Briefing by the Prime Minister’s spokesman on: Iran, public finances, Michael Martin and misc
Iran
Asked if the UK was suggesting to other EU partners that there should be sanctions against Iran, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) referred journalists back to the statement that was made by EU Foreign Ministers at the weekend; there needed to be a strong collective response to Iran’s actions, particularly in relation to British Embassy staff.
Asked if anything further had happened since the weekend, the PMS said that it was best to check with the Foreign Office, however there had been very high-level discussion of Foreign Ministers that took place on Sunday.
Public Finances
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Lord Mandelson that George Osbourne had been sending out deliberate untruths about the access the Conservatives had regarding information on public finances, the PMS said that the Prime Minister’s position on the question of access to information was that he knew nothing about this situation; he had not been involved in any decisions or discussions relating to talks between the Civil Service and the opposition parties, nor should he be.
Asked what access opposition parties had regarding information on public finances, the PMS said that it was best to check with the Cabinet Office, but there was something called the Directory of Civil Servants Guidance, which set out the established procedures regarding contact between senior civil servants and the Opposition.
Asked if the Prime Minister believed such information should be made available so the public could come to a direct conclusion about the decisions the Government and the Opposition made, the PMS said that the Prime Minister set out his position in his letter to the Leader of the Opposition on 19 December last year when he said that contact should be on the same basis as before; in line with longstanding convention and in full accordance with the Civil Service Code and Directory of Civil Service Guidance. It was not for the Prime Minister to get into the specifics of what that meant in practice, as it would be inappropriate for him to do that.
Put that it was ultimately a decision for the Government as to whether or not this information could be made public, the PMS said that, without getting into specifics, we made a lot of information about public spending available to the public, for example the Budget and the Public Expenditure Statistical Analysis contained detailed information on public spending.
Asked if George Osbourne’s claims came as a surprise to the Prime Minister, the PMS said that the Prime Minister felt it was right that there should be contact between the Opposition Party and the senior civil service, which was why he wrote to David Cameron in December last year to authorise such contact. It was also the Prime Minister’s view that such contact should be in line with the normal conventions. There should not be any involvement from the Prime Minister regarding the manner of that contact.
Michael Martin
Asked about Speakers getting peerages, the PMS said that there was a motion passed by the whole of the House, which was uncontested, that The Queen should make an appropriate gesture to mark Mr Martin’s service to the public. The longstanding convention has been that Speakers get a peerage.
Asked if the Prime Minister communicated the fact that he received a letter from the House of Lords saying that there would be problems giving Michael Martin a peerage, the PMS said that that was the journalist’s interpretation of their advice and that he was not going to get into the specifics; there was a long-established convention that previous Speakers received peerages, there had been an uncontested motion that went through the House and The Queen had decided to grant Michael Martin a peerage.
Asked if the Prime Minister was prepared for the letter to be published, the PMS said that the normal convention was that the advice of the House of Lords Appointment Commission was kept private.
Misc
Asked about the likelihood of shipyard programmes being cut, the PMS said that the Government’s commitment to ensuring that we had the right naval equipment and that it was produced in British shipyards had been demonstrated by our commitment to procure two new aircraft carriers and have them built in Britain.
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