Browse content similar to 18/09/2016. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Jeremy Corbyn insists he can re-unite the Labour Party if he wins | :00:36. | :00:46. | |
the leadership contest next week, but, as threats to deselect MPs | :00:47. | :00:48. | |
opposed to Mr Corbyn come to light, is Labour heading for meltdown? | :00:49. | :00:51. | |
She won the Ukip leadership on Friday, and by Saturday | :00:52. | :00:55. | |
was facing internecine spats and calls for her to ditch | :00:56. | :00:58. | |
So how can Diane James pull her party together, | :00:59. | :01:03. | |
and what's the point of Ukip post-Brexit? | :01:04. | :01:05. | |
Theresa May insists she doesn't need to call a fresh election, | :01:06. | :01:11. | |
so will she deliver every promise made in the 2015 | :01:12. | :01:16. | |
We've updated our Manifesto Tracker to check how much of it | :01:17. | :01:26. | |
the Government is delivering, and how much it has been junked. | :01:27. | :01:31. | |
In London, the fightback began 12 months ago but they finished fifth | :01:32. | :01:36. | |
in the London assembly election. Is it all over for the Lib Dems in the | :01:37. | :01:38. | |
capital? And with me, as always, | :01:39. | :01:44. | |
the best and the brightest political panel in the business - | :01:45. | :01:46. | |
Tim Shipman, Helen Lewis and Isabel Oakeshott, | :01:47. | :01:49. | |
who'll be tweeting throughout the programme using | :01:50. | :01:50. | |
the hashtag #BBCSP. By this time next week we'll know | :01:51. | :01:55. | |
whether Jeremy Corbyn will remain Labour leader, | :01:56. | :01:57. | |
or if his challenger, Owen Smith, Whoever wins, they face a big | :01:58. | :01:59. | |
challenge to reunite the party after months of hostilities | :02:00. | :02:07. | |
between Corbyn supporters in the grassroots and | :02:08. | :02:09. | |
the majority of Labour MPs. Tomorrow, two television | :02:10. | :02:16. | |
documentaries are scheduled to air - on BBC One and Channel 4 - | :02:17. | :02:19. | |
which report on the Speaking to the BBC's deputy | :02:20. | :02:22. | |
political editor John Pienaar for Panorama, Len McClusky, | :02:23. | :02:25. | |
general secretary of the Unite union, said opponents | :02:26. | :02:32. | |
of Mr Corbyn need to get back Some of the MPs have behaved | :02:33. | :02:34. | |
absolutely despicably and disgracefully, | :02:35. | :02:40. | |
and they've not shown any respect So those vocal dissidents | :02:41. | :02:42. | |
who do not show the respect to the leader that you describe, | :02:43. | :02:49. | |
when it comes to deselection they would simply be | :02:50. | :02:51. | |
asking for it, you say? I think they would, I think anybody | :02:52. | :02:55. | |
who behaves in a way that is totally disrespectful, | :02:56. | :02:58. | |
and outwith the culture of the Labour Party, | :02:59. | :03:03. | |
is basically asking to be Meanwhile, Channel 4's Dispatches | :03:04. | :03:05. | |
programme secretly filmed a meeting of Momentum activists in London - | :03:06. | :03:14. | |
that's the organisation set up to support Jeremy Corbyn's | :03:15. | :03:20. | |
leadership, where the former chairman of the Brighton Labour | :03:21. | :03:22. | |
Party set out his views on opponents of Corbyn, | :03:23. | :03:25. | |
including the local And we've been joined by the Labour | :03:26. | :03:26. | |
MP for Hove, Peter Kyle. Are you nervous about your future? I | :03:27. | :04:29. | |
have seen that clip for the first time now. I made three promises when | :04:30. | :04:34. | |
I was up for selection, that I would be the hardest working candidate, | :04:35. | :04:37. | |
bring politics back to the high street and engage with the public in | :04:38. | :04:41. | |
a way that they never had in the constituency before, and beat the | :04:42. | :04:44. | |
Tories, and I have done all three of those things. I have been incredibly | :04:45. | :04:48. | |
hard-working with my team to make sure politics is driven deeper and | :04:49. | :04:51. | |
wider into the local constituency than it ever has been before. We are | :04:52. | :04:57. | |
more inclusive than any point before and more hard-working... I want to | :04:58. | :05:07. | |
ask you another question... If they want to get me out of that seat, | :05:08. | :05:10. | |
they have to work hard to do so. Is there an organised campaign to | :05:11. | :05:13. | |
remove you? You have just seen the chair of my local party talking in a | :05:14. | :05:15. | |
secret meeting somewhere to have me ousted, so clearly there is a | :05:16. | :05:19. | |
movement locally. I have been a member of the Labour Party my whole | :05:20. | :05:23. | |
life, there are people who have fought for other parties their whole | :05:24. | :05:25. | |
lives who have joined in the last few weeks and are trying to beat the | :05:26. | :05:29. | |
Labour Party in a different way, by getting rid of me. I am going to | :05:30. | :05:34. | |
carry on doing my job. They are trying to get rid of | :05:35. | :05:45. | |
you, aren't they? They are trying to get rid of the only Labour seat for | :05:46. | :05:50. | |
a 200 mile stretch of coastline. That is extraordinary, we are | :05:51. | :05:52. | |
surrounded down there by Tories and they are aiming fire at a Labour MP | :05:53. | :05:55. | |
working harder than any other down there, trying to solve problems of | :05:56. | :05:57. | |
the rail, the health service, hosting a debate last week about | :05:58. | :05:59. | |
abuse in the family Court against women, all of these core issues for | :06:00. | :06:02. | |
the Labour Party and that is what they are aiming fire act. It does | :06:03. | :06:06. | |
not seem to make any difference of Mr Sandall, who was the head of the | :06:07. | :06:12. | |
constituency, who was once suspended, he says he does not -- | :06:13. | :06:19. | |
you do not represent them any more? He said I did not support the | :06:20. | :06:24. | |
doctors, I did, I took the line given by Heidi Alexander at the | :06:25. | :06:28. | |
time, which was not to go to the particular picket line. I have held | :06:29. | :06:32. | |
round tables with doctors, spoken in the chamber about doctors. He said a | :06:33. | :06:37. | |
list of different areas where I have not supported the Labour socialist | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
left line, every one of them he is absolutely categorically wrong. On | :06:43. | :06:46. | |
rail renationalisation, I have never spoken against it. I said it cannot | :06:47. | :06:51. | |
happen for ten years so in the meantime I am making sure I can make | :06:52. | :06:54. | |
people's journeys home from work better than the journey to work, | :06:55. | :06:58. | |
which is what people expect. Who will have the support, you all the | :06:59. | :07:04. | |
people who want to get wood of you? I don't think about that for a | :07:05. | :07:08. | |
second, my job is to represent the people who elected me. There is a | :07:09. | :07:13. | |
34% increase in the Labour vote in Hove because of the way that my team | :07:14. | :07:18. | |
ran the campaign. But they know all that and they still want rid of you. | :07:19. | :07:24. | |
Clive Lewis, fellow Labour MP, said to the BBC this morning it is | :07:25. | :07:28. | |
democratic selection. There is nothing democratic about what they | :07:29. | :07:29. | |
are doing, there is nothing reaching out about | :07:30. | :07:50. | |
what they are doing. Jeremy is the first person I have come across who | :07:51. | :07:53. | |
uses an olive branch as a weapon to beat people with. On the same day | :07:54. | :07:56. | |
they hold out an olive branch, they released a list of MPs who they say | :07:57. | :07:59. | |
hate Jeremy. This is not the kind of inclusive leadership I would expect. | :08:00. | :08:02. | |
If you face a battle to hold your seat, you don't expect any help from | :08:03. | :08:05. | |
Jeremy Corbyn? He has come down to Brighton and said he would not stand | :08:06. | :08:08. | |
in the way of my deselection. I am 100% focused on delivering for the | :08:09. | :08:10. | |
people he elected me and I represent, that is what I am in | :08:11. | :08:13. | |
politics for, so if they want to defeat me they have to work harder | :08:14. | :08:16. | |
than me for the constituency, just like the Tories would have to do. | :08:17. | :08:20. | |
You have made that point several times. You talk about being one of | :08:21. | :08:25. | |
the few Labour seats in a sea of Conservative seats in what in McLeod | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
used to call the deep South, he did that for a reason, but isn't your | :08:30. | :08:34. | |
Brighton and Hove Labour party a bit of a basket case? There have been | :08:35. | :08:40. | |
examples of abusive behaviour, in ballot, the NEC suspended it in | :08:41. | :08:45. | |
July, it is a bit of a mess. When I go out campaigning, which is every | :08:46. | :08:48. | |
weekend, I have a massive team around me, I am part of an | :08:49. | :08:52. | |
incredible movement in Brighton and Hove, and the vast majority of | :08:53. | :08:56. | |
people in the Labour Party in Brighton and nationwide want to do | :08:57. | :08:58. | |
the right thing, they care about social values and delivering it. We | :08:59. | :09:03. | |
just have to win the argument but we have to be more electable and Jeremy | :09:04. | :09:07. | |
is not showing the calibre of leadership that the | :09:08. | :09:21. | |
official opposition needs, the Labour Party needs, and the country | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
needs to look to if we are going to make the leap from opposition into | :09:26. | :09:27. | |
power. Thank you for being with us this morning. Later in the programme | :09:28. | :09:30. | |
we hope to be joined by James Schneider of Momentum. | :09:31. | :09:32. | |
Allen, how typical is this situation? Are a number of Labour | :09:33. | :09:38. | |
MPs now going to face deselection challenges? I think lots of people | :09:39. | :09:42. | |
in the PLP are worried, more of them are women than men, I don't know if | :09:43. | :09:45. | |
