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Viewing cable 06LONDON2212, U) SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY RICE'S VISIT TO

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Reference ID Created Released Classification Origin
06LONDON2212 2006-03-24 17:47 2011-08-30 01:44 CONFIDENTIAL Embassy London
VZCZCXYZ0005
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLO #2212/01 0831747
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 241747Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY LONDON
TO SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 3979
C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 002212 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
FOR THE SECRETARY FROM AMBASSADOR TUTTLE 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 03/24/2016 
TAGS: OVIP PGOV PREL MARR ECON UK
SUBJECT: (U) SCENESETTER FOR SECRETARY RICE'S VISIT TO 
BLACKBURN AND LIVERPOOL 
 
Classified By: Ambassador Robert H. Tuttle.  Reasons 1.4 (b, d). 
 
(U) Summary and Overview 
------------------------ 
 
1.  (U) Your visit to Blackburn and Liverpool represents an 
opportunity to allow Foreign Secretary Straw to reciprocate 
your hospitality during his visit to Birmingham last October. 
 My wife and I look forward to your visit and to accompanying 
you and the Foreign Secretary during what promises to be a 
most enjoyable weekend.  Straw not only wants to show you his 
constituency of Blackburn but also wants you to see 
first-hand that Northwest England is a prosperous, 
multi-ethnic society with a rich culture and history but with 
eyes firmly fixed on the future. 
 
2.  (U) The town of Blackburn, dating back to the 6th 
century, remained a village until the Industrial Revolution 
when the cotton industry, breweries, railroads and canals 
transformed it into a bustling town.  The decline of the 
cotton industry in the 20th century brought decline to the 
town as well, but you will see -- everywhere -- the results 
of current efforts to revitalize Blackburn, from the modern 
hospital and the riverside leisure complex to the thriving 
aerospace industry and excellent schools.  Blackburn also has 
implemented a major regeneration effort to enhance its 
attractiveness as the Enterprise Capital of the North West. 
The town has worked to foster an environment conducive to 
business growth with the intent of creating more and better 
jobs.  The strategy being employed seeks to build on the 
region's manufacturing base and diversify into more high-tech 
and services industries.  Included is an effort to enhance 
foreign trade and investment connections. 
 
3.  (U) Liverpool has undergone substantial regeneration in 
the past decade, and it now has one of the strongest economic 
growth rates among all UK cities with a rate of 5.9 percent 
in 2005.  Years of structural decline in its manufacturing 
and port activities following World War II led to large job 
losses and high unemployment, but those trends are being 
reversed.  Though unemployment in Liverpool is about 8 
percent compared with the UK average of 5 percent, job 
creation has been occurring at a higher pace than in the rest 
of the UK.  Net new business startups in Merseyside have 
grown by around 2 percent in recent years, outpacing the 
national average and reflecting the positive efforts to 
attract investment and business activities in the city and 
region.  The city of Liverpool also has been physically 
revitalized following its naming as European Capital of 
Culture for 2008. 
 
4.  (U) During your three-day stop you will have the 
opportunity to visit commercial, cultural, religious (both 
Christian and Muslim), and educational institutions in both 
Blackburn and Liverpool.  While your schedule did not permit 
you to visit while Straw's beloved Blackburn Rovers soccer 
team was playing a home game, your foreign policy address and 
a press event will take place in their stadium. 
 
(U) Blackburn 
------------- 
 
5.  (SBU) The Rt. Hon Jack Straw is the MP for Blackburn, 
Lancashire, in the North West of England.  The constituency, 
a famous old mill town that was a key center for textile 
manufacturing during the Industrial Revolution, is relatively 
poor and has a large Muslim population.  The constituency has 
been held by a Labour MP since its creation in the 1950s. 
Straw faced a fight in the last General Election.  In what 
should have been a rock-solid Labour seat, Straw became 
vulnerable because many of Blackburn,s 25,000 Muslim voters 
were angered by the war in Iraq.  In the run up to the 
election, anti-war protesters agitated for the Foreign 
Secretary's defeat.  He was challenged by former British 
 
SIPDIS 
ambassador to Uzbekistan Craig Murray who ran on a platform 
of opposition to the war in Iraq.  The anti-war vote was 
split, however, between the Conservatives, the Liberal 
Democrats and other anti-war parties.  Straw retained his 
seat with a comfortable majority of 8000 (although his share 
of the vote went down from 53 per cent in 2001 to 42 per cent 
in 2005). 
 
6.  (SBU) On May 4 local elections will take place across 
England, including in Blackburn.  Presently, Labour is in 
charge with 33 of 64 councilors.  However, the Conservatives 
and the Liberal Democrats are close behind with 17 and 11 
respectively.  In 2005, allegations of vote-rigging and 
corruption began to grow around the Labour controlled 
council.  A local councilor, Muhammed Hussain, was jailed for 
rigging an election by stealing postal vote ballots, which 
could have a serious effect on Labour in this year's 
 
election.  There are also fears that the far right 
British-National-Party might gain seats. 
 
