Number 10 Press Briefing - Morning From 4 January 2011
From the Prime Minister's spokesperson on: control orders.
Control orders
Asked if the Prime Minister agreed with Lord Carlile and Michael Howard that control orders should be kept, the Prime Minister’s Spokesman (PMS) said that there was a review ongoing as part of the wider review into counter terrorism and security powers, which would report very shortly.
Asked if this subject fell under the remit of the Deputy Prime Minister or the Home Secretary, the PMS said that clearly the Home Secretary had responsibility for many of these things, but as you would expect there would be discussions involving the Deputy Prime Minister and the Home Secretary.
Asked if the Prime Minister was open-minded, the PMS said that the review was ongoing and we would not pre-empt it.
Asked what the process was once Cabinet had made a decision, the PMS said that it would have to go to Parliament.
Asked if the decision would go to the full Cabinet, the PMS said that most significant Government policies were discussed at Cabinet.
Asked if it would be discussed at next week’s Cabinet, the PMS said that there would be an announcement shortly, and it was normal for relevant Ministers, Cabinet Committees, and the Cabinet itself to discuss such matters.
Put that the Prime Minister was clear in his New Year message that there was a persistent threat from terrorism and asked how people should read that, the PMS said that people should read it as it was written; the Prime Minister said that we needed to be alive to, and respond to, the threat of terrorism.
Asked how the Prime Minister would respond to concerns that the Government was putting the political convenience of Nick Clegg ahead of the national security of the country, the PMS said that our decision would be based on what was in the interest of our national security.
Asked if the Government could guarantee that national security would be the only factor involved in this decision, the PMS said that it would be uppermost in our minds as we took the decision.
Asked if the Prime Minister had spoken to the Deputy Prime Minister about this issue, the PMS said that there would be discussions involving the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Home Secretary and the wider Cabinet.