that is coincidence or speaks to something broader, but the boundary | :09:46. | :09:49. | |
changes give golden opportunity for some rethinking, Jeremy Corbyn is | :09:50. | :09:53. | |
talking about selection. The idea if you have a boundary change, if you | :09:54. | :10:00. | |
have 40%, your steak on the seat is the same but anybody not in that | :10:01. | :10:03. | |
situation has to play a game of musical chairs and that is seen as a | :10:04. | :10:07. | |
good chance to reconfigure the party. It is good this is coming out | :10:08. | :10:11. | |
into the open because we have heard for months from Jeremy Corbyn's team | :10:12. | :10:15. | |
that this is a terrible smear but it seems to be something that people | :10:16. | :10:19. | |
like Len McCluskey, very close to the Labour leadership, want to | :10:20. | :10:25. | |
happen. It has been denied, but we had Len McCluskey now saying he is | :10:26. | :10:29. | |
up for the changes, particularly for people who have been very rude about | :10:30. | :10:36. | |
Mr Corbyn, Clive Lewis talking it -- calling it democratic selection, | :10:37. | :10:39. | |
Momentum, as we have seen from the film, clearly organising to move in | :10:40. | :10:43. | |
on a number of MPs, it is going to happen? Yes, I think it is, the | :10:44. | :10:49. | |
phrase Clive Lewis used this morning is a natural churn, are turn of | :10:50. | :10:53. | |
phrase which suggest the label -- upheaval. People are saying that | :10:54. | :11:00. | |
Jeremy Corbyn will reach out to all of these people, ask what he has | :11:01. | :11:04. | |
done wrong and bring everybody back together. The people on the other | :11:05. | :11:08. | |
side think that is a chance to line up loyalty pledges. Meanwhile we | :11:09. | :11:12. | |
hear this morning in the newspapers that Corbyn and the people around | :11:13. | :11:15. | |
him had a meeting in a country house a month ago in which they are not | :11:16. | :11:20. | |
just planning to go after MPs but also the leadership of the Labour | :11:21. | :11:23. | |
Party itself in terms of the staffing, the Management, the | :11:24. | :11:26. | |
general secretary is for the high jump, we hear, and the guy they are | :11:27. | :11:31. | |
thinking of lining up for that is one of Mr Paloschi -- Len | :11:32. | :11:39. | |
McCluskey's friends at Unite, you cannot imagine they would put too | :11:40. | :11:42. | |
many barriers in his way. That appears to be what is going on | :11:43. | :11:46. | |
behind the scenes. At every single stage where the moderates say this | :11:47. | :11:50. | |
is the worst thing that could happen, the Corbynistas said, oh, | :11:51. | :11:54. | |
no, it isn't, and you find out something worse is going on. If Mr | :11:55. | :12:00. | |
Corbyn is re-elected comfortably, perhaps by even more of a majority | :12:01. | :12:04. | |
than he was last time, isn't it only natural that they should then work | :12:05. | :12:10. | |
for the MPs to reflect more the views of the new membership? One of | :12:11. | :12:17. | |
the interesting aspects of what is going on it it seems to be the new | :12:18. | :12:22. | |
MPs like Peter Kyle who we have just had on who were under so much threat | :12:23. | :12:26. | |
here, and the reason is because they have not got that hinterland with | :12:27. | :12:29. | |
their party association, they have not built up that long-term trust. | :12:30. | :12:36. | |
One of the things that is furious about this party leadership contest | :12:37. | :12:40. | |
is that normally once a leadership contest is over, it is a cue for a | :12:41. | :12:45. | |
period of stability and calm, it brings things to | :12:46. | :13:11. | |
ahead everybody settles down and falls into line. I think the | :13:12. | :13:15. | |
opposite will happen here. There is absolutely no sign that Jeremy | :13:16. | :13:17. | |
Corbyn's return, as we expect to happen, to the leadership will in | :13:18. | :13:20. | |
some ways take the steam out of this thing. They do have a plan, I think, | :13:21. | :13:22. | |
at the moment, to give the Parliamentary party some more power | :13:23. | :13:25. | |
over the selection of the Shadow Cabinet, and that could be a way of | :13:26. | :13:27. | |
trying to work together better, but I can't see it working. We will talk | :13:28. | :13:30. | |
more about this later. Let's move on to the Conservatives. | :13:31. | :13:32. | |
Theresa May insists her Government will be markedly different | :13:33. | :13:35. | |
from David Cameron's, but doesn't appear to want | :13:36. | :13:36. | |
an early general election to provide her with a new mandate. | :13:37. | :13:39. | |
So, does that mean she'll stick by everything in Conservatives' | :13:40. | :13:41. | |
We've been busy crawling through the promises | :13:42. | :13:44. | |
made by David Cameron, and updated our Manifesto Tracker | :13:45. | :13:46. | |
to check which policies are being pursued and which have been ditched. | :13:47. | :13:49. | |
It's been an eventful period since we launched | :13:50. | :13:52. | |
Britain has voted to leave the EU and a new Prime | :13:53. | :13:56. | |
Minister is in place, but the Conservative Government | :13:57. | :13:58. | |
under Theresa May will still be held to the promises it made ahead | :13:59. | :14:01. | |
of the 2015 general election in their manifesto, and a few other | :14:02. | :14:04. | |
big commitments made during the campaign. | :14:05. | :14:06. | |
And this is how we are keeping track of their progress. | :14:07. | :14:09. | |
We have identified 161 pledges and loaded them into | :14:10. | :14:11. | |
We grouped them into categories covering all the major areas | :14:12. | :14:18. | |
of Government policy, from the constitution | :14:19. | :14:20. | |
And we have given each of the promises a colour rating. | :14:21. | :14:27. | |
Red means little or no progress so far. | :14:28. | :14:31. | |
Amber means the Government has made some progress. | :14:32. | :14:36. | |
While green is for delivered pledges. | :14:37. | :14:40. | |
Let's start by looking at one here in foreign affairs and defence, | :14:41. | :14:43. | |
The promise to hold a referendum on our EU membership. | :14:44. | :14:55. | |
We have changed that to green, as the Government did deliver | :14:56. | :14:58. | |
in June, even if it didn't get the result it wanted. | :14:59. | :15:00. | |
Many of the promises made while David Cameron was leader | :15:01. | :15:03. | |
were based around what he hoped he could achieve in his | :15:04. | :15:05. | |
renegotiation of our relationship with the EU, particularly | :15:06. | :15:08. | |
The manifesto said that EU migrants who want to claim tax credits | :15:09. | :15:17. | |
and child benefits must live here and contribute | :15:18. | :15:20. | |
The deal offered to David Cameron by the rest of the EU was a much | :15:21. | :15:27. | |
weaker version of the pledge, which, like the rest | :15:28. | :15:30. | |
of the renegotiation, was rejected by the voters | :15:31. | :15:32. | |
So we have given this a red, although it is possible | :15:33. | :15:40. | |
the Government could deliver on it once we have left the EU. | :15:41. | :15:45. | |
The same goes for the promise that if a child of an EU migrant | :15:46. | :15:49. | |
is living abroad, they should receive no child benefit | :15:50. | :15:52. | |
David Cameron's renegotiation failed to secure this policy | :15:53. | :15:59. | |
in full and it would be up to Theresa May's Government if it | :16:00. | :16:02. | |
The vote to leave has had big implications for manifesto | :16:03. | :16:09. | |
commitments in other areas, like here in the economy. | :16:10. | :16:14. | |
One of the central promises made by David Cameron | :16:15. | :16:17. | |
and George Osborne was this one, to eliminate the deficit and start | :16:18. | :16:20. | |
But after the Brexit vote, Theresa May confirmed that | :16:21. | :16:29. | |
while the Government aims to achieve a budget surplus, | :16:30. | :16:32. | |
it has dropped the target of doing so by the end | :16:33. | :16:39. | |
Now, those are some areas where the Government has made little | :16:40. | :16:45. | |
Well, it fought a major battle in Parliament to tighten the rules | :16:46. | :16:52. | |
This promise, which said strike action can only be called | :16:53. | :16:59. | |
when at least half the eligible workforce have voted, is now law, | :17:00. | :17:02. | |
As does this one, meaning that strikes affecting essential public | :17:03. | :17:08. | |
services like health, education, fire and transport, | :17:09. | :17:10. | |
will need the backing of at least 40% of those eligible to vote. | :17:11. | :17:20. | |
We have marked the majority of policies as amber, | :17:21. | :17:23. | |
meaning at least some progress is being made. | :17:24. | :17:28. | |
Here in welfare, for example, we have got the Government's | :17:29. | :17:31. | |
flagship reform, universal credit, which has been rolled out | :17:32. | :17:33. | |
for some job-seekers, although the timetable for full | :17:34. | :17:36. | |
delivery has been pushed back repeatedly and is currently | :17:37. | :17:39. | |
And another here, under the environment. | :17:40. | :17:48. | |
That's the promise to create a so-called bluebelt of protected | :17:49. | :17:51. | |
conservation zones in the water around the UK's coast. | :17:52. | :17:57. | |
That has been given amber, as the programme still | :17:58. | :17:59. | |
Now let's see how the Government is doing overall. | :18:00. | :18:05. | |
Out of 161 election commitments, the number of commitments we have | :18:06. | :18:07. | |
The number marked amber falls to 90, and the number of green or delivered | :18:08. | :18:17. | |
We will be returning to the Manifesto Tracker again, | :18:18. | :18:24. | |
but in the meantime you can find all of the data on the politics | :18:25. | :18:27. | |
And you can see the full details of our Manifesto Tracker | :18:28. | :18:35. | |
on the BBC website - that's bbc.co.uk/news. | :18:36. | :18:46. | |
I'm joined by the Conservative Cabinet minister, the leader | :18:47. | :18:48. | |