(U) Liverpool 
------------- 
 
7.  (U) Liverpool, Great Britain's fifth largest city, is 
part of the district of Merseyside.  Situated about 5 miles 
inland from the Irish Sea, Liverpool boomed during the 
nineteenth century as a port town when it was the "Second 
Port of the Empire" after London.  Since that time, the 
population has been falling at a faster rate than any other 
English City:  from 850,000 in the early 1950s to 450,000 
today.  During the 1980,s the city fell on hard times with 
high crime and unemployment, but since that time it has 
undergone successful regeneration and recently beat off stiff 
 competition to be named as European Capital of Culture for 
2008, winning the award in recognition of the city's vision, 
enthusiasm and first class cultural heritage.  In preparation 
for 2008, a BPS 750 million regeneration of the city center 
is in progress.  Liverpool is recognized worldwide for being 
at the center of the explosion of popular music in the 1960s 
and for Liverpool Football Club. 
 
8.  (U) All five of Liverpool's MPs are Labour.  Locally, the 
story is a bit different.  In the 1980s, the very left-wing 
"Militant" movement, led by Derek Hatton, gained control of 
the local Labour council and famously took on Margaret 
Thatcher and her Conservative government.  The Militant 
movement was denounced by the then-leader of the Labour 
Party, Neil Kinnock.  In the 1990s the council had the 
highest local taxes but delivered the worst services.  As a 
result, the Liberal Democrats won control of the council in 
the 1990s and have held on to it ever since.  Of the 90 
locally elected councilors, 60 are Liberal Democrats, 27 are 
Labour and 3 are Liberal.  One third of the council is 
running for re-election this May -- but even if every voter 
failed to vote Liberal Democrat, this would not change the 
overall composition of the council:  it will remain in the 
control of the Liberal Democrats. 
 
(U) BAE Systems/JSF 
------------------- 
 
9.  (U) You will have the opportunity to visit BAE Systems, 
just outside of Blackburn, which is one of the assembly 
facilities for the Joint Strike Fighter (JSF).  BAE plays a 
leading commercial role in North West England where it sits 
at the heart of a defense cluster of national importance. 
With an annual turnover of BPS 4 billion, it provides more 
than 35,000 jobs in the area.  In addition to the JSF, BAE is 
involved in air systems such as the Eurofighter Typhoon, 
Tornado, Hawk and Nimrod. 
 
10.  (SBU) The Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) program is being 
vociferously criticized in the British press by those who 
would like to demonstrate that the U.S. is not a reliable 
ally and by those who seek greater industrial participation 
in the program.  This criticism is the result of two issues 
within the JSF program: 
 
-- The cancellation of the GE/Rolls Royce engine contract, 
and, 
 
-- The inability of the U.S. to guarantee at this point that 
the UK will have access to all technology that would  allow 
Britain to maintain and upgrade its own aircraft. 
 
11.  (SBU) The cancellation of the second engine is not only 
a matter of money and jobs for the UK but also pride.  The 
engine was canceled by DoD for budgetary reasons, and the 
cancellation is expected to save the program USD 1.8 billion 
through FY2011.  Otherwise, the UK is doing very well 
recouping its USD 2 billion investment, having earned 
contracts in the development phase alone worth more than 
that.  At full production, contracts for UK companies could 
reach several times that amount.  However, in his March 14 
testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, 
Minister for Defense Procurement Lord Drayson argued that, as 
a Level 1 partner, the UK should have been consulted on  the 
matter. 
 
12.  (SBU) On technology sharing, the British participants in 
JSF are receiving everything they are contractually  entitled 
to receive and on time.  However, since the Defense 
Industrial Strategy (DIS) released in December mandates that 
HMG should have "appropriate operational sovereignty" over 
its defense equipment, HMG and BAE are pushing for much more 
and would like U.S. assurances that this will be possible 
prior to the December signing of the MOU covering UK 
involvement in the program.  British complaints about tech 
 
transfer are long-standing and predate the JSF program.  But 
JSF transfer issues are particularly sensitive, because in 
addition to being our closest ally, the UK is also a partner 
on the JSF program not just a customer.  In his March 14 
testimony, Lord Drayson said the UK would pull out of the JSF 
program if its tech transfer issues are not resolved by 
December.  We think this is largely posturing, as the 
alternatives are much more expensive. 
 
13.  (SBU) This issue is being used by those wishing to 
illustrate that the UK will not reap any benefits from its 
loyalty to the U.S. in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere.  You 
will likely be called upon to demonstrate that the U.S. 
respects and trusts the UK.  You may wish to highlight that 
U.S.-UK cooperation is mutually beneficial in everything 
from Iraq to Iran to human rights and democratization.  This 
includes, perhaps especially, the JSF program from which 
thousands of jobs have already been created in the UK. 
 
