Downing Street Says

Asked about German aid commitments and their lack of enthusiasm the PMS said that at this stage it would not be helpful for her to start commenting on reports that were coming out of other countries or out of meetings she had not attended. We were looking towards the G8 with an ambitious agenda and the important thing was to see what happened there. We only had 2 or 3 days left before the meetings started. We should concentrate on what happened there.

Asked about President Bush’s recent comments concerning favours on climate change, the PMS that the Prime Minister had made it clear in a number of interviews that we didn’t have a relationship like that with the US. He used the phrase Quid Pro Quo himself in an interview with Associated Press last week. He had been asked what the US/UK relationship was based on and the Prime Minister said: "As I always say to people, my support for America is not based on, ‘you give us support on this and you get that in return.’ That was not what it was about at all. I should only do what is right for Britain and the President should only do what is right for America. We should both try and do what is right for the world. But it is not a Quid Pro Quo like that and I never look at like that." Asked if he felt that Bush had stuck two fingers up at him last week, the PMS said that we did not recognise that characterisation at all. The G8 was not about Kyoto or drawing the US into Kyoto or setting new targets. This was about bringing people together and getting some recognition for the problems that faced the world. It was not about setting new targets because that would be totally inappropriate as clearly there wouldn’t enough time. The US took a different view from us on climate change and we had known that for a very long time. The previous US administration had taken the same view. Just because they took a different view, that did not mean that the US could not work with Europe and others to take forward measures to tackle climate change.

Asked if the Prime Minister had watched the Live 8 concert, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had not been able to watch Live 8 since he had been in meetings in Saudi Arabia at the time. Asked why the Prime Minister had not given any support to the concert, the PMS said it was wrong to suggest that Prime Minister hadn’t shown any interest or support for Live 8. He had had met Bob Geldof many times and had in fact appeared alongside him on MTV last week.

Asked if Live 8 set the bar too high and would only lead to disappointment, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had said himself that he had set an ambitious agenda for the G8. He had set the bar pretty high for himself and others clearly and a lot of people would be watching. The Prime Minister was determined to secure the best possible package that he could at this week’s meeting on Africa and the issue of climate change.

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» Monday, July 4, 2005

G8

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