of the House of Commons, David Lidington. | :18:49. | :18:52. | |
Your biggest manifesto fail to date is immigration, how are you ever | :18:53. | :19:02. | |
going to get net migration below 100,000? A number of different | :19:03. | :19:06. | |
measures and clearly the nature of the renegotiation now as we leave | :19:07. | :19:09. | |
the European Union will have a very important bearing on that, but one | :19:10. | :19:13. | |
thing the Prime Minister set out very clearly is that we remain | :19:14. | :19:18. | |
committed to getting the reduction in net migration that she has talked | :19:19. | :19:23. | |
about consistently, but there's no quick fixes. People come to this | :19:24. | :19:27. | |
country through a number of different routes, son to marry | :19:28. | :19:32. | |
citizens, some for work reasons, some for asylum claims, some of the | :19:33. | :19:35. | |
study, and we have got to look at each of those and work out how we | :19:36. | :19:38. | |
can make sure the numbers are managed and controlled in the way | :19:39. | :19:43. | |
people would expect. But you have been in power for six years and you | :19:44. | :19:48. | |
have been in control of non-EU migration for six years, and it is | :19:49. | :19:52. | |
still running at 190,000 net per year, even on the part of migration | :19:53. | :19:59. | |
you are on complete control, you are nowhere near the 100,000 target. | :20:00. | :20:05. | |
Why? Because in part our economy has been very sexual and other | :20:06. | :20:11. | |
universities have been successful in attracting people to come here. We | :20:12. | :20:16. | |
need to make sure that people, when they come here legitimately, to do a | :20:17. | :20:21. | |
university course or take out a work permit opportunity for a limited | :20:22. | :20:25. | |
period of time, do actually return home after they have completed that | :20:26. | :20:31. | |
time they are permitted here, that we, as we have done, cut the number | :20:32. | :20:40. | |
of bonus colleges... 190,000 net per year of non-EU, and you didn't say | :20:41. | :20:46. | |
we will cut it to 100,000 unless we run the economy well. There were no | :20:47. | :20:52. | |
ifs, no buts, was David Cameron's exact phrase. Can we get some | :20:53. | :20:57. | |
honesty here, this whole project is Mission impossible. The meteor | :20:58. | :21:02. | |
manifesto pledge, you would have to cut EU migration to below 50000 and | :21:03. | :21:10. | |
non-EU migration to below 50,000. It's not going to happen, is it? We | :21:11. | :21:15. | |
are committed to the ambitions, the object of the Prime Minister has set | :21:16. | :21:20. | |
out. I think the public accepts that people who come here bona fides as | :21:21. | :21:29. | |
tourists, workers to fill a skills gap we have got, that's fine but | :21:30. | :21:34. | |
they expect people then to go back after their term here. And they also | :21:35. | :21:39. | |
expect, which we are doing, to make sure school leavers have the | :21:40. | :21:42. | |
opportunity to be trained so they can take the jobs that are | :21:43. | :21:46. | |
available. They expect you to meet the promise you have made twice. He | :21:47. | :21:52. | |
made it in the 2010 manifesto and again in the 2015 manifesto. I think | :21:53. | :21:56. | |
many people watching this will say, why do you repeat a pledge you know | :21:57. | :22:03. | |
you cannot keep? I don't agree it cannot be kept, but what I have said | :22:04. | :22:08. | |
to you is that this is a complex challenge. There are no quick fixes | :22:09. | :22:13. | |
to this, this is something Theresa May has repeatedly said. But just as | :22:14. | :22:18. | |
we have introduced restrictions on access to benefits that we have | :22:19. | :22:24. | |
introduced a requirement for people coming to marry a British citizen to | :22:25. | :22:27. | |
speak English and reach a certain standard before they come here, we | :22:28. | :22:33. | |
need to look at that level of detail at each of the tracks that people | :22:34. | :22:37. | |
used to come here. Net migration is running at three times your target. | :22:38. | :22:42. | |
In the manifesto you said you would insist EU migrants would need to | :22:43. | :22:46. | |
live and work here for four years before they could claim welfare | :22:47. | :22:52. | |
benefits. The EU said no. Now we are leaving the EU, is that the minimum | :22:53. | :22:58. | |
we will insist on? Clearly anything to do with EU citizens already here | :22:59. | :23:05. | |
and prospective inward migration by EU citizens or British citizens to | :23:06. | :23:09. | |
other EU countries is part of the negotiation. Is that still a pledge? | :23:10. | :23:19. | |
That specific pledge was part of the last manifesto, it was actually | :23:20. | :23:23. | |
delivered in a number of different ways through the restrictions that | :23:24. | :23:28. | |
we did place upon, and are still in force, on EU migrants coming here | :23:29. | :23:34. | |
seeking work and getting access to out of work benefits. The big issue | :23:35. | :23:39. | |
at the renegotiation David Cameron lead was access to tax credits and | :23:40. | :23:43. | |
in work benefits. He came to a deal on that which limited it, but that | :23:44. | :23:50. | |
failed after the referendum. It wasn't that you don't get anything | :23:51. | :23:55. | |
unless you have been here for four years, your manifesto also promised | :23:56. | :23:59. | |
the required EU job seekers to leave if they haven't found a job within | :24:00. | :24:05. | |
six months. Will that be fulfilled pledge in this Parliament? That is | :24:06. | :24:18. | |
already a policy we have taken. How many EU citizens have you removed? I | :24:19. | :24:23. | |
think we can agree to close the norm. You have not kept that pledge, | :24:24. | :24:30. | |
EU job seekers are here, aren't they? That is one very important | :24:31. | :24:38. | |
part of the exit negotiation is now under way, but it wouldn't be | :24:39. | :24:41. | |
sensible to give a running commentary on the detail of that. | :24:42. | :24:45. | |
Post Brexit, it would be reasonable to think EU migrants still coming | :24:46. | :24:49. | |
here would be regarded more favourable than non-EU migrants? We | :24:50. | :24:55. | |
were part of the club for 40 years. What they get more favourable | :24:56. | :25:01. | |
treatment if they were EU citizens? That is speculation about what comes | :25:02. | :25:05. | |
out of the negotiation, and we will go into that with a range of | :25:06. | :25:09. | |
objectives, both in terms of control over migration by EU citizens, which | :25:10. | :25:14. | |
I think is what British people expected when they voted as they | :25:15. | :25:18. | |
did, but also with the objective of getting the best possible outcome | :25:19. | :25:22. | |
for British business. On tax and spend, one of the key promises in | :25:23. | :25:27. | |
the manifesto was to move to fiscal surplus from fiscal deficit by the | :25:28. | :25:32. | |
end of the decade, do you still intend to keep that? The PM said she | :25:33. | :25:42. | |
remains committed, but not by the end of the parliament. When you look | :25:43. | :25:46. | |
at the fact there is uncertainty in the world economy, clearly some | :25:47. | :25:49. | |
uncertainty in the aftermath of the referendum outcome, that was a | :25:50. | :25:52. | |
sensible, pragmatic decision to take. So do we have an idea of when | :25:53. | :26:04. | |
the target of surplus will be? The Chancellor will give his Autumn | :26:05. | :26:08. | |
Statement in the next few weeks, and will set out the Government's plan. | :26:09. | :26:14. | |
The pledge to start a move towards surplus in the 2018/19 manifesto, it | :26:15. | :26:20. | |
said we are set to move into surplus of them, that is now off the cards? | :26:21. | :26:32. | |
We are committed to it, but not with that timing. When you set out to a | :26:33. | :26:36. | |
destination, if the traffic conditions say you should take | :26:37. | :26:42. | |
different route, that's what you do. But we don't know if Brexit will be | :26:43. | :26:46. | |
as dire as people like you predicted, so until we do know that, | :26:47. | :26:50. | |
why ditch the planned to head the surplus that you promised the | :26:51. | :26:56. | |
British people? Because there is uncertainty in the world economy. It | :26:57. | :27:00. | |
seems sensible to make that adjustment, but the destination | :27:01. | :27:04. | |
still remains. You have no evidence anything has changed. You work on | :27:05. | :27:12. | |
the basis of evidence remains but Philip will be working on these | :27:13. | :27:15. | |
details in the Autumn Statement shortly. Will Theresa May's ferment | :27:16. | :27:24. | |
continued to implement the 2015 manifesto? Is she committed to it in | :27:25. | :27:30. | |
its entirety as much as David Cameron? Yes, she was very clear out | :27:31. | :27:34. | |
her first cabinet meeting that she wanted every departmental minister | :27:35. | :27:37. | |
to go back to the manifesto on which we were elected with a majority, and | :27:38. | :27:44. | |
to ensure that we were delivering on those objectives. I think your | :27:45. | :27:49. | |
tracker is a good idea. Just not when it comes to the surplus or | :27:50. | :27:55. | |
immigration? One point of the tracker is that it enables you and | :27:56. | :27:59. | |
the public to see where we are making progress, as we are for | :28:00. | :28:03. | |
example on getting more poorer people out of tax and into work and | :28:04. | :28:07. | |
so on, and where we have taken the decision to alter the course of it. | :28:08. | :28:12. | |
I'm glad you think the tracker is a good idea. Come back in the future | :28:13. | :28:14. | |
and we will talk more about it. She says Ukip is the official | :28:15. | :28:17. | |
opposition in waiting. But how can Ukip's new leader, | :28:18. | :28:19. | |
Diane James, stop the infighting and factionalism that's threatened | :28:20. | :28:22. | |
to destroy the party's And what's the point | :28:23. | :28:24. | |
of Ukip now that the UK Diane James joins me | :28:25. | :28:27. | |
