PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Good Afternoon everyone and a warm welcome to Prime Minister John Howard from Australia.
Now before I say what the outcome of our talks has been together, I know you would want me to say a few words obviously on what has happened over the last few hours, and I hope you will forgive me if I say to you that it is best for operational details to go to the police and the emergency services and others that can give you the information. I obviously heard about this, as you probably did, when I was in the middle of the lunch meeting with the Prime Minister. I have then taken the COBRA meeting at 2.30. I have just spoken to the Metropolitan Police Commissioner again now. He, I think, has issued a statement which I think will be published shortly, and his hope is that things now can get back to normal again as quickly as possible.
We can't minimise incidents such as this, because they obviously have been serious in the four different places, as we know. I think all I would like to say is this, that we know why these things are done, they are done to scare people and to frighten them, to make them anxious and worried. Fortunately in this instance there appear to have been no casualties. The police have done their very best, and the security services too, in the situation and I think we have just to react calmly and continue with our business as much as possible, as normal. And following the meeting with the Prime Minister now and this press conference, I will go back to the schedule of meetings I had, since the Metropolitan Police Commissioner has indicated that both the police and the security services are now fairly clear what has happened and what the next steps are and as I say, we hope that we can get the rest of the transport system back up and running again as soon as possible. So that is really all I can say on that at the present time.
If I could also just genuinely, and my apologies John for having interrupted so much of our discussion today, but fortunately we have had an opportunity to catch up on things. I would like first of all if I might to thank the Prime Minister, and also the Australian people, for their kind condolences on what happened two weeks ago today, their sympathy and their solidarity which, as ever, has been immense and also hugely appreciated by us here. And I know there was at least one Australian victim of the terrorist attacks a couple of weeks ago and this scourge of terrorism is one that we all face together. But Australian has been a particularly extraordinary, and strong, and indomitable ally of ours over these past few years, and both in Afghanistan and in Iraq we work closely together, but also in our bilateral relations across the whole range of security issues our two countries are immensely close. This is a relationship that isn't just built on the large numbers of Australians that come here, and Brits that go to Australia, it is also based on I think common values, a common determination and strength to stand up for what we believe in, and we could have a no more secure or sound ally than Australia, and we are very grateful for all your help and support in it.
And our bilateral relationship is actually in extremely good shape. We are working closely together. Elsewhere in our city at the moment there is a bit of competition going on, but we will leave that to one side for the moment. But it is really very much a relationship that this country values, and therefore we are always delighted to see you here. Welcome. I am sorry our discussions together have been interrupted in the way that they have, but I know that you will understand.
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Well thank you very much Tony. Can I say immediately what I said to the Prime Minister on the telephone two days after the attack on 7 July that the entire Australian nation felt for the people of Great Britain, and particularly for Londoners. There is no city in the world, after our own, that Australians have more affection for, more identification with and a greater sense of history about than the city of London. I can say to you Prime Minister publicly what I said privately, and that is that Australia sympathises with support and will remain steadfast with Britain in pursuit of the common values and common causes that we have. Terrorism is the enemy of all free people. Terrorism is not just about individual circumstances and individual events, terrorism is about the perverted use of an ideology for evil intent and for evil objectives. And those who think that terrorism is incident-specific misunderstand the mind and the workings of the minds of terrorists.
And we felt for the people of Britain. We were not as Australians spared death in that attack. I say in relation to the latest incident that the determination of the British people to continue with their daily lives is something that we have always seen as one of the great characteristics of the people of this remarkable country, and I want to say to you Prime Minister that wherever events take us, you can be sure that the common values that we have will remain, and Australia will remain a friend, a steadfast partner and a nation that shares the values that I know are very important to the people of Britain.
Might I also say in relation to these recent events that the response of the services in London and in Britain have been quite remarkable, and we Australians have been greatly impressed with the determination of the British people to get on with life. The terrorists want otherwise, and the best answer to terrorism is always to carry on unperturbed by their activities and by that demonstrate that defiance of terrorism. I had an opportunity of a briefing from the Australian police contingent that came here recently and they reported to me in some detail of the comprehensive response of the British emergency services, and Prime Minister you can be very proud of the way in which your police, your ambulance services, your hospital services and all of those responded. And in that respect I have asked the Prime Minister, and he has agreed, that at an appropriate time in the not too distant future the people with specialist knowledge of London's response to the attack on 7 July will come to Australia and have a look at the services that we have and if there are any suggestions that can be made, if there are any things that we can learn from the London experience - and I am sure there will be. Be it remembered that over a period of 20 - 30 years there were some 300 IRA initiated incidents in the city of London, and sadly the people of this city have had to deal with this sort of thing a great deal in the past.
