Briefing from the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: Oil/food prices, 10p tax, draft legislative programme, Ministerial pay and miscellaneous
Oil/Food Prices
Asked if the Prime Minister was concerned about the Bank of England’s inflation predictions this morning, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) replied that, as the Prime Minister and the Chancellor had been saying, increases in prices was a phenomenon that was happening around the world; oil price had gone up to $125 a barrel in recent days and we were also seeing global increases in food prices. No country, including the UK, could insulate itself from what was happening in the global economy. The Prime Minister understood the difficulties that families who were affected by the rising prices faced, and that was why he was working with his international colleagues to take action to put pressure on oil producers to increase the oil supply and see what could be done in relation to food prices.
Asked if the Prime Minister had a plan regarding oil prices, the PMS said that as and when we had more to say on this we would let people know. The key point was that there needed to be greater dialogue between oil producers and oil consumers and we also needed to work with oil producing countries to see what more they could do to increase supply and get the oil price down. The PMS added that he anticipated that this subject would come up at the G8 meeting in July.
10p Tax
Asked if the Prime Minister regarded yesterday’s announcement on tax return as an equivalent to the American tax rebate to help the country through hard times, the PMS replied that the Chancellor had addressed this point in his statement yesterday when he said that as well as providing compensation to those affected by the removal of the 10p band, there would be a family tax cut to provide support this year for families on middle incomes at a time when they faced increased bills, so supporting the economy.
Draft Legislative Programme
Asked if there would be any accompanying documents with the Prime Minister’s Draft Legislative Programme Statement, the PMS said that there would be a statement and a Green Paper.
Asked if there would be a separate Written Ministerial Statement on the housing market, the PMS said that the Department for Communities and Local Government were saying something separately, specifically on measures to support the housing market that the Prime Minister would be announcing in his statement to the House of Commons at 12.30pm.
Asked about the Prime Minister’s visit with Harriet Harman this afternoon, the PMS replied that it was part of the consultation on the Draft Legislative Programme. It was likely that the Prime Minister would say a few words while on the visit to contextualise the purpose and objectives of the programme.
Ministerial Pay
Asked if it was correct that the overhaul of Ministerial severance pay had been postponed, the PMS said that there had been a story in the Telegraph this morning suggesting that the Prime Minister would not take the Prime Ministerial salary but that that was not the case and there had been no change in the Government’s position on that.
Asked if it had been the Prime Minister’s individual decision or if there would be legislation, the PMS said that there would have to be legislation in order to enact that but that it was very strongly the Prime Minister’s intention to go ahead with his original plan.
Asked if that could be expected today, the PMS said that you would expect there to be legislation in order for that to happen.
Miscellaneous
Asked if there would be a briefing from the Ministry of Defence (MoD) today, the PMS replied that he was not in a position to confirm anything and that it was best to speak to the MoD.
Asked if the Prime Minister had any regional visits planned for this week, the PMS said he currently had no plans for a regional visit.
delicious
digg
facebook