live in just a moment. First, Ellie Price reports | :28:28. | :28:30. | |
from Ukip's party conference in Bournemouth, where the new leader | :28:31. | :28:32. | |
moved swiftly to put her stamp It is an absolute pleasure | :28:33. | :28:35. | |
to announce, with 8451 votes, the leader of the UK | :28:36. | :28:42. | |
Independence Party, Diane James! There you have it, | :28:43. | :28:48. | |
the biggest non-surprise in politics in years - | :28:49. | :28:50. | |
Diane James is the She's been the frontrunner in this | :28:51. | :28:52. | |
election campaign all summer. Of course, the challenge now | :28:53. | :28:56. | |
is going to be convincing this lot What I will be doing is stepping | :28:57. | :28:59. | |
into his leadership shoes, but I will be doing everything | :29:00. | :29:17. | |
to achieve the political success that he's handing over to me | :29:18. | :29:22. | |
and to you. But, as the new leader, Diane James | :29:23. | :29:26. | |
knows she has big shoes to fill. Nigel's a great almost wartime | :29:27. | :29:31. | |
leader, he said that during his speech, and I think | :29:32. | :29:34. | |
Diane's a different kind of leader. There's talk of war, | :29:35. | :29:37. | |
there's talk of peace times, but unfortunately there aren't peace | :29:38. | :29:41. | |
times within Ukip at the moment. I think this pretty much | :29:42. | :29:44. | |
settles the issue. Diane is strong on these | :29:45. | :29:46. | |
sorts of issues. In many ways, Nigel | :29:47. | :29:48. | |
was slightly weak, actually. There's really only about four | :29:49. | :29:54. | |
or five people who cause trouble in Ukip, and I'm pretty sure that's | :29:55. | :29:57. | |
the end of the story. But just before a live interview | :29:58. | :30:01. | |
with Ukip's Steven Woolfe, I was literally caught in the middle | :30:02. | :30:04. | |
of what you could describe You've seen and heard what was said | :30:05. | :30:07. | |
in the media, and so... The reason for Neil | :30:08. | :30:20. | |
Hamilton's anger? Diane James had rewritten the next | :30:21. | :30:25. | |
day's conference schedule It certainly seems like a quixotic | :30:26. | :30:27. | |
decision from somebody who an hour or two ago was talking | :30:28. | :30:34. | |
about the need for party unity. He was replaced by his rival | :30:35. | :30:37. | |
in Welsh Ukip. You said to me the other day | :30:38. | :30:41. | |
there would be a bloodbath, Is this the beginning | :30:42. | :30:44. | |
of the bloodbath? I think it's the beginning of Diane | :30:45. | :30:50. | |
putting her foot down, showing that she is the leader, | :30:51. | :30:53. | |
and that she wants the rest of the conference to go the way | :30:54. | :30:55. | |
that she wants it to go. We're fine, just | :30:56. | :30:59. | |
wondering who you are? That's Douglas Carswell, | :31:00. | :31:02. | |
by the way, the party's only MP. The now ex-leader thinks | :31:03. | :31:04. | |
he knows exactly who he is, and was using his new-found | :31:05. | :31:06. | |
freedom to explain. During the referendum campaign, | :31:07. | :31:11. | |
he's really done all he can But the new leader was there, | :31:12. | :31:13. | |
symbolically, to greet him. Damaging comments from | :31:14. | :31:21. | |
Mr Farage this morning, Lots of people in politics say | :31:22. | :31:23. | |
all sorts of things. Diane James was also | :31:24. | :31:27. | |
more than happy to share Diane, I give you 110% of | :31:28. | :31:31. | |
my support. This conference ends | :31:32. | :31:34. | |
on a conciliatory note, and there are signs this | :31:35. | :31:48. | |
party is already moving And we've been joined by | :31:49. | :31:50. | |
the new leader of Ukip, Diane James. Good morning, thank you. What is the | :31:51. | :32:15. | |
point of Ukip? We are the only party 100% committed to Brexit, we have a | :32:16. | :32:20. | |
Tory Government that is still split, a Labour Party that has no idea | :32:21. | :32:23. | |
which direction it is going in. You have what is left of the Liberal | :32:24. | :32:28. | |
Democrats relying on their voice in Europe, their single voice in | :32:29. | :32:31. | |
Europe, to get their message across, and we are the one party that will | :32:32. | :32:35. | |
stand up for the over 17 million people that wanted to leave the | :32:36. | :32:39. | |
European Union, simple. Except that you are dysfunctional? No, we are | :32:40. | :32:52. | |
embarking on a brand-new era, as I said on a conference. I know you | :32:53. | :32:55. | |
will pick up on the changes I made to the programme but the new leader | :32:56. | :32:57. | |
has the prerogative to do that. I understand that, and leaders should | :32:58. | :33:00. | |
lead, but Paul Nuttall, the outgoing deputy leader, has spoken of a | :33:01. | :33:02. | |
cancer at the heart of the party that has led to leading light using | :33:03. | :33:07. | |
Ukip as a football. You have huge problems in Wales, its huge problems | :33:08. | :33:11. | |
with the NEC, an issue with Nathan Gill, with many favoured candidates | :33:12. | :33:18. | |
who ended up not standing, senior colleagues falling out, membership | :33:19. | :33:22. | |
and funding declining, which bit of that is not dysfunctional? Thank you | :33:23. | :33:26. | |
for reminding me of the issues I have got to tackle over the next few | :33:27. | :33:31. | |
weeks. I made it clear in my events around the country that I would have | :33:32. | :33:35. | |
a 100 day plan, focusing on precisely the sort of issues you | :33:36. | :33:38. | |
have outlined. I don't agree with one of them, by any means, but in | :33:39. | :33:43. | |
100 days I hope to be able to show that we are turning a corner and | :33:44. | :33:47. | |
that we are embarking on a new era. You claim you will be the real | :33:48. | :33:50. | |
opposition to Government but you only have one semidetached MP in | :33:51. | :33:57. | |
Westminster, it is delusional? No, it is not, look where we are at this | :33:58. | :34:02. | |
point, potentially four by-elections, we said we would not | :34:03. | :34:06. | |
stand in one out of respect to Jo Cox but three others, look at those | :34:07. | :34:11. | |
by-elections in the context of the dysfunctional position Labour is in, | :34:12. | :34:15. | |
and we are ripe to take those seats. Do you accept your only MP, Douglas | :34:16. | :34:20. | |
Carswell, is pretty semidetached at best? I would not call him | :34:21. | :34:24. | |
semidetached, I heard the speech he gave at the conference, the | :34:25. | :34:29. | |
endorsement he gave me and the endorsement he has given | :34:30. | :34:31. | |
subsequently, and I see him as being a member of the Ukip team going | :34:32. | :34:35. | |
forward. You have asked to move a Private members Bill to invoke | :34:36. | :34:43. | |
article 50, has he agreed? He stated he would do his level best. That is | :34:44. | :34:47. | |
not the same as agreeing. He made the point that there is another | :34:48. | :34:51. | |
option, to repeal the European communities act and instigate a | :34:52. | :34:54. | |
debate on that. We have an individual prepared to launch a two | :34:55. | :34:58. | |
pronged attack in the House of Commons and forced Theresa May into | :34:59. | :35:03. | |
doing something. A two pronged one-man attack. He told me on Friday | :35:04. | :35:10. | |
that Ukip should be, quote, a free-market Libertarian party. If | :35:11. | :35:14. | |
that your vision? If I can remind you, from my speech, my vision is | :35:15. | :35:20. | |
probably slightly different words, it is global, positive, outward | :35:21. | :35:23. | |
looking, enterprise building and making this country great again | :35:24. | :35:27. | |
outside of the EU control. But if it free-market and libertarian? That is | :35:28. | :35:34. | |
his vision, I am trying to work out the vision -- if the vision of your | :35:35. | :35:40. | |
only MP is the same as the new leader? OK, I will say it is the | :35:41. | :35:45. | |
same. So you are free-market and libertarianism? Yes, we are about | :35:46. | :35:50. | |
enterprise Britain... Given the leadership campaign was a policy | :35:51. | :35:54. | |
free zone, what will be the most distinctive policies Ukip will stand | :35:55. | :35:59. | |
for under Diane James? Certainly the issue of migration and immigration, | :36:00. | :36:04. | |
certainly the issue of defence, giving us back the ability to defend | :36:05. | :36:08. | |
this country... These are existing policies? No, these need a major | :36:09. | :36:15. | |
refresh out of EU control. The aspect of Homeland Security, the | :36:16. | :36:19. | |
aspect we have not got a functioning Border Force, we have not got a | :36:20. | :36:22. | |
functioning passport control system, we have even got a Home Secretary | :36:23. | :36:30. | |
continuing the project via aspect of a beaver charge for people going | :36:31. | :36:35. | |
into Europe or coming to the UK. Absolutely bizarre. I am just trying | :36:36. | :36:39. | |
to find out what the policies will be. The major one for me, given my | :36:40. | :36:45. | |
background, the state that the NHS is in, and if we can show a very | :36:46. | :36:49. | |
clear vision and stand up to what Jeremy Hunt is doing in terms of | :36:50. | :36:54. | |
decimating the NHS, I will be delighted. You will agree that is | :36:55. | :36:56. | |
not a policy but an attitude... It is a policy in terms of the NHS. | :36:57. | :37:12. | |
We don't know about the policy because you refused to debate with | :37:13. | :37:14. | |
other candidates during the leadership campaign and campaigned | :37:15. | :37:16. | |
on a no policy platform, white? I launched my own series of national | :37:17. | :37:19. | |
events, nationwide, and I gave members and activists, and, in fact, | :37:20. | :37:23. | |
the press, the media, anybody who wanted to come along, there was not | :37:24. | :37:27. | |
a bar in terms of membership only, to come along and interact with me | :37:28. | :37:32. | |
for two hours. That gave individuals, all of the members in | :37:33. | :37:36. | |