On other matters, as I say, I agree with the Prime Minister that the bilateral relationship is in excellent condition. I congratulated him on London's victory for the Olympic Games of 2012, I think I sent him a note congratulating him, but I did have a cautionary element which said that that would be enough English victories for the time being. But nonetheless can I simply say that the experience of having the Olympic Games is great for any city, and we have had them in Sydney fairly recently and will of course, if there are any experiences from that, they are readily available.
The other matters we canvassed related to the trade issues that the world faces, we talked about Iraq and Afghanistan, we remain committed in both cases. Afghanistan is an important battle ground against terrorism, so is Iraq, and nobody should imagine that the terrorists would be other than absolutely delighted if there were a faltering of will in Iraq, and we share common objectives and common goals, but most importantly of all, 8.5 million people defied the most terrible intimidation to vote in Iraq on 30 January and that is a cause that is worth supporting, and a cause worth fighting for.
Prime Minister, I am as always delighted to be in London. Thank you for your hospitality. You have been extremely gracious and generous with your time, given the other demands that you have, and I can only say again that Britain's friends in Australia are many, and genuine, and we remain with you in the challenges that our free societies face at this particular time.
JOURNALIST: (Andrew Marr, BBC News)
Could I ask the Prime Minister, after the Cobra meeting today, whether any new decisions flow from that in any sense. And also, following today's incidents, what you would say directly to all those people who may be thinking actually I am not going to go into London, I am not going to visit London, or I am not going to travel through London?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
First of all, no, there are no decisions of a policy nature that arise out of what we heard. And I stress to you again, this is just in the last few hours, I really don't know anything more than you know about it at the present time, except that I think the police and security services have got the situation well under control and we hope to get it back to normal as quickly as possible. I think what I would say is this, and I think that the spirit of London and of Britain was represented again this morning when people came together in Trafalgar Square, and I saw the headline in the Evening Standard is about London United, and that is how people are and that is how I think they will stay. Now of course we will give people whatever information we can and we will protect people as best we can, but I think that everyone is canny enough to know what these people are trying to do, whoever is responsible for this latest incident, and that is to intimidate people and to scare them, to frighten them, to stop them going about their normal business. Now obviously people will be concerned and anxious, of course they will, and that is why it is important that we give as much information as we can. But on the other hand it is important also that we respond by keeping to our normal lives and doing what we want to do, because to do otherwise is in a sense to give them the very thing they are looking for.
JOURNALIST (Andrew Marr):
Do you have any sense who was responsible yet?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR: : I think it really is too early to speculate, but I think that will become apparent I hope reasonably quickly. But the best thing in these circumstances, which is why I am hesitant about giving you information out of the COBRA meeting, some of which you may know in any event about who the police may have apprehended, or whatever, is to just to let them do that. They are the best people to take people through this, and I think, although I haven't actually seen it on television myself, but the Metropolitan Police Commissioner I understand made a statement a short time ago, essentially saying that they have checked the stations and so on and we wanted to get the thing back to normal as quickly as possible. But don't misunderstand me, I am not minimising the seriousness of this because you have got to accept these are four incidents and everyone can draw the obvious conclusions from that, but on the other hand I think it is important that we react calmly and continue with our lives, and that is what I intend to do and I am sure that people will do the same. And it is obviously a situation that causes people concern and worry, but I think that is the right response, and people showed it again in London this morning and I think they will show it again, indeed from what I have heard people already saying who have come out of the tube stations affected, that is exactly the attitude they have got.
JOURNALIST (Mark Davis, Australian Financial Review):
Mr Howard, will the Australian government consider legal measures against people who foment, or provoke, or indirectly incite terrorist attacks along the lines of those being considered here in Britain, and as suggested by Premier Carr?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
We are carrying out an examination at the moment of the need to change and strengthen our laws against terrorist activity, or potential terrorist activity, and we will include in that examination the sort of changes that have been contemplated here in Britain. The Prime Minister and I had some discussion today about that. We are getting detailed information about the changes that are being contemplated, and they will be fed into the consideration being undertaken in Australia. Could I just add that one of the difficulties that all societies face here is that essentially the laws dealing with the behaviour of terrorists were framed at a time when terrorists didn't have available to them the technology, access for how to make a bomb from the internet, mobile phones, text messages. To I hope not over-simplify it, we have 19th century legal responses to potentially 21st century technological terrorist capacity. Now you don't want to rush these things, but you do want to recognise that there is a case for looking at whether the laws are adequate, and we are going to do that, and included in that examination will be what Mr Blair and the British government has in mind.
