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SOPHY RIDGE: Our first guest this morning is someone who has already thrown her hat in the race, the former Work and Pensions Secretary, grew up in Liverpool but now represents the people of Tatton. She campaigned for Brexit and is now arguing that it’s time to actively embrace leaving without a Withdrawal Agreement. Esther McVey first declared her intention to run on this show and now she’s back to tell us more about why she wants to be Prime Minister, thank you very much for being with us this morning. There are certainly a lot of Brexit supporting MPs already in the race so why should people vote for you?

ESTHER McVEY: Well there’s a couple of things. First of all we’ve got to deliver Brexit which I’ve always said and I’ve been very straight talking about that and now the 31st October is the key date and we’re coming out then and if that means without a deal that’s what it means, we’ve got to come out then. Then we’ve got to build trust with the public, something that has absolutely broken down and trust means not just words, it means actions and deeds and people can see that you’re following through. Then we need honesty for a change, this is a polar debate, in or out. Theresa May had tried to please both sides by which she pleased neither and now we’ve got to say, and be fair, we’ve got to choose a side, the fairest side will be that which won the democratic vote, the biggest ever, and that is to leave and at the same time we’ve got to make radical changes immediately and that is, which I’ve already said, we’ve got to put more money into schools, we’ve got to put more money into police and that will come – because obviously we’ve got to live within our means – from the extra amount that is gone in year after year to foreign aid, gone up by more than 66% when other budgets have been cut and now we’re going to have to say, do you know what, we’re going to look at the high levels at which it was at, however we’ve now got to look after people at home, particularly safety on the streets, particularly in schools and [inaudible] the NHS and that is the vision we’ve got to set out and unite the country and our party.

SR: Okay, so you’re happy to raise taxes then? That’s a lot of priorities.

ESTHER McVEY: No, I never said I’d be raising taxes.

SR: You can’t find it all from international aid can you?

ESTHER McVEY: Well what’s happened, what we’ve seen from 2010 to 2017, the foreign aid budget went up from eight billion to now fourteen billion which is…

SR: Six billion then, is that enough money?

ESTHER McVEY: Well it’s where we’d start, which is what I’d do straight away, an extra four billion for schools. I believe in social mobility and the building blocks for success is through a good education and then we need an extra three billion for police because we need to make sure we’ve got a safe environment. I’m standing on a blue collar Conservative platform and that is for regular people who, do you know what, pay into a system, work hard but want to know they get something back from the government.

SR: So is that really your differential if you like? If you look at some of the other people in the race there are a couple of Old Etonians, there’s a former Charterhouse public schoolboy and you were of course raised in foster care, is that where it’s coming from?

ESTHER McVEY: Well there are other things too. Of course the Tories now have got to reach out beyond their base, we’ve got to make sure we’re talking to all of the regions and to the north of the country. Now it’s brilliant that the south is doing well …

SR: Aren’t you doing that now?

ESTHER McVEY: Yes, we could be doing it far more. We’ve talked about the Northern Powerhouse, we’ve now got to make sure that we deliver it and I am a seriously proud northerner but it’s for the rest of the country. It’s great that the south is doing well, that’s great, but it’s like having a plane with two engines, only one is working. We need both engines to work then our country can soar, that’s what we’ve got to do and I would be doing that.

SR: Okay, I’m keen to talk about Brexit and you were just saying there that whatever happens you would like to see the UK leaving the EU at the end of October, deal or no deal, so are you going to try and renegotiate or are you just going to move to a no deal position?

ESTHER McVEY: What we’ve got to do straight away actually is start preparing. A lot of the preparations have been done so you’re quite right, that date is now fixed. It’s not that I’d like to come out on that date or I don’t want to – that date is fixed.

SR: You could ask for an extension couldn’t you?

