Briefing by the Prime Minister’s spokesman on: Defence equipment, Copenhagen, MPs expenses, Simon Cowell, Northern Ireland, bankers bonuses and misc

Defence Equipment

Asked why there had been an announcement on helicopters this morning before the statement this afternoon and was it an effort to soften the blow, the PMS replied that departments often issued statements before a full house of Commons statement.

Put that the statement said that the first helicopters would come into service in 2013 and help the frontline in Afghanistan and was this a clear statement that we would still be in the country at that time, the PMS said people should not read anything into that. We had always said there would be a re-balancing process as part of the Afghanisation process. The Prime Minister had made it very clear the basis on which that would take place. It was all a function of how quickly Afghan troops could be trained up and responsibility being handed over.

Put that one of the criticisms of this was that it had happened without a full scale defence review, the PMS said that we had always been very clear that there wouldn’t be a defence review this side of the election. This was an annual requirement for the Secretary of State for Defence to come to the House on this issue.

It was also clear that given we were engaged in the campaign in Afghanistan, that a reconfiguration of resources was required and that shouldn’t be a surprise to people.

Asked if there had been a decision on whether Britain would be procuring any C17 aircraft, the PMS advised people to wait for the statement.

Copenhagen

Asked what the Prime Minister was hoping to achieve in the meeting with Prime Minister Meles, the PMS said he wouldn’t give specific objectives for each meeting. The Prime Minister thought it was important as part of the Copenhagen discussions that developing and developed nations came together. There had to be a shared agenda.

By getting there early the Prime Minister hoped to start the kind of discussions that would need to have taken place before a deal was done. The Prime Minister believed that he could help to make a difference.

Put that thousands of environmental group delegates had been barred from the conference centre and was the Prime Minister concerned about that, the PMS said that he was not aware of that. Clearly, at big events such as this, there were significant security implications and it was for those who organised the event to make a judgement as to what was appropriate.

Asked whether the Anglo-French Rainforest Summit was still taking place, the PMS said that the Prime Minister was not going, but it was likely that President Sarkozy would go ahead with it.

Asked who the Prime Minister would be having bilaterals with in Copenhagen, the PMS said that the Prime Minister would be seeing Prime Minister Meles again, he would see Prime Minister Rudd, Prime Minister Stoltenberg, Prime Minister Rasmussen and Ban Ki Moon.

MPs Expenses

Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Quentin Davies that the outrage over his expenses was a joke, the PMS replied that the Prime Minister’s view was that the old regime was now discredited. What we were now putting in place was a new system and we were making good progress towards it. Asked if the Prime Minister had confidence in Quentin Davies, the PMS replied that he did.

Simon Cowell

Asked about Simon Cowell’s desire to get involved in politics via a television show, the PMS said that the Prime Minister had always believed in widening the democratic renewal debate and if Simon Cowell wished to contribute to that he was sure the Prime Minister would be delighted.

Northern Ireland

Asked for Downing Street’s reaction to the public clash yesterday between Peter Robinson and Martin McGuiness over whether parading was a pre-condition for an agreement on devolution, the PMS advised people to speak to the Northern Ireland Office. The Government’s view was that we were hopeful that, having agreed the terms of the devolutionary justice and policing that we could continue to make progress. It was for the individual parties to approve the package and move forward.

Bankers Bonuses

Asked for the Prime Minister’s views on how the City was behaving at the moment, the PMS said that the important point to bear in mind was that this piece of policy was as much about behaviour change as it was a bout the principles. We wanted to see a competitive and healthy banking industry, but there were some new principles that had been set out about bonus structures.

If, as a result of the legislation, the pattern of bonus payments changes, then that would be something to be welcomed, as this underpinned the principles the Prime Minister had set out. That included moving away from cash bonuses, claw-back and employees having a long-term investment in their company.

President Sarkozy was considering something similar in France, there was political support from Chancellor Merkel and President Obama had had discussions with senior banking officials in Washington. So this continued to be an international issue.

Put that it could be the view of some banks that they would keep paying bonuses but also pay tax as well, the PMS said that it was early days; HMRC were there to talk to banks about the detail. The Government thought it was the right thing to do and behaviour change was an important part of it.

Misc

Asked if there was a particular reason for Jack Straw to brief the Cabinet on constitutional renewal, the PMS said that the Cabinet was briefed on constitutional renewal from time to time.

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