Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Afghanistan, Cabinet, Immigration, Fuel efficiency and Misc.
Afghanistan
Put that President Karzai had suggested that, in a conversation with the Prime Minister, there had been a threat to withdraw British troops from Helmand Province if a former governor was reinstated, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that he did not recognise that as a description of any conversation the Prime Minister had had with President Karzai. We were committed to Afghanistan and to maintaining our troops in Afghanistan.
Asked when the Prime Minister and President Karzai had last spoken, the PMS said it would have been when the Prime Minister was in Afghanistan in August.
Cabinet
Asked what was on the agenda for Cabinet today, the PMS said that the main item of discussion would be the economy. There would also be a discussion lead in the first instance by Liam Byrne, the Regional Minister for the West Midlands, on general issues relating to the West Midlands.
Asked if there was a Political Cabinet today, the PMS replied no.
Asked if there would be a discussion on fuel efficiency, the PMS said that there would be a general discussion about the economy.
Asked if the public engagement event was a Government event or a political event, the PMS said that it was a Government event.
Asked how much today had cost, the PMS said that the Cabinet Office would make information related to cost available in the normal way.
Asked how most people had travelled to Birmingham today, the PMS said that the majority of them had travelled by public transport.
Put that it was surprising that Ministers travelled by public transport this morning as they would have had their red boxes with them, the PMS said that he was sure all appropriate security considerations had been taken into account.
Asked how many people travelled to Birmingham today, the PMS replied that we had sought to keep the cost down as much as possible and that included non-essential officials not travelling.
Asked how many officials usually sat in on a Cabinet meeting, the PMS said that it was usually a fairly small number of no more than approximately ten people.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be giving a press conference today or speaking to the press at any point, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had just spoken at the Jaguar Plant and he would also be saying something at the public engagement event.
Asked how people had been chosen to attend the public engagement, the PMS said that the Cabinet Office were responsible for the exact arrangements so it was best to check with them for details. For guidance, the audience members were nominated by regional organisations including businesses, the public sector and charities. In addition, a local radio station and local newspaper invited a cross-section of listeners and readers to attend.
Asked if there would be another Cabinet held outside London, the PMS said yes; we were not setting out a timetable but we anticipated that there would be further Cabinet meetings outside of London in the future.
Immigration
Asked if Frank Field’s report into immigration would be discussed at Cabinet, the PMS said that the items on today’s Cabinet agenda related to the economy.
Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on the report, the PMS said that our general position on immigration and caps was well known. As Liam Byrne had been saying, we had a tough new points system, that determined which new comers came to the country and were rewarded permanent settlement. The key thing about the points system was that only the migrants with the skills Britain needed were able to come. The points system also gave us the flexibility to ensure that we had people coming into the country who were benefiting the economy.
Fuel efficiency
Asked for guidance on when there would be a fuel efficiency announcement, the PMS said that as and when we were in a position to make a firm announcement on the timing of that, we would do so.
Asked if discussions were still ongoing between the Government and energy companies, the PMS said yes.
Asked who was leading the discussion, the PMS said it was the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.
Miscellaneous
Asked if there was a response to the US Treasury’s takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the PMS said that it was not something that we would comment on directly, but in the UK we ourselves had had to take decisive action in relation to Northern Rock earlier this year.
Put that Ed Balls had said that the Crosby Report was on the Chancellor’s desk and asked when it was likely to be published, the PMS said that he had not heard Ed Balls say that and that he did not think it was on the Chancellor’s desk. We were still waiting for Crosby to report. As we had been saying last week, the latest information was that people could expect something in a month or so.
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