journalist to the reference in the Prime Minister’s letter, where he said that he knew Peter Hain would continue to make a contribution to public life in the future. The PMS did not want to spark the next Cabinet reshuffle speculation while this one was still ongoing.

Asked if the Prime Minister and Peter Hain had discussed before what the strategy would be in the eventuality of a police investigation, the PMS replied that he did not want to get into whatever private discussions may or may not have taken place. Asked how long the telephone call lasted between the Prime Minister and Peter Hain, the PMS said that he did not have an exact time on that, but he did not think it was a very protracted conversation.

Asked to characterise the Prime Minister’s mood, the PMS replied that he thought the mood of the Prime Minister was that he was getting on with the business of Government. He had a lengthy video conference that afternoon with President Bush and had been dealing with other Government business as well. In response to the question of whether other Government Ministers would resign if further police investigations were announced, the PMS said that he would not get into hypotheticals. Peter Hain had decided that given his circumstances, it was the right thing for him to do to resign.

Asked whether the Prime Minister had been interviewed by the police in connection with the donations investigation, the PMS said that he had not been interviewed. Put that a problem over salaries had been created by the fact that the Work and Pensions Secretary was no longer the Secretary of State for Wales as well, the PMS explained that because Shaun Woodward did not take a salary, there was one spare Cabinet salary. Put that it would be convenient to make Shaun Woodward the Secretary of State for Wales as well, the PMS said that if that was a question about the reshuffle, it was not the one he was able to answer at the moment.

Asked if the Prime Minister was working at his desk when he received the call from Peter Hain, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was in his office in Downing Street.

Asked if the Prime Minister would be announcing a replacement for David Triesman as well, the PMS advised people to wait and see.

Put that the opposition had said that the Prime Minister had dithered on the issue and should have taken a decision sooner, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would not accept that. It would have been totally wrong for him to have pre-judged the outcome of the Electoral Commission inquiry, before they had had an opportunity to look at the matter. Now that they had made their decision, clearly the situation had moved on. Asked whether the Prime Minister had tried to disuade Peter Hain from resigning, the PMS reiterated that Peter Hain had offered his resignation and the Prime Minister had accepted it.

Asked whether the Prime Minister would be considering the options available to the Electoral Commission in future, the PMS said that it was not an issue for now.

Asked whether this was the first time the subject of resignation had come up at all from either side over the last few weeks, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had made clear his support for Peter Hain up to this point. He had been quite straightforward and open about that, but clearly, the decision by the Electoral Commission today had changed the situation. Asked whether it was the case that criticism from any of the Commission’s watchdogs looking into these affairs was now the deciding factor and Prime Ministerial patronage would not be weighed in behind anyone, the PMS said that it depended entirely on the circumstances.

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» Thursday, January 24, 2008

DWP Announcement

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