the audience, a solid two hours to scrutinise what I had to say. That | :37:37. | :37:40. | |
was a much higher quality programme that anything hustings would have | :37:41. | :37:44. | |
given. But why not debate with your rivals? Because there was no need, | :37:45. | :37:49. | |
we were not fighting a general election, we were fighting, if you | :37:50. | :37:53. | |
wish to use the phrase, to elect the new leader of Ukip, and I chose to | :37:54. | :37:57. | |
go direct to the members, to interact with them directly and give | :37:58. | :38:00. | |
them quality time with me and respond to all of their questions. | :38:01. | :38:06. | |
Many think Ukip's best chance is to win over disaffected working-class | :38:07. | :38:09. | |
Labour voters in the north, so how does the epitome of the Home | :38:10. | :38:14. | |
Counties bourgeoisie do that? You tell me! It is not my job. I have | :38:15. | :38:21. | |
never heard such convoluted language! Can you simplify that so | :38:22. | :38:26. | |
we know what you are talking about? There have been a number of leaders | :38:27. | :38:30. | |
your party could have chosen, Paul Nuttall, Steven Woolfe, who would | :38:31. | :38:33. | |
have had a clear, more distinct appeal to the north. Paul Michael | :38:34. | :38:41. | |
chose not to stand. You need to ask him his reason. I'm just asking how | :38:42. | :38:48. | |
you will appeal to the North. Steven Woolfe, a superb colleague of mine, | :38:49. | :38:52. | |
regretfully there were issues in terms of getting his information in | :38:53. | :38:56. | |
in time. The point I have made throughout my programme of events is | :38:57. | :39:00. | |
that I want to have two chiefs of staff, people who will ably assist | :39:01. | :39:04. | |
me in developing our programme, our policies, our strategy is to appeal | :39:05. | :39:08. | |
both to the north and also the south. What will you do about Wales, | :39:09. | :39:13. | |
where Ukip seems to be involved in civil war? I will ask Neil Hamilton | :39:14. | :39:26. | |
to focus on Welsh Assembly, on winning the elections in Wales, and | :39:27. | :39:29. | |
I will ask Nathan to continue doing a superb job he does in terms of | :39:30. | :39:31. | |
representing Wales in the European Union and Parliament, and in the | :39:32. | :39:34. | |
voting in Strasbourg. So you will have two Kings? No, Nathan has my | :39:35. | :39:37. | |
complete and utter support, he has had a huge legacy in terms of his | :39:38. | :39:41. | |
membership, a huge wealth of knowledge in terms of the issues | :39:42. | :39:46. | |
facing Wales if Mrs May does not action about to leave the European | :39:47. | :39:52. | |
Union. He has got my full support. Neil, I am asking you, step up to | :39:53. | :39:58. | |
the plate, but focus on Wales and the assembly. One of your party's | :39:59. | :40:04. | |
main funders was an errant banks, in the process of turning leave. EU | :40:05. | :40:11. | |
into a momentum of the right, to mirror the Jeremy Corbyn movement on | :40:12. | :40:14. | |
the left, do you have a problem with that? I have just been elected head | :40:15. | :40:26. | |
of a political party. If he wishes to support a political movement, | :40:27. | :40:29. | |
that is his decision. Other than Vladimir Putin, who is your main | :40:30. | :40:34. | |
political hero? Certainly not Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton. I did not | :40:35. | :40:40. | |
ask who was not, who is? I cannot think of anybody apart from Margaret | :40:41. | :40:44. | |
Thatcher and Winston Churchill. Putin, Churchill and Thatcher. We | :40:45. | :40:46. | |
hope to see you again. Thank you. It's just gone 11.40, | :40:47. | :40:51. | |
you're watching the Sunday Politics. We say goodbye to viewers | :40:52. | :40:53. | |
in Scotland, who leave us now Coming up here in 20 minutes, | :40:54. | :40:56. | |
the Week Ahead. First though, the Sunday | :40:57. | :40:59. | |
Politics where you are. Hello and welcome to | :41:00. | :41:07. | |
the London part of the show. Coming up later: The Mayor | :41:08. | :41:10. | |
is in North America drumming up trade deals | :41:11. | :41:15. | |
for the capital, post-Brexit. But will his message be heard | :41:16. | :41:19. | |
amidst the sound and fury Joining me for the duration | :41:20. | :41:21. | |
of the show, Greg Hands, the Conservative MP for Chelsea | :41:22. | :41:30. | |
and Fulham, who is Minister Tom Brake, the Lib Dem | :41:31. | :41:34. | |
MP for Carshalton and Wallington, and Neil Coyle, | :41:35. | :41:37. | |
Labour MP for Bermondsey One issue preoccupying MPs this week | :41:38. | :41:39. | |
- the looming boundary changes, which will mean a cull of 50 | :41:40. | :41:46. | |
of the existing 650 MPs, something that will arguably affect | :41:47. | :41:49. | |
London more than any other region. Do you think this is gerrymandering | :41:50. | :42:01. | |
by the Tories? I do, very much so. Not only does it give the Tories an | :42:02. | :42:06. | |
advantage on top of the cuts to funding for political parties and | :42:07. | :42:09. | |
changes in the voter registration system, it fails to take into | :42:10. | :42:13. | |
account population growth in London and the level of casework all | :42:14. | :42:18. | |
oversee cross-party as London MPs that is disproportionate to, for | :42:19. | :42:22. | |
example, bits of Suffolk or Wales. You have to admit it gives you an | :42:23. | :42:26. | |
advantage, Labour will lose more seat in the redrawing of the | :42:27. | :42:45. | |
boundaries and you have not taken into account the latest register? | :42:46. | :42:48. | |
What Labour and the Lib Dems are saying is a total travesty. This is | :42:49. | :42:50. | |
about creating equal sized Parliamentary constituencies which | :42:51. | :42:53. | |
has been a central tenet of British democracy for 200 years since the | :42:54. | :42:55. | |
chartists in the 1830s were campaigning for equal sized... What | :42:56. | :42:57. | |
Neal has said is he wants to go, and Tom, I'm expecting, to a situation | :42:58. | :43:00. | |
where they favour a equal sized constituencies. It is untenable. | :43:01. | :43:02. | |
What is wrong with equal sized constituencies? It should not be | :43:03. | :43:04. | |
fair that one constituency need so many more votes to elect the MP than | :43:05. | :43:12. | |
others? The fact is, we support the principle of equal sized | :43:13. | :43:14. | |
constituencies, no problem with that whatsoever. The issue here is | :43:15. | :43:20. | |
particularly metropolitan areas where there is a very high level of | :43:21. | :43:26. | |
under registration of electors, and therefore the numbers this is based | :43:27. | :43:31. | |
on severely underestimate the number of people in certain areas, and they | :43:32. | :43:34. | |
tend to be perhaps more Labour inclined voting areas than they | :43:35. | :43:39. | |
would be Conservatives. Tom voted for the legislation in 2011 which | :43:40. | :43:43. | |
set the process by which the electorate in 2015 if by statute, by | :43:44. | :43:50. | |
law, the electorate... You brought forward the date... That is what we | :43:51. | :43:57. | |
need to do... Don't talk over each other. Let's be clear, you did bring | :43:58. | :44:02. | |
forward the date, and what that has meant, rightly or wrongly, is that | :44:03. | :44:06. | |
around 2 million voters have not been included, that is true? But the | :44:07. | :44:10. | |
solution from Labour and the Lib Dems would appear to be to go back | :44:11. | :44:15. | |
to the electorate that we use from the year 2000, which by then would | :44:16. | :44:22. | |
be 20 years out of date. If you were interested in equal sized the | :44:23. | :44:26. | |
population, you should be looking at the whole population, so in London | :44:27. | :44:29. | |
and other cities, where there are many more younger people and people | :44:30. | :44:35. | |
from outside the UK living, so you get far more, for example in my | :44:36. | :44:39. | |
constituency I have done in 1400 bits of immigration casework, many | :44:40. | :44:43. | |
of those people cannot register to vote... How is there a system by | :44:44. | :44:48. | |
which there is an equal number of electors... Let me come to this | :44:49. | :44:52. | |
point, what is happening with your seat, Greg, because the mantra of | :44:53. | :44:56. | |
your party, I paraphrase, is no colleague should be left behind, but | :44:57. | :45:01. | |
your seat will be carved up? In my current constituency, it will be | :45:02. | :45:06. | |
divided into two. I will wait and see the process because the boundary | :45:07. | :45:10. | |
map could well be redrawn, it was in the last review, and I will see what | :45:11. | :45:14. | |
the situation looks like in 2018. We will leave it there. | :45:15. | :45:18. | |
A year ago, Tim Farron was elected Lib Dem leader on a new punchy | :45:19. | :45:21. | |
12 months on, and in London the fightback lacked bite, | :45:22. | :45:25. | |
seeing Britain's former third party sink to fifth place | :45:26. | :45:27. | |
Is it all over for the Lib Dems in London? | :45:28. | :45:31. | |
Andrew Cryan has been talking to some of the party's senior figures. | :45:32. | :45:35. | |
Since their disastrous general election last year, | :45:36. | :45:37. | |
there's been big talk from the Liberal Democrats, | :45:38. | :45:39. | |
But, at its first big test in London, May's | :45:40. | :45:49. | |
election for City Hall, they came fourth in the mayoral race | :45:50. | :45:51. | |
Yes, we would love to have done a little better in the Assembly | :45:52. | :45:58. | |
elections but Caroline Pidgeon is a wonderful leader for us | :45:59. | :46:00. | |
here in London, whose voice really cut through. | :46:01. | :46:03. | |
But I think the moment the Liberal Democrats' fortunes | :46:04. | :46:06. | |
in London transformed was the moment after the referendum, | :46:07. | :46:09. | |
when it became very clear to the people of London | :46:10. | :46:12. | |
that the only party backing our future in Europe, still believing | :46:13. | :46:16. | |
