Murnaghan 29.09.13 Interview with Peter Bone MP and Jennie Bone

ANY QUOTES USED MUST BE ATTRIBUTED TO MURNAGHAN, SKY NEWS

DERMOT MURNAGHAN: Well now, her husband is the Conservative politician but it seems that she is the real power behind the throne – I’m not talking about Sam Cam but Mrs Bone. She gets a regular mention at Prime Minister’s Questions by her husband, the Conservative MP, Peter Bone. Here is a clip of one of Mrs Bone’s many mentions. [News clip] And I’m glad to say I am joined now by Peter Bone and Jennie Bone, a very good morning to you. What do you think, first of all, Jennie Bone, hearing yourself being talked about there by the Prime Minister amongst others?

JENNIE BONE: Well I’m cool about that. I think it’s a bit of fun but serious as well. I’ve never met the PM yet actually which is quite interesting considering he does mention me quite often. So maybe one day, if he’s watching, maybe one day we’ll get to meet.

DM: That’s because your husband, I mean he uses you as a sounding board, you have a lot of political discussions. I mean you work for him so you are, you do have your finger on the pulse don’t you?

JENNIE BONE: 24/7 that’s all we talk about, nearly all we talk about and I basically put him right on things where he’s going wrong.

DM: But how do you do that? What are your sources, where do you get your information? How do you feel what the Conservative grassroots are thinking?

JENNIE BONE: It’s not just the Conservative grassroots. Because I work for Peter in the constituency so I’m at the frontline, people come to me with their problems and I pass them back to Peter and if I didn’t he wouldn’t know some of the things that are going in Wellingborough.

DM: A bit out of touch is he?

JENNIE BONE: I wouldn’t let him be. He could get to that stage because I think there are a fair number of MPs who probably don’t stay in touch as much.

DM: There is a Westminster bubble isn’t there, we often talk about it but what are the issues? The one we touched on there and we’ve heard it quite a lot is Europe but is that really a burning issue or the burning issue that you’re hearing on the streets or in the constituency office?

JENNIE BONE: I think there are three main ones. I think Europe, immigration and the economy. It’s different to different people but Europe is a big issue and we’d like the PM to come out a bit stronger. We’d obviously like a referendum now and not later on.

DM: So have you ordered them, is that the one-two-three in terms of your interpretation of what the issues are?

JENNIE BONE: Not necessarily, as I say they are different to different people. I think Europe is the huge one, immigration also but yes, it is difficult to say one, two and three.

DM: To bring your husband in here, to bring Peter Bone in here, it seems that during the course of last week we really got focused down on what ground the election will be fought over and Labour perhaps stolen a march on you lot with focusing on the cost of living, that’s what people are talking about and this enormously popular idea of capping energy prices for 20 months.

PETER BONE: Well, it is lurching to the left, it’s a good socialist policy but the clip you played of Jennie and the Prime Minister, think who ended up winning on that? The PM said we weren’t going to have an in/out referendum, Mrs Bone said she wanted one and we’ve now got an in/out referendum on the way so maybe he does listen to Mrs Bone a bit more than he may think.

DM: So you feel you have an influence on policy at a very high level?

JENNIE BONE: No, not at all. It’s not my views, sometimes people say oh the PM only listens to Mrs Bone but that’s not the case, I’m just saying to Peter what I’m hearing from the grassroots so I don’t always, what I tell Peter is not always what I’m thinking, it’s what I’m hearing.

DM: It would be interesting to know, I don't know if you already have had any soundings about that idea, we can talk about the economic literacy or not of the idea of in a free market intervening to stop companies charging what they feel is the right price for the produce they produce but it does seem to be, and judging from the polling that has come this weekend, it does seem to be popular, the idea of capping energy prices. Have you heard anything about that? I mean people are going to like that idea aren’t they?

JENNIE BONE: Yes, people are ultimately concerned about how much money they have got in their pockets. Europe, immigration, both of those are important but at the end of the day, if you haven’t got enough money who cares about the other things anyway? So whatever helps people being able to live just good lives is important, the economy is important.

DM: You see that’s the thing, you’re banging on about European referendums all the time and people are going to say look, I’m concerned about electricity prices going up 10% this year, that’s the big and immediate issue.

PETER BONE: I think what people are saying in the constituency is the coalition came together to solve the economic mess, the huge mess Labour left us and hey, we’re really doing that, we’re improving things, people are getting better off but the idea of capping energy prices just means somebody else has to pay.

DM: They don’t mind that necessarily do they?

PETER BONE: Well they’ll be paying through something else. If you add all of Labour’s promises up, I think a family will be paying an extra £3000 a year in tax and they’re not going to be better off, they’re going to be far worse off under Labour. It was a gimmick, it was one of those things that looks – it’s like a budget, sometimes it looks good on the day but after six months it’s oh what a terrible budget. If Miliband’s only policy is to cap energy prices, I think Labour are in a terrible position at the moment, wrong place in the polls, they should be miles ahead at the moment, I think from a Conservative point of view as long as we can win the right of centre vote we’ll do very well.

DM: Well it looks like a double digit lead from the latest poll, it’s grown again but I wanted to ask you Jennie Bone, the issue of housing, we’ve had this bringing forward of the Help to Buy scheme, a lot of people are saying it could further push up prices in places where prices seem to be rising very quickly. Is that one of the, okay not top three issues but is that an issue for the people who feel they are stuck in a house or have children who they feel may not be able to get on the housing ladder?

JENNIE BONE: I think what I hear is that people want a system, whatever they are complaining about, they want it to be fair for everybody and sometimes you just can’t please everybody. I certainly wouldn’t want the PM’s job because he gets slated from different quarters and you really have to be quite strong on some issues. You can’t please everybody and I think people are beginning to realise that, that everybody has an incentive to ring Peter if there is an issue, they come to me and I pass it on to him and sometimes he passes it on to the PM.

DM: But on the issue, Peter Bone, shouldn’t you as Conservatives be saying look, this is a free market in houses, it is supply and demand and there is not much we can do about, I’m terribly sorry. We can build more houses and perhaps bring down prices but not by subsidising loans.

PETER BONE: The Prime Minister is absolutely right, we need to get people to be able to buy their own houses, we need to get the housing market going and unfortunately the media tends to be London-centric, sees these booming housing prices in London which is not reflected in Wellingborough, my goodness me, you would be amazed what you could buy for in Wellingborough but people are struggling to get the deposit. This is an excellent scheme, the Prime Minister is absolutely right and I know probably Labour and Liberals are against it which proves it’s right.

DM: Okay, well Mrs and Mrs Bone, thank you both very much. I think we’ll have her back, maybe not you! Jennie Bone, Peter Bone, thank you both very much indeed.