Briefing by the Prime Minister’s spokesman on: child care, immigration speech, Afghanistan and misc
Child Care
Put that the Prime Minister had said in PMQs that no one who currently received child care vouchers would lose out and could the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) clarify the position, the PMS said that we had no intention of taking vouchers away from parents who currently received them.
Asked about tax relief on the vouchers, the PMS said that we did plan to phase out the tax relief; no one who currently got that relief would lose it. How and when that phasing out would happen was still to be determined. Answering suggestions that it would be phased out because it was a middle-class perk, the PMS replied that there were tough choices to be made. Lord Mandelson had said earlier today that it was not a question of class but of need.
Asked how it could be phased out if it wouldn’t affect the people already receiving it, the PMS said that he would be happy to come back with more information on how the phasing out would work.
Put that the PMS had said this morning that it would get phased out for everyone, the PMS replied that he would restate what he had said this morning; there was no intention of taking vouchers away from parents who currently received them. The PMS added that we did plan to phase out tax relief, but no one who received that relief now would lose it.
Asked when the cut-off point would be and would people not be able to claim for it from now, the PMS advised people to speak to the department regarding detailed questions on the process.
Immigration Speech
Asked about the Prime Minister’s speech, the PMS said that immigration was one of the most important issues of public policy and therefore it was entirely appropriate that the Prime Minister made the speech.
Put that the Prime Minister had made a speech on Afghanistan last week and was this the next in a series of speeches, the PMS said that was not the case. The Afghanistan speech last week was timely for a number of reasons, particularly as we were close to the inauguration of President Karzai.
Asked if this was the Prime Minister’s first speech on immigration since moving into No10, the PMS said that he would check. Asked if this was a response to Nick Griffin appearing on Question Time, the PMS said that there was no suggestion that this was in response to that.
Asked if it was in response to Alan Johnson saying that immigration policy had been maladroit, the PMS said it was not.
Afghanistan
Put that the Prime Minister said in PMQs that he expected President Obama to make his plans known within days, whereas the White House had said it would come in the next couple of weeks, the PMS said that there was the decision that needed to be made by President Obama, but also when that would be communicated.
There had been a lot of speculation that the decision was imminent and we hoped it would come shortly.
Asked if it was safe to assume that the Prime Minister was close to meeting his conditions he had set out for sending extra troops to Afghanistan, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister had said that we were the first major country in the world to have made the commitment of additional troops. The first condition was the proper resourcing of troops, the second involved the allies and burden sharing, which had not been met yet, and the third involved the level of governance in Afghanistan.
In terms of the third condition, we were closer to meeting that, but we had not had the inauguration and we did not know how the unity programme would progress, but clearly the situation was moving in the right direction. So he would not characterise that as two out of the three conditions being fully met.
Asked if there wouldn’t be a formal announcement of 500 more British troops going out until the NATO meeting later this month, the PMS said that the most significant decision was for President Obama and that was not necessarily driven by the NATO meeting.
Asked if the Government would expect to be told about the Obama decision in advance, the PMS said that the Prime Minister and the President as well as officials on both sides were in close touch and the PMS imagined that there might be a small amount of advanced notice.
Asked if imminent meant that it would be next week, the PMS said that he could not answer that.
Misc
Asked if the Prime Minister would be meeting with the Turkish Cypriot leader following his meeting with the Greek Cypriot leader, the PMS said he did not think there were any immediate plans for a meeting.
Asked if people could expect PMQs to be held at the same time in following weeks, the PMS said that the reason for the late start was the Prime Minister’s attendance at the very important service at Westminster Abbey and people should expect business as usual in future.
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