Downing Street Says » 2004

» Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Education

Asked to confirm reports today that the Government was planning a manifesto pledge to extend school opening hours for the purposes of increased childcare opportunities, the PMOS said that manifestos were party political and therefore not a matter for him. However, the Education Secretary had answered questions about this issue in media interviews today. The Government recognised that there was a real value in building up the role of schools as a centre in the community delivering a range of services. That was why, as set out in the Children's Green Paper last year, we were moving forward with the idea of 'extended schools', i.e. schools which offered a full range of services, including childcare and health on site, with at least one such school in each community. Schools already had flexibility over their own opening hours. For example, many were introducing breakfast clubs and after-school clubs. However, the Government's proposals needed to reflect the needs and wishes of parents and headteachers on the ground and that was what they would do.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Iraq

Asked if the two attacks in the last twenty-four hours would have implications for the timetable to hand over power to the Iraqi people, the PMOS said no. We were continuing to work towards the same timetable. There was no point pretending that the last twenty-four hours had been anything other than very grim and difficult. Dissidents and terrorists were clearly deliberately targeting Iraqi citizens who wanted to help rebuild their country. However, neither the Iraqi people nor the Coalition were going to be bombed and intimidated by those who stood for nothing beyond their own prejudices and hatreds. We were determined to continue with the programme of reconstruction. The timetable for the hand over of power remained that which had been set out.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comment (1)

Immigration

Asked how large an 'influx' of workers from Accession countries would be welcome in the UK in the light of apparently conflicting views from Denis MacShane and David Blunkett, the PMOS said that he was unable to provide cast-iron figures at this point. They were not conflicting views. Dr MacShane had simply been referring to the explanatory notes to the Accessions Act which stated that the Government could take action if it became necessary to do so. The situation remained as we had set out. Work was ongoing within Government to look at the issue of 'benefit shopping', in particular, and ways we could address it. We hoped an announcement would be made shortly.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (11)

» Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Libya

Asked if any further details about a possible Prime Ministerial trip to Libya were available, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that it was important to take things one step at a time. As the Foreign Secretary had said in his press conference with the Libyan Foreign Minister this morning, considerable progress had been made since 19 December 2003 when Libya had made its historic announcement about WMD. Obviously we wanted to see that progress continue. It was within that context that the possibility of further visits could be considered. At the moment, however, we were not yet at that stage. Asked if a visit might take place this year, the PMOS said he did not think it would be helpful to engage in speculation about possible timeframes. We were in the process of establishing a new relationship with Libya. In order to build on that, it was important to maintain momentum and keep a check on the progress that was being made. Asked if the Prime Minister would visit Colonel Gaddafi in Tripoli or whether the meeting might take place in a third country, the PMOS cautioned journalists against jumping too far ahead of themselves. It was important to take things one step at a time. We would have to keep a check on progress.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

EU Defence

Asked if the Anglo-French initiative would be discussed at the trilateral between the Prime Minister, President Chirac and Chancellor Schroeder next week, the PMOS said he was not aware if that specific issue would be on the agenda. The FT story today had reflected the continuing work arising from the Communiqu\xE9 which had been released at the end of the Anglo-French Summit last November - no more, no less. The initiative was not about establishing a permanent unit. It was about identifying the personnel who might take part in initiatives to deal with short-term management crisis situations, such as the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and making sure that they would know how to work together should the need arise.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Government Targets

Asked how many targets across Government had been replaced or removed entirely over the last six months, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that he didn't have the figures to hand. On a more general point about targets, however, it was important for people to recognise that they existed to achieve outcomes and to set national standards. Whether we were talking about health or education, the process was here to stay because that was precisely what they had done. The refinement and adaptation of targets did not mean that we were abandoning the process of setting national standards and trying to achieve them. On the contrary. They had played - and continued to play - an important part in raising national standards overall. Asked if he would agree that targets were changing in part, the PMOS said that reported changes in health targets related to the fact that the Commission for Healthcare Audit and Inspection Improvement (CHAI) would be taking over responsibility for setting standards. As CHAI had made clear today, reports that the hospital star-ratings system was being abandoned were wrong. They were not. CHAI would want to examine how the ratings were applied to see whether they were still relevant and if they needed to change. The actual process of ratings and setting targets, however, remained.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

EU Defence

Asked for a reaction to today's FT splash suggesting that an Anglo-French defence force could be set up, the PMOS said that this idea was nothing new. It had been announced at the Anglo-French Summit last November. The Summit Communiqu\xE9 had stated, "Building on the success of Operation Artemis in the Democratic Republic of Congo, we propose a new initiative for the EU to focus on the development of its rapid reaction capabilities to enhance its ability to respond to UN requests in short-term crisis management situations." In answer to further questions, the PMOS said that it was important to be clear what the proposal was about. It was about identifying the personnel who might take part in initiatives to deal with short-term management crisis situations and making sure that they would know how to work together should the need arise. This was not about permanent capacity. There would, of course, be discussions about this matter in the EU Political and Security Committee. The important thing was to recognise the fact that, as with all aspects of EU defence, the initiative would be complementary to NATO, not in competition with it. Asked what representations had been made to the US about the plan, the PMOS said he did not think that the idea would come as any surprise to the Americans. Questioned as to whether the initiative might involve future peace-making 'hard-hatted' tasks, in contrast to the role of the EU Rapid Reaction Force, the PMOS said that that was an over-interpretation of what was being proposed.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Constitutional Reforms

Asked the Prime Minister's reaction to the criticisms from the Constitutional Affairs Select Committee suggesting that the Government was rushing through its proposals for constitutional change, the PMOS said that as he understood it, the consultation for the proposals would last for some eighteen months, so we did not think anybody was rushing anything through. The position of the judiciary had changed during that period. What we were trying to do was to clarify the role of politicians and the judiciary and guarantee the independence of the latter. We believed that people now had a better understanding of what we were proposing to do than they perhaps had had at the start of the process.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

Libya

Asked what action the Libyans would need to take before the Prime Minister would agree to meet with Colonel Gaddafi, the PMOS said that it was important to take things one step at a time. The first step had been made on 19 December 2003 when Libya had made an historic announcement on WMD. The next step was today's meeting with the Libyan Foreign Minister, which was happening at a time when progress was genuinely being made on the WMD issue. Obviously we wanted to see a continuation of that progress. It was not impossible that further steps might be taken further down the road, but we were not yet at that point.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

» Monday, February 9, 2004

Alastair Campbell/FPA Statement

Asked, in the light of John Humphrys' comments in the Radio Times, who had arranged Alastair Campbell's statement at the Foreign Press Association (FPA) on the day that Lord Hutton's report had been published, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that Downing Street had helped facilitate it. Asked if Downing Street had paid for it or whether Mr Campbell had done so, the PMOS said he didn't know if there had been any cost involved. On the day of the statement, his attention had been focussed on the Government's response to the report. Questioned as to whether the Government paid the FPA for using its facilities to hold the daily morning press briefings there, the PMOS said yes. Asked if it was right that we had decided to hold the briefings at the FPA rather than elsewhere because it was cheaper, the PMOS agreed that the Government, in looking for a venue for briefings, had sought to ensure value for money for the taxpayer, as you would expect.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (0)

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» Wednesday, February 11, 2004

Education

Iraq

Immigration

» Tuesday, February 10, 2004

Libya

EU Defence

Government Targets

EU Defence

Constitutional Reforms

Libya

» Monday, February 9, 2004

Alastair Campbell/FPA Statement

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