Prime Minister quizzed on domestic agenda
The Prime Minister Tony Blair today faced questions on plans for a hunting bill, London’s 2012 Olympic bid, the Northern Ireland peace process and the pensions crisis.
He was holding his first monthly press conference following the summer recess.
NORTHERN IRELAND
The Prime Minister Tony Blair said that he was optimistic a deal for power-sharing in Northern Ireland could be achieved at upcoming negotiations at Leeds Castle. Asked by Ken Reid of UTV whether a deal was possible Mr Blair said: ‘I believe that a deal is possible.’ If the negotiating parties did not get one at Leeds Castle, they would look for another way forward. However, he said he would not tolerate more of this ‘endless negotiation’.
The Prime Minister laid down two conditions for a deal. First, any party that wanted to be part of government in Northern Ireland could not be connected in any way to paramilitary groups, and all paramilitary activity would have to stop. Secondly, if republicans did give up paramilitary activity ‘completely and verifiably’, unionists would have to accept power-sharing. Mr Blair said the conditions were ‘not complicated’ and left no room for ‘fudging’.
Later Mr Blair was asked whether he thought the IRA still represented a threat. He replied that there was a clear understanding across the Republican movement that the way of violence did not offer any hope. A return to full-scale violence would be a ‘complete cul-de-sac’ but there had to be an understanding that all forms of violence had to end.
Asked by a reporter from BBC Northern Ireland whether he would view it as a personal failure if a deal could not be done, Mr Blair said he would regard it as ‘a personal disappointment’. Worse though was the fact that it would represent a failure of the political process in Northern Ireland. He urged the people of Northern Ireland to say to political leaders ‘we want you to resolve this.’
HUNTING
Mr Blair refused to comment on whether a bill to ban foxhunting would be introduced during the current parliamentary session. He was asked by a Daily Mirror reporter whether a hunting ban would be in place by the next election. However, he refused to provide a definite answer, saying the announcement would have to be made to Parliament in the first instance.
Mr Blair was later asked what advice he had been given on what a hunting ban could cost in compensation and enforcement and on how many people would ignore it. He replied that there would be a way of resolving this and it would be dealt with when an announcement was made.
Another reporter asked the Prime Minister why he was so determined to ban hunting when there were so many other priorities. Mr Blair replied that he was fulfilling a promise made to give MPs the opportunity to vote on it in this Parliament.
LONDON 2012
Mr Blair today said that there was a growing sense that London’s bid for the 2012 Olympics could succeed.
In technical terms it was making ‘very strong ground indeed’, he said. But he downplayed talk of needing to appoint a Minister for the Olympics.
Mr Blair spent two days in Athens during the Olympics where he met members of the Olympic committee. He praised the ‘fantastic performance’ by Team GB in Athens and it was here that he said he encountered an increasing view that Britain’s bid was getting stronger.
He highlighted the range of work going on across London in preparation for the bid, citing the new Wembley stadium, the plans to turn the Dome into a 20,000 seat arena and that councils would be debating planning permission for an Olympic park on Thursday. The chairman of London’s Olympic bid, Lord Coe, would be making a presentation to the Cabinet next Thursday, Mr Blair said.
LBC’s Mark Demery asked the Prime Minister whether he planned to appoint a Minister for the Olympics. However, Mr Blair said the ministerial team headed by Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell was working very well for the bid. He would also be personally involved in the bid, he said. What needed to be done was to show that the country as a whole was behind the bid, he continued. He wanted to achieve not only a good Olympics, but a lasting legacy.
PENSIONS
The Prime Minister was asked about the challenges facing Andrew Smith’s replacement as Work and Pensions Secretary and how they would deal with the pensions crisis. On pensions, Mr Blair explained that the commission would report in October, and provide the basis for genuine public debate. Before, ‘pensions’ meant problems for actual pensioners, whereas today it meant people who are working but worried about what happens when they become pensioners. On employment, he said that the number of people claiming unemployment was no longer a problem, but instead the agenda was how to get inactive people into work. He stressed that this was an agenda he was working on closely with Andrew Smith, and there was no disagreement on policy between them
The Sun’s political editor Trevor Kavanagh described the Government’s record on pensions reform as one of failure, and asked why, if the Prime Minister was not been planning to sack Andrew Smith, he had not been doing so. Mr Blair said it was not true that all things done on pensions had failed, citing the pensions protection legislation as an example. It was true that the issues to do with future provision of pensions were very salient, but every single government around the world was grappling with this.
Michael White of the Guardian questioned the Government’s liberal attitude towards ‘boozing and gambling’. Mr Blair explained that in respect of extending licensing hours that it would bring Britain in line with the rest of Europe. Why should Britain have restrictive licensing laws, Mr Blair asked. The Government would tell people to drink sensibly but allow them the greater freedom to decide to do what they wanted. In respect of gambling the Government was trying to update an outdated legal framework.
George Jones of the Daily Telegraph asked Mr Blair whether in light of the Government’s pensions and fox hunting legislation being frustrated in the House of Lords, what his views were on the remaining hereditary peers. Mr Blair replied that he planned to take forward House of Lords reform, but that was unrelated to any current issues before the House of Lords.
The Prime Minister was also asked whether he would be fronting up the ‘Yes’ campaign for the North East regional assembly, and whether a stand-alone assembly would make sense. Mr Blair said it was up to the people of the North East whether it made sense, but said he would certainly be involved in the campaigning.
