Briefing from the Prime Minister’s spokesman on: Plastic bags announcement, Archbishop of Canterbury, Airport runway proposals, Iraq and car Industry
Plastic Bags Announcement
Asked about Jane Kennedy’s announcement on plastic bags, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that the Minister for Farming and Environment, Jane Kennedy, and Britain’s leading supermarkets had agreed a 50% cut in the number of carrier bags given out by spring 2009. This was a bold commitment that would result in around 5 billion fewer bags being handed out.
Asked if it was a voluntary agreement, the PMS said yes.
Asked if that meant that there might be a plastic bag tax at some stage, the PMS said that at the moment we were at the stage where we had a voluntary agreement with the retailers and we would assess the impact of that in due course.
Archbishop of Canterbury
Asked for the Prime Minister’s response to the Archbishop’s comments this morning, the PMS said that the Archbishop of Canterbury had expressed his views on a number of subjects over the course of the year and on the issue of the economy the Government’s position remained the same; we would do whatever we could to help families and businesses who were faced with difficult economic circumstances.
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed that the recent financial difficulties had brought welcome moral messages, the PMS said that the Government’s position was that it would do whatever it could to help people through these difficult times.
Asked for the Prime Minister’s thoughts on the Archbishop comparing a boost in spending to an “addict returning to the drug”, the PMS said that the Archbishop of Canterbury chose his own words.
Asked if the Prime Minister rated the Archbishop as an economist, the PMS said that the Archbishop dealt with that question himself.
Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in the Archbishop of Canterbury, the PMS said that he did not think it was for the Prime Minister to comment.
Airport Runway Proposals
Asked about the Government’s current position on the proposed second runway at Gatwick, the PMS said that the Government’s position remained as set out in the 2003 Air Transport White Paper, which concluded that the case for the second runway was not as strong as the options at Stanstead and Heathrow.
Asked if the Prime Minister looked favorably on the call to have a vote in Parliament on the 3rd runway at Heathrow, the PMS said that the third runway had been subject to extensive consultation and debate in the House of Commons already.
Iraq
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with the opposition party that now was the time for an inquiry into the Iraq war, the PMS said that we did not think that it was right to make any announcements on the subject whilst the Armed Forces were still operational in Iraq.
Asked why it was okay to make an announcement on when troops would return but not on whether or not there would be an inquiry, the PMS said that they were two totally different subjects. The purpose of the announcement on when the troops would finish their tasks in Iraq had been necessary because we were in Iraq agreeing the legal framework with the Iraqi Government, which would allow those troops to complete their mission beyond the expiry (at the end of the year) of the UN Security Council Resolution 1790. However, that did not change the position on the announcement of any inquiry.
Asked repeatedly if that meant that there wouldn’t be an announcement regarding an inquiry until after 31 May 2009, the PMS said that the completion of the 14th Division’s training mission was dated as 31 May but as a further role we anticipated UK Armed Forces helping the Iraqi Navy. It was not for the PMS to define how long that training might take, but the legal framework that we agreed with the Iraqi Government for the completion of the training mission of the 14th Division was the end of May.
Put repeatedly that the PMS had referred to a potential inquiry and that yesterday Harriet Harman had said that there would be an inquiry, the PMS said that the two positions were entirely consistent. We recognised that there was considerable interest in learning lessons from our involvement in Iraq and we would look at the issue of an inquiry when the time was right. There were a whole range of issues around what form an inquiry could take, and we were not going to make an announcement on that whilst we still had troops engaged in operations in Iraq.
Asked repeatedly if training was seen as engagement, the PMS said that he was not going to get into exactly what the threshold was for the number of troops involved in operations and what impact that would have on any potential decision to launch an inquiry.
Asked if that meant that any potential inquiry had been delayed indefinitely, the PMS said that he was not going to speculate on timings.
Car Industry
Asked when help for the car industry could be expected, the PMS said that Lord Mandelson had said that we were looking at the sector as a whole and that discussions had taken place with the owners and management of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) as well as others in the motor manufacturing sector.
Lord Mandelson had clearly set out our position on potential support; we did not have an open chequebook to bail out ailing companies and whilst we recognised that JLR argued that they were under particular strain, their Indian owners had the first responsibility to ensure their survival.
Asked if an announcement could be expected before Christmas, the PMS said that that was a question best directed to the Department for Business.
Asked if the Prime Minister shared Lord Mandelson’s view that the car Industry held a special status, the PMS said that the Prime Minister recognised that a lot of people were employed in the motor industry and in businesses that supported it.
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