there is a possibility that we can have a vote that could keep us | :46:17. | :46:20. | |
in the European Union, is the Liberal Democrats. | :46:21. | :46:22. | |
They call it a fightback, but what can you actually | :46:23. | :46:25. | |
One of the party's biggest losses at the general election | :46:26. | :46:30. | |
was in Bermondsey and Old Southwark, which they had held for 30 years. | :46:31. | :46:35. | |
It's never the end of Simon Hughes, once said the former Lib Dem MP | :46:36. | :46:40. | |
I don't think it was an anti-Simon vote, an anti-local Liberal Democrat | :46:41. | :46:48. | |
vote, I think it was to do with what had happened nationally, | :46:49. | :46:51. | |
and I think we can win the seat back. | :46:52. | :46:53. | |
I don't want to have it taken from me. | :46:54. | :46:56. | |
Once we have won it back, then in time I can give | :46:57. | :46:58. | |
Simon took us to meet people in his stronghold on the patch. | :46:59. | :47:03. | |
He has been looking after - he don't care who you are, what you are. | :47:04. | :47:12. | |
We will make sure people understand that there is a personal choice | :47:13. | :47:21. | |
between the MP they had before and the MP they have just had | :47:22. | :47:25. | |
for the last little while, and then there's a political choice | :47:26. | :47:28. | |
and it's a Labour Liberal Democrat political choice. | :47:29. | :47:35. | |
But the Lib Dem fall-back in London hasn't just been to Labour. | :47:36. | :47:38. | |
In Twickenham, former Cabinet minister Vince Cable lost his seat | :47:39. | :47:41. | |
Now, it's hard to think of anywhere in London that is more different | :47:42. | :47:45. | |
to Bermondsey than where I'm standing in Twickenham. | :47:46. | :47:47. | |
The politics here are completely different as well. | :47:48. | :47:49. | |
They kicked out the Lib Dems, and instead voted Conservative, | :47:50. | :47:52. | |
suggesting that it's unlikely the problem | :47:53. | :47:56. | |
here was that they were seen as being too close to the Tories. | :47:57. | :48:01. | |
The key slogan that the Conservatives had was | :48:02. | :48:03. | |
Well, we have no longer got Cameron and we have got the chaotic | :48:04. | :48:08. | |
aftermath of the Brexit vote, which of course the majority | :48:09. | :48:11. | |
So, according to the party, they lost in leafy Twickenham | :48:12. | :48:16. | |
because a vote for the Lib Dems was seen as a vote for Labour | :48:17. | :48:19. | |
in the inner city, because voting for them was a vote for the Tories, | :48:20. | :48:23. | |
You know, we have strongholds, we have areas where we formally had | :48:24. | :48:33. | |
MPs, and I think we are realistic that the fightback | :48:34. | :48:36. | |
There's not going to be some sort of miraculous overnight recovery | :48:37. | :48:40. | |
of the position we had before the coalition, | :48:41. | :48:42. | |
but there is a very positive attitude in the party. | :48:43. | :48:44. | |
We feel we have really got something to say. | :48:45. | :48:48. | |
But with just one MP left in London one council under their control, | :48:49. | :48:52. | |
and since May one Assembly member, there is a long, hard battle ahead | :48:53. | :48:55. | |
The big question is, Tom Brake, are you known as dad in your | :48:56. | :49:12. | |
constituency? But moving on, Simon Hughes making that claim! This Lib | :49:13. | :49:17. | |
Dem fightback is not going very well, is it? As Vince Cable set out, | :49:18. | :49:23. | |
it will be a battle, we are realistic about that, but since the | :49:24. | :49:27. | |
general election we have seen party membership increase by 120% and that | :49:28. | :49:32. | |
has increased in areas where we are not very strong as well so that is a | :49:33. | :49:38. | |
good sign for the party in the longer term. Apart from the 2015 | :49:39. | :49:41. | |
mayoral elections and Assembly election, which have always been a | :49:42. | :49:49. | |
difficult nut to crack, because as it is a two horse race... You did | :49:50. | :49:58. | |
really badly in that. It has always been a battle between Ken | :49:59. | :50:02. | |
Livingstone and Boris Johnson, or in this case Sadiq Khan and Zach | :50:03. | :50:07. | |
Johnson, it is difficult to break through that. But we have held a | :50:08. | :50:11. | |
seat in my constituency, in Kingston, in Southwark, and indeed | :50:12. | :50:16. | |
we took seats from Conservatives in Richmond. Richmond is interesting | :50:17. | :50:21. | |
because if Zac Goldsmith does what he said he will do and resign when | :50:22. | :50:26. | |
we expect the third runway to be announced at Heathrow, that is a | :50:27. | :50:30. | |
borough in which we have won a seat from the Tories on the council and | :50:31. | :50:35. | |
it is an interesting prospect for us. At the moment as things stand, | :50:36. | :50:40. | |
in vast swathes of London, you are nowhere. In vast swathes of London | :50:41. | :50:47. | |
what we have also just had is the EU referendum, and across the country | :50:48. | :50:51. | |
we had 48% of people voting to stay in, and we are the only party united | :50:52. | :50:56. | |
on that issue. So why didn't it translate into votes? Maybe it will | :50:57. | :51:05. | |
do in the future. People only have one party to come to and that's the | :51:06. | :51:11. | |
Liberal Democrats. If we look at the mayoralty again, Caroline Pidgeon | :51:12. | :51:14. | |
came fourth, in terms of the London mayoral elections, Lib Dems came | :51:15. | :51:22. | |
fifth, even Ukip did better. Diane James is the new party's leader. She | :51:23. | :51:29. | |
will be hoping to build on that. How do you come back from that? London | :51:30. | :51:36. | |
is a city which is open and tolerant, and people want parties | :51:37. | :51:40. | |
that are united, parties that are not united suffer, and we are that | :51:41. | :51:46. | |
party. You had better not be complacent, Neil Coyle. Simon Hughes | :51:47. | :51:50. | |
is still loved by some of his constituents. He is God! Do you feel | :51:51. | :52:01. | |
under pressure? I think it is deeply patronising for the Liberal | :52:02. | :52:04. | |
Democrats to keep selecting the same people. They are not bringing | :52:05. | :52:07. | |
forward anyone else, they are not bringing forward anyone who doesn't | :52:08. | :52:14. | |
have the same attachment to the regions that people did not vote Lib | :52:15. | :52:20. | |
Dems last year. Simon voted for the bedroom tax, devoted to cut legal | :52:21. | :52:26. | |
aid. Tuition fees increase. Simon is attached to those issues. You think | :52:27. | :52:31. | |
they are being punished for those issues but after a certain amount of | :52:32. | :52:35. | |
time they will regain a uniqueness that isn't there perhaps at the | :52:36. | :52:39. | |
moment. Certainly not by selecting the same candidates that were part | :52:40. | :52:43. | |
of the Government, ministers within a Conservative government. Do you | :52:44. | :52:48. | |
think Jeremy Corbyn will help the defender of seats like yours? There | :52:49. | :52:55. | |
is a progressive vote in my constituency and I will be working | :52:56. | :52:59. | |
hard. The casework I do every week... You didn't ask the question | :53:00. | :53:06. | |
-- answer the question whether Jeremy Corbyn will help. Owen Smith | :53:07. | :53:12. | |
will potentially the our new leader next week. He worked with the Lib | :53:13. | :53:18. | |
Dems in Government, what do you say? To some extent may have taking the | :53:19. | :53:22. | |
pain, they paid a high price for working with you. I don't see any | :53:23. | :53:30. | |
sign of a Lib Dem revival. 8% in the opinion polls, actually lower than | :53:31. | :53:36. | |
after the election. They lost the tooting by-election... We didn't | :53:37. | :53:45. | |
lose it, we didn't win the seat. There was a survey done which found | :53:46. | :53:53. | |
interesting that more Ukip voters identify themselves with the centre | :53:54. | :53:56. | |
of politics than Liberal Democrats, presumably because they feel | :53:57. | :54:01. | |
post-Brexit they are more in tune with the national psyche than your | :54:02. | :54:05. | |
party. Our party traditionally has appealed to issues to do with | :54:06. | :54:10. | |
environment and Civil Liberties and part of the process we are going | :54:11. | :54:14. | |
through is reconnecting with people who were perhaps disillusioned with | :54:15. | :54:17. | |
the fact we went into coalition. That is the first age of the process | :54:18. | :54:22. | |
but actually if you look outside London, where there have been a | :54:23. | :54:26. | |
significant number of council by-elections, we are the party since | :54:27. | :54:30. | |
May last year, which has gained seats. 8% in the polls, Tom. Let me | :54:31. | :54:42. | |
just interrupts there to say to Greg Hands. As you will know, there have | :54:43. | :54:46. | |
been some quite senior defections from Ukip to the Conservative Party. | :54:47. | :54:52. | |
Obviously you have been sworn enemies in elections recently, are | :54:53. | :54:56. | |
you welcoming back those people into the Tory party? We have just | :54:57. | :55:00. | |
welcomed back a former Liberal Democrat MP who defected back to us. | :55:01. | :55:08. | |
I'm talking about Ukip. We generally welcome people who rejoin the party. | :55:09. | :55:12. | |
There is a process involved, but in general of course. I welcome more | :55:13. | :55:17. | |
people into the Conservative Party, I am a Conservative. Thank you. | :55:18. | :55:22. | |
The Mayor, Sadiq Khan, is in North America drumming | :55:23. | :55:24. | |
up trade for London, but also - many think - | :55:25. | :55:26. | |
making a point about Republican Presidential candidate | :55:27. | :55:28. | |
Donald Trump's proposed ban on Muslims travelling to the USA. | :55:29. | :55:30. | |
Khan was with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Thursday. | :55:31. | :55:33. | |
There are people in Daesh and so-called ices who say it is | :55:34. | :55:43. | |
incompatible to be a Muslim and to hold Western liberal values, and by | :55:44. | :55:47. | |
