Press briefing from the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman on: Northern Ireland Talks, North Korea, UK-India Summit, Veils, Afghanistan-Army and Chancellor’s Speech
Northern Ireland Talks
Asked what the expectations of the talks in Scotland were, the Prime Minister’s Official Spokesman (PMOS) said that it was difficult to overstate the importance of this week. This was it. Last week, we said that the IMC Report on the IRA’s inactivity laid the basis for a final settlement. As a result, we were not taking anything for granted, and there were still issues that could trip us up, but the fundamentals were clear: unionism accepted that at some stage, they would have to share power with Sinn Fein. The question was: how and when, not if. Equally, Sinn Fein, according to the Independent Monitoring Commission (IMC) Report, accepted that it had to engage with the police. The question was: how and when, not if. Therefore, the issues essentially were about sequencing, not fundamental principle. The details could trip us up, but as the Prime Minister had said last week, this was the time for leadership should be encouraged, and to keep an eye on the big picture. That big picture was that there was an opportunity this week which might not come again in the foreseeable future. There was a window here to reach a final settlement, and the significance of that could not be overstated.
Asked what the PMOS had meant by "this was it", the PMOS explained that by the end of this week, we needed to have a good idea of where we were going. Of course, following on from these talks, the parties would need to consult their grass roots and their members, but we should be clear: if the conclusion of the two Prime Ministers at the end of this week was that a deal was not do-able, then we would say so. However, we believed that what last week had done, and what the quietest summer since the 1960s had helped create an atmosphere for, and what today’s meeting between Dr. Paisley and Archbishop Brady reflected, was a desire to reach the final settlement, and to let normal life flourish. We hoped that this week would bring that about.
Asked if sequencing meant that it could be sequenced after the 24th November, and was there a contingency deal, and did everything have to be sewn down by the 24th November, the PMOS replied that 24th November was the deadline, as it was in legislation. People needed to know where we were going very clearly by the end of this week. We accepted that people would need to consult, but the 24th November remained in legislation as the deadline.
North Korea
Asked if people had the right to be worried about a "lunatic" with his hands on something so important as nuclear weapons, the PMOS said that as the Prime Minister’s recent words made clear, we did regard this very, very seriously indeed. However, so too did China, Japan, the US, South Korea, and the wider world community, which was why we anticipated that the UN Security Council would want to meet fairly quickly to discuss this matter. People were seized by the significance of this irresponsible act, and there would be a response. What the PMOS did not want to do was to get ahead of what would happen in New York later today. However, anyone who had heard the statements by China and Japan yesterday, or the statements that the United UN Security Council warning North Korea about the consequences of going ahead with this act should in any way send a signal other than a very strong one to North Korea.
Asked if we were suggesting that China would take draconian action on sanctions, the PMOS said that he did not want to talk for China. China did, however, make very clear its opposition, both in agreeing the original Security Council statement, but also in its joint statement with Japan yesterday.
Asked if the British Government was willing to hold a debate about sanctions, the PMOS said we should wait for the meeting in New York, and then we would make our position clear. What was important was that North Korea saw that there would be response. However, the proper place for that response was in the forum of the UN.
Asked if this made the case for Trident more strong, the PMOS replied that in terms of the arguments over our nuclear deterrents, and the case for nuclear deterrents, the time to do that would be whenever the exhaustive process of analysis was completed.
Put that the Prime Minister had talked about the failures of the UN, and did he therefore see this as a test for the UN now, the PMOS said that the Prime Minister hoped in all issues where the international community needed to speak, the UN would be at the heart of that process. The PMOS said again that people should wait to see what would happen in New York later today.
Asked if anything could be seen about the impact of Iraq regarding nuclear testing, the PMOS said that this was an issue which was to do with North Korea. We could debate Iraq at any time, but this was about North Korea, and a regime which was warned about the consequences of going ahead with this kind of act. It should be judged in its own right.
Put that last week, the Foreign Ministers had met, but had failed to reach a stand on Iran, so what made us think that we could do something stronger about North Korea, the PMOS said that firstly, the process on Iran continued. Secondly, in terms of North Korea, there were the statements from China and Japan, as well as the united statement from the Security Council.
UK-India Summit
Asked for further information regarding the Prime Minister’s meeting with Prime Minister Singh tomorrow, and would they discuss terrorism, the PMOS replied that as always when the Prime Ministers met, terrorism would be one of the subjects. So too, however, would be other matters, including our economic links. Indeed, the Prime Minister was coming with a high-level Ministerial delegation, and a large business delegation.
The PMOS said that this was the third annual UK/India Summit, and they would hold talks in the morning, followed by a plenary session. They would be then be joined by Margaret Beckett, David Miliband and Alastair Darling, followed by a press conference. Obviously, we would also discuss our existing co-operation on counter-terrorism, but also matters such as rolling out clean technologies to tackle climate change, foster closer educational and science links, and boost trade and investment. The PMOS said that would give people a fairly good illustration of how broad the common agenda was that we now had with India.
Veils
Put that a Sun reporter managed to evade security at Leeds/Bradford airport, and did the Prime Minister show any security concerns as a result, the PMOS replied that in terms of the operational assessment on security, that was a matter for the relevant authority, and it did not help if we acted as a commentator.
Put that the Prime Minister was not going to share his personal view on the veils, the PMOS said the journalist had, for once, got it right.
Afghanistan-Army
Asked for some information regarding Afghanistan and the troops there, the PMOS said that in terms of Afghanistan, the Prime Minister had spoken for the situation on Saturday morning. In terms of resources, we would listen to whatever the Commanders in the field told us, and that process of evaluation and assessment was one that went on all the time. Therefore, we would wait for their assessment.
Put that they had said what everyone had said earlier on, which was that they needed more helicopters, the PMOS said that what people had to work through was the proper process by which such requests were made, rather than interviews etc.
Chancellor’s Speech
Asked what would the Chancellor be speaking about later in the week, the PMOS replied that the speech was largely focused on security and financing and terrorism and how that could be tackled. The PMOS said journalists should speak to the Treasury for more information.
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