Downing Street Says » First Minister/Grangemouth

» Tuesday, April 29, 2008

First Minister/Grangemouth

Asked if the Prime Minister had met with the First Minister yesterday, the PMS said that he had; they met last night in the House of Commons for about 20 minutes. It had been a private meeting between just the two of them and their discussion had been on Grangemouth.

Asked for details of the discussion and if anything had come out of it, the PMS said that the meeting had been private and that they had discussed the situation at Grangemouth. As we had said yesterday, John Hutton had been in regular contact with the First Minister in recent days and was in Scotland today, so there had been very good cooperation between the UK Government and the Scottish Executive; the meeting with the First Minister yesterday was a further example of that.

Asked if there would be any further talks between the Prime Minister and the First Minister, the PMS said that he was sure that there would be lots of opportunities for the UK Government to continue to work closely and constructively with the Scottish Executive in the weeks, months and years ahead.

Asked to confirm that Grangemouth had been the only topic of conversation between the Prime Minister and the First Minister at their meeting, the PMS said that that was his understanding and that there had only been the two of them in the room throughout the meeting.

Asked if the Prime Minister had had personal talks with the union leadership or management involved with the Grangemouth dispute, the PMS said that he did not want to get into exactly who the Prime Minister had been speaking to but that John Hutton had been playing a very hands-on role, as reflected in the fact that he was going to Scotland today for further discussions.

Put that the First Minister had said yesterday that if this dispute were to continue then it would be extremely damaging to the economy, the PMS said that we would certainly share the view that it was very important that the sides got back to the negotiating table and find a resolution to this.

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