JOURNALIST (Libby Wiener, ITV News):
Prime Minister, you have appealed for people to stay calm, but do you feel any sense of responsibility at all for the fact that ordinary people here in London now seem to be in the frontline in the war against terror?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Well I think what is important is that people do stay calm and react in the way that they have reacted so far. And the very purpose of the people who are doing this type of thing, their purpose is precisely in order to make people worried and frightened. And we have just got to remain as we have been. I think the one thing, and the Prime Minister was just saying this a moment or two ago, the one thing that has come across very clearly over the past couple of weeks has been the impact if you like that the British attitude has had on the rest of the world, where people have seen our country react to terrorist attacks that are meant to make people frightened, and worried, and scared, and react with great dignity, and great strength and great determination that it doesn't change us, it is not going to change what we do. And therefore when something like this happens again today, and as I say I can't give you the full details of it at the moment, and the police will at a later time, our reaction has got to be the same. To react in any other way I think is to engage in the game they want us to engage in.
JOURNALIST:
Do you feel in any sense that you have put people in this position, do you feel that in a sense your policies may have put people in this position?
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
Well I think I have said to you before, that I feel that people who are responsible for doing these things are the people who do them.
JOURNALIST (Paul Bongiorno Ch. 10):
To both Prime Ministers, what was your immediate reaction on hearing that some incidents had occurred, was it here we go again? And do incidents like this, coming just 14 days after the horrific attacks, suggest that the war against terror is being lost on the streets? And yesterday an Australian bomb victim of July 7 linked the bombings to Iraq. Does that suggest that the propaganda war against terrorists is also being lost?
PRIME MINISTER HOWARD:
Could I start by saying the Prime Minister and I were having a discussion when we heard about it, and my first reaction was to get some more information, and I really don't want to add to what the Prime Minister has said. It is a matter for the police and a matter for the British authorities to talk in detail about what has happened here. Could I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government, and indeed the policies of the British and American government on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it has given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen. Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq; and could I remind you that the 11 September occurred before the operation in Iraq; can I also remind you that the very first occasion that Bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people, by implication, suggesting that we shouldn't have done that? When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on 7 July, they talked about British policy, not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan? When Sergio de Melo was murdered in Iraq, a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, immensely respected for his work in the United Nations, when al Queda gloated about that they referred specifically to the role that de Melo had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor. Now I don't know the mind of the terrorist, by definition you can't put yourself in the mind of a successful suicide bomber, I can only look at objective facts, and the objective facts are as I have cited. The objective evidence is that Australia was a terrorist target long before the operation in Iraq, and indeed all the evidence, as distinct from the suppositions, suggest to me that this is about hatred of a way of life, this is about the perverted use of the principles of a great world religion that at its root preaches peace and cooperation, and I think we lose sight of the challenge we have if we allow ourselves to see these attacks in the context of particular circumstances, rather than the abuse through a perverted ideology of people and their murder.
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
I agree 100% with that.
JOURNALIST:
(inaudible).
PRIME MINISTER BLAIR:
No, I don't think so at all actually, I don't think so at all. I think that in the end though, I was asked this question I think it was at the press conference I had on Tuesday with President Karzai from Afghanistan. The roots of this are deep. You know this is the mistake of people thinking this suddenly began in the past couple of years, the roots of this were deep, the terrorist attacks go back over 10 years. And the way of defeating it is to defeat it of course by security measures, but also by going after the ideas of these people, the ideology of these people, their arguments as well as their methods, taking them on and defeating them, and the best way of doing that is to show how the values of freedom, and tolerance, and respect for people of other religions and races is the best way to lead our lives. But in the end what they want us to do is to turn round and say oh it is our fault. The people who are responsible for terrorist attacks are the terrorists, and this combination of this evil bankrupt ideology based on a perversion of Islam with terrorism, this is something that has built up over a period of time, it will have to be dismantled over a period of time, but I have got no doubt at all that in the end the values that we represent are the values that will triumph. And do you know why I say that, I say that because every time people in somewhere like Afghanistan, or Iraq, or Palestine, these causes that they try to pray upon, every time the ordinary people in those countries are given the chance to vote, they vote, and they actually prefer the democratic way of life too, and that is why in the end we will win.
[ends]