the way there are far right politicians in the USA, in the UK | :55:48. | :55:51. | |
and elsewhere, saying the same thing. Greg Hands, is he doing a | :55:52. | :55:57. | |
better job than the Government at the moment in terms of sale London | :55:58. | :56:02. | |
and the UK is open for business? Actually we are both doing the same | :56:03. | :56:07. | |
job. I was out in the state last month, Liam Fox was also in the | :56:08. | :56:12. | |
States last month, drumming up support for UK business and US | :56:13. | :56:17. | |
investment. 1 million people in this country go to work every day to work | :56:18. | :56:22. | |
for US company. We need to make sure the message is heard loud and clear, | :56:23. | :56:26. | |
Britain is open for business, whether it comes from me, Theresa | :56:27. | :56:31. | |
May or Sadiq Khan I support that message. So you think he is doing | :56:32. | :56:38. | |
good job? I support the London mayor talking about the importance of | :56:39. | :56:40. | |
inward investment into the London economy. In a way he is doing Liam | :56:41. | :56:48. | |
Fox's job for him, isn't he? As I said, Liam Fox was in the USA before | :56:49. | :56:53. | |
Sadiq Khan so nobody is doing each other's job. The more voices we have | :56:54. | :56:57. | |
saying Britain is open for business after Brexit, and by the way for | :56:58. | :57:01. | |
Sadiq Khan I think it is the convenient time to be away. OK, | :57:02. | :57:08. | |
sideswipe there at Labour but if we get back to what the Government is | :57:09. | :57:13. | |
doing, do you think it was helpful Liam Fox described businessmen as | :57:14. | :57:17. | |
fat and lazy in his bid to say we are for business? I think he was | :57:18. | :57:22. | |
making a general point that we need to do better on exports as a | :57:23. | :57:26. | |
country. Only 10% of British companies currently export and we | :57:27. | :57:31. | |
want to get that increased. He's not going to ingratiate himself with the | :57:32. | :57:34. | |
business community if he's criticising them at that personal | :57:35. | :57:38. | |
level. The most important point is that we have got to send the message | :57:39. | :57:42. | |
that we need to be exporting more, we are open for business, we are | :57:43. | :57:49. | |
helping overseas direct investment. Clearly it will not be helpful, him | :57:50. | :57:54. | |
describing businesses here as being fat and lazy and that was a | :57:55. | :57:57. | |
regrettable statement. What he has also got to try to do is convince | :57:58. | :58:01. | |
businesses for instance, a business here in the UK that wants to start | :58:02. | :58:06. | |
exporting to other countries is now, once we have left the EU, will have | :58:07. | :58:11. | |
a double dose of regulations to deal with so he will need to be | :58:12. | :58:16. | |
particularly careful in trying to help those businesses. You should | :58:17. | :58:20. | |
talk to businesses that export now to the European Union because that | :58:21. | :58:25. | |
is what they are saying. I would say businesses are interested in the | :58:26. | :58:29. | |
process but they recognise, most businesses recognise the British | :58:30. | :58:33. | |
people voted on the 23rd of June to leave the European Union. It is now | :58:34. | :58:37. | |
a question of getting the right relationship with the EU. Brexit | :58:38. | :58:41. | |
must be Brexit and we need to get on with it. You say you want to send a | :58:42. | :58:46. | |
message that Britain is open for business. What would demonstrate | :58:47. | :58:49. | |
that very poignantly would be giving the green light to a third runway at | :58:50. | :58:57. | |
Heathrow, wouldn't it? We are making that decision shortly based on the | :58:58. | :58:59. | |
environmental study that was done, looking back at the Davis | :59:00. | :59:02. | |
commission. That decision will be made shortly. We have been waiting | :59:03. | :59:09. | |
for years and we are still waiting. Where do you stand on this issue? | :59:10. | :59:13. | |
You have said repeatedly in the last few minutes we are open for | :59:14. | :59:24. | |
business. This would be a massive confidence boost to businesses. We | :59:25. | :59:30. | |
are committed to expansion in the south-east, that is the most | :59:31. | :59:37. | |
important thing. I am supportive of expanding our runway capacity, and | :59:38. | :59:41. | |
it is up to the Cabinet committee and the Prime Minister to make that | :59:42. | :59:46. | |
decision. How difficult is it for Sadiq Khan in a city like London | :59:47. | :59:51. | |
which voted to remain, but is working in Brexit UK having to sell | :59:52. | :59:56. | |
London abroad? I think it is incredibly tough and it doesn't help | :59:57. | :00:00. | |
to have other ministers making negative comments about British | :00:01. | :00:05. | |
business. For me and my constituents I'm proud Sadiq Khan is trying to | :00:06. | :00:09. | |
attract foreign businesses and ease those businesses that know it will | :00:10. | :00:13. | |
be hard to recruit some staff and trade am a potentially. But also he | :00:14. | :00:19. | |
could also be making the case, and I'm working with Sadiq Khan on | :00:20. | :00:23. | |
infrastructure development within the constituency, and again he's | :00:24. | :00:27. | |
making a positive case. Let's leave it there. | :00:28. | :00:30. | |
Now for the rest of the political news in brief. | :00:31. | :00:37. | |
A report from the London greenbelt council claims demand to create more | :00:38. | :00:40. | |
homes in the capital is putting unprecedented pressure | :00:41. | :00:42. | |
It says there are 203 applications to build on greenbelt land in London | :00:43. | :00:46. | |
That will deliver more than 120,000 new homes but campaigners say this | :00:47. | :00:51. | |
There were angry exchanges at Mayor's question time this week, | :00:52. | :01:00. | |
following Sadiq Khan's decision to veto plans to create | :01:01. | :01:02. | |
a new private pension scheme at City Hall. | :01:03. | :01:05. | |
The only person stopping us having that pension is you. | :01:06. | :01:12. | |
And on the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire Show, Labour MP for Bermondsey | :01:13. | :01:18. | |
and Old Southwark, Neil Coyle, said he would consider taking legal | :01:19. | :01:20. | |
action against Jeremy Corbyn over being named on the list | :01:21. | :01:23. | |
Yes, and it would be the leader, not the party, because this has been | :01:24. | :01:28. | |
issued apparently by someone in his campaign team, | :01:29. | :01:30. | |
Let me echo that, wow, indeed. Are you going ahead with it? I am yet to | :01:31. | :01:52. | |
have the apology I have been promised and I will base my | :01:53. | :01:56. | |
decision... I still have not been told what I am accused of doing, | :01:57. | :02:00. | |
which is why it is damaging. I have had a torrent of abused caused by | :02:01. | :02:08. | |
Jeremy and John McDonnell and I am waiting for my apology. What sort of | :02:09. | :02:13. | |
abuse? Trolling, insults, accusations that I do not belong in | :02:14. | :02:17. | |
a political party, lots of parts of the anatomy have been mentioned as | :02:18. | :02:21. | |
well. Yes, this is a daytime programme, we won't go into detail! | :02:22. | :02:26. | |
Have you spoken to the leaders' offers about this? Some of his staff | :02:27. | :02:30. | |
claim he did not know about it but clearly he did when he spoke on sky | :02:31. | :02:34. | |
News and it again demonstrates that when Jeremy himself -- whether | :02:35. | :02:39. | |
Jeremy himself indulges in this, you certainly create the environment, | :02:40. | :02:44. | |
his staff have been fingered, if you like, for causing the leak, they are | :02:45. | :02:47. | |
doing it and telling their fan base to do it. You are supporting Owen | :02:48. | :02:52. | |
Smith, who is challenging Jeremy Corbyn, and when Jeremy Corbyn was | :02:53. | :02:57. | |
asked about the list, I think 30 MPs including you who have been | :02:58. | :03:00. | |
disloyal, he said, it is a fact, they have been disloyal. Is it as | :03:01. | :03:06. | |
big a deal as you are making out? I don't know the nature of the full | :03:07. | :03:11. | |
accusation, but what has been said since, I know the reaction I have | :03:12. | :03:16. | |
experienced, so I know what I have received as a direct result of this | :03:17. | :03:20. | |
list being published. My position in the Labour Party is solely that I | :03:21. | :03:24. | |
want us to be in the best place to make sure my constituents don't have | :03:25. | :03:27. | |
to put up with further housing crisis and damage from the | :03:28. | :03:31. | |
Conservative Government, I want a Labour Government and believe Owen | :03:32. | :03:34. | |
will put us in the right place for that. Briefly. We have a Government | :03:35. | :03:41. | |
committed to spending ?18 billion on Hinkley Point C and the major | :03:42. | :03:44. | |
opposition party is in the business of suing its party leader. We want | :03:45. | :03:48. | |
an opposition that is capable of turning on the Government. Neal | :03:49. | :03:54. | |
nominated Jeremy Corbyn and is it interesting what happened in the one | :03:55. | :03:56. | |
year since. My thanks to Greg Hands, | :03:57. | :03:57. | |
Tom Brake and Neil Coyle, Will Jeremy Corbyn be able | :03:58. | :04:01. | |
to reunite the Labour Party if he's If Theresa May facing a backbench | :04:02. | :04:10. | |
rebellion over her Brexit strategy? And does Tim Farron have any chance | :04:11. | :04:23. | |
of staging a Lib Dem comeback Back with me now is Helen Lewis, | :04:24. | :04:26. | |
Isabel Oakeshott and Tim Shipman. Also, following on from our | :04:27. | :04:39. | |
interview with Labour MP Peter Kyle, who's complained that some Corbyn | :04:40. | :04:41. | |
supporters are trying to deselect him, we can | :04:42. | :04:43. | |
speak to the national organiser for Momentum, | :04:44. | :04:46. | |
James Schneider, who joins James, there is mounting evidence | :04:47. | :04:58. | |
