----------------- -----------------  |  | | Last Updated: Friday, 25 February, 2005, 11:09 GMT |
PM press conference: At a glance | | Here are the main points from Tony Blair's monthly Downing Street press conference:
Minimum wage The prime minister announces that the minimum wage will rise from �4.85 to �5.05 in October for adults and from �4.10 to �4.25 for 18 to 21-year-olds. In October 2006, the adult minimum wage would again rise to �5.35, while the youth rate would rise to �4.45 - a smaller rise than the adult rate because the youth labour market is "slightly less robust" than the adult market.Mr Blair said he wanted the minimum wage to become the symbol of decency and fairness that the NHS was for a previous generation.
Chairman of the Low Pay Commission Adair Turner said employment had continued to increase in most of those sectors most affected by the minimum wage.
He said some employers had raised concerns about the impact of the last two increases, but they had found no evidence they had damaged employment prospects.
Trade and Industry Secretary Patricia Hewitt said women were the most likely to benefit because they made up the majority of low-paid workers.She said the government would prosecute the small number of employers who persist in refusing to pay the minimum wage.Control orders for suspected terrorists Mr Blair says they have to replace the existing provisions of detaining suspects without trial which have been ruled incompatible with the human rights act.Asked whether he will make concessions on giving a judge a larger role in issuing orders, he said: "We were never going to take the judge out of this, the judge would have to certify an executive order made by the home secretary."He added they would have to look at the effectiveness of allowing a judge to make the initial decision, but said he had not "moved further on this since Wednesday"He added there was a "real and active" terrorist threat in the UK and says security services and police say they need extra powers to deal with it.Iraq war legality
The prime minister refused to answer questions about the attorney general's advice on the legality of the use of force in Iraq, saying they had already been answered.He denied breaking the convention that legal advice to the government should remain private by publishing advice about Prince Charles' wedding.Court martial of British soldiers The prime minister says the reputation of British armed forces is as good as any in the world: "We can be really proud of them.". Three are due to be sentenced today for abusing Iraqi prisoners.
He would not comment on individual cases, but said most British soldiers were well behaved. He said soldiers are immensely skilled at peacekeeping and are trained well.
Conference on Palestinian Authority Mr Blair says it is very important to help the Palestinian Authority to achieve the infrastructure and political institutions it wants.And he says a built-in mechanism for dealing with "issues of security" that gives confidence to both Israelis and Palestinians is important, so a sole suicide bomber does not "throw the whole thing backwards".MRSA death rate doubles Mr Blair says it is unacceptable that anyone should die avoidably from a hospital-acquired infection, but says rates are similar to those in other European countries.
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