(U) Pleckgate High School, Mathematics and Computing College 
--------------------------------------------- --------------- 
 
14.  (U) Pleckgate School was chosen for your visit because 
it is an example of academic excellence achieved in an 
unpromising socio-economic milieu.  The facility is a large 
(nearly 1200 pupils) secondary school for boys and girls, 
aged 11-16, and has very good links to the community.  The 
student body is about one-third white British, with a 
majority of ethnic Asian (Indian, Pakistani) pupils.  More 
than half the pupils speak English as a second language. 
You will have an opportunity to view the school's facilities 
and chat with the student council. 
 
(U) Ewood Park 
-------------- 
 
15.  (U) The Blackburn Rovers football club, founded in 1875, 
is Jack Straw's "home team."  The renovated stadium  seats 
about 30,000 and includes a conference and banqueting center. 
 You will meet some of the players, including goalkeeper Brad 
Friedel, a U.S. citizen, and view player facilities and 
trophies.  The conference center within the  stadium will be 
the site of your foreign policy speech.  Foreign Secretary 
Straw will also deliver an address during  this session which 
is being co-organized by Chatham House. 
 
16.  (U) Blackburn Cathedral is Lancashire,s only Anglican 
cathedral.  Although there has been a church on this site 
for centuries, the present building was consecrated in 1826. 
The colossal structure on the eastern gable, &The  Healing 
of the Nations," is an abstract steel and copper circular 
piece in which fiber optics between two copper  skins make 
all seven tons of the sculpture slowly &pulse" or 
&breathe," creating changing patterns of light.  School 
children and members of the local community contributed ideas 
for the piece.  You will have a private visit inside  the 
cathedral during which you will hear the choir and meet with 
the Bishop. 
 
(C) Blackburn Mosque 
-------------------- 
 
17.  (C) For security reasons, this portion of the visit is 
being kept close-hold and unannounced until shortly before 
you arrive.  You will meet with the Imam and other Mosque 
officials and observe a female-only religious instruction 
class. 
 
(U) Blackburn Town Hall/Constituency Office 
------------------------------------------- 
 
18.  (U) Built in the 1850s, the Town Hall will be the site 
of your meeting with Muslim leaders, civic leaders and  the 
town Council, and it is the site of a press event following 
your visit to the mosque.   You will then  accompany Straw 
for a short visit to his small constituency office where you 
will greet his staff. 
 
(U) Hoghton Tower 
----------------- 
 
19.  (U) Your lunch with the traveling press takes place at 
Hoghton Tower -- a beautiful example of English  Renaissance 
architecture.  Hoghton Tower is famous as the site of the 
knighting of the loin of beef (&Sir Loin") by  King James I 
of England in 1617.  There is some evidence that William 
Shakespeare spent time at Hoghton Tower in the  1580s working 
as a tutor.  The tower is still in the Hoghton family but 
open to the public, and it is an opportunity for Straw to 
demonstrate how people in this region treasure the past while 
building the future. 
 
 
(C) Hope Street Hotel 
--------------------- 
 
20.  (C) Your hotel is located in an area on the upswing, the 
chic Hope Street Quarter, between Liverpool's two cathedrals, 
across the street from the newly-restored Philharmonic Hall. 
The landmark 1860 building, in the  style of a Venetian 
Palazzo, was originally home to the London Carriage Works and 
is a prime example of economic revival in a once-derelict 
part of the city.  On your way to the Maritime Museum in the 
revitalized Albert Dock area, you will see the forest of 
building cranes that are transforming Liverpool -- the 
Paradise Street shopping center now under construction will 
be Europe's largest shopping area. 
 
(U) Liverpool Institute for the Performing Arts (LIPA) 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
21.  (U) Sir Paul McCartney helped transform this school -- 
his and fellow Beatle George Harrison's former grammar school 
-- into a world-class performing arts institute with 630 
students, one third of whom come from outside the  UK.  You 
will have an opportunity to greet students and observe a 
performance. 
 
(U) Liverpool Philharmonic 
-------------------------- 
 
22.  (U) Opened in 1849, rebuilt in 1939, and restored in 
1995, the Philharmonic Hall presents 250 concerts and other 
events every year.  The Royal Liverpool Philharmonic 
Orchestra, one of the world's oldest, gives over 60 concerts 
a year in this hall.  You will hear a concert by the 
Philharmonic Orchestra, followed by a dinner, during which 
you will have the opportunity to meet Philharmonic officials 
and Liverpool dignitaries. 
 
(U) Maritime Museum 
------------------- 
 
23.  (U) The Merseyside Maritime Museum commemorates 
Liverpool's historic role as a port and trading center. 
Liverpool dominated the transatlantic slave trade from about 
1750 to 1807 when slavery was abolished in Britain, and the 
Museum has an important and moving exhibit on the slave 
trade.  The slavery exhibit was inaugurated by Maya Angelou. 
 
(U) Liverpool Cathedral 
----------------------- 
 
24.  (C) Liverpool Cathedral (Church of England) is England's 
largest.  Construction began in 1904 and was  finally 
completed in 1978.  You will attend Sunday services with the 
Foreign Secretary. 
 
Visit London's Classified Website: 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm 
Tuttle