that one of the purposes, one of the purposes, of Momentum is to get more | :04:59. | :05:04. | |
Corbyn friendly Labour MPs elected. Are you still denying that? There is | :05:05. | :05:09. | |
not mounting evidence that Momentum is campaigning for the. We are not | :05:10. | :05:17. | |
campaigning for the selections. The one person who is apparently going | :05:18. | :05:24. | |
to appear in a documentary tomorrow calling for Peter Kyle to be | :05:25. | :05:28. | |
deselected isn't a member of Momentum. So you would urge all | :05:29. | :05:33. | |
Momentum supporters in Brighton and Hove to back Mr Kyle, the sitting | :05:34. | :05:38. | |
MP? That is not what I'm saying, I'm saying selections are a matter for | :05:39. | :05:41. | |
local party members and affiliates and it is their right to decide what | :05:42. | :05:45. | |
they would like to decide. Momentum is not campaigning to reselect any | :05:46. | :05:55. | |
particular MPs. So why was Mr Sandel addressing a group of Momentum | :05:56. | :06:00. | |
supporters, telling them how to go about deselecting anti-Corbin Labour | :06:01. | :06:04. | |
MPs? He was invited by one local group. In a big organisation which | :06:05. | :06:13. | |
is very, very active, 150 groups, 18,000 members, tens of thousands of | :06:14. | :06:17. | |
activists, people have democratic debate and get invited for talks, | :06:18. | :06:22. | |
that is normal. One meeting does not dictate national policy. Are you | :06:23. | :06:27. | |
telling us today that Momentum, at the local level, is not and will not | :06:28. | :06:34. | |
be involved in any efforts to replace sitting MPs? What I'm | :06:35. | :06:37. | |
telling you is that the selections are a matter for local Labour Party | :06:38. | :06:42. | |
members and affiliates. It is their right to choose through the | :06:43. | :06:45. | |
mechanisms laid down by party conference and the National | :06:46. | :06:50. | |
Executive Committee, to do that, that is completely normal. What I am | :06:51. | :06:55. | |
saying is Momentum is not campaigning for any deselection. | :06:56. | :07:01. | |
Even at a local level? Momentum is not campaigning for deselection. Are | :07:02. | :07:05. | |
you telling me Momentum is not involved in trying to get rid of | :07:06. | :07:09. | |
local MPs at local level, is that what you are saying? Andrew, what | :07:10. | :07:14. | |
I'm telling you is that selections and elections within the Labour | :07:15. | :07:19. | |
Party are the democratic right for members and affiliates. We are not | :07:20. | :07:25. | |
trying to interfere with that, one way or the other. There may be | :07:26. | :07:31. | |
members of Momentum who are members of the Labour Party who take a | :07:32. | :07:35. | |
particular view on their MP, for example myself, I am a member of | :07:36. | :07:38. | |
Momentum and the Labour Party, I take the view on my MP, I really | :07:39. | :07:44. | |
like my MP. Who is your MP? Keir Starmer. So his position is safe | :07:45. | :07:53. | |
from Momentum? All MPs' positions are safe... We have got Len | :07:54. | :07:57. | |
McCluskey of Unite saying it is time to get rid of MPs who have been | :07:58. | :08:02. | |
overcritical of Mr Corbyn, Mark Sandell lecturing Momentum on how to | :08:03. | :08:08. | |
unseat sitting MPs, Clive Lewis describing deselection as simply | :08:09. | :08:12. | |
democratic selection. Have you not had the memo yet? Andrew, | :08:13. | :08:19. | |
selections, as I keep on saying, are the democratic right of local party | :08:20. | :08:25. | |
members and affiliates. I am not trying to stop anybody having those | :08:26. | :08:29. | |
rights, those rights are extremely important in a democratic party, but | :08:30. | :08:33. | |
what I'm not going to do is be goaded into saying something I don't | :08:34. | :08:37. | |
think, which is that Momentum should be organising for deselection is | :08:38. | :08:40. | |
because that is not what we are doing. You are not being goaded, | :08:41. | :08:44. | |
simply questioned. Is it correct that Momentum would like to have, or | :08:45. | :08:50. | |
plans to have, what it is calling an engagement officer in every | :08:51. | :08:54. | |
constituency Labour Party just to keep an eye on what is going on? Can | :08:55. | :08:58. | |
you tell us what the engagement officer would do? It is half true. | :08:59. | :09:04. | |
If you look at the guidelines on Momentum's website, to be a verified | :09:05. | :09:09. | |
local Momentum, you need positive engagement with your local Labour | :09:10. | :09:14. | |
Party, local trades union branches, community and activist groups, so | :09:15. | :09:17. | |
each group has Labour Party engagement officers so that people | :09:18. | :09:21. | |
are making sure they are taking part in the party, we want people to be | :09:22. | :09:25. | |
as involved in the Labour Party as they can be, to be campaigning and | :09:26. | :09:36. | |
part of a Democratic Party. Thank you, I know this was short notice, | :09:37. | :09:38. | |
thank you for joining us this morning. | :09:39. | :09:39. | |
Let's move on because we talked about Labour at the beginning. To | :09:40. | :09:42. | |
the Lib Dems. Theoretically, the Lib Dems, at this point, given what is | :09:43. | :09:45. | |
happening to Labour, given Mrs May and grammar schools, there could be | :09:46. | :09:48. | |
an opening for the Lib Dems, but is there any sign of it? At the moment | :09:49. | :09:53. | |
the thing that Tim Farron could do to get noticed would be to go | :09:54. | :09:56. | |
skinny-dipping off Brighton beach because it might get him some press | :09:57. | :09:59. | |
attention. He gave quite an interesting speech which I'm afraid | :10:00. | :10:03. | |
I read on my mobile phone rather than watching in person, which tells | :10:04. | :10:05. | |
a tale itself. This is a guy trying to rebuild locally, get | :10:06. | :10:24. | |
councillors elected again, being relatively successful at that, they | :10:25. | :10:26. | |
just got a 38% swing in athletes the other day against the Labour Party, | :10:27. | :10:29. | |
but it is a long road back and at the moment they are not exploiting | :10:30. | :10:32. | |
the national opportunity they have got. I think the problem they have | :10:33. | :10:34. | |
got is their grassroots network is so depleted, the opposite situation | :10:35. | :10:37. | |
to the Labour Party. They do not have the kind of infrastructure any | :10:38. | :10:40. | |
more, there are no resources, human or financial resources, they don't | :10:41. | :10:44. | |
have the people to go out there and knock on doors. Tim Farron, a great | :10:45. | :10:48. | |
and lovely guy, but he doesn't provide the most charismatic of | :10:49. | :10:51. | |
leadership and they really deep to find something to pin a revival on, | :10:52. | :10:57. | |
and at the moment it isn't there. I am more upbeat than these two, it is | :10:58. | :11:01. | |
a long road back that there is a space down the middle between their | :11:02. | :11:07. | |
Labour is and the Conservatives are, it is very authoritarian at the Home | :11:08. | :11:11. | |
Office which opens up a space for a Liberal party. They have only got | :11:12. | :11:14. | |
eight MPs, if they had more, we would be paying more attention to | :11:15. | :11:18. | |
them. Attention is one of the problems, getting attention is | :11:19. | :11:21. | |
difficult for them, there will not be that many senior journalists at | :11:22. | :11:25. | |
the Lib Dem conference. Then never used to be. We are going way back to | :11:26. | :11:30. | |
where it Lib Dems used to be a long time ago. But it is worse, if you | :11:31. | :11:44. | |
look ten years ago at least they had a reasonable cohort but I don't | :11:45. | :11:48. | |
think the number of MPs is the issue. To get attention you have got | :11:49. | :11:51. | |
to be spiky, punchy, pumping out controversial press releases, they | :11:52. | :11:53. | |
are not doing that. But they have an advantage over Labour, they are used | :11:54. | :11:56. | |
to talking to people who disagree with them, there are relatively few | :11:57. | :11:58. | |
friendly ears for the Lib Dem, and I think there are some signs of | :11:59. | :12:01. | |
resurgence but it is a long road back. There is a new Tory group | :12:02. | :12:07. | |
campaigning for hard Brexit. It is fair to say that the longer Mrs May | :12:08. | :12:13. | |
waits to trigger article 50, the more Tory divisions will come to the | :12:14. | :12:19. | |
surface? I think that is fair enough, absolutely, but I have some | :12:20. | :12:24. | |
sympathy with her position of leaving it until she has got her | :12:25. | :12:28. | |
ducks in a row. Once Article 50 is triggered, there is a limited time | :12:29. | :12:32. | |
frame to work out the negotiations, and you had an interesting guest | :12:33. | :12:37. | |
earlier, we had David Liddington who spent so long on the European | :12:38. | :12:42. | |
diplomatic circuit, and his view is that you do need time to work all | :12:43. | :12:46. | |
this out before you press the button on it. So not this side of New Year? | :12:47. | :12:52. | |
But you cannot leave it forever because there are European elections | :12:53. | :12:55. | |
coming up, it would be ludicrous to be in a position where we are | :12:56. | :13:02. | |
re-elected MEPs. I will out myself as a moaning Remainer. Nigel Farage | :13:03. | :13:08. | |
this morning said people voted to get out of the single market. Did | :13:09. | :13:13. | |
they? Again, no one knows what Brexit means. We will talk more | :13:14. | :13:14. | |
about that as autumn progresses. Jo Coburn will be back | :13:15. | :13:17. | |
on BBC Two tomorrow at noon with coverage of the Lib Dem | :13:18. | :13:21. | |
conference in Brighton. I will bring Tim Farron's speech on | :13:22. | :13:23. | |
Tuesday. And I'll be back with more | :13:24. | :13:27. | |
Sunday Politics live from the Labour conference in Liverpool | :13:28. | :13:30. | |
here on BBC One next Sunday at 11am. Remember, if it's Sunday, | :13:31. | :13:32. | |
it's the Sunday Politics. | :13:33. | :13:39. |