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» Monday, March 29, 2004

European Constitution

Questioned about the timescale for applying the European Constitution were a deal to be agreed by June 17, the Prime Minister's Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that while we wanted to make progress as soon as possible, these matters were not totally in our control. First, we would need to obtain an agreement. Secondly, even if that were to happen by June 17, it would be necessary to format it into draft EU legislation before we were able introduce it as a Parliamentary Bill. Both processes would obviously take some time. That said, as the Prime Minister had had made clear in his Statement to the House this afternoon, we hoped that progress would be made as quickly as possible because it was important for a Europe at twenty-five to work efficiently.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

Beverley Hughes

Questioned about the position of Beverley Hughes, the PMOS said that her position had not changed since this morning, last week and even the week before when he had underlined the Prime Minister's confidence in her. Asked if the Prime Minister would continue to support her were there to be further revelations about the way she had handled her immigration brief, the PMOS said that it wasn't his policy to answer hypothetical questions. Questioned about the latest allegations, the PMOS said that the BRACE system or similar systems, as a method for clearing backlogs, had been applied by successive Administrations. Indeed, all Governments, going back at least as far as the 1980s, had had to address this problem and had followed similar procedures. Ms Hughes's actions had therefore been justified. Asked to explain the difference between this case and Steve Moxon's allegations relating to the IND in Sheffield, the PMOS said that as he understood it, the measures to tackle the backlog of applications in Sheffield were being applied to new cases, whereas the cases relating to the allegations over the weekend were older.

Briefing took place at 15:45 | Read whole briefing | Comments (5)

Beverley Hughes

Asked if it was within David Blunkett's remit to say whether Beverley Hughes would remain in her post, the PMOS said that Ms Hughes continued to retain the confidence of the Prime Minister in the same way she had last week, the week before and the week before that. He believed that she was doing a difficult job well and should be given credit for the achievements on asylum which had been notched up in the past year. Asked if the Prime Minister believed that it was time for Ms Hughes to be removed from her post, the PMOS said that as the Home Office had made clear yesterday, the BRACE system, as a method for clearing backlogs, had been applied by successive Administrations. Indeed, all Governments, going back at least as far as the 1980s, had had to address this problem and had followed similar procedures. Ms Hughes, herself, had told Parliament last week that, "Over the years it has been accepted that making decisions on the basis of the information already available to the caseworker can sometimes be justified as a means of tackling backlogs. This is because long backlogs make immigration controls less effective, as it becomes more difficult to take action against people whose applications have been stuck in the system". Asked if that meant that anyone applying for immigration status, and who had been in the UK for only a few months, could apply without fear of any checks being made on them, the PMOS said that it was important to be clear what the BRACE system was about. It used information provided with the application in order to make the final judgement. It was not a rubber-stamping exercise. Cases continued to be refused under this system too.

Briefing took place at 11:00 | Read whole briefing | Comments (4)

PM Berlusconi

Questioned as to whether the Prime Minister would be meeting Prime Minister Berlusconi of Italy this week in the light of reports of a further Troika meeting between the UK, France and Germany, the PMOS said that he was not aware of any plans to do so at this stage.

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

Entente Cordiale/Europe

Asked if the Prime Minister would play a role in the festivities to mark the centenary of the Entente Cordiale between France and the UK in the light of the forthcoming departures of Prime Minister Miller of Poland and Prime Minister Aznar of Spain, the PMOS said that as the Prime Minister had made clear on many occasions, he valued his relationship with his European partners in different formats and in different ways and he continued to work with them all. For example, last week the Prime Minister had visited Spain and Portugal before meeting other European leaders at the European Council in Brussels.

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

European Constitution

Asked if the Prime Minister had 'closed the door' on the possibility of holding a referendum on the European Constitution, the PMOS said that as we had made clear, we believed that the issue should be treated in exactly the same way as other similar treaties in the past, such as Maastricht. They had been dealt with through the Parliamentary process and that was how the European Constitution should be handled. Asked if he was ruling out a referendum, the PMOS said he thought it odd that the question was being asked in a way that implied something new. We had said consistently that we believed the issue should be dealt with in the same way that other similar matters had been dealt with in the past - through the Parliamentary process. Asked if it 'would be' dealt with in the same way, the PMOS underlined that the position had been made absolutely crystal clear. He asked the journalist which part of the word "no" he didn't understand. Put to him that there had been some suggestion that the Prime Minister had been urged to give way on this issue, the PMOS said that he would refer the journalist to his previous answer and also to comments about this issue made by the Prime Minister and others. The answer was 'no'.

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

EU Defence

Asked if Downing Street agreed with General Sir Mike Jackson's view, expressed in his Frost interview yesterday, about the importance of a clear political authority in setting up a European army, the PMOS said that the General's comments had been nothing out of the ordinary in the light of the ongoing discussions about a European Rapid Reaction Force. His remarks clearly tied in with our thinking. Asked if he was indicating that the General was, in fact, "on our side", the PMOS said that the General was always on our side, a fact about which he was very glad.

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

Higher Education Bill

Asked if the Prime Minister was planning any meetings with backbench MPs in advance of the vote on the Higher Education Bill on Wednesday, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister continued to be prepared to hold whatever meetings were necessary. However, there were no specific plans in his diary to meet backbenchers at this stage. The Prime Minister continued to believe that this was a very important piece of legislation. That said, we were in no way complacent about the vote. We recognised that it would, once again, be tight. Nevertheless, he stood ready to argue the case as to why we needed top-level university education in this country that was capable of competing with the best in the world. Asked if any further concessions might be given to rebel MPs in the run-up to the vote, the PMOS said that the principles of the Bill remained clear and had been - and would continue to be - set out consistently by the Prime Minister and other Ministers when making the case for it.

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

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» Monday, March 29, 2004

European Constitution

Beverley Hughes

Beverley Hughes

PM Berlusconi

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