Many serious questions were discussed in Tony Blair's conference yesterday. The keywords in the source code of the full transcript give a flavour: "reshuffle, Beslan, Olympics, School, Siege, Milburn, Smith, Andrew".
They are not comprehensive as, for example, the thorny subjects of the IRA and of hunting came up. With regard to hunting, we had the following exchange - as recorded in the official transcript:
QUESTION:
You have said you want to tell Parliament first about your plans for hunting, but on the other hand we are reliably informed that you are going to allow your own instincts for a compromise to be overruled by your back-benchers who want it banned. That doesn't sound very much in character with you, but let that pass. At the same time as you are being intolerant on hunting, you are being wildly permissive about boozing and gambling, you are moving towards legislation which would allow round the clock drinking, a huge extension of gambling in this country. Many people are worried about that as a priority for government, especially for a Labour government. What is it all about?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well on the first I am afraid you are just going to have to wait. On the second, I don't agree that is what we are doing, but we are liberalising ...
QUESTION:
... the small print.
PRIME MINISTER:
I have studied the small print, I haven't quite figured you out, but never mind. But actually that is not what we are doing. In respect of licensing, we are going to extend licensing hours, but why shouldn't we? Over the rest of Europe people are perfectly able to have extended licensing hours without it leading to all these terrible things. And in respect of gambling, actually we are trying to make sense of up-dating what is an out-dated legal framework. It is not a question of saying there is going to be boozing and gambling encouraged by government, it is getting a sensible legislative framework, and I think if you actually look at the details of it you will find that that is right. I am not persuading you, am I Mike?
QUESTION:
You are trying to stop us drinking more. John Reid, how does he square with this policy? You ask why we are doing it, we are puzzled Prime Minister.
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