ESTHER McVEY: No, we won’t be asking for any more extensions, that’s part of the corrosive uncertainty that individuals, business in the country, don’t want so that date is fixed. So of course we have to say we need to make sure that we’re ready to leave on that date. Now if the EU wanted to come back to us, the door is open, if they want to have a better deal that’s fine, we’ve always wanted a free trade agreement but what we’ve got to do is not waste time, time is limited, we have to make sure that we are ready to leave.

SR: So you wouldn’t approach the EU then with a different negotiating strategy, you’d wait to see what they offer and if they don’t offer anything then you’d leave with no deal?

ESTHER McVEY: Well they’ve said quite clearly that they don’t want to, they’ve said that Withdrawal Agreement is the only one they want. Now Parliament has made quite clear that they don’t want that Withdrawal Agreement, the biggest ever historical losses on the House three times, not once, not twice – and I resigned from government on it – it is a bad deal. We are now in a different position and that Withdrawal Agreement boat has sailed so what we’ve got to do, the EU doesn’t want to move so the UK therefore has to be prepared to leave and as we know, and I’m a Unionist, as we know with no deal actually there is no backstop so this is the best thing we can do, prepare for no deal.

SR: Well let’s talk about that, the backstop of course is absolutely key, if you were going to leave with no deal would you be happy to see a border in Ireland, because that is the reality isn’t it?

ESTHER McVEY: No, because we can do an invisible border.

SR: By October 31st?

ESTHER McVEY: Yes.

SR: How is that going to work?

ESTHER McVEY: Because …

SR: The contest isn’t going to finish until the end of July and then there’s the summer recess.

ESTHER McVEY: Well if there is no deal we know that the EU ain’t going to put up a border, we know that Ireland isn’t going to put up a border, there will be no hard border so we have to make sure that people understand that there has to be….

SR: The EU has said that there will be a border.

ESTHER McVEY: There will be an invisible border. Let me explain this, whilst it will be …

SR: They said there will have to be checks.

ESTHER McVEY: Whilst it will be new the technology already exists to be able to put that in place and that now is what we need to make sure that we do. When you are talking about checks, the admin, customs declaration is online and when you talk about a border, there is already a border for currency and VAT so we know the technology exists, we have already been having meetings in the House and that is possible there so we know we can go forward and have an invisible border so there will not be a hard border.

SR: It would have to be in place by the 31st October, that’s the key isn’t it?

ESTHER McVEY: Yes, that’s when we are going to ready for and that’s when it needs to be ready for and we need to say to people, this is when we’re coming out. As I say, the EU has already said they will not be putting up a border. We know that Ireland have said that so now we need to make sure that is what happens, no border, no hard border.

SR: Okay, Theresa May of course stepped down, resigned, announced her resignation that will be coming in twelve days’ time, how do you think she will be remembered?

ESTHER McVEY: She’ll be remembered for somebody who was very dutiful, she’ll be remember for somebody who picked up that leadership at a time when there was no leadership. David Cameron walked away and other contenders for the job fell by the wayside so she in a dutiful manner took the lead of the country and went forward.

SR: When you left the government there was a lot of talk, wasn’t there, about you becoming emotional in that last Cabinet meeting. You said that you didn’t cry, how did you feel when you read all those articles analysing Theresa May’s tears this week? Do you think we talk about female politicians in a different way?

ESTHER McVEY: Well the difference was there wasn’t any tears with me but there were tears with Theresa May and I think it shows a very honest woman at that moment. It was emotional for her, she had done what she thought was the best, she had tried keeping everybody on board and that’s why I think the honesty now has to come in, we do have to choose a side. She’d always said in the Mansion House speech that you can’t have it half in and half out but I think she was very honest with herself at that moment.

SR: Theresa May once said that the naughtiest thing she’d ever done was run through wheat fields, what’s the naughtiest thing you’ve ever done?

ESTHER McVEY: Oh that’s for me to know and you probably not to!

SR: Esther McVey, thank you very much for coming in this morning.