Number 10 Press Briefing - Afternoon From 26 April 2011
From the Prime Minister's spokesperson on: Libya, Council of Europe Conference, Economy and Cabinet.
Libya
Asked what the Prime Minister’s Spokeswoman (PMS) had meant this morning when she used the term ‘long haul’ in relation to Libya, the PMS said that she had been summarising comments made at this morning’s Cabinet but had not name checked them. People should wait for the Foreign Secretary’s statement this afternoon on Libya, but we had set out our commitment to UN Security Council Resolution 1973 (UNSCR 1973) and we would see it through.
Put that the term ‘long haul’ hadn’t been used before and asked if it signalled a change in the Government’s attitude as to how long we would be in Libya, the PMS said no; it underlined our commitment to UNSCR 1973 and to the people of Libya.
Council of Europe Conference
Asked what Ken Clarke would be saying at the Council of Europe Conference, the PMS said that he would be setting out our position on the European Court of Human Rights and our commitment to reform.
Asked what the position was regarding super injunctions, the PMS said we were waiting for the outcome of a review by the Master of Rolls.
Economy
Asked if the Prime Minister, Chancellor and Business Secretary had had access to the growth figures out tomorrow at Cabinet this morning, the PMS said who had pre-access was not relevant to the discussion because the [unpublished] GDP figures were not discussed in anyway; reference was made to retrospectively published reports and forecasts.
Put that there was a report out today saying that some City salaries were up by 7% and asked if the Prime Minister thought that was fair, the PMS said that it was up to private companies to set their staff’s salaries. In the public sector we were pulling in our belts in order to help deal with the deficit.
Cabinet
Asked what the mood was at Cabinet this morning, the PMS said that the mood was good and it was business as usual. There was banter in the margins relating to what was discussed at the meeting.
Asked what wedding gift the Cabinet was giving to Prince William and Kate Middleton, the PMS said that she believed they were giving money to the trust fund set up by the couple.