Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Embryology, Dalai Lama, BAe, Burma, Vehicle Excise Duty, Champions League Final and Misc
Embryology Bill
Asked to clarify where the Prime Minister was on the Embryology Bill, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that the Prime Minister was in favour of all three clauses.
Asked to clarify that the Prime Minister was in favour of removing the need for a father clause in IVF, the PMS replied that this was correct.
Asked if the Prime Minister would vote, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was planning to vote.
Asked if the Prime Minister had expressed a view on an abortion time limit, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister answered that question for himself at his press conference on Thursday, where he said that he was in favour of the existing position.
Dalai Lama
Asked for more details about the Prime Minister’s meeting with the Dalai Lama, the PMS replied that as we had previously said, the meeting would take place at Lambeth Palace.
Asked if the Archbishop of Canterbury would be present for the meeting, the PMS replied that he would be there as well.
Asked if the meeting would simply be a handshake, the PMS replied that we were talking about a proper meeting. He was not sure what the exact modalities would be, but it would be a substantial meeting.
Asked if there would be words following the meeting, the PMS replied that there would be pictures afterwards.
BAE
Asked for any reaction to the BAe news, the PMS replied that we had no particular reaction to that.
Asked if there had been any information requested from the Ministry of Justice, the PMS replied that he would need to check on that.
Burma
Asked on Lord Malloch-Brown’s comments on Burma if the Prime Minister had any indication what breakthrough we might expect imminently, the PMS replied that obviously Lord Malloch-Brown had been on the ground in Burma, and had been meeting with representatives of the regime. Aid was trickling into Burma, but clearly there needed to be a much greater effort on the part of the Burmese authorities in order to ensure that the aid did get through.
Put that Lord Malloch-Brown seemed to be suggesting that this was going to be the case, the PMS replied that it was best to wait and see.
Vehicle Excise Duty
Asked if the Prime Minister had sympathy with Labour MPs signing the EDM on Vehicle Excise Duty, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had been asked about this several times in the last few days, and had made his position clear on this.
Asked what his position was, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister’s position was that the majority of car owners were no worse off or better off as a result of the changes made in the Budget this year. But of course it was also important that we continued to take action to deal with the environmental consequences of vehicle emissions.
Asked if there was any question of changing policy, the PMS replied that the whole point of what we were trying to do was to ensure that in the different bands for Vehicle Excise Duties there was a range of different vehicles. So if you wanted to purchase for example a low polluting family car, and pay lower VED, then you would be able to do that.
Put that the whole point here was that this was retrospective, the PMS replied that this was not coming into effect until 2009 at the earliest. It was not retrospective in the sense that you were not paying tax that was due on previous dates. The tax only became due in 2009.
Champions League Final
Asked if there would be a Government representative at the Champions League final, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister was not going, but he would check if there were any other Ministers going.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be cheering for Manchester United, the PMS replied that he was sure the Prime Minister would be cheering for the English team.
Asked where the Prime Minister would be watching the match, the PMS replied that he would imagine that the Prime Minister would try to watch some of it in the flat in Downing Street.
Misc
Asked if Dawn Primarolo would make a better job of explaining what a unit of alcohol was than the BBC did this morning, the PMS replied that he was sure the Department of Health could give a very clear answer on that.
Asked what would be on the agenda for the meeting with the Jamaican PM, the PMS replied that we might be able to say more on that tomorrow, but he was sure they would discuss a range of bilateral issues.
Asked for more on the Ed Balls announcement, the PMS replied that he thought this was about how some aspects of education policy were provided, but best to speak to the department to see if they had anything further to say on that today.
Asked for more on Rachel Lomax and timings, the PMS replied that this was really a matter for the Treasury to take forward.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be staying up late to watch the by-election results, the PMS replied that he had no idea.
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