Briefing by the Prime Minister’s Spokesman on: meeting with global banks, MPs’expenses, demonstrations and misc
Meeting with Global Banks
Asked if the meeting with global bank chief-executives tomorrow was a regular meeting, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said no; it was part of a series of meetings that we were having ahead of the G20. Last week there was a meeting with global business leaders and the Prime Minister would tomorrow meet CEOs of some of the world’s largest international banks.
Asked what the Prime Minister’s message would be to the CEOs of the banks, the PMS said that they would discuss the outlook for the global financial system and the reforms that needed to be made. Lord Turner, who had last week published a wide-ranging review of both the UK and global financial systems, was also expected to attend.
Asked if the Prime Minister was going to tell them things or listen to what they had to say, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was going to have a discussion with them ahead of the G20 meeting.
Asked if the head of Northern Rock would be attending the meeting, the PMS said that he did not have an exact cast list but it was a meeting of international banks.
MPs’ Expenses
Asked if the Prime Minister was satisfied with the explanation from the Employment Minister Tony McNulty regarding his expenses, the PMS said that these were not issues for him to reply to as they related to Mr McNulty’s capacity as an MP rather than his governmental responsibilities.
Asked if the Prime Minister had full confidence in Tony McNulty, the PMS said yes.
Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on whether or not there was scope for reform regarding MPs’ expenses, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had always been an advocate of greater transparency and accountability in relation to MPs’ expenses, but detailed issues were a matter for Parliament to take a view on separately.
Asked if the Prime Minister had a view on changing the way MPs were financed, the PMS said that these issues were a matter for Parliament to take a view on collectively.
Demonstrations
Asked if the Prime Minister had any views on the police using anti-terrorist laws to deal with demonstrations, the PMS said that the Prime Minister’s view was that the police did an excellent job acting within both the spirit and letter of the law and he was confident that they would continue to do so.
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with using anti-terror laws to deal with demonstrators who had no intention of committing a terrorist act, the PMS said that the Prime Minister’s view was that the police would take whatever action they felt was necessary and would act in a responsible and proportionate way as they always did.
Misc
Asked if the Leader of the House of Commons would deputise for the Prime Minister at PMQs on Wednesday, the PMS said yes.
Asked if the Prime Minister would be having bi-lateral talks with the President of Argentina, the PMS said the Prime Minister would be expected to have a meeting with the President of Argentina later this week. He added that the Daily Express had made a good effort to stir things up regarding the Falkland Islands and it would not come as a surprise to anybody that our well-known position on the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands was unchanged.
Put that the Nationwide Building Society had submitted a written memo to the Lords committee investigating banking supervision stating that policy makers should share responsibility for the current economic situation, the PMS said that this was the first he had heard of the memo and he would have to see it in full before he commented on it. The Prime Minister had set out his views on this subject on numerous occasions recently and Lord Turner had published a comprehensive report, which provided a detailed diagnosis and analysis of what happened in the financial sector, and constructive proposals for reform.
Asked how the Prime Minister felt about the behaviour of Nigel Griffiths in the House of Commons, the PMS said that Nigel Griffiths was not a member of Government so it was not for him to comment.
Asked why it was necessary to update the country’s counter-terrorist strategy, the PMS said that this was something we had been looking at over the last year. The threat we faced constantly changed; terrorists were constantly updating their strategy so it was right that we continued to update ours so we could best counter the threat that they posed.
Asked if the Prime Minister had asked the Treasury to put off a Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), the PMS said that he did not accept the premise of the question because we had not yet set a date for the CSR.
Asked if the Government was still committed to raising the inheritance tax threshold to £700,000 next year, the PMS said that the Government’s policy on this was unchanged.